'Game of Thrones' fans are convinced Arya is actually dead

The fifth and penultimate episode of this season of Game of Thrones aired earlier this week, and it caused a lot of debates between fans. Some said it completely ruined the show for them, some thought there was still many things to like about the episode, the detail-hungry among us found hidden secrets, while others basked in the hilarity of the memes.

One thing's for sure - Daenerys' actions in King's Landing were certainly a shock to any viewer, and her dark turn into city-toasting and civilian-roasting is sure to have some ramifications on our characters.

Here's the moment Daenerys ignored the bells of surrender and launched her attack:

One person who had a brutal and up-close look at the hell the Khaleesi brought down on the capital was Arya Stark. Much of the ending of the episode followed her as she rushed through the streets, fighting crowds to survive, trying and failing to save others from the flames.

In more than one instance, she looked like she was out for the count, digging herself out of rubble and dodging walls of flame during the attack. I don't know about you guys, but I was more than grateful when I saw that she had survived, and even more so when she stumbled across a white horse she could use to escape.

Here's the scene where she finds the horse:

However, one new theory suggests she never survived at all.

First off - one Redditor pointed out the clear similarity between the white horse at the end of the episode and another seen with the Golden Company earlier in the same episode.

Credit: 2807

Your first thought may be that this same horse survived like she did - but it seemed to be shown dying earlier in the episode. They could just be using the same horse to play both of them, but seeing as this is Game of Thrones we're talking about, they must've known we'd look into every detail.

The horse is very distinctive and is clearly highlighted in both instances - and the camera lingered to show us the defeated horse earlier in the show. But if the horse is dead, fans are considering the fact that Arya might be dead too. Given the fact a building fell on her and she woke covered in ash and blood... meeting with the dead horse from a previous scene in some form of the afterlife isn't out of the question.

Then, there's the biblical verse from Revelations, which states that Death rides a pale white horse...

 “Yeah, I’m pretty sure Arya is dead too. She got all burnt up and a building fell on her. They made a point of showing us the death of the horse and the countless deaths of Arya," one fan said. "And yet they both rise from the ashes. If this isn’t some Lord of Light shit, I’m gonna be pissed.”

“The red god brought it back for Arya," another said. "They definitely spent a long time making it seem very mystical, like divine intervention. That was definitely intentional.”

Watch the trailer for the final episode:

We do see Arya in the trailer for next week's episode, but that could mean there's some kind of reanimation in play. We have seen more than one character brought back from the dead - and who's to say Arya won't be coming back - with another name to cross off her list?