Arya Stark/Gendry Waters

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Pairing
Pairing: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Alternative name(s): Gendrya
Gender category: Het
Fandom: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Canonical?: Yes (show only)
Prevalence: Popular
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Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, also known as Gendrya, is the het pairing of Arya Stark and Gendry Waters in the A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones fandoms. They have a canonical relationship on the show, but have not developed a romantic relationship in the novels, and it is unknown if they will.

He has no interest in being nice or polite. And then theres arya. The one person he inexplicably cant stop smiling and laughing around.

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Canon

A Song of Ice and Fire

Arya and Gendry meet in A Clash of Kings while she is disguised as a boy named Arry and they are traveling north with the Night's Watch. Arya is hiding her idenityThey form a friendship and struggle to survive the wartorn Riverlands with their friend Hot Pie. They are captured by the Lannisters and enslaved in Harrenhal. Arya and Gendry have little contact during that time, but when she decides to escape, she brings him and Hot Pie with her. They are taken prisoner by the Brotherhood Without Banners, who steal their horses. Arya's identity is revealed and they plan to ransom her back to her family. Gendry continues to travel with them and decides to join them because he admires their cause. Arya feels as though he is abandoning her. Before she can be ransomed, Arya is kidnapped by the Hound and parted from Gendry.

Game of Thrones

Arya and Gendry first meet when traveling north together. Arya is disguised as a boy, but Gendry soon sees through that. Arya is escaping the capital because her father was killed and the Lannisters are looking for her. Gendry was given to the Night's Watch, to protect him because he is King Robert's bastard, a fact he is unaware of at the time. Their group is captured and they are forced to work at Harrenhal. Arya orchestrates their escape by using a promise made by Jaqen H'ghar. They are soon picked up by the Brotherhood without Banners. Gendry wishes to join the Brotherhood, but is instead sold to the Red Priestess Melisandre.

In season eight, Gendry returns to Winterfell, where he reunites with Arya. He begins forging dragonglass weapons to help prepare for the coming war against the dead. Arya visits him at the forges and asks him to make a dragonglass spear for her. Gendry delivers the finished weapon on the eve of the battle. Arya questions his sexual history and he reveals that he's had three lovers. She states that they're likely going to die soon and that she "want[s] to know what it's like before that happens." She kisses him, pushing him down onto a pile of burlap sacks, and they make love. After the battle, Gendry is legitimized by Daenerys Targaryen who makes him the Lord of Storm's End. When Gendry shares this news with Arya, he proposes marriage to her, only for Arya to decline his offer and wish him the best with someone else.

Fandom

Statistics

  • In 2014, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters was the 2nd most popular Game of Thrones pairing on Archive of Our Own.[2]
  • In 2017, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters had dropped slightly to the 4th most popular Game of Thrones pairing on Archive of Our Own.[3]
  • In 2019, during the final season, Gendrya was the third most popular Game of Thrones ship on Tumblr.[4]
  • In 2020, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters was the most popular ship for Arya in the ASOIAF category in a survey of FanFiction.net, accounting for 69% of sampled fics.[5]
  • In 2020, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters was the 3rd most popular A Song of Ice and Fire ship on Archive of Our Own, accounting for 15% of sampled fics.[6]

Common Tropes in Fanworks

  • Modern AU: modern setting, sometimes they know each other growing up, or they meet later in life
  • High School AU: popular because of Arya and Gendry's relative ages
  • Canon Divergence AU: often Gendry is not taken by Melisandre and continues his journey with Arya and the Brotherhood without Banners
  • Futurefic: taking place in the future, usually Arya and Gendry are in an adult established relationship, sometimes married with children
  • Reunion: before they were reunited in canon, many stories explored how Arya and Gendry would ultimately be reunited
  • Forgesex: many fics would have them consummating their relationship in, or near, the forge Gendry worked at
  • Fix-it: some fans, unhappy with how their relationship ended on the show, will write stories "fixing" the ending, these may include more traditional happy endings where they are Lord and Lady of Stormsend, or they stay at Winterfell together, or Gendry goes on the boat with Arya. Another variant are stories where Arya returns to Westeros years later and they somehow meet again and rekindle their relationship.

Challenges

Fanworks

Fan Art

Fanfiction

Fan Vids

Art Gallery

Resources

Further Reading

References