Does new cast photo reveal that Arya Stark will kill Littlefinger?

The picture of Arya Stark wearing a distinctive dagger for a new promotion for Game Of Thrones has fans speculating there has been a major spoiler revealed by mistake.

MAISIE “Arya Stark” Williams has just posed up for Entertainment Weekly magazine along with her other three Stark “sisters and brothers” — and possibly also revealed a massive plot spoiler for season seven of Game Of Thrones.

The series returns next month and fans are eagerly awaiting a Stark family reunion, as well as the possibility that Arya will exact some long-awaited revenge for the murders of her father, after avenging her mother and brother Robb on the Freys.

You will remember it was the treachery of Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish that saw poor Ned Stark seized back in season one, although it was of course the arrogant stupidity of Joffre that saw Ned beheaded.

But one less well-remembered scene was when a “catspaw”, or assassin, tried to finish off Bran Stark. Bran had just seen Cersei and Jaime shagging furiously — and been shoved off the tower by Jaime, although the young Stark lived.

Of course Bran also survived the Catspaw’s attack and Lady Catelyn’s attempts to find out who owned the dagger — made of the rare and incredibly expensive Valyrian steel — came to naught.

However, Littlefinger ended up with the dagger after the death of Ned Stark.

The EW cover image of Maisie Williams as Arya Stark clearly shows the Catspaw dagger sitting at her left hip, while she still has Needle, her old sword, on the opposite side.

Now, we can see this same dagger is sitting comfortably at the hip of Arya Stark.

Naturally this has sent fans in a lather of speculation.

First it most likely means that Arya will indeed end up back at Winterfell. This reunion has been long hoped for but this picture appears to confirm it.

We do know that Arya has returned to Westeros rather keen to use her new assassin skills and she has already practised them on the Freys.

Littlefinger has long been touted as an ideal target for Arya’s wrath.

So how does Arya end up with his dagger? Obviously fans are hoping that means she will dispatch the treacherous Littlefinger (hopefully in a really painful way) and take the Valyrian steel weapon to use on the White Walkers.

Of course it is possible that Littlefinger, with his love for tricks and manipulation, will give her the dagger as a gift, ostensibly for use on White Walkers but naturally to win favour and upset Sansa.

Even if the latter is the case, it could well be that Arya will later use the gift on Littlefinger.

Either way, it looks like there is plenty of drama at Winterfell in the new season.

Yet there is another possibility — that they just needed a cool-looking weapon to go on Arya’s hip and this was the one the props department came up with.

But it’s much more fun to think it has recently been used to carve Littlefinger’s black heart out ...