The 'Arya Challenge' Is the Best Game of Thrones Phenomenon in the Realm
Warning: This story contains spoilers for Game of Thrones.
The “Arya challenge” has arrived — courtesy of the fierce warrior Arya Stark’s heroics as she drove her Valyrian steel blade into the Night King to kill him in the most explosive moment of Sunday night’s “The Long Night” Game of Thrones episode.
As if saving the day in the godswood with her quick handiwork thanks to her years of combat training wasn’t enough, now the Stark assassin (Masie Williams) has mere mortal fans moving as “quick as a snake, quiet as a shadow.”
People are getting in on the worthy hero’s weapon-passing trickery with videos naturally captioned with the hashtags “#aryachallenge” and “#nottoday,” echoing Melisandre’s callback to the words of Arya’s first teacher: “What do we say to the god of death? Not today.”
The challenge has become a hit online, with people mimicking Arya’s slight of hand with the relic by dropping things like keys, a remote control and a carrot from one hand into another and then stabbing the air.
See below for the best takes on the true champion:
The Arya challenge with a microphone
“Who taught you how to do that?” “No one.” @GameOfThrones @FOXLA #AryaChallenge pic.twitter.com/2aBBe1FzHB
— Pablo Alsina (@PabloAlsina) May 2, 2019
The Arya challenge with an umbrella
i overreacted. now my phone broke😑 #Aryachallenge #GameofThrones #AryaStark pic.twitter.com/VziZtC5giS
— eros (@rchmnds) May 1, 2019
#Aryachallenge #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/ydoJZkM9Pe
— Avi Wechsler (@AviWechsler) April 29, 2019
The Arya challenge with a remote control
Episode 3 spoiler without content #GameofThrones #BattleOfWinterfell#AryaChallenge pic.twitter.com/G9zi3saidZ
— Bra Quame (@Osuane) April 29, 2019
The Arya challenge with a mug
#notoday #AryaStark #AryaChallenge #AryaKillsNightKing #AryaForTheWin Happy Morning ...and what do we all say to stress “ Not Today “ #GOT pic.twitter.com/FxYA7fYc4f
— Amit K Nanchahal🦖 (@thecorpcommguy) May 2, 2019
The Arya challenge with young warriors
My daughter doing the #AryaChallenge pic.twitter.com/H2m47Pdlkj
— Carl Hooker (@mrhooker) May 2, 2019
The Arya challenge with fruit
#GameofThrones #Aryachallenge pic.twitter.com/VeFp3rgghR
— Phenomen79 (@phenomen79) May 1, 2019
The Arya challenge with vegetables
*Spoiler Alert*
Arya’s Night King moment simplified with a Carrot ✅ pic.twitter.com/tBZyeNnit7— Ben Langley (@BenLangley) May 1, 2019
Of course, fans recognized the move from when she was sparring with Brienne the Tarth in Winterfell in season 7:
Arya a toujours été douée avec le maniement du couteau 👏
Crédits : https://t.co/VUCuRylCEa pic.twitter.com/iChsKUWPpJ— Creapills 💊 (@creapills) May 1, 2019