Somewhere in the show (I believe in the end of season 6 when Arya is about to leave the house of black and white) somebody asked Arya where she will go. I don't remember Arya's exact response, but I think it went something like this:

I am going West

Westeros is in the West.

What is West of Westeros?

However, nothing was ever mentioned again about this so far. Is it still plausible that Arya will follow this storyline? If not, what is the most likely reason this conversation was included in the show? Was it because Arya was undecided about what to do? Was it because the writers were undecided about what to do with Arya? Or was it just a tease from the beginning?

  • 3
    Is it not like "Are you going back to Westeros?", "I am going west.", "Westeros is in the west." i.e. a smart comment so she doesn't actually have to say where. Aug 14, 2017 at 10:11
  • @TheLethalCoder I don't remember the full conversation, but I do stringently remember the quote "What's West of Westeros?" Do you happen to remember when in the show it took place? Is it when Arya leaving the house of black and white like I thought?
    – Ovi
    Aug 14, 2017 at 11:29
  • I have no idea, that's just what reading the above sounded like. If I knew more I'd post an answer but I do not. Aug 14, 2017 at 11:31

2 Answers 2


Well, for one thing, she thought her home was gone to her, forever, her family dead or scattered. She only went back to Westeros because she wanted to use her knew-found skills to trim a few names from her "list" that were important enough for her to put any other thoughts or plans on hold.

Her progression in season 7 -

Killed Walder Frey, then wiped out his entire family, then was heading to King's Landing to kill Cersei

Then she runs into Hotpie who ponders about her not going to Winterfell. Arya replies there's nothing for her there because the Boltons hold it, and Hotpie fills her in on Jon and Sansa taking it back.

Where, before, she was going to wander about and explore because Westeros brought her misery and she had nothing to hold her there, she finds out that she has family and a home that she thought she had lost.

We don't hear or see more about her intending to "walk the earth" (Pulp Fiction reference) because the situation has changed from when she first considered that possibility.

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    Winterhell* ;) - Hotpie
    – benhameen
    Aug 14, 2017 at 21:06

This happens after Arya is attacked and stabbed by Waif but survives. Actress Lady Crane takes care of her and invites Arya to join their theater group. Arya refuses and Lady Crane asks her where will she go.

Arya: Essos is east and Westeros is west. But what's west of Westeros?

Lady Crane: I don't know.

Arya: Nobody does. It's where all the maps stop.

Lady Crane: The edge of the world, maybe.

Arya: I'd like to see that.

Basically, since we don't know anything from the show that Arya, or anyone for that matter, has any reason to suspect that there is anything west of Westeros, it is most likely that she just talks about going away and far, but likes the idea of venturing into unknown. Once she decides she is Arya Stark, she is going back to Westeros and to her list so this is forgotten. But in the moment of that conversation, she is nowhere safe, nobody is safe with her, she could run further east but west of Westeros is where nobody would look for her and it may sound exotic. There is no reason for her to actually tries to get a ship and crew and go on futile exploring journey simply leaving everything behined once she is confident enough not to run from faceless men.

From the books you can learn that Essos goes a lot further east, and is not unkown only it is too far away to consider. There are cities and populated areas... some members of various families are said to have gone in that direction, maybe even wild dragons may still exist. It goes on very far but there are contacts and informations about the lands there. South of Essos is huge landmass, much much bigger than known world and largely unexplored, full of wild tribes and fantastic creatures. There is no separate landmass to the north. although Westeros goes long way north covered in ice and snow (Land of Always Winter) and is unexplored even by the Ice-river clans or Thenns. It is huge frozen land and presumably where Others come from. There somewhere is where Night King's chased Night girls for thousands of years.

West of Westeros is just nothing, maps doesn't show. That should imply large body of water since it is unlikely that nobody tried sailing in that direction, just that there was nothing to map.

So if anything was implied with that line, it is a game of producers/writer, not of Arya as character. Arya would more likely just contemplate where could she possible hide from faceless men and it was witty to say.

If something might happen at that part of the world, it can be one of two things:

  1. Some land mass is found by someone with something improtant like super high-tech flamethrowers and napalm bombs and aeroplanes that will help in fight against the dead. Or the Tolkien's Middle Earth. Or three-brested women that Littlefinger will kidnapp for new brothels. In other words, highly unlikely.

  2. The Land of Always Winter actually is not exactly to the north of Wall and Westeros, but to the north-west and is not exactly clear how it goes further from there. So if that was a writer's hint, perhaps a group of heroes would have to travel far north and west to find some secret or to backstab the Night-King.

  • Al Bundy: "Women should have three breasts. Two in the front and one in the back for slow-dancing." Aug 14, 2017 at 15:16

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