#also im in my richard iii era so thats not helping either

[gendrie]

obsessed with arya being in a play about tyrion's (alleged) misdeeds and watching from backstage while he delivers his villainous richard iii esque speech. arya mouths the words with him thinking the lines are better than the ones shes been given.

its so much fun.

arya is demanding to be a part of the narrative. in the play she is given a minor role as tyrion's victim. she is portraying a character who only gets to say "oh no" her role is to be victimized. she has no agency. but then arya literally skips out from backstage to do a little sabotage that will have major ramifications bc she was also playing mercy - another victim. but arya is the main character.

also arya is relating her own actions to tyrion's character here. his reputation at this point is monstrous. through no fault of his own tyrion is disabled and that alone would be enough to see him villainized. but he has done bad things too. that doesnt scare arya. her own actions (assassination lol) in this chapter are dark as she herself recognizes. currently the tyrion in the play, the real tyrion and arya all seek to do harm to the lannisters.

arya banters with the actor playing tyrion too. he teases her and she gives it right back to him. at the end of the chapter arya reflects that she will even miss him. she is more authentically arya when interacting with bobono than any other character in the chapter - until she kills raff. it has interesting implications for her and the real tyrion's dynamic.

and i think the theater element in general is interesting. songs are the popular form of entertainment in westeros and they're highly idealized narratives. mostly, they make things prettier. plays are dramatized. tyrion is turned into a blood drinking monster who makes deals with the devil to destroy his own family. theres elements of the truth but its exaggerated. political theater is a recurring element in asoiaf too. outside of 'the bloody hand' performance thats exactly what arya is doing as she stages a crime scene for braavos' power players to manipulate the fight for the iron throne