‘Game of Thrones’ S8: Everyone on Arya’s Kill List – Updated

HBO’s Game of Thrones wrapped its run with the kind of final season that left viewers rewatching earlier arcs for closure. Arya Stark’s kill list stood out as one of the show’s longest-running threads, and fans spent years tracking every name she recited. Now that the series sits complete, it’s possible to see exactly how many targets she handled herself and how many fates played out without her blade. Arya’s arc moved from single-minded revenge to a wider set of priorities, yet the list itself remained a useful scorecard for how the writers paid off (or sidestepped) long-standing debts.

Arya’s Broader Kill List Beyond the Main Targets

The original roll call stretched past the six characters who received the most screen time. Joffrey died at his own wedding feast, poisoned by others. Tywin Lannister fell to Tyrion’s crossbow. Meryn Trant met his end in Braavos when Arya posed as a young actress and used the face-changing skills she learned in the House of Black and White. Walder Frey choked on a pie baked with his own sons inside it, a direct Arya operation. Polliver died on the road when Arya reclaimed Needle. Thoros of Myr bled out from wounds sustained beyond the Wall. These deaths show the list functioned more as a running tally than a strict contract; Arya crossed names off when circumstances allowed and left others to play out on their own.

Arya’s Post-List Character Arc and Growth

After years of reciting names at night, Arya began removing targets once shared danger created new bonds. She struck the Hound from the list after their travels together and chose not to finish him when the opportunity arose. Beric Dondarrion received the same mercy after he helped protect her during the long night at Winterfell. The shift became clearest when Arya turned her attention to the Night King instead of lingering personal scores. By the final episodes she sailed west with Needle at her side, signaling that the list no longer defined her next move.

Differences Between Show and Book Kill List

The television version closed every major thread, while George R.R. Martin’s published novels leave Arya’s Faceless Men training unresolved. The books include some names the show altered or dropped, and the infamous Frey pie incident never appears on the page. Showrunners condensed timelines and removed several secondary targets to fit eight seasons, which gave Arya a clearer kill count than the still-unfolding novels allow. Readers tracking both versions note that the television list served as a checklist for dramatic payoff, whereas the book list functions as an ongoing ledger whose final entries remain unwritten.

Ser Ilyn Payne’s Unresolved Status

Payne stands apart because the series never confirmed his death or removed him from the list on screen. He last appeared in season two, and a season-four reference kept him technically alive, yet actor Wilko Johnson’s health issues led to the character being written out without further mention. No episode showed Arya locating him, and the writers never circled back to settle the debt. As a result, Payne remains the single name from the recited list whose fate stayed off-camera.

Sandor “The Hound” Clegane

How he made the Kill List: The Hound killed Arya’s friend Mycah the butcher's boy at the command of King Robert after the young ginger was falsely blamed for injuring then-Prince Joffrey – way back in simpler times, when it wasn’t common knowledge that the dead walk the earth. How he can be redeemed: First is the fanservice theory: our money is on a Robert the Strong (the reanimated corpse of The Hound’s ghastly brother The Mountain) vs. The Hound fight-to-the-death scene late in this last season. The second redemption possibility: Arya and The Hound managed to form an unholy alliance and mutual appreciation for each other on their many travels, and the Wolf may have developed some compassion for the Pup. Likelihood to die at Arya’s hand: 15%, with a margin of error there in case he does anything else to upset her. Update: Deceased by his own doing, pushing his brother and nemesis The Mountain off the side of a tower in the Red Keep. Arya removed the Hound from her list after their shared travels and spared him when the moment came.

Ser Beric Dondarrion

How he made the Kill List: Sold Arya’s crush, all-around handsome, great guy, and solid blacksmith Gendry Waters – whom he had accepted into the Brotherhood Without Banners – to Melisandre. How he can be redeemed: Dondarrion sacked up and journeyed with Jon Snow beyond the wall to capture a wight. Likelihood to die at Arya’s hand: Only 20%: Gendry survived, and in S8E2 after The Hound asked Arya “was he on your list”, she replied: “For a little while.” Update: Deceased of wounds sustained at the hands of many, many wights. Naturally, fanservice dictated because Arya showed Beric "Nine Lives" Dondarrion mercy, he had to save Arya's life delaying the wights in the forlorn stone corridors of Winterfell just long enough for her to get out and win the day in the Godswood later.

Ser Ilyn Payne

How he made the Kill List: Ilyn Payne beheaded Arya’s loyal, beloved dad, Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark. How he can be redeemed: Not a redemption as such – we’re just unsure if he’s still alive. The tongueless killer hasn’t been seen in quite a while. Likelihood to die at Arya’s hand: 100%, if he’s still around that is. Update: Character has no on-screen death; written out due to actor health issues; remains the only unresolved target from the list.

Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane (or Robert the Strong if you’re nasty)

How he made the Kill List: The Mountain is a huge asshole. He was horribly cruel to, and badly burned, his brother when they were children, and delighted in torturing & killing people at Harrenhal, where Arya was in a Lannister jail. His reanimated corpse, Robert the Strong, now protects Cersei, sin enough to get him killed. How he can be redeemed: Not a chance in hell. Likelihood to die at Arya’s hand: Only 1%: fanservice dictates our homie The Hound must end this nasty giant in an epic one-on-one brother battle. Update: Deceased (or destroyed if he was already dead) as fanservice dictated, by his brother The Hound.

Lady Melisandre, a.k.a. The Red Woman

How she made the Kill List: Melisandre bought and bound young Gendry, and bled him against his will for a magic ceremony. How she can be redeemed: No chance here: Melisandre has done all types of terrible things since we last saw her, including burning a poor young innocent kind child, Lady Shireen Baratheon, at the stake. Absolutely despicable. Likelihood to die at Arya’s hand: 99%: based on Melisandre’s insistence that she will die in Winterfell, we’re quite certain Arya will be her slayer. Update: Deceased of natural causes. Venerable Melisandre denied both Arya and Ser Davos satisfaction by leaving behind her magic youth ruby choker and succumbing to the ineluctable ravages of time. Melisandre was on the list but Arya did not kill her.

Queen Cersei Lannister

How she made the Kill List: Back in slightly happier times, Queen Cersei accused old loyal Ned Stark of treason. Her son, newly crowned psychopath King Joffrey, ended up commanding Ilyn Payne to bring him Ned’s severed head, which was added to the Red Keep as a decorative detail. (Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.) How she can be redeemed: Oh this bitch is literally the worst. Over the seasons Cersei has schemed, killed, and betrayed repeatedly. Among her many sins, she also reanimated The Mountain (Robert the Strong) after he (mostly?) died. Cersei is going down. Likelihood to die at Arya’s hand: Only 5%: Cersei has a lot of enemies, and when she was a girl, Maggie the Frog prophesied she would die being strangled by the “valonqar”, High Valyrian for “little brother”. Our money’s on her twin former lover Jaime (born moments after Cersei) for sheer poetic resonance, but Tyrion, Bran, Euron (little brother of Lord/King Balon Greyjoy) or even her own unborn fetus (little brother to Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen) could end up the culprit. Update: Deceased by cave-in. Inanimate objects as random fallout from architectural destruction make for the most resonant ends, don't they?

The completed series turned Arya’s list into a finished ledger rather than an open threat. Some names fell to her directly, others to circumstance or rival enemies, and one remains technically unsettled. The exercise still serves as a tidy map of how Game of Thrones balanced fan expectations with the messy outcomes its world demanded.