Maisie Williams promises more revenge for Arya in Season 5, hopes to keep surprising book readers

Season 4 of Game of Thrones brought about a number of surprises for not only fans of the television series, but book readers alike. Additional scenes, and diversions from the written story were plentiful, sometimes to great delight, and sometimes to dismay. Looking ahead to Season 5, it’s safe to say we’re in for some more surprises.

In a new interview with TV Line, Maisie Williams says that even the actors are left in the dark about some of the finer details of their story until the last minute, and that she hopes the show continues to shock all of its viewers.

Maisie reveals that although she’s been filled in on an interesting development for Arya, she doesn’t know how it’s going to happen, and that’s usually how it is.

“I know a couple of really cool things happen in the books with Arya, and I just had a meeting about about a certain thing that happens to Arya, but I still don’t know how it happens. And that’s what it was like last year; I was learning fight scenes, even though I didn’t know who I’d be fighting or why I’d be fighting them. People think the cast members know all the ins and outs, but we really don’t.”

With not a lot of existing source material left, and the potential for additional scenes, no one can say for sure exactly what Season 5 has in store for Arya. Maisie admits that she’s all for going off the books, and giving the audience a bit of a shock. “I’d love to do something completely new… I’d love to keep making the book readers go, “Wait, is that what’s going to come in the next book? Did they make that up completely?” I love it when we do something really dramatic and shock everyone. They should throw in more stuff that no one knows about.”

Whatever is ahead for Arya, Maisie believes that she’s going to be just fine. “I think, for the first time ever, she actually believes she’s going to be fine. It’s refreshing to me; this girl’s been pulled left and right by people who’ve been telling her what she’s going to do with her life, and she’s sick of it. She knows this world, she knows who to trust and she’s ready to go off on her own.”

Although she has gone off on her own, and has the opportunity for a fresh start, Arya won’t be forgetting her list of names. Maisie reaveled to io9 at Comic-Con that “Arya’s one of those people who will forgive, but she will never forget. And we’ll see a lot more of the revenge that she takes on people who have hurt her in the coming season.”

In her interview with TVLine, Maisie takes a bit of revenge of her own on book readers who like to spoil fans of the television show. Maisie says that she particularly enjoyed the massive reaction over a certain missing scene in the Season 4 finale, because it kept book readers guessing.

“That was a massive deal, but honestly, I really like it. I’m so sick of going on the internet and seeing all the book readers being snobby, spoiling it for other people, then saying, “Well, it’s not a spoiler. The books have been out for years.” Like, couldn’t you just stop being mad for a second and let other people enjoy the show? They feel they have a claim on the series because they read the books first, and I understand that, but they don’t need to be mean about it. That’s why I liked moments like this, because book readers think they know what’s coming, then we change it and it’s really funny to watch their reactions.”

For Maisie’s full interview with TV Line, click here, and for Maisie’s interview with io9, as well one with Isaac Hempstead-Wright from Comic-Con, click here.

Get a daily update of the site’s latest news, conveniently sent in newsletter form, directly to your inbox. Sign up for WiC Daily.

• Published on 07/30/2014 at 1:24 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:40 PM CDT