Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season six.
Sunday's beautifully bloody "Game of Thrones" finale was made even better when Arya Stark unexpectedly appeared at the Twins'. Using the face of a girl (one she presumably stole from the Hall of Faces before leaving Braavos), she managed to murder three Freys and personally avenge the death of her mother and brother back in season three.
Arya not only killed the Freys, but two of them (Lothar and Black Walder) were carved into pieces and baked into a pie. Arya then served the pie to their father, Walder Frey, before revealing herself as a Stark and slitting his throat.
This is a plotline adapted from the books, only Arya has nothing to do with "Frey Pies" in George R.R. Martin's writing. In the books, a character named Wyman Manderly is the main focus of the Frey Pie theory. Manderly is the Lord of White Harbor, a house that has been loyal to the Stark family for a thousand years. He's one of book readers' favorite minor characters due to his fierce loyalty to the Starks.
We saw him in the season six finale, but only briefly and there was no mention of his involvement with the Frey Pies. In both the books and the show, one of his sons was present at the Red Wedding and was killed fighting to defend Robb Stark from the Freys.
In the books, Manderly's other son was captured by the Lannisters, who was held until Manderly proved himself loyal to the Boltons and Freys. He allows three Frey men to live under his roof, and betroths one of them to his granddaughter. But eventually readers come to find out that his show of fealty to the traitorous Walder Frey and Roose Bolton were all a ruse.
In a stirring speech to Davos Seaworth, Manderly reveals his true feelings:
"My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest," Manderly says. "He ate Lord Walder's bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter ... but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home."
Manderly then travels to Winterfell for Ramsay Bolton's wedding. In the books, Ramsay doesn't marry Sansa Sark. Instead he marries a northern girl who used to live at Winterfell, Jeyne Poole, but she is being passed off as Arya Stark. Manderly arrives at the wedding feast, claiming that the three Freys living at White Harbor had been riding ahead of him.
Their absence is suspicious, but Manderly plays dumb. Then, at the wedding feast, Manderly reveals his contribution: Three gigantic savory pies. "The best pie you have ever tasted, my lords," Manderly tells the group. "Wash it down with Arbor gold and savor every bite. I know I shall."
The three missing Freys were killed and cooked into those pies. At least, that was always the running fan theory. Arya's fulfillment of this scene in the show effectively confirms the Manderly plot in the books.
At Ramsay's wedding feast in the books, Manderly proceeds to eat six servings of the Frey Pie whilst getting extremely drunk. Then he requests a song from the feast's bard: "Singer, give us a song about the Rat Cook."
The Rat Cook is an old fable, and it was actually told to show viewers by Bran back in the season three finale.
"[He was] a cook in the Night's Watch," Bran says to Meera, Jojen, and Hodor. "He was angry at the king for something, I don't remember. When the king was visiting the Nightfort, the cook killed the king's son and cooked him into a big pie with onions, carrots, mushrooms and bacon. That night, he served the pie to the king. He liked the taste of his own son so much he asked for a second slice. The gods turned the cook into a giant white rat who could only eat his own young. He's been roaming the Nightfort ever since, devouring his own babies. No matter what he does, he's always hungry."
The link between the Rat Cook and Manderly is undeniable foreshadowing, something many book readers picked up on years ago. When Meera mocks Bran's concern about a common murderer being turned into a rat, Bran corrects her.
"It wasn't for murder the gods cursed the Rat Cook, or for serving the king's son in a pie," he says. "He killed a guest beneath his roof. That's something the gods can't forgive."
The timing for this tale wasn't coincidental — Bran tells this story right after Walder Frey and Roose Bolton kill the Starks at the Red Wedding. Walder Frey gave Robb, Catelyn, and their men bread and salt, the symbol of guest right in Westeros. By killing the Starks under his roof after feeding them, Walder violated guest right.
Now, three seasons later, Walder was punished for his crime against the Starks and the gods. But instead of Wyman Manderly serving up revenge, the showrunners opted to give Arya the honor. This way she was able to cross a name off her list and make a grand re-entrance to Westeros. Hopefully we'll see her learn about Jon and Sansa's victory in the north and head back to Winterfell in season seven. But until then, fans can savor the moment Walder Frey finally got what was coming to him.
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