This new “Game of Thrones” theory about who Arya Stark really is makes so much sense

Game of Thrones Spoiler Alert: A girl has spoilers.

While the highlight of last night’s episode “The Broken Man” was welcoming back The Hound (we thought Brienne killed him and that Arya left him for dead), something else happened that has us cringing STILL. And that would be Arya’s fateful moment with Waif — in which Waif, who was in disguise, stabs Arya a bunch of times because Arya failed to kill Lady Crane.

It was a hard (but predictable) moment to watch. Waif, who transformed into an elderly woman, crept up behind Arya and attacked her. Arya breaks free and basically flings herself into the water. A cloud of blood appears to surface, and Waif believes Arya to be dead. Little does she know, Arya makes it out, clutching her stomach (which is hella bleeding) and walking through the streets. Understandably, she probably doesn’t want help from anyone, because they could very well be disguised as a Faceless Man.

But if this theory by redditor catNamedStupidity is true — maybe we don’t have to worry about Arya after all. According to catNamedStupidity, maybe Arya IS Waif. It sounds insane, but hear us out.

Here’s what the redditor has to point out about Waif:

“1. She is only seen by either Jaqen H’ghar or by Arya.

2. She has a very incredible back story, much like Mercy or Cat of the Canals.

3. She know’s what Arya is doing, all the time. She knows when she lies. She can tell where she is.

4. She tries to force Arya to leave. She makes her insecure.”

Plus, we know Arya has been in turmoil with herself, and her identity ever since her father, Ned Stark died. She, like the rest of the remaining Starks, have been trying to regain control of their lives and avenge for their family. Arya, who’s been basically captive this entire time, thought she would regain the power to do so by sailing to Braavos and becoming a Faceless Man.

But we learn it’s harder to erase your identity than it seems. Arya fails — twice. Once when she uses a mask to kill a man on her personal kill list. And the second time when she fails to poison Lady Crane because she realizes she doesn’t have it in her to murder good people.

However, what if ALL of this was a test greater than just taking out strangers? catNamedStupidity writes,

“A case can be made that when Arya came to the House of Black and White, the water that she drank induced this in her. In a way, The Waif is no one. Her only mission is to kill off Arya, the inner Arya, the one who can never be one of them.”

Which would explain why Jaqen H’ghar always tells Waif to leave the room whenever he has something to say to Arya.

The redditor points out,

“He essentially wants Arya to stop behaving in a dual personality manner. He just wants to talk to Arya. So the Waif leaves. Just when Arya is alone, she appears again.”

As for what it means when Waif asks Jaqen if she can kill Arya? Maybe this is Arya asking him to kill “herself” (aka, her identity as a Stark).

“When the waif asks Jaqen H’ghar, “You PROMISED”, it’s actually Arya. Arya has finally asked to kill her inner self. Al lot of people have observed that Jaqen H’ghar looks a bit pleased with himself when he permits the Waif.”

If this is all true, does this mean the Arya Stark we knew is dead? Has she finally become a Faceless Man? Or is Waif really-really real and Arya is really-really injured and we’ll just have to hope she’s strong enough to survive AND get Waif back.