How in the World Can Anyone Say Arya Stark Is a Mary Sue?

**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:

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.

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?

(image: HBO)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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