MovieChat Forums > Game of Thrones (2011) Discussion > Did Tywin know exactly whom Arya was?

Did Tywin know exactly whom Arya was?


In the brilliant exchange between them whilst discussing Robb Stark's fate, in which Lord Tywin clearly suspected the serving girl of being someone more important, but really admiring her and so never pressing the issue, Arya cunningly states that 'Anyone can be killed...'.

But did he know she was a Stark, or merely a minor noble from a Northern house?

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If he knew she was a Stark, he did not let on to it. I don't think he knew he was face to face with a Stark of Winterfell.

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He didn't know who she was. He suspected she wasn't as lowborn as she claimed to be, but he didn't know she could have been a valuable asset, or he'd have kept her locked up and guarded.

Instead, he let her wander around and then get away.

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Tywin did not know what Eddard Stark's youngest daughter looked like, he had never seen her before and had no reason to suspect that she was a Stark, for all he knew she was still in King's Landing or dead somewhere.

I am very surprised that Littlefinger did not recognize Arya though, and if he did, he kept it to himself (which is unlikely).

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I think Littlefinger knew who she was and found it highly amusing that Tywin didn't. And if Arya had killed Tywin well "chaos is a ladder".

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Tywin figured it out that Arya was not just a peasant Northern girl, but he had no clue that she was actually a Stark. He could tell by how educated she was, how well she spoke, and she slipped at let on that her father was "well read", that was from nobility. Surprising that he made no attempt to figure out which house, especially since she was obviously hiding it from everyone, to the point that she as pretending to be a boy. I wonder if it was because he liked her and she did a good job.

I believe Littlefinger DID recognize Arya. The way he looked at her makes me believe that he realized he was around a daughter of the woman he loved. Of course that begs the question of why he never said anything to Tywin about it, or reported it back to Cersei who had hired him to find Arya. Maybe he didn't want to embarrass Tywin, and by the time he could realize it, Arya was long gone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9jac7Qg9w4

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Or maybe the easier answer is that he did not recognize her and you are projecting onto the scene, and perhaps also that Dance’s Tywin actually had decency and kindness in him, which is what I believe, and was not out to exploit and torture everyone, including those who charmed and impressed him; which would be a major reason why Dance’s Tywin was a fucking GREAT antagonist. He was far more nuanced than Joffrey or Ramsey, and a shit ton smarter in every way.

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If Tywin had "decency and kindness in him" I doubt that he would have left Arya to the tender mercies of Gregor Clegane without so much as a backward glance when he departed from Harrenhal. She was his cup bearer while he was there and he found her company mildly diverting, that was all.


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