Um, apparently a lot of dudes were mad about Arya’s big moment during the Battle of Winterfell
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3.
Game of Thrones fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief, because the Battle of Winterfell is finally over, and the good guys emerged victorious. The epic latest installment of the HBO series saw Arya Stark defeat the Night King in a moment that’s already iconic. Most fans were stoked to see the army of the dead taken out, and even more stoked that Arya was the one to do it, but because it’s 2019 and the internet exists, it wasn’t long before trolls showed up in full force to criticize the show for making Arya hero of the hour.
To be clear, the internet was full of fans celebrating Arya’s incredible moment, but a few seemed to think that Jon Snow should have been the one to rid Westeros of the Night King. One user complained of “the sh*t writing that made Jon’s character obsolete” after the scene. Another wrote: “Arya is officially a Mary Sue. Unfortunately.” Even Vox founder Ezra Klein called the episode’s ending “unearned.” (For those who don’t know, a “Mary Sue” describes a female character who lacks flaws and therefore considered unrealistic).
There was too much episode there not to set that final moment up better. What happened between “encouraging words” and “awesome flying stab delivered directly to the most heavily defended guy on the field?” How did she get there? How did she get past all those dead?
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) April 29, 2019
Thankfully, there were plenty of fans who set the record straight.
Arya's entire narrative arc made her an assassin. It's the culmination of the training we've seen her do: like how she evaded the dead in the library, she enters undetected (Faceless Men), attacks swiftly (Syrio), flips her knife (Brienne), then goes for the heart (The Hound).
— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) April 29, 2019
Before you call Arya Stark a Mary Sue lemme hit you with some goddamn fact.
1. Trained by the best swordsman in Westeros.
2. Trained by the best assassin
3. Studied/Watched the brilliance of Tywin Lannister
4. Studied/trained with The HoundShes a full bred warrior, fuck off.
— Señor Shitposter (@MattSoms17) April 29, 2019
GOT has never set up anything more clearly & deliberately than Arya's fighting skill. Down to the moves she uses. At every turn they have unsubtly telegraphed her skill. If you're calling her a Mary Sue you're just saying you don't understand basic storytelling. Or y'know, words.
— Iván Brandon (@IvanBrandon) April 29, 2019
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1123099270960128000
And others pointed out how sexist the term “Mary Sue” is in the first place.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1122963350026170368
WE HAVE NOT ENDURED EIGHT YEARS OF Y'ALL DUMPING ON SANSA BECAUSE ARYA CAN SWING A SWORD FOR Y'ALL TO CALL HER A MARY SUE WHEN SHE USES IT.
— Blob Sculpin-kouhai (@endless_run) April 29, 2019
I'd be more surprised that fragile dudebros are calling Arya Stark a "Mary Sue" after she spent the entire series training to be an assassin, but I was also witness to the most qualified presidential candidate in history being told she's not good enough, and here we are.
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️⚧️🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) April 29, 2019
Maisie Williams herself predicted that there would be backlash to the moment. She told Entertainment Weekly, “I immediately thought that everybody would hate it; that Arya doesn’t deserve it.” Williams even added that her own boyfriend wasn’t 100% on board with Arya as the hero of the episode.
"I told my boyfriend and he was like, 'Mmm, should be Jon though really, shouldn’t it?'"
Maisie Williams’s boyfriend is cancelled, effective immediately
(#GameOfThrones spoiler alert) pic.twitter.com/9LwDm22ls2
— 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚎 (@resisterhood) April 29, 2019
Let’s get one thing straight: Arya Stark’s entire character arc has been defined by her training to kill people (remember what she did to the Freys?). By now, she’s definitely earned a moment in the sun—no matter what the trolls say.
