Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Arya has a rough time on Sunday night's Game of Thrones episode. After she fails to murder Lady Crane, Jaqen gives the Waif the "okay" to kill Arya. The Waif approaches Arya on a bridge, disguised as an old lady, and stabs her repeatedly in the abdomen. Arya jumps into the river, the Waif presumes her dead, and Arya emerges from the water moments later — alive but bleeding to death. Shit. Except, what if that's not the whole story?
As usual, the superfans of Reddit have posited some wild but plausible theories. And this one is crazy cool. One Redditor put forth the idea that Arya and the Waif are actually one person. The theory suggests that Arya is suffering from some sort of dissociative identity disorder, and the inner war between her two selves is playing out between the Waif and Arya in real life. Arya, as we know and see her, represents the "old Arya," who struggles with becoming nameless and faceless. And the Waif embodies the part of her that wants to kill off her true self and become a new person — nobody. All those brutal training sessions? Those are Arya's two selves battling it out.
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The Redditor points out a few interesting bits that, strung together, make an interesting if not airtight case.
When Arya first arrives at the House of Black and White, the Faceless Man has her drink some of that mysterious water. What if it caused the split to occur?
The Faceless Man prefers to speak to only Arya or the Waif at one time, not both.
The Waif clearly hates Arya. She seems jealous of her relationship with Jaqen and has been gunning to get rid of her since day one.
The Waif seems to always know of Arya's whereabouts and her inner doubts.
As far as we can tell, it's possible that the Faceless Man and Arya are the only ones who can even see the Waif. She doesn't seem to interact with other people.
As out there as this theory sounds, it's not the only insane Arya theory circulating right now. Some people are speculating that it's not even Arya who gets stabbed — but the Waif or the Faceless Man. Now that would be nuts.
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