This ‘Game of Thrones’ Theory About Arya and the Waif Is Basically the Next ‘Fight Club’

Characters are thrust into precarious situations all the time on Game of Thrones, but Arya Stark's latest predicament is extremely dreadful. 

A girl is on the run from the Faceless Men, who can quite literally pose as anyone and attack her on the streets of Braavos. That point was accentuated on Sunday's episode, when the Waif — posing as an old lady — approached her and stabbed her in the gut multiple times. 

All signs point to Arya surviving the conflict, and some fan theories suggest there was some trickery at play on her part. 

But what if there's an even more intricate deception at hand, reminiscent of the iconic twist in Fight Club: What if Arya Stark and the Waif are the same person?

Redditor catNamedStupidity posited the theory that Arya has a split personality that, as the user theorizes, could have been induced from the water she drank at the House of Black and White. "In a way, the Waif is no one," the user writes. "Her only mission is to kill off Arya, the inner Arya, the one who can never be one of them." 

The user adds that it would explain why, even for a Faceless Man, the Waif is seemingly all-knowing when it comes to Arya's storyline. She is always present when Arya makes a mistake, such as when she refused to kill the actress Lady Crane. 

Beyond that, it would also make sense as to why the Waif is so good at guessing whether or not Arya is lying — she always gets it right. Arya was even able to deceive Jaqen H'ghar in season five, when she lied about why she didn't kill the Thin Man. Arya was really pursuing Ser Meryn Trant, eventually killing him instead. Therefore, she's demonstrated she's adept enough at deceiving a Faceless Man. 

It could further explain smaller moments in the season, like when a then-blind Arya trains with the Waif on the street, before she promptly disappears from sight. 

Moreover, the twist would provide some context for the title of the next Game of Thrones episode, "No One." As another Reddit user, _JeRM, commented on the thread, the show could create the illusion that Arya is murdered by the Waif, but later we find out it was a symbolic death of her identity as Arya Stark. As the Waif — but still Arya in appearance — she truly becomes, as the title stipulates, "No One." 

It's a fascinating theory, albeit one that still has some holes. We never see Arya drink water in the House of Black and White prior to this season, when her blindness is cured. Per catNamedStupidity's suggestion that the water helped form the concept of the Waif in her mind, it wouldn't make sense, as she had already interacted with the character on several occasions. 

Regardless, Arya's storyline and the ever-confusing, oft-magical devices of the Faceless Men leave this theory somewhat plausible, until we're given concrete evidence to the contrary. Really, for comparison's sake, it wouldn't be any stranger than the scene that induced Arya's blindness, when Jaqen seemingly poisons himself, only for it to be a mind-blowing fake-out. 

Ultimately, Arya's conflict with the Waif should be resolved by the end of the next episode, and it would be highly unlikely for Arya to die at this point in the series — unless it's a symbolic one. 

Read more: 'Game of Thrones' Fans Are Freaking Out Over This Mindblowing Screenshot