Arya Stark had plenty of scenes in Game of Thrones that startled fans.
From having to watch as Arya is present for the beheading of her father, Ned Stark (Sean Bean), through to her unexpected disposal of the leader of the White Walkers, the Night King (Vladimir Furdik), there were plenty of other scenes in between that surprised viewers.
However, for Maisie Williams, who portrayed Arya through all eight seasons of HBO’s hit epic fantasy series, there was one scene in particular that astonished her the most.
Arya Stark was ruthless in Game of Thrones
In the first season of Game of Thrones, Arya Stark broke the mold when it came to the noble maidens of Westeros. Her brother gave her a sword and her father allowed her to have sword fighting lessons as a result of this.
After her father was killed, Arya went on the road undercover as a boy and wound up at Braavos at the House of Black and White where she studied to become one of the Faceless Men. These famed people used the faces of the deceased to become entirely different people.
And, it was her involvement with this group that led to her killing Walder Frey (David Bradley) by using a face in order to hide. She then slaughtered Walder’s sons and baked them into a pie for him to eat.
Then, once Frey realized what he had done, Arya revealed herself to him and slit his throat to atone for the deaths of her mother and brother at the instigation of Walder.
After that, Arya was eventually reunited with her remaining family and a character that had seen her a part of the way on her journey: Gendry (Joe Dempsie). Except, Gendry was now the last remaining Baratheon and the pair ended up spending the night together.
When the Night King breached the Wall and attacked Winterfell in Episode 3 of Game of Thrones, it was Arya and her training at the House of Black and White that led to her being able to overcome the leader and kill him.
So, among all of those surprising scenes, here’s the one that stunned Maisie Williams the most.
Maisie Williams reveals her most startling Arya scene
According to a recent interview with Teen Vogue, Maisie revealed that the most surprising scene involving her character, for her, was the one involving Gendry.
At the time, many fans were outraged as they considered Arya too young to be having a sexual relationship. HBO clarified and Arya was actually of legal age. Still, many fans were against the union.
As for Williams, she was not shocked by the scene because of Arya’s age. Instead, it was because she had assumed a sexual identity for Arya.
“The first time that I was surprised by Arya I guess was probably in the final series where she whips off her clothes and sleeps with Gendry,” Williams said before clarifying.
“I thought that Arya was queer, you know? So… yeah. That was a surprise.”
Game of Thrones is available to watch on HBO. The spinoff series, House of the Dragon, will premiere on HBO Max on August 21.