Eyes.

The Prodigy, the Princess of Winterfell, the "Cat of the Canals": Arya Stark is by far (and by "by far," I mean by an ocean's distance) my most favorite character in all of George R. R. Martin's incredibly vast "A Song of Ice & Fire" landscape. The character represents the archetype of a Young Warrior, as is demonstrated by her personality traits of ambition, purity, accomplishment, and moral awareness. She's also, as it stands, the only character of her narrative to hold the unique distinction of being the sole character to be featured in every installment of her creator's series.

One of the most defining moments of this character's journey was actually a scene from the television series which didn't occur anywhere in the original novels, which was the third season episode "The Climb," which brought together the contrasting pair in the form of the headstrong Stark and the mystical Melisandre who, at first, thought she could intimidate the young heroine as if she were an average child, but was quickly overcome with awe by the young girl's astonishing destiny which she foresaw through her telepathic abilities. "I see eyes staring back at me: Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes that you'll shut forever," according to Melisandre. And, as was the outcome for The Red Witch, I feel that audiences will find themselves awestruck by The Cat of the Canals for many generations to come....