Listen, we all know the Stark children have suffered a very grim and gruesome series of unfortunate events, but none seem to be taking it in stride quite as well as Arya. Ned‘s youngest daughter is, quite frankly, way more badass than her older brothers. Jon Snow has her beat in the pouty-face department, I’ll concede, but she has taken the seeds of sword-training he gave her and turned them into some serious IDGAF body counts.
Over the course of Game of Thrones [SPOILERS], she has escaped King’s Landing, was captured while incognito, escaped, was recaptured, got *thisclose* to offing Tywin, took her capture by the Hound in stride, convinced him to further her training, got revenge for both the theft of her sword and the murder of a young compatriot in one gargling swoop, and made buddies with exactly the kind of Braavosi fellas you want on your side. She’s all of what, fourteen now? She’s become quite a master of biding her time and waiting for the perfect strike. If her blade’s name is “Needle”, then her name should be… “Time-Bider.” (No, that’s terrible. Erase that from your mind. I apologize.)
Seriously though, Arya is a pint-sized force of nature. She owes as much of her chutzpah to her Stark sensibilities as she does her pointy companion, Needle. She’s brilliant, yes, but she and her blade are a match made in Essos. The team over at Man At Arms — the impressive blacksmith series from Awe Me about recreating famous fictional weapons — has brought that blade into the real world, and it is astonishing. The thing that’s most frightening about Needle as a concept is its namesake thin design. Flat swords and broad swords can sometimes be hampered by their surface area and mass if handled wrong. Needle is a stabbing weapon though, and when it makes contact with a target, it’s going through like a bullet.
I have to give some serious respect to the guy holding the bag o’ wine in the video, because that is an exercise in trust that I would not perform with any of my friends. (I’m still choosing Needle if I have to go into Westerosi battle.)
For a look at more Game of Thrones-inspired weapons by the Man At Arms artists, here are Jamie Lannister’s sword & Jon Snow’s Longclaw:
Game of Thrones returns to HBO this Sunday, April 12th at 9PM.
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HT: Sploid/Gizmodo
