Game of Thrones fans have been talking about the similarities between Arya Stark (played by Maisie Williams) and Lyanna Stark (Cordelia Hill/Aisling Franciosi) since the latter started appearing in GoT season six. Lyanna and Arya are both part of the Stark family tree, which is one of the most important family histories to Game of Thrones. HBO and Sky Atlantic viewers will find out more about how Arya and Lyanna are related and how they are similar when Game of Thrones season eight starts in April.
How are Arya and Lyanna Stark related?
Arya Stark is the niece of Lyanna Stark, meaning that Lyanna is Arya’s aunt.
Lyanna is the youngest sister of Arya’s father Eddard Stark (Sean Bean).
This makes her the aunt of not just Arya but Sansa (Sophie Turner), Brandon (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), Rickon Stark (Art Parkinson) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
The character has so far been seen as a child and adult in flashbacks in Game of Thrones seasons six and seven.
However, in the series, Arya never met her aunt before she died at the age of 16.
We have, however, seen her tomb in the crypt of Winterfell.
In Game of Thrones flashback sequences, we have also seen Eddard and Lyanna’s father Rickard (Wayne Foskett).
However, we have not yet seen their mother Lyarra in the show yet.
How are Arya and Lyanna similar?
The Game of Thrones books offer a number of ways in which Arya and Lyanna are similar.
Ned Stark regularly compares his tomboyish daughter Arya to her aunt, who like Arya wanted to carry a sword.
For example, in the first book, he says: “You have a wildness in you, child. ‘The wolf blood,’ my father used to call it. Lyanna had a touch of it.”
He later adds: “Lyanna might have carried a sword, if my lord father had allowed it.
“You remind me of her sometimes. You even look like her.”
In A Storm of Swords, a member of the Stark household guard tells Arya: “You ride like a northman, milady. Your aunt was the same.”
Fans have also noted a number of similarities between the two in the series of Game of Thrones.
Writing in a Game of Thrones forum, one fan said: “Lyanna is somewhat an intersection between the wild Arya and the ladylike Sansa.”
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