Warning: This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8.
Update: Now that Game of Thrones is officially over, most of the characters are either 1) dead, 2) ruling a piece of the Seven Kingdoms, or, in Arya Stark's case, 3) sailing west of Westeros. With Arya's newest adventure comes a new hairstyle — one that doesn't have anything to do with her father, Ned Stark. But don't cry that Arya's Eddard-inspired half-up bun is gone for good; smile because David Benioff and D. B. Weiss let it happen at all.
After all, Game of Thrones history tells us that hair evolutions often correlate with major plot changes for characters, and Arya wasn't the only one to get a new look — so did her siblings, Sansa Stark and Jon Snow. There's no telling how the Stark children's futures will unfold now that the credits have rolled, but based on their new looks, we're hopeful that the only way to go is up.
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Update (May 13, 2019): Five episodes later and the only place Game of Thrones has caused a bigger firestorm than in King's Landing is on Twitter. Even after Cersei sentimental death, the wildfire's unlikely reappearance, and the Clegane Brother Bowl, the one moment from the series' penultimate episode people can't stop talking about is the uncanny resemblance between Arya and Jon Snow. (Yes, still.)
Read ahead to check out how Twitter is reacting and what their matching hairstyles really mean.
This story was originally published on April 15, 2019.
Between Jon Snow (Kit Harington) learning his true identity and Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) locking eyes with the alive-and-well Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), last night's Game of Thrones season 8 premiere was as dramatic as it was straight-up awkward. The hour-long episode was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, but fans can at least rest easy (for now) knowing that the surviving Stark children have been reunited back home in Winterfell.
Still, it's not just their togetherness that's giving us flashbacks to happier times in the North: It's the way they're wearing their hair, too. With her new half-up hairstyle, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is giving us serious Jon Snow vibes — a look they can both trace back to the man who raised them, Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark.
i just want everyone to know that arya wearing her hair like eddard stark is one of my favorite little nothing details ever.
— fooler initiative (@metroadlib) April 15, 2019
Arya's emotional growth has been mirrored by her physical evolution over the course of the series. In season one, she was just a young lady of noble blood, wearing braids and practicing needlework — much to her chagrin. Eventually, she cut off most of her hair into a boyish haircut to hide her identity while on the run from the Lannisters. Now, she's a hardened assassin who prefers to keep her hair out of her face, just like her late father did. Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), meanwhile, has had her half-up twists compared to both her mother Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey).
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They really made Arya look like Jon in episode 5; same hair, clothes, shots from behind are made to look like either.. The two northerners who care for the innocent #GOT8x05
— Anya Rasaiah (@anyarasaiah) May 13, 2019
Honestly my favorite thing about the show that nobody talks about is the fact that Jon and Arya do their hair the same way Ned did ??? pic.twitter.com/U2q5okUjq3
— Oscar Lazaro ? (@OrganicOscarin) May 13, 2019
#GoT The only ppl that did their jobs this season is the costume designers. Did anyone else notice that Arya and Jon have had the same clothes/hair style this season?
— Raychel (@Snorrtle) May 13, 2019
Unsurprisingly, Arya and Sansa's resemblance to their parents is more than a coincidence: A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin even referenced it in the books, which one fan quoted in a tweet. "She had Ned's long face and brown hair," Martin wrote of Arya. Now that she's mimicking his signature hairstyle, too, the likeness is even stronger.
"sansa was a lady, so courteous and eager to please. men would say she had my look, but she will grow into a woman far more beautiful than i ever was"
— ellie (@odairannies) April 13, 2019
"arya was a trial. forbid her anything and it became her heart's desire. she had ned's long face and brown hair" pic.twitter.com/nJ3S4w8u4q
We don’t know what season eight holds for Arya and her new updo — but looking this much like her father while taking down Cersei Lannister, the woman responsible for his death, would be our idea of poetic justice.