Arya's 'Kill List': who's next for Needle in Game of Thrones season 7?
While Sansa Stark is climbing a slippery learning curve in becoming the Queen of the North, her little sister Arya is continuing to shorten the list of names of people she needs to kill before comfortably falling into her presumably violent dreams every night.
Game of Thrones's youngest assassin (not to be confused with the show's youngest warlord, Lyanna Mormont) has made good headway on the list she started constructing back in season two. But with the promise of even more bloodshed as winter creeps in to season seven, we thought it wise to remind ourselves of who was on Arya's list – and how many people have been struck off.
Warning: spoilers
Arya
Cersei Lannister
Why does Arya want to kill her?
Cersei falsely accused Arya's father, Ned Stark, of treason and organised his arrest and execution all the way back in season one, which began a trickle of unpleasant events which led to Arya abandoning her dwindling family and setting out on her gruesome adolescence in the first place.
Is she dead yet?
Cersei remains very much alive and on the increasingly chilly Iron Throne. But, as the season 7 trailer pointed out, she has "enemies to the east, enemies to the west, enemies to the south, enemies to the north". Arya suggested Cersei is next on her list in the season opener, but she will have to hurry: Cersei is one of the most-wanted in Westeros.
Ilyn Payne
Why does Arya want to kill him?
This somewhat defies the advice of "don't shoot the messenger", but Payne was the executioner who killed Ned Stark on the orders of Joffrey, Cersei's son. One could argue that he didn't really have a choice.
Is he dead yet?
We've not seen Ilyn die on screen, but the man who plays him, Dr Feelgood's Wilko Johnson, has been out of the limelight with a remarkable battle against cancer in recent years. He's now in recovery, so Ilyn may return to the show.
The Mountain
Why does Arya want to kill him?
She was forced to witness The Mountain (aka Gregor Clegane) lead a group of Lannister torturers in tormenting local people at Harrenhal.
Is he dead yet?
Technically, yes. But his enormous body has been creepily re-animated by Maester Qyburn. He now goes by the imaginative Ser Robert Strong. Can Arya kill him again? She would probably give it a bash.
The Red Woman
Why does Arya want to kill her?
Melisandre lured Gendry away from the Brotherhood Without Banners. He escaped her clutches, but Arya doesn't know that yet. She'd probably want to kill Melisandre anyway, mind, despite the fact The Red Woman brought her beloved brother Jon Snow back from the grave.
Is she dead yet?
Nope. But she is super old and creepy! Melisandre is headed south, so there's a good chance she and Arya may reunite.
Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr
Why does Arya want to kill them?
Arya blames the pair for giving Gendry to Melisandre.
Are they dead yet?
No: as we saw in the most recent episode of Game of Thrones, both are still alive, and currently travelling with The Hound. That said, given the number of times that Dondarrion has passed away and then been resurrected, we're not quite sure just how permanent any death sentence meted out to him by Arya would be. To be on the safe side, she'd probably have to get rid of Red Priest Thoros (whose magic helps bring his friend back) first.
Polliver
Why does Arya want to kill him?
The Lannister servant knocked Arya over during the attack on Yoren before stealing Needle and mocking her beloved sword, to boot. The utterance that sealed his fate? "Fine little blade; maybe I'll pick my teeth with it".
Is he dead yet?
Very much. Arya exacted her revenge after encountering him in a tavern, and he tries to deal her virginity for a chicken. After he was ambushed by The Hound, Arya retrieves Needle and kills him, repeating his own words back to him as he finally clocks who his murderer is.
Joffrey Baratheon
Why does Arya want to kill him?
Let's face it, who wouldn't want to kill Joffrey? Of course, Arya's reasons are more specific than most: she blames the sadistic former boy King for ordering the murder of her friend Mycah, and the execution of her father Eddard.
Is he dead yet?
Thankfully, yes. Joffrey was poisoned back in season four, at the so-called Purple Wedding, in a murder engineered by Olenna Tyrell, with some aiding and abetting on the part of Littlefinger.
Rorge
Why does Arya want to kill him?
He, like others on her kill list, threatened to rape her.
Is he dead yet?
Yes, but only after a little kill list admin from Arya. Rorge ambushes her and The Hound at a rural homestead, and is swiftly captured by him. It is only after Arya learns Rorge's name that she decides to kill him.
Walder Frey
Why does Arya want to kill him?
Aside from being a generally odious individual, Walder Frey carried out the brutal murder of most of House Stark – who were, theoretically, his allies – at the Red Wedding.
Is he dead yet?
Oh yes. Arya, disguised as a servant, slit Frey's throat, but only after feeding him a pie which was filled with the flesh of his two sons. She then took on his own appearance before poisoning what was left of House Frey in a feast that was eerily reminiscent of the Red Wedding.
Meryn Trant
Why does Arya want to kill him?
It was Meryn Trant who murdered Arya's old "dancing master", swordsman Syrio Forel (although Syrio's death was never shown on screen, and many believe he may have secretly escaped).
Is he dead yet?
Yes. Last season, Arya used her newly acquired "Faceless" skills to disguise herself as an unknown young girl in a brothel, and exact revenge upon the unsuspecting Trant.
Tywin Lannister
Why does Arya want to kill him?
While he wasn't present in person, Arya knows that Tywin was the mastermind behind the Red Wedding.
Is he dead yet?
Yes, very much so: Tywin's own son Tyrion managed to beat Arya to the punch, dispatching his not-so-dear old dad with a bow and arrow back at the end of season four.
The Hound
Why does Arya want to kill him?
In season one, acting upon the orders of Joffrey, he murdered Mycah the butcher's boy, Arya's friend. Since then, however, he and the younger Stark daughter formed a tentative bond, meaning that Sandor Clegane's spot on the list was later rescinded.
Is he dead yet?
No, although Arya, who left him for dead back at the end of season four, doesn't yet know this.
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