Some Game of Thrones fans think Arya actually died in last week's episode—here's why

Anna Sheffer
Updated

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5.

We’re still in shock after the latest Game of Thrones episode, “The Bells.”  It saw The Mother of Dragons become the Mad Queen, Cersei meeting her end, and the total destruction of King’s Landing. But some fans believe we missed something major during all the carnage. Namely: Arya’s death.

If you’ll recall, the confrontation between Daenerys’s forces and the Golden Company opens with a shot of Harry Strickland riding on a magnificent white horse—a white horse that looks very similar to the one that Arya rides as she leaves the smoldering remains of King’s Landing. Reddit user ranchoddas_shamaldas suggests that Arya’s getaway steed is the exact same horse…even though we saw that horse fall down dead earlier in the battle.

So, what in the Seven Hells does this all mean? The simplest explanation is that there were just two different similar-looking white horses in the episode. But another theory? Arya is either dead or has become Death itself.

Not convinced? Allow these Twitter users to persuade you.

There’s also a symbolic argument to be made for Arya becoming Death at the end of the episode. In the Book of Revelation, Death is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse—and it rides on a “pale horse.” In the A Song of Ice and Fire books, the “pale mare” refers to dysentery, which ravages Meereen. And according to Time, Quaithe, the shadowbinder from Asshai, warns Daenerys: “Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others.” It’s clear that in the Game of Thrones universe, a white horse has ominous implications.

Could Arya be riding the “pale mare” from Quaithe’s prophecy? Could she have succumbed to the God of Death at last? We’ll have to watch the final episode of Game of Thrones on May 19th to find out.