With Game of Thrones fans on tenterhooks about which of the main stars will die as the end of the series draws near, the show’s star Maisie Williams sprang an April Fool’s Day prank on fans during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Fans were shocked when Williams “revealed” that her fan-favorite character Arya Stark would exit the series soon after the eighth and final season begins this month.
While Williams and Fallon talked about some of Arya Stark’s most memorable moments from what happens during Season 8, Fallon asked her if she had any spoilers to share with fans.
At first, Williams declined to share anything, saying that HBO had warned actors to keep sealed lips and not let slip any details.
“I’ve decided to just keep a tight lip on everything. HBO sent out a lot of memos recently about just saying nothing, so there’s really nothing that I can say, they would absolutely kill me,” she said.
But when Fallon continued pressing her to share some spoilers with fans, she appeared to cave in under pressure, and seemingly “let slip” a piece of crucial spoiler information.
“I don’t know, like… during shooting… like… the final days were really… like… emotional,” Williams said. “Saying goodbye to all of the cast, because when I found out that Arya died in the second episode, I was…”
She stopped abruptly, covering her mouth as she looked at the audience with a horrified expression on her face at her apparent slip up. A long awkward pause followed in which she appeared confused about what to do after she had let the cat out of the bag about the demise of her character.
She asked whether the show was live and wanted to know whether her reveal could be edited out. Fallon said the show wasn’t live and that her “spoiler” could be cut from the episode that aired.
But when Fallon tried to continue with the show, Williams suddenly jumped to her feet and ran off stage, looking very upset. She disappeared behind the curtain. Fallon got up from his seat and went after her as if he was going to talk to her and reassure her.
But as he was about to leave the stage, Williams emerged from behind the curtain and the two turned to the audience, yelling, “April Fools!”
Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres on April 14.