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In Game of Thrones S08E06 Arya is going west of Westeros. But do we ever have any hints what is lying there to the west of Westeros?

Did it ever get mentioned before in the show or books or any other extended material? Is there any hints or rumor about the place beyond Westeros?

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    There is an official map of the GOT universe which just shows "The Sunset Sea". And if that's all in the map of the official books, maybe the Sea is all that is explored in the books as well (yet to finish the books).
    – Anu7
    May 20, 2019 at 7:25
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    @Anu7 how can you be sure if you yet to finish the books?
    – Ankit Sharma ♦
    May 20, 2019 at 7:26
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    Good question :D ill leave to the offically versed readers to answer your question. My assumption/inference stems from the other books in this genre like Lord of the Rings, Eragon etc. Lord of the rings has a map for every single place ever mentioned in the book. For all the GOT books available till date, there is one offical map (which i have) that doesn't show anything apart from Westeros and Essos. So I'm inferring that nothing ever came up in the books written till date on whats west of Westeros or else it would be on the offical map.
    – Anu7
    May 20, 2019 at 7:32
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    @Anu7 so we have to believe the map of people who though giant never existed? I know about the map and I asked for the hints of what can be out there from any GoT source.
    – Ankit Sharma ♦
    May 20, 2019 at 7:35
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    Answered on SF&F - scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/60563/…
    – Paulie_D
    May 20, 2019 at 8:39

6 Answers 6

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That's the whole point: no one knows!

That's what gives meaning to Arya as an adventurer and her new journey to the west. Although it's unclear what happens if nothing's in the west of Westeros and what's gonna happen to her and the ship crew. She even once had this conversation in Season 6 Episode 8:

Arya: Essos is east and Westeros is west. But what's west of Westeros?
Lady Crane: I don't know.
Arya: Nobody does. It's where all the maps stop.
Lady Crane: The edge of the world, maybe.
Arya: I'd like to see that.

EDIT: it also can be a metaphor for freedom. Arya always was willing to be free of titles and she finally found her redemption.

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    It's the beginning of a spin-off to the West
    – Ascalonian
    May 25, 2019 at 12:45
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If you look at a map of the Game of Thrones world, there's a distinct parallel to Medieval Europe. Westeros is Great Britain, and Essos is a combination of Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa.

So it would be reasonable to assume that when Arya goes West of Westeros, she will eventually find the GOT equivalent of the North American continent - The New World.

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    I also noticed the geographical similarities. But Arya being Christopher Columbus is weird to me.
    – Nitwit
    May 20, 2019 at 14:02
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    @Nitwit I see her as more like the Viking adventurers who sailed to (we think) what is now Newfoundland, Canada about 600 years before Columbus; like Leif Erikson and Freydís Eiríksdóttir
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    May 20, 2019 at 15:53
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    The mysterious country of Greenlandos!
    – Paul D. Waite
    May 20, 2019 at 16:06
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    @user568458 I kind of also see her as a Viking, but only because the only other role I've seen that actress in, she was an actual Viking. (I still imagine her repeating "Cersei, The Hound, Clara Oswin...")
    – Darrel Hoffman
    May 20, 2019 at 20:25
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    @MikeyMouse This still fits better with the Romans coming to Britain. Including the Scot... eh, Wildlings, living north of the wall. Also, there was no genocide with Valyrians invading the Westeros (as there was none with Romans invading Britain), while the European invasion of the Americas was quite a different matter. Westeros is just over a channel, just like Britain. You really need to try very hard to find similarities with Americas, while the Celtic-Roman-Norman-English influence is rather obvious.
    – Luaan
    May 21, 2019 at 11:36
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We do know that aside from the Sunset Sea, there are 3 islands - Ageon, Rhaenys and Visenya - that were discovered by Elissa of House Farman 56 years after Aegon's conquest.

Beyond that is speculation, however her ship was discovered later in Asshai, (from the Targaryen history "Fire and Blood") so there is some evidence that there IS a water-borne path between Westeros and Essos (and showing the world to be round, not just by folklore but via scientific proof).

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The sunset sea.

In this image, the red mass of land is Westeros.

enter image description here

Grandmaesters and archmaesters have speculated over what lies west of the Sunset Sea, but there is no concrete proof of anything. You can read about this here

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    Instead of linking to this information, I'd recommend that you put it in the answer itself. The answer could be improved by showing references of characters speculating about what is to the west, or anything out of the table top books that might provide a clue.
    – kuhl
    May 20, 2019 at 13:55
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    @kuhl i refrained from putting it in the answer since it is a ASOIAF based website rather than a GOT based website.
    – Daeron
    May 20, 2019 at 13:57
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Presumably, some analog of North America:

  • Westeros is an analog of the British Isles, and Essos is an analog of Eurasia, including the steppes (the Grass Sea)
  • Arya is channeling her inner Nymeria, who sailed West from Essos to escape oppression and founded Dorne.
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    D. B. Weiss and David Benioff are American. Arya maintains a kill list of people who wronged her. You do the math.
    – JJJ
    May 23, 2019 at 21:02
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No one knows what lies west of Westeros.

This is the first time it's been mentioned in the show. However, in the books, few westward voyages are mentioned but none of those people were ever seen again.

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    It was mentioned in season 6.
    – user30594
    May 20, 2019 at 14:25

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