This post contains spoilers for the final season of Game of Thrones. Consider yourself warned.
From the very first episode of Game of Thrones, Arya Stark and Jon Snow have shared a special bond. Granted, we now know they aren’t actually half-siblings, but that doesn’t lessen the relationship between the two. Back then, it was Jon who recognized and nurtured Arya’s skills as a fighter, even gifting her with her first sword, Needle, before he left to join the Night’s Watch.
When Arya and Jon finally reunited in season eight, it was emotional. In last night’s penultimate episode, fans noticed the two seemed more in sync than ever—and that they both resembled Ned Stark, the man who raised them. From their hairstyles to their battle armor, they’ve never so explicitly Team Stark. Does this hint that together (perhaps with Sansa, as well), they will unite to take down Daenerys?
The half-up/half-down hairstyle was a Ned signature—and now Arya and Jon are both wearing theirs in a similar fashion.
They were also dressed similarly, to the point that some viewers found it confusing. “They really made Arya look like Jon in episode 5; same hair, clothes, shots from behind are made to look like either,” one user wrote on Twitter. “The two Northerners who care for the innocent.”
“The only people that did their jobs this season are the costume designers. Did anyone else notice that Arya and Jon have had the same clothes/hair style this season?” wrote another.
So what could this mean? Well, a few things. At face value, it’s absolutely an homage to Ned Stark, an honorable man who means the world to both Jon and Arya. It’s also a physical symbol that these two are cut from the same cloth. But the implications are deeper, as well. Jon and Arya looking similar could mean they’re destined for the same fate as Ned. “You know what would be pretty killer? If we continue with the
‘cyclical’ theme of #GameofThrones, and the final scene is the beheading of Jon Snow by a mad tyrant with Sansa and Arya being witness to it (à la Ned Stark in S1),” one fan posited—which would be devastating but actually does make sense.
We won’t know anything for sure until the Game of Thrones series finale this Sunday, but one thing is certain: Nothing is coincidence on this show. Jon and Arya’s likeminded aesthetics this season are 100 percent intentional. If their fate at the end is the same, let’s just hope it’s a positive one.