Arya Is Chicanx

Warning, this essay spills the beans on Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 3, and the history of Mexican Americans.

There has been a lot of debate about whether or not Arya Stark’s hard work at the Battle of Winterfell was earned or not. I’m tired of it.

This is yet one more clue that Arya is Chicanx.

All those White Walker zombies want to do is white wash her history.

As a Chicano, I have to come to her aid because I’m used to seeing this injustice, and well, she did save humanity with her hard work, ese.

Of course, just like The Man can’t wrap their head around a woman saving the day, they probably can’t even imagine Arya as Chicanx.

All the proof has been laid out throughout the entire series.

She had to take on fake names in order to cross the borders of empires in order to stay alive and try to get ahead. Pretty obvious.

She had to sweep floors and mop funky houses to pay for martial arts lessons. I can stop right there. That says it all. But there’s more.

Her teacher said she is no one. Yo, hermana, I feel you. When that happened, I was shouting at the screen, “Hang in there for La Raza, chica.”

She is no one. That’s deep. I’m going to write that on the 2020 Census form if the Supreme Court allows Trump’s BS question of “Are you a Citizen?” The brown one is no one.

The entire series must have been written by sociology majors who couldn’t get jobs anywhere else.

Cersei Lannister, the blonde Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, wanted to erase the Stark History just like the Right Wingers in Arizona banned Mexican American Studies. They obviously suspected that the marginalized possessed enough community cultural capital to advance and thrive to the point where they could topple the hegemonic patriarchal structure. Deep metaphor. (Guess who is still winning after Episode 5, by the way?)

And the only one who knows real history is Bran, the one the White Walkers wanted to kill. And what was Bran’s nickname: The Three-Eyed Raven just like my cousin Chuy.

And homeboy had to keep his mouth shut because the White Walkers could hack his memory, like when the FBI hacks your phone, your computer, your cable box, WikiLeaks style. So, he had to play dumb and play it cool until homegirl could swoop in for the kill. Otherwise, The White Walkers would kill or compromise the obvious hero. Sounds like all along ya needed no one to save the day.

The symbolism is potent too. Latinos are a growing population yet ya don’t see us. We are invisible. Until ya need us. So, you don’t see all the hard work we’ve been putting in and the incredible accomplishments we’ve realized.

Finally, there is the ultimate proof that Arya is Chicanx: Did you see how she handled the Catspaw? There has not been such filero dexterity since the Chicanos handling switchblades in Zoot Suit. And no, West Side Story’s implied blades don’t get the job done.

Sit down, White Walkers, no more white0washed ideas from you. You have been expunged by la mera mera Arya Stark, bad ass Chicanx.

Now, about that wall…

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Tony Diaz is a writer, activist, professor and media personality. More at TonyDiaz.net. He tweets from @Librotraficante.