'Game of Thrones' actress Maisie Williams talks shocking end to Battle of Winterfell
"Game of Thrones" spoilers ahead, you've been warned! They are major.
Last night's "Game of Thrones" episode was as action-packed and thrilling as it gets.
The great Battle of Winterfell ended with the living pulling it off thanks in large part to one incredible young woman, Arya Stark.
Just as it looked like the Night King was about to take out Bran and win the battle, Arya came through and stabbed him with her Valyrian steel dagger. He shatters, dies, and so do all his followers.
It's a huge victory for Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow and of course, Arya, who over the past few seasons has become an absolute boss.
Social media, Twitter specifically, roared last night with nearly 8 million Tweets about "Thrones," many using the hashtag #Arya, #NotToday and more. Many of these hashtags went along with special emojis celebrating the young heroine.
Maisie Williams spoke to Entertainment Weekly and said she was actually nervous when she first read the huge twist in the script.
"It was so unbelievably exciting,” she told the magazine. “But I immediately thought that everybody would hate it; that Arya doesn’t deserve it."
"The hardest thing is in any series is when you build up a villain that’s so impossible to defeat and then you defeat them. It has to be intelligently done because otherwise people are like, ‘Well, [the villain] couldn’t have been that bad when some 100-pound girl comes in and stabs him.’ You gotta make it cool. And then I told my boyfriend and he was like, ‘Mmm, should be Jon though really, shouldn’t it?’”
Let's refrain from dwelling on what Williams' boyfriend said and be kind to the man, but he's obviously wrong.
Williams said looking back at how her character has grown over the past seasons made her realize that this was meant to be. She's the one who had trained, and seen death in many mystical forms. Like Jon, her character has come full circle, and she's more lethal than almost anyone among the living.
"It’s also unexpected and that’s what this show does. So then I was like, ‘F--- you Jon, I get it,'" she told EW.
Harington expressed similar sentiments to the magazine.
"I like it. It gives Arya’s training a purpose to have an end goal," he said. "I think it will frustrate some in the audience that Jon’s hunting the Night King and you’re expecting this epic fight and it never happens -- that’s kind of 'Thrones' ... The young lady sticks it to the man.”
Williams added, "I feel like I’ve always been part of this big show but in terms of being part of the episodes that really define us, this is my first taste of it."
Well, "Thrones" fans sure hope the taste is sweet Maisie, take a bow! Also update your kill list.
