Invincible Arya illustrates just how ridiculous Game of Thrones has become

Where the writers went wrong in the show's final season

Arya in Game of Thrones.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Helen Sloan/HBO, iStock/noLimit46)

Way back in Game of Thrones' sixth season, I first began to wonder if Arya Stark had gotten too powerful for the show's own good. A longtime fan favorite and the eponym for hundreds of babies around the world, Arya was becoming something of a living embodiment of her late swordmaster's response to the God of Death, dishing out revenge to Walder Frey in the season finale after having cheated the House of Black and White out of another face for its collection.

By season eight, though, Arya has become basically unstoppable, if not downright invincible. In Sunday night's episode, "The Bells," her escape from King's Landing reached such ridiculous heights that it's clear she has become the Game of Thrones writers' preferred get-out-of-jail-free card.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.