Does This Photo Prove Arya Stark Really Is Going To Kill An Ice Dragon On Thrones?

Going into Sunday’s landmark Game of Thrones episode, the secretly titled “Game of Thrones 70,” there are many questions. Most of them have to do with which beloved character will suffer a painful death at the hands of the Night King (Vladimir Furdik) and his army during the imminent Battle of Winterfell. However, fan-favourite Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) has created a flurry of speculation around herself thanks to her brand-new weapon, fashioned by new boy toy Gendry (Joe Dempsie).

From the jump, fans hoped the fancy new spear-like gadget was created with the goal of bringing down the Night King’s recently acquired stead, ice dragon Viserion. The dragon's death would eliminate the Night King's most dangerous supernatural asset. Now, one brand-new photo from “Thrones 70,” proves Arya is one step closer to making fans' Battle of Winterfell dreams a reality.

In the just-released image, Arya is standing on the ramparts of Winterfell as the Army of the Dead approaches, holding her double-sided dragonglass lance (we get a quick full look in the second episode of the season, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"). We could pretend this placement is meaningless or by happenstance, but nothing about the battle — that’s literally for the survival of all mankind — is an accident. Team Stark-Targaryen is building fire moats and setting Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright)-themed bait. This is not a game. So, if Arya is up on the ramparts, the highest place possible in Winterfell, it’s for a purpose.

What if the reason is that the area is the best spot possible for throwing perfectly made dragonglass spears at ice dragons? It’s not like the Westerosi haven’t tried using projectiles to bring down dragons before. Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) had an entire scorpion made in preparation for Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) conquest of Westeros. Preparing a master weapons woman like Arya — who spends a suspicious amount of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” showing off her aim — to throw one perfect shot at Viserion isn’t out of the question.

There’s little else she can do with her Gendry-crafted weapon specifically from the ramparts that wouldn’t work better closer to the ground. That is unless it’s Arya's job to fight up. After all, considering the fantastic sword work she unveiled during her season 7 sparring practice with Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) in “Spoils of War,” everyone knows Arya would be well-suited to on-the-ground, sword-to-sword combat with the Night King’s army. In fact, Brienne would probably try to draft Arya to her squad in the vanguard if Winterfell's deadliest daughter was particularly needed elsewhere.

When Arya isn’t trying to take down a wintery supernatural behemoth flying through the Northern skies, she’ll be able to fight like a regular person. Especially since her lance is reminiscent of the weapon Arya learned to use best: the massive wooden staffs at the House of Black and White. If Arya could beat the stuffing out of the Waif (Faye Marsay) blind, terrified, and with a boring old pointy-end-free staff during season 6, imagine what she could do now.

The only chink in this theory's armour for now is whether the Night King himself is even showing up to the Battle of Winterfell. As we see in “Seven Kingdoms,” the Night King’s apparent generals are on the front lines, rather than the ruler himself. Promos have yet to show him, or Viserion swooping in battle, while Dany has definitely been spotted swooping into the fight on Drogon. Maybe the Night King heard about Arya Stark and decided to sit this one out?