Although Game of Thrones has brought back several characters from the dead by now — Jon Snow, Sandor Clegane, Benjen Stark — one dead character has been spotted on the Season 7 set whose return to the story is truly surprising: Walder Frey. His presence has an intriguing implication on Arya Stark’s plot line going forward.
Game of Thrones fan site Watchers on the Wall has confirmed that actor David Bradley, who plays the odious Walder Frey, will return in Season 7. Considering the fact that Season 6 ended with Arya slitting his throat and smiling as she watched him bleed out, this is a surprising development.
Unlike Jon Snow, Frey is not important enough for a Red Priest to resurrect. Unlike Benjen Stark, he’s not significant enough for The Children to preserve in a half-dead state so he can help his nephew at a plot-convenient time. Unlike Sandor Clegane, he’s not beloved by fans enough to have him return because awesome guest star Ian McShane says so, damn it.
Frey does, however, have control over The Twins, a significant crossroads that is important to The North and the Riverlands. We can therefore assume that David Bradley’s presence means that Arya Stark will assume Walder Frey’s face, perhaps for the purpose of controlling the region to aid the comeback of House Stark.
Either that, or she’ll use him to lure in every relative she missed in her lurid, cannibalistic pie-baking to cement her bloody revenge for slaughtering A Girl’s family. It’s safe to say that although Season 7 will likely see her reunited with her remaining siblings at last, her Faceless Man status isn’t going anywhere.
Arya Stark kills Walder Frey
