Warning: Spoilers Ahead For Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 1
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Game of Thrones season 8 appears to be setting up a new romance between two character who haven’t seen each other in years: Arya and Gendry. The season 8 premiere was packed with big moments, from Jon Snow riding a dragon to Jon Snow finding out that he is really Aegon Targaryen. The Starks were reunited, Yara Greyjoy was rescued by Theon, the Army of the Dead has destroyed its first house in the North, and Euron finally got to bed Cersei – and those are just the most momentous scenes.
There’s little doubt that this final season is going to be an incredible rollercoaster, and that the political intrigue isn’t going to take a back seat to the battle scenes – and there’s another element to the series that is also going to be front and center: romance. Jon and Daenerys are making quite the couple (although fans will have to see how that pans out given Sam’s conversation with him), and Brienne/Tormund fans can’t wait to see their favorite not-couple return. But there’s one more potential pairing that was a pretty big deal in episode one: Arya Stark and Gendry.
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Arya and Gendry are first seen right at the start of “Winterfell”, as Arya is in the crowds of smallfolk, watching Daenerys and Jon march their army to Winterfell. Arya’s face goes through an impressive number of emotions as she sees Jon and then the Hound (who she believed was dead, after she left him wounded on a hillside several seasons ago). However, when she sees Gendry, her face breaks into an honest smile – and with Gendry now forging weapons in Arya’s home, these two are going to be seeing a lot more of each other.
In addition to Arya’s opening smile, Game of Thrones season 8, episode 1 also spent some time on the first real meeting between Arya and Gendry, when Arya comes to visit him at the forges. The scene between them is almost painfully cute, and obviously flirtatious from the first moments, when Gendry stumbles over his compliment before awkwardly landing on “you look good.” From there, the two warm up to each other a little, with Gendry referencing their previous encounters by calling her Lady Stark, and teasing her about being “just another rich girl.” Amongst all this cuteness, there is a purpose to Arya’s seeking him out – she wants him to make her a new weapon. It gives her a great reason to see him (despite, as he points out, that she already has a sword and a Valyrian steel knife), and it gives fans plenty more chances to see them together again.
This isn’t the first time that a romance between the two has been hinted at, either. When they first met, Arya was too young and scared to truly see Gendry as a romantic interest, but they have always been close. It’s also worth noting that in Game of Thrones‘ pilot episode, Robert Baratheon was trying to marry Joffrey to Sansa, saying that the Starks and Baratheons should rule the Seven Kingdoms together. “I have a son, you have a daughter. We’ll join our Houses,” Robert told Ned Stark. Turns out Joffrey wasn’t a Baratheon, but this powerful pairing – of Gendry and Arya – could still happen in the end.
Of course, just because this romance has been hinted at, it doesn’t mean it will actually happen. Fans are expecting a bloodbath at the Battle of Winterfell, and even if both Gendry and Arya survive, they would have to essentially be the only ones to do so in order to take the throne; otherwise they would have some serious opposition. It’s also not likely that they would want the throne – Gendry is happy in the background, and hasn’t pushed his claim, and Arya is so much happier in the shadows that she hid with the smallfolk when her brother returned with the Queen. Even if it doesn’t happen, however, fans can grin over the obvious flirtation, as well as the call-out to the Princess Bride, as Gendry “declares his love” for Arya in the way that Westley does to Princess Buttercup: “As you wish…” But only time will tell if these two characters end up together.
Game of Thrones season 8 airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO.
