#you don't have to be a certified teacher to know that's a horrible method that's not going to produce results

[fromtheseventhhell]

Saw a Sansa fan say this about Arya when ranting about how unfair it is how everyone is treating Septa Mordane. "Ned gave her the impossible task of making a lady out of Arya, but he indulges his daughter when she rolls on mud or behaves in a socially unacceptable way. So Arya obviously doesn’t listen to Septa Mordane (or Catelyn, for that matter) when she tries to correct her behavior. Why would she? Septa Mordane’s power comes from Ned, and with his behavior he’s taking away her authority to establish rules and to enforce discipline". They just want to completely ignore the fact that Septa Mordane bullied Arya to the point of tears, attempting to embarrass her in front of Myrcella.

The "Septa Mordane was trying her best" takes are always hilarious because they always ignore the context of the situation. They act like she was some poor, frazzled old woman who was at her wit's end when it came to dealing with Arya.

First, nowhere is it that Arya routinely disregards Septa Mordane. I know people have this idea that Arya was just running around Winterfell doing whatever she wanted, but it's clear she was subject to very structured learning practices. The two major examples of her disobeying Septa Mordane are both under uncommon circumstances. If Arya was truly so disobedient and never faced consequences for her actions, then she wouldn't have been in her sewing lesson and attempting her work in the first place. Instead, she is working on her lesson without issue until the moment when Mordane remarks negatively on her work and embarrasses her to the point of tears. Arya's remark that she's going to "shoe a horse" is in response to Mordae telling her she has the hands of a Blacksmith, so it's obvious that her insulting Arya's work and making an example of her was a fairly common occurrence. She also uses her as a measure of bad behavior; she tells Sansa that she is "as willful as Arya" when she's behaving "improperly" and Sansa internalizes this + later thinks she felt as "wicked as Arya".

The second time is when Arya leaves a meal without permission. The lack of empathy for Arya is just so blatant because moment's before we have Arya's internal monologue of mourning her friend's death and thinking she doesn't feel safe among her father's men like she used to. All of this gets ignored and this moment is reduced to Arya being difficult. This person used Ned's quote about Septa Mordane turning Arya into a Lady but apparently, they neglected to read the entire conversation.

"I wasn't playing," Arya insisted. "I hate Septa Mordane." "That's enough." Her father's voice was curt and hard. "The septa is doing no more than is her duty, though gods know you have made it a struggle for the poor woman. Your mother and I have charged her with the impossible task of making you a lady."

This moment that they quoted is Ned doing exactly what he, supposedly, never does and supporting Septa Mordane + disciplining Arya. This entire conversation between the two is Ned telling Arya that she has to grow out of her wild behavior and listen to her teacher. And the only reason that they're having that conversation in the first place is because she went and told Ned of Arya's behavior. So I'm really lost on this logic. There is not a single moment in the story where Septa Mordane is undermined by either Ned or Cat. She has their support in both instances of Arya disobeying her. She isn't even ever faulted for Arya's lack of progress. She is allowed to be incompetent at her job with full authority. So I guess??? Ned and Cat were just never supposed to be nice to Arya or allow her to have fun??? I'm not sure what their idea of Ned "properly" supporting Septa Mordane looks like since we already have that in the story.

Septa Mordane as a teacher, and an adult, has authority over Arya. Whether or not her every word is being directly enforced by either Ned or Cat, that power dynamic still exists. And again, both times that Arya disobeys Septa Mordane she faces consequences. I'm not sure how Arya playing on the way to KL is an example since literally nobody but Sansa remarks on such as an issue, but it's obvious this person is just in the camp of "Arya's behavior is unacceptable". That's why they want her to be constantly corrected by everybody and think it's a failure on Ned's part that he *checks notes* allows his daughter to have fun while they're on a very long and tedious journey. I'm sure this person was also upset when Ned comforted Arya after her emotional outburst. As for Septa Mordane's abilities as a teacher, I think the fact that we never actually witness her teaching anything says it all.