Why Arya & Gendry Aren't Meant To Be Endgame In 'Game Of Thrones' Season 8

If you're all about the younger Stark sister finally getting a fulfilling love life on Game Of Thrones, then whether or not Arya and Gendry are in love has been plaguing you for a while. Now, you might be asking yourself if Gendry and Arya, in Game of Thrones Season 8, will get together. Given that over three seasons have passed since the blacksmith rowed off into the distance, narrowly escaping being killed as a sacrifice to the Red God by Stannis Baratheon, it seems a little fishy that he's suddenly back. But, honestly, this probably has more to do with his skill as a smith than any possibility of him becoming a Stark's lover. Still, you can't blame folks for wondering, since there's definitely an argument to be made for Arydry or Gendra being endgame.

The pair always had an emotional connection. Arya tearfully told the man with the abs of steel back in Season 3 that she would be his family when the lowborn illegitimate son of King Robert Baratheon explained his poignant reason for staying on to smith for the Brotherhood Without Banners. And this line was significant because, back in 2013, Maisie Williams hinted to Rolling Stone that Arya may have feelings for Gendry. She explained that, when she was doing the scene, "director Alex Graves said 'When you say that last line, 'I can be your family,' say it like 'I love you.'' And that's the take that they used."

So, potentially, the two were always intended to be each other's intended, even way back then.

More recent interviews also imply that Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry, is eager for their characters to reunite. When the 30-year-old actor spoke to Making Game Of Thrones, he stressed that his character "senses [Arya's] a good soul." When he spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the same topic in August 2017, he said he was hoping for an Arya and Gendry reunion in Season 8 because "they seemed to get on. It was a nice banter between the two of them. It would be great to revisit that."

Still, Demspie made no bones of the fact that, given the actors' 10 year age gap, he's incredibly uncomfortable about the speculation that their characters may get it on,. "I'm acting alongside a child here," he said of his time filming Season 3. "I was a 25-year-old man." He also stressed that their emotional connection in Season 3 could be attributed to them having a sibling-like bond, arguing, "At that point in the story, Gendry really reminded her of her brothers and of home. That was the comfort with him."

And, honestly, isn't there a more obvious reason why the blacksmith is suddenly back in the picture that was set up for the audience at the end of Season 7? The real emotional connection established for Season 8 wasn't between Gendry and Arya but Gendry and Jon. On one level, this makes sense. They both believed themselves to be the lowborn illegitimate sons of important men. But couldn't this, in fact, be about supply and demand?

Let's not forget who trained the man in his career — none other than Tobho Mott, a master armorer who is an expert in working with Valyrian steel. You might know him from such hits as melting down and reworking Ned Stark's Valyrian steel greatsword Ice into two different longswords, Widow's Wail (currently Jaime Lannister's sword) and Oathkeeper (Brienne of Tarth's sword). If this is the man who trained Gendry, presumably the smith also has some of the same knowledge.

And that's important. Valyrian steel kills White Walkers, for a start, making him a useful ally to Jon when it comes to crafting swords. There's also all that dragonglass Jon has mined, the other material which can kill White Walkers. Presumably, this will be needed to be forged into swords, too.

Given the last living son of Robert Baratheon’s flawless credentials in this area, it seems more likely that he’s appeared in the nick of time to craft some powerful weapons for the King in the North and help stave off the destruction of humankind as we know it at the hands of White Walkers. And if his and Arya’s paths cross and the two get a little flirty? Well, potentially, that could just be a nice extra.