It’s as reliable as clockwork. A female character does something cool onscreen – TV or film, it doesn’t matter – and suddenly the keyboard warriors crawl out from under their rocks to complain about it. We’ve heard it about Star Wars’s Rey, and Captain Marvel, and today it’s the turn of Game Of Thrones' Arya Stark. SPOILERS FOLLOW for Season 8, episode 3, so for the love of the Lord of Light don’t read any further if you haven’t seen it.
Seriously. Go watch it and come back.
OK, now if those people have gone, the thing that set everyone off was Arya’s confrontation – and ruthless dispatch of – the Night King. This biggest of big bads, the unstoppable eldritch force built up over seven seasons to pose an existential threat to the whole of Westeros, never mind who is on the Iron Throne, fell at the hand of a teenage girl just when he seemed on the point of total victory. It was shocking. It was thrilling. And it was, 'some feminist bullshit' according to people on reddit.
The problem that these guys tend to invest not only in the heroes of these shows – the Jon Snows and Jaimes and clever Tyrions – but also in the bad guys. Think about how many men go around worshipping Darth Vader, or claim casually that “Thanos has a point”, or bang on about the Joker. These ferocious forces of chaos, or of death, or of fascist control, have a certain appeal to a certain kind of guy. They don’t feel powerful in their own lives, maybe, and the image of the unquestioned leader ordering everyone else about is very much wish fulfilment for them. Never mind that these guys are expressly, definitely baddies: these keyboard warriors sort of worship them. So to see a teenage girl take him down must feel like a direct attack on their already fragile masculinity.
What Arya lacks in size and strength, however, she makes up for in determination. She was born brave, even reckless, and determined to strike out beyond her socially-acceptable limits. Her ordeals since she went to King’s Landing way back in season one have only added toughness, ruthlessness and the speed and skills that come with weapons training. Why wouldn’t she be able to take down the Night King? Anyone could, with some dragonglass and the element of surprise.
Read more: all the dearly departed fit men who have died on Game Of Thrones
Game Of Thrones Dearly Departed Men - Grazia
1 of 15Robb Stark
One of the shows greatest losses in both character and eye candy, Robb Stark – played by The Bodyguard's Richard Madden - was killed by Roose Bolton in season three. We're still mourning.
2 of 15Khal Drogo
One of the most emotionally conflicting deaths on Game of Thrones, Khal Drogo – portrayed by Jason Momoa - may have begun as one of our most hated characters, but his development in Daenerys true love left us hoping for a happy ending. Smothered by Daenerys to end his suffering, the eye candy Khal Drogo brought to our screens is something we still long for to this day.
3 of 15Oberyn Martell
Killed in battle with The Mountain, Oberyn's impeccable sense of style landed him in our hearts before swiftly taking him off our screens. Portrayed by Pedro Pascal, he still sports some unusual tastes for fashion in real life.
4 of 15Jon Snow
The death that almost had us boycott the entire show, Jon Snow – portrayed by Kit Harrington - was killed by the black brothers before being resurrected in season six. Honestly, if we couldn't see Jon Snow on our screens every week we'd probably cancel our TV license and call it a day.
5 of 15Dickon Tarly
Dickon – played by Tom Hopper - may have got what he deserved when he refused to bend the knee to Daenerys, whom has her dragon burn him alive in response, but as viewers we truly did not deserve to lose his excellence.
6 of 15Eddark Stark
Nothing says fit like Lord Regent of the Seven Kingdoms. Played by Sean Bean, while Ned's title may have given him sex appeal, it also put him in the firing line for an untimely death. Executed by Ilyn Payne on the command of Joffrey Baratheon, Ned's heroism is still truly missed.
7 of 15Trystane Martell
Trystane – played by Toby Sebastian - may have epitomized pretty boy, but his looks were taken from us abruptly in season five at the hands of Obara Sand.
8 of 15Stannis Baratheon
Killed by Brienne of Tarth in season five, Stannis – played by Stephen Dillane- won us over with his steeley looks and silver beard.
9 of 15Hizdahr Zo Loraq
The sons of Harpy continued to take away our most beautiful characters for the whole of season 5, with Hizdahr – played by Joel Fry - taken far too soon.
10 of 15Roose Bolton
Lost at the start of season six, Roose – played by Michael McElhatton -was killed by Ramsay Bolton. He may have raised an abhorrent excuse for a human – or TV character – but he can't be denied as one of GoT's fittest losses.
11 of 15Tywin Lannister
Played by Charles Dance, Tywin was the ultimate silver fox on GoT. That being said, his death was long-awaited - is there one male character on Game Of Thrones that you haven't wanted to die at one point? – and came at the hands of Tyrion Lannister.
12 of 15Viserys Targaryen
Admittedly a welcome death for a truly horrific character, Viserys – played by Harry Lloyd - was killed by Khal Drogo in series one. The only thing we miss about him is the way his blonde mop of hair framed his chiseled cheekbones.
13 of 15Renly Baratheon
While his role, and death, may be quite forgettable in the grand scheme of major deaths, Renly Baratheon's beard is one we will forever remember. While Gethin Anthony may not keep it as full in real life, at least we don't have to see the ridiculous crown he sported in character on the red carpet.
14 of 15Ser Jorah
Ser Jorah - played by Iain Glen - died in the Great War, aka the best episode of TV at all time. As is typical for his character, he was protecting Dany.
15 of 15Theon Greyjoy
Played by Alfie Allen, Theon Greyjoy had quite the character redemption, especially in his death. Protecting Brann in the Great War, he died attempting to kill the Night King.
Hilariously, some of the complaints have gone further and called Arya a “Mary Sue”, a term for a character that the writers love so much that they give all sorts of gifts and no flaws. You know, like Luke Skywalker or Captain America or Sam Tarly, only men don’t generally get hit with the same accusation because they are allowed to be powerful without anyone complaining. The same term gets bandied around about Rey, for example, with these purported fans complaining that she became too powerful, too fast. But it’s particularly unfair in Arya’s case because she has witnessed endless death and violence, and trained for literally years to become an assassin. She saw her father beheaded in front of her, was separated from her entire family and took refuge in a strange land before becoming this deadly and sometimes rather creepy force. Can her own family trust her now? If there were a happy ending to this show, is there even a scenario where Arya finds peace? And what part of that bloody, violent background sounds like something a Mary Sue would survive?
Read more: Why is Arya Stark having sex in Game Of Thrones so weird?
Arya may have killed the Night King quickly, but it wasn’t easy even for a trained assassin, even one who took him unawares and posed no obvious threat. Yet none of the other characters had the skills, or that surprise factor, to make that happen, no matter how big and strong and manly they are. Like everyone else, the Night King failed to take Arya seriously, and she capitalised on that underestimation by doing what no one else could. There’s a lesson there for these men, if they’re willing to hear it. Women succeeding does not mean that feminism has given them an unfair advantage. It just means that they’ve managed to get past the men in their way