**Spoilers for last night’s Game of Thrones!**
Time for me to rear my ugly head in this conversation and start screaming at people, because the gross consensus after the latest episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones is that Arya Stark, a woman who dedicated her life to combat training, is now a Mary Sue. After she ended up defeating the Night King by stabbing him with dragonglass, men are mad that a woman did it instead of their precious Jon Snow.
Look, do you know how many fictional men are just good at everything and no one questions it? Going down the “Stark” line, you can argue that Tony Stark is then a Mary Sue, because he’s super smart, really good at being a superhero, funny, and his downfall is that he’s snarky? But no one would dare suggest that, because he has a penis.
The definition of a Mary Sue, according to Urban Dictionary, is as follows:
“A Mary Sue is an original character (oc) and has no flaws. Of course the author of this oc will say ‘they are clumsy’ or ‘they are not very good at maths’ or whatever. They will most probably have a power or an evil twin/ dark side. They also might have an impossible bloodline. Such as a half werewolf or half fairy.”
So, how does that fit with Arya Stark? As we’ve seen from the first season of Game of Thrones, Arya has constantly been training for this moment. She learned how to use Needle properly, studying while in King’s Landing with Sansa and their father. When she escaped after Joffrey beheaded Ned, she continued to train with the Hound until she went to train with the Faceless Men. Failing time and time again whilst there, finally, Arya has succeeded in becoming the warrior she always wanted to be while she was growing up.
It doesn’t fit at all, but that’s never stopped anyone before. We’ve heard this “Mary Sue” accusation lobbed at many female characters over the years while male characters continually get a pass. Star Wars’ Rey comes to mind, and honestly, there are way too many people in this conversation coming to Arya’s defense while trashing Rey. It’s such a common problem that Maisie Williams herself was worried about how fans would react to a moment that’s an excellent payoff of a years-long character arc:
This is really sad and so indicative of how we treat female characters/actresses. #GameofThrones https://t.co/JcXMTvbwrJ
— Swapna Krishna (@skrishna) April 29, 2019
On Twitter, it’s more than clear that men were showing their true colors in regards to Arya being the one to defeat the Night King.
The number of men young and old TRULY showing themselves in their reactions to last night’s #GameOfThrones episode.
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) April 29, 2019
Honestly, if anyone on this show is a Mary Sue, it’s Jon Snow—a man who has little training who is the greatest of warriors and can constantly succeed in battle?
A Mary Sue, Arya Stark is not. So men, take a seat, breathe deep, and reexamine yourself if you have such a problem with a woman being the one to defeat the Night King.
Also, Maisie Williams, what is your boyfriend doing?
break up with him https://t.co/xAVdx3k1Ct
— doreen st. félix (@dstfelix) April 29, 2019
(image: HBO)
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