And She Could Ride With Gendry And Be An Outlaw, Like Wenda The White Fawn In The Songs.

“… and she could ride with Gendry and be an outlaw, like Wenda the White Fawn in the songs.”

i was checking Arya and Jaqen(aegon which i am not sure but interesting) theories and i saw this and i think i need this delusional on my life for my problems :D

I have read this passage many times over the years and I didn’t notice that both, Gendry and Willows, are stand-ins for other characters here:

Gendry was the closest thing to a man grown, but it was Willow shouting all the orders, as if she were a queen in her own castle and the other children were no more than servants. - Brienne, A Feast for Crows

I mean, it’s obvious that Willow is Arya. It has been brought up many times by the readers. It’s often mentioned when people want to emphasize Arya’s leadership skills. It’s also one of the instances of the foreshadowing of Arya’s future as a queen of sorts. Some shippers also consider it a foreshadowing of Arya’s relationship with Gendry. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t noticed it before: both of them are playing someone else’s roles here. Gendry is not just being himself nor symbolizing his future. Just like Willow is not meant to be seen here just her. Gendry is the closest thing to a man and Willow is the closest thing to a queen. They are not themselves, both of them. A man is naturally Jaqen ( Aegon ) and Willow is Arya, his future queen.

It’s yet another moment of the foreshadowing of Arya’s and Jaqen’s future and yet another one that hints at her dominance over him.

Arya Stark&Willow Heddle (Little Sisters)

First we all know Willow Heddle is a character who have parallels with Arya Stark. But it’s not just paralles. If we look in detail she and her sister Jeyne and their aunt Masha both have paralles with Sansa and Catelyn. Three of them are living in an alternative universe for Arya&Sansa and Catelyn. Look at their surnames; Heddle aka needle.

I am going to focus on Arya and Willow’s paralles. I found some of them from the forums and some of them myself.

1) Willow and Gendry together look after the orphan children and before Gendry did this with Arya too. They looked after Weasel, Hot Pie and Lommy.

2) Both of them threatened with rape by Rorge with tools in their hands;

“You shut your mouth!” Arya tried to think what Syrio would have done. She drew her wooden practice sword. “Come closer,” Rorge said, “and I’ll shove that stick up your bunghole and fuck you bloody.” -ACOK Arya II

“Willow stepped out into the rain, a crossbow in her hands. The girl was shouting at the riders, but a clap of thunder rolled across the yard, drowning out her words. As it faded, Brienne heard the man in the Hound's helm say, "Loose a quarrel at me and I'll shove that crossbow up your cunt and fuck you with it.” -AFFC Brienne VII

3) Arya&Gendry paralles;

-When Brienne first saw Gendry she thought he is Renly and said;

"My lord?" she gasped. "Lord?" The boy pushed back a lock of black hair that had fallen across his eyes. "I'm just a smith."

She thought Gendry is a lord. And after that she noticed Willow’s attitude on the children;

“Gendry was the closest thing to a man grown, but it was Willow shouting all the orders, as if she were a queen in her castle and the other children were no more than servants.”

Brienne started to think if Willow could be more, if she could be a highborn lady like Arya Stark;

“Brienne wondered whether Willow might be more than she appeared. The girl was too young and too plain to be Sansa Stark, but she was of the right age to be the younger sister, and even Lady Catelyn had said that Arya lacked her sister's beauty. Brown hair, brown eyes, skinny . . . could it be? Arya Stark's hair was brown, she recalled, but Brienne was not sure of the color of her eyes. Brown and brown, was that it? Could it be that she did not die at Saltpans after all?”

And the last shot comes from Ser Hyle;

“"One day that little girl will make some man a frightful wife," Ser Hyle observed. "That poor 'prentice boy, most like."

-Willow is stobborn girl too like Arya and made polemics agaisnt Gendry(again like Arya :)

“We better be careful. I’ll go around west, see if there’s some road. There must be if you saw a wagon. You take the shore. If you need help, bark like a dog.” “That’s stupid. If I need help, I’ll shout help.” (Just an example)

“"No," said the boy smith. "Yes," said the girl Willow. They glared at one another. Then Willow stomped her foot. "They have food, Gendry. The little ones are hungry."”

But of course real Arya says “no” with him at the same time 😂;

“"NO!" Arya and Gendry both said, at the exact same instant. Hot Pie quailed a little. Arya gave Gendry a sideways look.”

BONUS;

“We have beds, though. Some featherbeds, but more are straw.”

Sooo… I feel like ranting a little bit, if you follow me you know why. I don't have the virtue of synthesis. And sorry for spelling mistakes, it's late and my English sucks.

About Gendry:

I don't understand how two friends who playfully beat and tickle each other can "look like rape". “Gendry invited Arya to a secluded place and then he pushed her to the ground” but that's not what happened. Arya is upset about the things she overheard being discussed at dinner and she goes out alone in a place she doesn't know. Gendry joins her and to distract her suggests they go and visit the forge together. He starts a conversation talking about Thoros and Robert. Considering the topic and the fact that a few chapters later he will ask to join the BWB, I think it's reasonable to assume that Gendry was pondering his decision to leave Arya and that he wanted to talk to her about it. It's only when ther is a misunderstending and Arya suggests that he goes to Riverrun and serve her brother that Gendry decides to let it go and change the subject. Secondly, it's not Gendry who pushes Arya to the ground. What happens is that Arya pushes Gendry against the anvil and when he grabs her hand, she kicks him which makes them fall both on the ground.

When Lem confronts Gendry that he tried to take advantage of her, Arya defends him against the accusation. There's no reason to believe that after spending all this time witnessing rape and abuse Arya wouldn't be able to recognize Gendry's intentions if they were less noble. Arya trusts Gendry also because he has spent so much time alone with her, but he has never taken advantage of it. The most emblematic scene is the one in which he confesses to her that he knows she's a girl. The two are alone in the forest and Arya remembers “This lot, half o' them would turn you over to the queen quick as spit for a pardon and maybe a few silvers. The other half'd do the same, only they'd rape you first. Only Gendry was different”. Furthermore, it is in fact Gendry that defends Arya from unwanted sexual advances at the Peach. Then you say “That scene had its function. Because it made Arya look like a victim of sexual abuse.”. What's kind of function is that?

About My Featherbed:

The song is about “a Targaryen prince in love with a girl from the North.”? Is it? I can vaguely understand how the Maiden of the tree can be interpreted as "from the North" because trees are linked to the religion of the Old gods, but the symbolism does not add up. The Maiden of the song wears a dress of golden leaves, while weirwood's leaves are red. Lyanna was associated with a weirwood tree, not a tree with golden leaves. The Maiden of the tree is clearly Arya, just a page before George highlights it by making her say "I look like an oak tree". (I would add that Arya is a little girl and is dressed as a green 'oak tree' in summer, while the woman in the song is a maiden and is dressed as a golden 'oak tree' in autumn).

Then I absolutely do not understand how someone can read about a Lord who wants to dress his beloved with yellow silk and a crown and think: he is clearly a Targaryen prince !!! Especially when Gendry is a Baratheon bastard who feels inadequate and the sigil of that house is a crowned stag in a yellow field. Finally, the concept of dressing the bride and making a vow to protect her recalls the foundation of house Baratheon with Orys covering Argella. What do the Targaryens have to do with all of this?

About the love triangle:

I understand the Arya-Lyanna parallels because the writer himself draws it. Gendry-Robert seem more foils than parallels. The two look alike, but where the father's hammer destroys the son's hammer builds, where Robert is friendly, greedy and lustful, Gendry is grumpy, pragmatic and green. If Robert didn't know Lyanna, Gendry instead stood by Arya at her lowest. What I don't understand is the Jaqen-Rhaegar parallelism. I guess they are both handsome and mysterious, but what do they have in common really?

At most the Hound should be parallels because he kidnaps (in this case for real) Arya and Gendry seems to be ready to beat him up as soon as he sees his helmet reappear. Edric Dayne could provide a parallel because he has Valyrian colors, makes the blacksmith jealous and Arya seems to get along with him. Or in the future the Rhaegar parallel could be Jon Snow or Aegon/Griff. But regardless of who could be the third pole of this hypothetical triangle, the dynamic is totally different, because Gendry and Arya are not two strangers socially bound by a betrothal, but two friends hindered by the difference in social class.

About the future:

The source is: “Okay so GRRM, arrived in Toronto yesterday for a book signing and unfortunately because of an exam, I was unable to attend (BOO!) so I asked my friend to ask him about Gendry and Arya's "relationship" and if they would ever reunite again. His response was that Arya and Gendry have separate futures but whether they'll ever meet up again, you'll just have to keep reading.” The statement is quoted only by one person who was not even present to hear it and they don't quote Martin's exact words. Also this answer sounds particularly spoilery by George's standards so I don't know if it's reliable. BUT I don't think it's that important.

Nothing prevents Gendry from being Arya's love interest anyway, not all the relationships we see in the books will survive the endgame, but that doesn't make them any less significant. “There won't be any baby. If Arya is going to be a mother someday, Jaqen will father her child/children.” Arya will not have a baby in story because at the end of ADOS she won't be more than 13 years old. So I'd say that whichever ship you prefer we shouldn't expect to see anything beyond hugs, holding hands and maybe a kiss.

About Jaqen:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't understand talking about Jaqen as if he were a person. We don't even know if that's his real face and since it's an FM it's probable that that's not his real name. I don't believe that man is Jaqen any more than he is the Alchemist. Also some words from the Kindly man seem to imply that the FMs must be sterile, but maybe it's just my impression.

George may have mentioned that Arya and Gendry have separate futures, but I'm pretty sure he never said anything about an Arya-Jaqen reunion.

About Jamie:

“Rosey is a foil for Arya, Pate is a foil for Jaqen and Lazy Leo is a foil for Jaime.” and “Patchface is a foil for Jaqen and Owen the Oaf is a foil for Jaime.”. I don't understand by what logic you can draw these parallels between characters, these guys have nothing in common with each other. Foreshadowing is not simply substituting one name for another and expecting this to be proof that other unrelated characters may find themselves in the same situation in the future.

I think that when discussing possible future situations the characterization of the characters as they have been constructed up to now cannot be completely ignored. Why would Jaime be in a position to tell Jaqen that he wants to rape Arya. It seems to me out of character for Jaime would seriously consider raping a girl the age of his daughter. But then, has he ever even had sex with a woman who wasn't his sister? When has he ever looked at a young girl and thought: you know what? Now I think I'm going to rape her. For heaven's sake he's certainly not a saint, but he's not the Mountain. Such an initiative goes against the characterization of Jaime as we have known him up to now.

As for “a foreshadowing of a Lannister raping Arya in the Mercy chapter from The Winds of Winter” I have another interpretation. The staged rape of Bobono (Tyrion) and Arya (innocent girl) mirrors the staged rape of Arya (Mercy) and Raff (who lies to Mercy saying he is westerosi lord).

The end. I think I said it all, I vented enough. Thanks for reading and sorry for the length. Good night!

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Robert with Rhaegar’s ghost in his nightmares