From the beginning, the great mystery of Game of Thrones has been who will win the Iron Throne. But, going into the series finale, we already know who won this game: It’s Arya Stark—the hero of the Battle of Winterfell, who slayed the Night King.

Looking back, it’s clear that from the moment her brother Jon Snow gifted her Needle, Arya has been on a hero’s journey. She’s dreamed of a life of adventure and battle. But, as she's pursued that dream from Braavos and back to Westeros, Arya has accepted whatever fate comes with a life in battle. Even if that means death.

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When it seemed this season like the living would fall to the reanimated army of dead, Arya, willing to risk her life, went head-to-head with the Night King. When he grabbed her by the throat, she dropped her knife to her free hand, and stabbed him through his heart with Dragonglass—right where the Children of the Forest created him.

Arya has never been on a quest for the Iron Throne—killing the Night King was her version of winning it all. She’s spent her days avenging the deaths of her relatives, reading a list of her enemies to herself every night before she fell asleep. Her goal has always been to defend her family's honor. And she achieved it.

We saw in Episode Five, the Hound profoundly says to Arya, “You don’t want to be like me,” before he sets out to kill his own brother. You see the realization spread across Arya’s face as she recognizes that she doesn’t want to lead a live only driven by revenge. As she sees the destruction Daenerys Targaryen brings to King’s Landing, Arya is disturbed and determined to save as many people as she can. It’s a noted shift in her motivation—and it foreshadows a will to survive which will help her make it through the final episode alive.

Arya's preparation for the great battle has been years in the making. After she learns to use her sword with Syrio Forel, Arya’s father is brutally murdered. The swordsmanship quickly turns from a fun hobby to a survival tactic. And seeing her dad beheaded launched Arya on a quest for revenge.

Arya escapes King's Landing—cutting off her hair to pose as a boy—and heads off alone into the dangerous world of Westeros. It's a brutal place for anyone, and specifically for a child whose family is wanted by the king. But, Arya survives, she spends years away from her family in the clutches of some of the most vile, dangerous people in the realm, and she learns what it takes to keep your head in a place like this.

This journey takes her from the clutches of the Lannisters to being kidnapped by the Hound and eventually to The Twins where her family is massacred at the Red Wedding. From there, her decision is made: She will do whatever it takes to avenge her family.

The Faceless Man is Arya Stark’s most important mentor.

In Season Five, Arya travels to Braavos, where she tracks down Jaqen H'ghar, who is a mysterious assassin of the Faceless Men. Jaqen tells Arya she must give up the Stark name to truly become “no one,” like him. This is Arya’s greatest temptation: abandoning her family’s name to become an assassin. If she does it, she will be able to easily make it through her list of enemies she’s vowed to kill. But would getting revenge from those who’ve wronged her family mean the same thing if she’s not a Stark?

She tries to have it both ways, stealing a face from the Hall of Faces to carry out one of her executions. But she’s caught and her punishment is blindness. That’s when Arya learns to fight without vision—further honing her other senses (and maybe making it possible for her to see in the extremely dark Battle for Winterfell?).

Arya’s greatest temptation is the Hall of Faces.

It seems Arya will give up her family’s proud heritage when she begins calling herself a girl with no name. That is her character’s death: Arya is gone, in place of a nameless girl.

But in Season Seven, Arya is reborn.

After killing her rival The Waif, Arya comes face-to-face with a proud Jaqen. She has finally become no one, he says.

But Arya responds: “A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell. And I’m going home.”

After that transformation, and reaffirmation of her ultimate mission, Arya is reunited with her siblings. When Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish tries to drive a wedge into the family by pitting Arya and Sansa against each other, the Starks use everything they've learned to prevail. Sansa senses the trickery, and uses Arya to kill Littlefinger.

Then in Season Eight she becomes the hero Westeros—and fans—deserve. When she rides off on the white mare at the end of Episode Five, that's not the last we'll see of Arya Stark. She still has one battle to fight. Like her turn from revenge to protection during the Battle of King's Landing—or the massacre rather—she'll protect the remainder of her family, and those loyal to the Starks, in the final episode. A traditional hero's journey ends with crossing a return threshold to, ultimately, celebrate. And, hopefully, that's what we'll get at the end of Game of Thrones.

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