i always wished they would have shown a scene where Jon got to see Arya fight or fight alongside her considering they were the closest siblings and he got her that sword
I thought the scene in King's Landing where Jon was staring at Danny then jumps when he realizes that Arya is standing right next to him, probably cinched in his mind that she's a sneaky, dangerous individual. That she has survived and comes back with Needle on her belt...
@@billyboblillybob344 It's one of the only things that actually makes sense with Arya killing the NK. Literally everyone disregards her survival as luck until they have their "oh, sh!t" moment with her. An argument could be made that the last thing the Night King thought was "really? Wtf?"
@@DblackSC I think the NK didn't pay any attention to humans in general. I think he had a limited ability to see possible futures but with uncertainty. Like Bran said to Jaime, "how do you know there is an afterward?" When the NK looked down at Jon Snow killing his Lieutenant, I think he recognized Jon Snow as someone in his future. He waited to attack the group at the lake because he knew dragons would show up and he'd get his dragon to take down the wall. He knew he'd face Bran but that was the end of his ability to see the future. He was uncertain there was an afterward. I think it's also possible the NK (and his minions) have never witnessed the 'magic' of the Faceless Men which Arya uses in order to reach the NK. Her ability with the dagger was also unexpected from the NK's perspective.
I love the later scene when Brienne and Sandor are discussing Arya. Sandor asks, "Who's protecting her if you're here?" and Brienne replies, "The only one needs protecting is one who gets in her way".
Taught I was the only one who notice she had one hand behind her back.. just like Syrio!! She really embodied his fearlessness and style being in Bravos 👍
agreed and not only does it pay honour to Syrio, it also mirrors her first fight with him in S1, except she is standing where Syrio was as the master. Eventhe camera shot of Sansa standing above watching on is similar to the way Ned watched on with the clanging of weapons. Even the music is the same track but it's got more layers and instruments added to it.
@Nat Smythe Of course she is. She is the most ridiculous OP character in history of television : little girl who spent a few months in Braavos sweeping floors and being blind is for some reason the best swordfighter in the world.
Which is exactly what he would've done if he was still the same character as in the earliest seasons instead of the complete moron the writers turned him into
@@brokeboiacey5674 to be fair the theory can still exist just because we didnt see anything related to that in the series does not mean that it cant be true so people who want to believe that theory can still believe it and it will never be proven wrong or right
What I love so much about this scene is that Brienne at first discounts Arya's ability based on her looks, which is the same thing that was done to her all her life. When she realizes how skilled Arya is, she learns what it must be like for those who've discounted her to learn her true abilities as well as being pleased to discover a kindred spirit who refused to let the rules define who they are.
It’s not so much her looks as it is her size and the way everyone talks about the stark girls. So remember in the books tar is big it’s pointed out by her and others that she can basically pass as a big man now aria aid the opposite she’s the smallest of the stark children basically being the same size as her youngest brother who’s 3 years younger then her now knights of Westeros are power fighters they use had and a half swords or two James swords so in Tara mind she’s to small to be a fighter it’s even shown in this regard by her saying in a I know better voice that needle is to small to fight with now add to that the fact that no one knows that her father got her a fighting instructor has her mother and Jamie believing that she is like her older sister and can’t fight they task her not with serving them but protecting them
Yeah but by then she has lost all her non-thumb fingers on her left hand and took a slash to the knee. A real fighter would never understimate anyone at any point.
Face it, they both created the perfect little monster...them and Sandor. The other two may have taught her the technique, but it was The Hound that taught her the difference between imagination and reality
he was one of the scariest villains in the books because he was so conniving and unpredictable and the death he got on the show was just not worthy of his storyline. he was a true force in the books but on the show it seemed like they didn't know what to do with him and so they just killed him off in one of the most deux ex machina moments on the show.
I love how Brienne understands what Arya means when she says no one taught her. Brienne looks scared cause she probably knows and heard tales of the faceless man. Great scene.😌
want to ask who....(havent seen the show) these scene really do make me want to start watching the show.....then with comments like these makes wanna take off work and binge watch all of it
The former. I firmly believe that final season was nowhere near the abomination that people claim it was. Yes, it was a step down, but it was still competent.
Not just a master assassin. Arya was holding her own, and even bésting one of thé best fighters in the Seven Kingdoms! Assassinating is a matter of intelligence, patience and opportunity. Going head to head with an skilled and armored warrior is a whole different matter tbf.
I love, how at the beginning Brienne is worried to hurt Arya. But when she blocks her first attack, she instantly tries to chop her down into little pieces, without even knowing, If Arya is able to dodge them. Arya: "I won't cut you, don't worry" Brienne: "I'll try not to" Arya: Blocks one attack Brienne: "Ah, you chose death then"
That's what I always find curious in "training" matches like this. They used real weapons, at least Arya did. Brienne went into full berserker mode after the first exchange. There are dodges of her where Brienne aimed for her head that were very close. A miscalculation or misstep and Arya would have been a head shorter. Otoh if you only do half power so you can control every attack to not actually hit when the defense isn't up in time ... wouldn't that be attacks so harmless that they both will dodge and parry forever?
I like it how Arya wants her as sparring partner for defeating the hound. And mentioning that she was the only one ever to defeat the Hound actually flattered Brienne and made her accepting the request.
Always loved the grin on both their faces at the end there. Neither Arya or Brienne ever fit in the title of Lady that they were born into, but both found a warrior's path to take instead. And this was them finding someone of equal but different skill set to play with warms my heart.
Exactly! This is feminism done right. "Flawed" by their society's standards, but strong and tough enough to fight through their hardships with unbelievable grit.
I still think this is the result of poor writing. In the books at least, Brienne would absolutely wiped the floor with Arya. She has been training her entire life yet Arya has never even had a proper sword fight. Pretty sure Shadiversity would absolutely destroy the choreographing too.
@@ryuk5673 I'm pretty sure the writers actually said she was their favorite. That's why she's OP and was the one to kill the Night King. They didn't care about good writing they just wanted to write how they liked it lol
The most amazing part about Maise Williams is she is not left-handed but knew Arya's character was left-handed in the books so she trained specifically to handle a sword left-handed being right-handed. That takes commitment and a ton of training to learn to use a hand that is not your dominant hand for sword fighting and makes it look seamless. She did say after the fact it would have been so much easier on her to just use her right hand but wanted to stay true to the character she was playing.
That is very interesting to hear, I didn't know that but you are quite right. That's very genuine of her though I don't know, performing a technique with one's dominant arm feels entirely different than doing it on the weak side, from my practice of martial arts. Maybe it would have immersed her more into the role of a skillful martial artist if she performed on her better side, and as such was closer to that mastery herself but regardless it is a highly respectful thing to do, wish more actors/writers had respect for the material. All the best.
Its been yrs since this scene and i just now saw how Arya changed sword hands around <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="75">1:15</a>. REALLY goes to show how Maisie trained for this role and also how well Water dancing suites her. This scene is prob one of my fav in this entire series.
Brienne was one of my favorites in the show. While she always started with honorable swordplay, she could always adapt very quickly to any opponent and face them on their level. This earned her Jamie's respect, who looked down on everyone. She beat the hound by becoming just as ruthless as him. And in this scene she quickly realized that aria was not going to be child's play. She probably could have saved her lords and ladies if such underhanded tactics weren't used to kill them.
Well said. ^^ She fights with honor, but when things get crazy, she can go berserker, like with The Hound fight. Using dirty underhanded tricks is not her style, so opponents like Arya and Bronne would a pain in the ass for Brienne to fight, since her knightly honor demands a clean fight at first. But when she gets mad, she can put most her opponents on their ass.
I was so impressed at the time by Arya that I never considered Sansa. Imagine being her and seeing your little sister for the first time in years after everything thats happened. Your memory of her is that she’s still a little kid. Then seeing how incredible she is now. For Sansa that must have just been so emotional in so many ways.
I loved this scene so much, it was one of the best scenes for me. After everything Arya went through she finally got to shine here (and later against dead with the spear - had similiar vibes) and quite easily handled Brienne whos one of the finest "swordsmen" (i know she's a woman but she is better than most men) in the seven kingdoms.
I dislike it. Just makes Briene look like crap. 6'3 person swinging a two handed sword down in cleaving motion somehow having all its momentum being stopped by a light tap from a 1 handed rapier held by a 5 foot nothing child. It doesn't matter if you successfully use blade to block if you don't have the strength to stop or parry its momentum. None of Briene's swings would ever just magically stop on the spot just because Arya tapped her blade. Those swings would still come cleaving through.
Brienne's choreography here is kind of weak though. She telegraphs conspicuously, far more than a fighter of her stature would. She has no tricks. Trust me, Brienne of Tarth has tricks. She's a big lady, but a even a strong big lady is probably 25% weaker upperbody than a man of similar height/weight, much less a man like the Hound (average woman 50% less & much smaller.) Thus Brienne needs to be depicted as more skilled. Simple matter of verisimilitude. This isn't Christine's (?) fault of course. It's the stunt team's...as directed by Dumb and Dumber. Poorly. It's still a charming scene... but a deeply flawed one. this describes 6 & 7 in general: some nice fan service, but generally bungled by showrunners that pissed off George too much to plagiarize him further. If you were wondering why Dan could write a good book & do a good 4-5 seasons, wonder no more. I discovered his book was from his grandfather's outline, and 1-4 & most of 5 are from George's. Dan can plagiarize/adapt very well, but he's an utter CRAP creator from scratch. GoT ends at season five. Or four for the real purists.
@@theminister1154 not 25%, it shoukd be way higher, atleast 33% upto like 50+% if its a properly well trained man. She simply would get overpowered by a man who isnt even a top tier fighter. If she was to beat a top tier fighter she'd have to be leauges better.
I love how Brienne is quietly amused by Arya wanting to fight her....until Arya begins to fight. Then she's not amused anymore....she just respects Arya for her skill with the blade.
@@strider8662 I'm pretty sure Arya was in Braavos for a little over a year. I feel like with the right training regimen it's possible to get ro her level in that time. The show doesn't portray time that will though so it's hard to tell exactly how long she was there.
The thing that I adore about this scene is that it depicts two formidable female warriors with two diverse fighting styles. Too often writers are lazy and simply copy paste what they find when they google "strong woman". Brienne is an imposing, powerfully built woman who is uniquely built for a more strength-based fighting style with heavier weapons and armor. But not many women are built like Brienne. So instead, we have Arya who, while athletic, has a very petite build. She simple cannot match Brienne in strength or size. She (and the writers) are intelligent enough to understand this limitation, so instead she utilizes a more nimble and precise fighting style with lighter weapons and lighter armor. Simply put, not every woman has to "fight like a man" to be formidable.
Fantastic comment and analysis, rare to see someone who understands variations in fighting style and utilizing their uniqueness into combat techniques. No two warriors have identical fighting patterns even within the same class of fighting styles.
"Now we will begin the dance. Remember, child, this is not the dance of the Westeros we are learning, the knight’s dance, hacking and hammering, no. This is the Braavo’s dance, the water dance, it is swift and sudden."
There is so much I missed on the first watch and forgot since then, because of being in the moment. Arya getting knocked down, Arya getting disarmed, and most incredible of all, Arya switching her attacking hand anticipating Brienne's counter. That last one is even more incredible, because it was foreshadowing for her showdown with the Night King. Against the Night King, she dropped her dagger ever so subtly, just enough to make it seem she lost her grip from getting countered. Night King registers the falling blade, but does not quire expect Arya to actually retrieve the dagger with her other hand. Such brilliantly crafted moments.
I think jon snow is no one because he’s the reincarnation of the lord of light and jaquen haghar serves the many faced god who is none other than the lord of light itself. 🌺♎️🙏🏻🌍💯🤔☯️🍀🌺
Brienne was so proud, but then saw Littlefinger and figured what this show was all about. It makes my heart warm the fact that she always looked after the Stark sister's best future.
Can we just talk about how Arya hides her Needle behind her back so Brienne doesn't know which sword hand she's using? Throughout the fight she uses her blade ambidextrous. It's an incredible detail, really impressive.
@GodEmperor Bigfoot Skilled and trained doesn't mean anything if you're not fast enough. She was in heavy armor using a heavy sword. Arya was also highly trained having a lighter weapon and leather armor.
@@calibersnake2797 the sword is blunt, but it's still several pounds of steel, and Brienne swung right at Arya's head. Arya could be killed if she was unlucky.
One thing I hated about the last season is when all the characters reunited and they got to have their happy fanfic interactions, they'd always be deliberately mysterious with cheesy one liners when asked about their past. And that would always be good enough and the other character would smile and nod like they knew what tf they were talking about. It happened so many times it got annoying. Like why wouldn't you tell your closest family members you trained with the freaking Faceless Men in Braavos? That's the type of interactions we were all dying to see.
There just had to be another feminist in the comment smh. If this was real life, well, it wouldn't be. A women could never be a quarter of what you see here. Facts don't care about your feelings
Haven’t seen anyone pointing out the moment of foreshadowing at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="105">1:45</a> when Arya switches the dagger to her other hand. It’s so quick, almost unnoticeable and I’m just seeing it for the first time 😦
Arya and Sansa never really caught up and explained exactly what had transpired during the years they were separated, instead keeping a respectful distance, understanding that the other must have suffered greatly. The mouth-dropped look Sansa has in this scene gives me chills, as it's clear she is wondering what on earth had happened to Arya in those years for her to be so good at fighting.
Not on camera anyway, they didn't really have the time onscreen to do a proper recap. But I'm sure some time before they went their separate ways the four had a quiet sit-down after dinner and told each other what they did and how they got there. At the very least I'd hope Arya mentioned to Tyrion that she spent a few weeks as his fathers cup-bearer.
@@FerretJohn and Tyrion would probably tell Arya that he did his best to protect Sansa while Sansa was in kings landing (which he honestly did a pretty good job at). Sansa definitely would’ve vouched for him by this point
@@jakealter5504 oh easily, he was the one decent person there 😂 But Thing with Tyrion he was just as smart and calculating as his dad. He just had compassion as well.
The "don't worry, I won't cut you" and then in the first two attempts showing Brienne "if this was for real and you'd underestimated me like you just did, you'd be dead!" really make Brienne give it all she got.
Love this scene for so many reasons. Firstly, it's rare to see Arya pull rank "you swore to serve both my mother's daughters". Secondly, you can see Syrio's training: no hacking and slashing, moving out of the way, observing her opponent's moves Honestly I could go on and on about this scene.
This scene is a flash from the past and a foreshadow … they show how far she comes as a fighter from syrio where she is moving very swift at the beginning of the fight then switches to assassin as she grabs her dagger in the end … which is the same way she killed the white Walker
@@Guap-sc8zh I've been saying that forever. Her switching hands thing is her practised move. So much that it became a reflex. All the moves that she used to kill white walker have foreshadowing in Arya's arc. No doubt that scene could've been better but it was NOT as out of place as people complain.
This is actually one of the few times in the series that we get to see a formal duel between a Westerosi swordsman and a Bravos water dancer. We didn't get to see Syrio Forel fight the Lannister soldiers in his normal weapon, and we only saw glimpses of Jorah fighting a water dancer in the fighting pit.
You really wanted that Syrio had a weapon 😂😂, the only one who would have stand a chance is jaimie , Gregor ans sandor ( not at the same time) would have been destroyed by syrio
As a follow up to this scene, in S7E7 when The Hound and Brienne meet up Brienne tells him Arya is alive at Winterfell. He asks who is protecting her and Brienne says "the only one that needs protecting is the one that gets in her way!"
The way Arya immediately adapted to spar (and tie) with someone twice her size and power, showed that "No One" is literally one of the most dangerous person in the whole series. Imagine training Arya for a few years was able to made Arya achieve that high level of swordmanship, not included her ability to "get a face" and using it as a disguise, and her assassination skills.
The look on Brienne's face when Arya said no one makes me believe she knew what that meant. She didn't ask another question and her face looked almost horrified.
It would be difficult to believe Brienne was utterly unfamiliar with the Braavosi fighting style that Arya employs. What she knows of Faceless Men is certainly debatable...
@@billyboblillybob344 It wasn't all Braavosi though as she went through extensive training with the Faceless Men and I wouldn't make that kind of face if my thoughts were on the fighting style. That was was purely in response to her query.
If you see horror in her expression there, have you considered you may be on the spectrum? There is a loving respect and wonderment perhaps at how she's mysteriously become such a warrior.
is it just me or have y’all noticed that most of season 7 features Littlefinger leaning over that same bloomin' railing or up against a wall with next to no lines? What a dream gig! lol seriously
jevgenkova a reason? There's plenty of reasons to kill him. I'm sure bran already knows he was the reason his dad was executed and all the other shit he's done. Give it time and he will be gone
Bran knows but, he doesn't care. He's not seeking revenge like Arya. Arya cares very much, tho. She knows he's the one who handed her father to the Lannisters. I don't know how he wil escape her.
Maisie Williams does not get enough credit. The way she carries a perfect trollface is amazing. Nothing too blatant or obnoxious, just a certain subtle smugness that she knows something no one else does.
What I love about Arya fighting style is how she honors all of her teachers in the way she approaches a fight, I just realized the sword style she uses is still what she learned in season 1
A few months in Bravos accompanied with a bunch of blind days and a handful of assassin's tricks made her an opponent to a well trained six feet tall knight .. Not to mention she did it with a stick made of steel 🤣🤣 What a plot !!
@@grimmywizard do they explain it better in the books? ( i never knew there were books untill i was done watching season 6 or something ) im at a 50/50 with the books. i want to buy them but on the other hand i dont know if they are good.
The look on Arya's (Massie's) face when she vaults back up after being kicked down is awesome. The grins on both their faces and clearly they respect each other was great, and big props to Ramin Djawadi's great soundtrack kicking in at the perfect point to "up" the impact of this scene. Great act. FYI: The Track that kicks in appears to be a variation on "Needle" (aka Arya's theme)
Vincent Esposito I know now he's shitting himself, got Jon on his back, got Brienne watching him always, now suddenly Sansas sister appears and is an incredibly skilled assassin 😂
Something commonly overlooked that makes Arya a nightmare to fight is that she's left-handed, the vast majority of warriors who would fight her will have been trained and fought against right-handed opponents, whereas a left-hander would still train against right-handed people, the change-up would really disorient a lot of opponents
she's smiling cuz she knew she wasn't left handed. she learned that from the one time she fought the masked man that climbed up the cliffs of insanity. it's inconceivable!
@@gook5219 true, if Arya was trying to fight power with power. Arya's fighting style is avoid and redirect to make use of her smaller size and agility.
@@caincorn I'm pretty sure it was the Faceless Men. Sure, Syrio taught her some stuff, but she still really wasn't much of a fighter when she went off with the Hound. It was only after she went to Braavos that she became a full blown assassin. Remember, she beat that Faceless girl and killed her. When she first arrived in Braavos there is no way Arya would've beat her.
I love the little details in this, like Aryas hair during this. Mimicking Ned stark. The music after she gets knocked down and jumps back up, the slight grin from brienne when she notices Arya isn’t phased. The strong hand switch to weak hand during the grab. This is probably my favorite scene out of all Game of thrones.
Technically, since Arya is left-handed and Maisey specifically trained to swordfight left-handed, she went from weak hand to strong hand with the dagger.
The most ridiculous scene of all GoT and the most ridiculous OP Mary Sue character in history of television : little girl who spent a few months in Braavos sweeping floors and being blind is for some reason the best swordfighter in the world.
@@bdleo300 she was trained by a secret assassin cult that could kill anyone and used mystical powers. She of course should be able to defeat any mundane fighter. The show does a terrible job with depicting time. She trained for a long time with them. She’s not really a Mary Sue. Combat wise she’s trash for what 80 percent of the show?
Brie saving Sansa was the first time I watched film & both screamed & cried at the same time. The second time was this scene.. She is 110% the most underrated character of this series 🖤
To the normies? Maybe. Most GoT fans I know highlight the Brienne/Jaime & Hound/Arya road trips as the best adaptation in the show from the books. That's why it's SO AWFUL what the clown duo does to all 4 by the end. It's what you get when you piss the talent off & the old fat man ain't around to plagiarize no more. The books running out wasn't the thing. The thing is those two hollywood boats n' whores n' coke shitbags got uppity with George around season 3 & he told then to fuck off for good. Thus when the books ran out their actual "talent" was apparent. Game of Thrones ends season five.
One of my favorite scenes, as brienne quickly realizes first "death" Arya is not a beginner and the second "death" when Arya taps two spots brienne has no armor at which point brienne starts going full force. Exactly what sirio had said, your not as strong so be faster and more cunning.
@@constantine7862 Well that's what the display is about Brienne versus Arya in a one-on-one where they know each other Brienne wins no contest but arya's fighting style usually involves her opponent not knowing she's targeting them Or not knowing what she's capable of such as the beginning of this fight
@@steelcitysteve8794 ya not at all lol...arya is trash and doesn't know shit about fighting, never had more then couple weeks training. The last 2 seasons of this show fucking sucked cock. Its just all female power by this point in the fucking show. Crap crap crap crap. 1-6 are only good seasons.
@@stevenrobertson8866 Of course it won't since the directors writing is at the level of a 12-year old girl whereas that theory was at George Martin's level.
To this day, to THIS DAY, I am convinced that smile at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="109">1:49</a> wasn't Arya but rather Maisie absolutely elated at having nailed the moves.
I feel like a proud dad watching this scene. As much as the showrunners ruined the show and the characters, this is still one of the moments that stands out as fantastic