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After constant beatings from the waif, Arya's face has never shown a bruise or a scratch.

There is a Fight Club theory that Arya and the waif are

the same person. The fighting represented a mental battle inside Arya between "old Arya" and "no one / the waif". The first "fight" in "Fight Club" is Edward Norton beating himself up in a parking lot. I don't think Norton began showing bruising until he started fighting real people.

Or, I would think that always having to look at Arya with a bruised face would be unpleasant. And, it'd be a pain for wardrobe.

Why don't they show bruising on Arya?

(1) is Arya fighting with a real person, the waif?
(2) is she fighting with her inner Tyler Durden?

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  • 4
    "We got 99 problems but logic ain't one"- D&D
    – Aegon
    Jun 6 '16 at 14:19
  • 2
    That being said, In books Arya shows scars and scabs after her adventures. And after moving to Braavos, she does get beaten occasionally by "The kindly man" with a stick but it was never as brutal or consistent as they show in the show.
    – Aegon
    Jun 6 '16 at 14:20
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    @BCdotWEB That's immediate effect. With such a beating she should show some permanent scar or something later but she does not.
    – Aegon
    Jun 6 '16 at 16:02
  • 6
    Beauty is never tarnished WARNING: TV TROPES
    – user40790
    Jun 6 '16 at 16:37
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    Maybe she uses a good moisturizer. Seriously, since they are in the business of collecting faces, and all of them are in such good condition, surely they must have some kind of lotion to cure the skin, like in "Silence of the Lambs"
    – Cascabel
    Jun 6 '16 at 20:02
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They're subtle, but they do exist. Here are bruises on the right side of Arya's face (forehead, cheek, chin) as she watches the play in s6e5, a few scenes after receiving a sound beating from the waif.

enter image description here

As for the Arya = the waif theory, the scenes with Jaqen, Arya, and the waif together are pretty limited, leaving room for interpretation. However, in s5e3, when the waif is playing the game of faces with Arya, Jaqen comes in, looks directly at the waif as he speaks to her, then turns to look directly at Arya as he speaks to her. This is an acknowledgement that there are two people in the room, thus, the waif and Arya are two different people.

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