Maisie Williams talks Braavos, missing the Hound, and Arya’s anger

Caution: don’t read the following article if you still haven’t seen “The House of Black and White,” the newest episode of Game of Thrones.

There wasn’t room to fit Arya Stark into the busy Game of Thrones premiere last Sunday, but she picked up where she left off in last night’s “The House of Black and White,” arriving in the free city of Braavos on the ship she boarded during last year’s finale. It’s the end of an era for Arya, who’s spent the last several seasons running around Westeros alongside one group or another–usually with no say in who her traveling partners were. The Arts Beat section of The New York Times sat down with Maisie and chatted about the changes in Arya’s life.

First of all, it’s clear that Maisie, like a lot of fans, will miss her interactions with the Hound (Rory McCann), even if Arya won’t. “The new season was wonderful because my storyline was so different,” Williams said. “But it was still like, ‘Aw, I don’t get to be with Rory.'”

As fun as the chemistry between Arya and the Hound could be, the guy still made plenty of appearances on her death list, and the scene where she left him to die after his fight with Brienne in “The Children” reminded fans that, grudging respect or no, she was anything but over her anger. Williams indicated that fans “might find out a little bit [about] why she did it” as they watch Season 5. That comment was a little cryptic, but Williams offered some more definitive insights when the Times asked her whether Arya was inspired to set out on her own after seeing a female warrior like Brienne take out the Hound.

Definitely. And going into this new training process, her recent experiences have been with the Hound, who talks about the quickest way to kill a man, and with Brienne, who is biting people. It’s very vicious, so that’s the mentality she has going into this. She’s like, “I want to be like those guys. I want to go to the next level. I’m ready.”

The “new training” she’s talking about will take place in the House of Black and White, to which she gained admittance at the end of the episode. Williams talked about the road that led Arya to this point, and why her time in Braavos will be good for her.

She tried to get home and then got captured. She tried to find her family and they got slaughtered. She tried to go and be sold to her auntie and she passed away. She’s been told this is what you should do, and that is what you should do, and now she’s just like, I’ll do something for me. This place has always intrigued me. I was given this coin for a reason. I’ll go and see what it’s all about. She found Jaqen very interesting, but I don’t think she every really believes that this place Braavos would ever be beneficial to her, until she gets there and meets these wonderful people and realizes she can’t be that mean-spirited little girl, and can’t be bratty and actually has to shut up and listen a little bit in order to go further and be a better person. And a better killer.

It’s interesting to hear Williams talk about the House of Black and White, where Arya will train to be an assassin, as a place that will help Arya become “a better person.” Still, the Faceless Men are all about letting go of anger, and joy, and pretty much any emotion, in favor of living dispassionately. Arya does have a young lifetime’s worth of anger to unload, so maybe her training will lead her to a kind of peace. We’ll have to check back next week, when it’s assumed we’ll actually see the inside of the House of the Black and White, before we start getting answers.

• Published on 04/20/2015 at 2:30 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:05 PM CDT