Game Of Thrones: 10 Things From The TV Show That WON'T Be In The Winds Of Winter
3. Arya Slays The Freys
In The Show:
A story arc spanning two seasons ends with Arya Stark having successfully become “no one”, according to Jaqen H’ghar at least. After leaving The House of Black and White, assassin’s guild of Braavos, Arya returns to Westeros to take care of unfinished business.
She’s well-stocked at this point with a nifty array of new skills, not least of which the ability to change her face. Arya puts this talent to good use from the minute she arrives back in the Seven Kingdoms, exterminating Walder Frey’s sons and serving them up in a pie to Lord Frey himself. Finally, she exacts bloody retribution for the death of her family at the Red Wedding by slicing Frey’s throat from ear to ear, avenging the Starks for good and all.
It’s a fitting piece of fan-service that brings resolution to a storyline long in the making, even if it did feel… a little too easy.
Why It WON’T Happen In Winds:
While it’s satisfying on a superficial level to see the bad guys get what’s coming to them courtesy of a hero-turned-assassin, the way things stand in the books suggests that it’ll unfold a little differently on the page.
Chiefly, it’s the looming presence of the ghoulish Lady Stoneheart and her merry men, currently set on the task of exterminating the Freys one by one. Viewers of the show waited a long time for Stoneheart to show her deathly face, but despite apparent hints to the contrary, she never turned up.
It is likely, then, that the showrunners opted instead to streamline the proceedings and have Arya serve her ultimate role instead. There’s also the telling element of Arya (somewhat unbelievably) baking the Freys into a pie; in A Dance With Dragons, it’s Wyman Manderly who very much indicates that he’s done the same.
Having Arya Stark murder Walder Frey and in this exact manner kills two birds with one stone, allowing the show to combine two presumed key elements from the books without having to expand the cast further.