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Yes, Arya Stark is a ‘Mary Sue’ character … so long as we agree on the definition of Mary Sue …
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for ‘Game of Thrones.’
I read comments in more than a few places that rang an old trope I’ve heard since The Force Awakens; that a particular female character is nothing more than a ‘Mary Sue’ type. I don’t know what this definition even means anymore, although context gives me some clues.
In the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Arya Stark (master assassin) kills the Night King, the existential baddy that represents the true war the people of Westeros need to fight. In response to this, I’ve read complaints from people about this moment, ranging from a ‘lack of foreshadowing’ to making Arya a perfect and powerful ‘Mary Sue’ type character.
I spent the last few months rewatching the show since the beginning, so for me at least, the episode was an entirely different experience.
If we focus just on Arya’s story, of everything we see happen to her, it’s an emotional journey of a misunderstood girl who suffers, over and over, to become the powerful, self-assured person we see in that episode. Arya suffers all through every season of Game of Thrones, starting with the small trouble of a family who doesn’t understand her, then escalating to the murder of her father, living…