Maisie Williams Talks Her Return to Game of Thrones, Sunday Night

Arguably the most notable absence in the Season 5 premiere of Game of Thrones, “The Wars to Come”  was that of Maisie Williams’ character, Arya Stark. Our friends at Entertainment Weekly sat down with Maisie to discuss her Season 5 debut in Episode 2, “The House of Black and White.”

In Season 4, Arya’s journey concluded with her boarding a ship bound for the free city of Braavos. Up to that point, Arya had had two notable interactions with natives of Braavos. The first was with her Water Dancing teacher, Syrio Forel, and the other was with Jaqen H’ghar, a Faceless Man. EW asked Williams about Arya’s decision to leave Westeros.

“I think she’s seen it coming for awhile. I think it’s been a long time accepting that for somebody so young. She knows it’s the right decision to make, and she had been putting it off.”

I find that comment very interesting. I’ve always seen Arya as someone who just simply adapts to her surroundings and situations, much like when she was Lord Tywin Lannister’s cup bearer in Season 2. Maisie expounded further.

“She’s on a ship to somewhere new, somewhere she’s completely unfamiliar with. She’s ultimately trying to find release of her former self.” 

Now that definitely vibes with the Arya character from the books. Once she steps foot in Braavos, her only desire is to unshackle herself from Arya of House Stark. EW asked about what Arya would be doing in The House of Black and White, and about the possibility of training.

“One thing that frustrates her is, she’s a very logical person and she can’t understand how her training relates to her ultimate goal. And her attitude frustrates a lot of people.”

It’s no secret that Arya is a strong -willed young lady, so it’s not a stretch to imagine her frustrating the people she encounters. Even in Season 1, when the Starks still happily held Winterfell, Arya would rather be fighting and showing up her brother Bran than practicing needle-work with her Septa and Sansa. It could even be argued, although weakly, that Arya’s stubbornness and refusal to play the proper lady set off the chain of events that ended with her direwolf Nymeria being banished into the woods, the death of Sansa’s direwolf Lady, and the death of the Butcher’s boy, Mycah.

EW asked Maisie about the long overdue changing of Arya’s filthy clothes, which she wore to hide the fact that she was a girl.

“We did a scene where Arya throws away her old clothes. That was such a release. It was like, no acting required. It was totally like a next chapter. It was emotional, and so far it’s been absolutely my favorite scene to do.”

Imagine you’re an actor who’s been wearing the same rags for three whole seasons, 30 episodes of television. Of course it was her favorite scene to do. As for the emotional side of it all, that just serves to show us all that Maisie Williams loves her role as Arya, and is dedicated to bringing the very best acting to each and every scene.

SPOILER WARNING

There was one final thing Maisie told EW, but it’s a bit spoilery, so non-book readers may want to switch over to the next article. You’ve been warned. From the article:

“Hmm … she meets new and old faces, and—” Williams catches herself, having made an accidental joking reference to an element of the story that book-readers will recognize. “Oh my God, that’s a good one. I can’t believe I said that!” 

We already know that Tom Wlaschiha is returning to Game of Thrones this season. Whether it’s as Jaqen H’ghar, or as just a Faceless Man, I believe it’s safe to assume that Maisie was referring to him. However, could the ultimate secret be a surprise that no one will see coming? Perhaps Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel), will make an appearance inside The House of Black and White…or at the very least, his face will.

• Published on 04/18/2015 at 2:22 PM CDT
• Last updated on 04/18/2015 at 3:03 PM CDT