Dance with Death: Interpreting the symbolism of Arya and the pale horse

Arya’s meeting with the white horse in the ruins of King’s Landing at the end of “The Bells” is one of the most haunting sequences on Game of Thrones. It’s an important part of her storyline, beautifully photographed in a way that makes it look like a horror-dreamscape; the battered and bloody Arya emerges into an apocalyptic hell of scorched rubble and smoldering bodies, all frosted by a soft rain of descending white ash.

But when Arya sees the bloodspattered pale horse—when we see the bloodspattered pale horse—everything changes. When the horse appears, the scene shifts from Arya’s personal perspective of horror to a set piece tableau loaded with symbolism. The horse is deeply embedded in the annals of human history, in human religion and myth. It’s a deeply affecting symbol on many levels.

But what exactly does it symbolize in this context? For me, it’s hard to come to any conclusion other than it symbolizing Arya Stark dying and passing into a Pompeii-like Underworld. Let’s take a close look at the sequence and consider some of its possible meanings.