Arya's White Horse Is Significant For Dany's Final Fate on 'Game of Thrones'
Warning: This post is dark and full of Game of Thrones spoilers.
Game of Thrones newest episode, might have left fans disappointed, but there was one standout moment at the end of the episode that could provide a big (and possibly hopeful) clue about how this series will end. “The Bells” made it clear Daenerys will have to deal with the consequences of burning Kings Landing to the ground and exposing herself as a true villain to Jon Snow and Tyrion, the last people that were loyal to her. The episode’s final scene shows Arya getting on a white horse, and while the moment may seem minimal, it actually provides a big clue about how Daenerys will face her choices and possibly even die.
The scene shows Arya, who has tried to save some of the King’s Landing civilians but failed miserably, waking up in the ruins of the city. As she surveys the destruction that has been done at the hands of Dany and her dragon, Drogon, she sees a white horse in the middle of the street. Everyone is dead but this horse has survived. And although it’s covered in blood, it’s clear that it is a white horse: a gleaming symbol of hope amidst all of the chaos, death and sadness. Arya approaches the horse, calms it and the rides out of the city on its back.
Where is Arya going? Still unclear. But what is clear right now is that she is more determined than ever to hold the person who caused all of this death responsible: Dany.
All the name are crossed off of Arya’s list at this point, but she is still driven by the need for revenge. As Refinery29 reminds us, Arya watched so many innocent people get killed as Drogon unleashed fire and fury onto the city. She tried to save King’s Landing citizens Nora and Nora’s daughter, a character pair we followed throughout “The Bells” as they tried to get somewhere safe during the battle. But Nora and her daughter died in the line of fire and Arya was left to discover their burnt bodies.
The white horse is a reminder of the ominous words of Quaithe, a character Dany and GoT viewers met in season two. At the time, Quaithe hinted at all of the threats to Dany’s safety through the use of animal imagery. In that description, Quaithe makes mention of a pale mare (a.k.a. a white horse):
“The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun’s son and the mummer’s dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.”
Ostensibly fueled by the needless killing of innocents, Arya will be ready to kill Dany. Before, Dany posed a threat to Arya’s family and their well-being. Now, in addition to that evident threat, Dany is clearly a danger to Westeros as a whole. In this way, Arya mounting a white horse feels reminiscent of the Bible’s book of Revelations 6:8, which says, “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.”
With all this in mind, the signs point to Dany soon getting into harms way at the hands of Arya. Prepare yourself, folks, the finale episode of GoT is about to get intense.