Game of Thrones: Will Arya Kill Daenerys?

Game of Thrones‘ penultimate episode “The Bells” was a pretty horrific bit of stage-setting for the series final episode. Queen Daenerys Targaryen and her army laid siege to King’s Landing, and ended up burning and/or stabbing everything that got in their way. Caught in the middle of that carnage was none other than Arya Stark, who snuck into the capitol along with The Hound, to settle some old scores.

The final scene of season 8 episode 5 saw a bloodied and battered Arya emerging from the mass grave of blood and ash that is now King’s Landing. Thanks to what seems to be the lone surviving horse in the city, Arya is riding out with the fierce look of one last mission carved into her face – and Game of Thrones fans think they know exactly what that mission is!

So: Will Arya Stark kill Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones‘ final episode? There’s good cases to be made for both the “yes” and “no” answer to that.

Why Arya Might Kill Daenerys – Arya understands the carnage that Daenerys unleashed upon the innocent bystanders of King’s Landing, more so than any other character still alive after the city’s fall. With her assassin training and well-grown political savvy, Arya knows that the a trigger has to be pulled to protect both the realm of Westeros and her own family; after all, the next target on Dany’s hit list is no doubt Sansa Stark, the only thing standing between Dany and total victory. While Jon Snow is arguably the most emotionally powerful candidate to take Dany out, it’s just as easy to see ol’ sentimental Jon faltering when the time truly came to do what needed doing. Arya could be the one to spare her brother (cousin?) the pain of that act, by using her gift for death-dealing in a truly benevolent way, instead of just for selfish vengeance. That would be a fitting end to Arya’s arc, for sure.

Why Arya Might Not Kill Daenerys – Arya has already had her major heroic kill moment when she took out the Night King, and Game of Thrones isn’t really known for giving characters double dips when it comes to big moments in the spotlight. There is one exception: Jon Snow, who has stacked one big series milestone after another (like surviving most of the show’s biggest battles). It would then follow that it would fall to Jon, not Arya, to have to take on this final battle. It would be easy to see Arya aligning with Sansa in giving Jon the final ultimatum: Either he deals with Daenerys, or Arya does. Finally: in a socio-political sense, it seems as if it would be bad form to have Game of Thrones‘s final arc boil down to a circle of powerful ladies all killing one another – if the show chooses to kill Dany, it seems almost certain that one of the guys (Jon Snow, Tyrion) would have to break their own oaths (and/or heart) and do the deed.

Do you think Arya Stark will end up kililng Daenerys Targaryen in the final episode of Game of Thornes? Let us know in the comments!

Game of Thrones final episode airs next Sunday @ 9/8c.