Maisie Williams on her one regret about the final season of Game of Thrones

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Game of Thrones came to an end this past weekend with the most-watched episode in HBO history, but it doesn't take more than a quick glance on social-media to discover that the final season hasn't exactly been universally loved. Several of the biggest twists and turns not only came as a surprise to audiences, but also to the cast themselves, and Maisie Williams spoke with Entertainment Weekly about her one regret during this final season. Spoilers, obviously.

As Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) has been on Arya's assassination list for so many years, Williams confessed that she expressed disappointment that she never got to confront the Queen directly. "I just wanted to be on set with Lena again, she’s good fun," Williams explained. "And I wanted Arya to kill Cersei even if it means [Arya] dies too. Even up to the point when Cersei’s with Jaime I thought [while reading the script], ‘He’s going to whip off his face [and reveal its Arya]’ and they’re both going to die. I thought that’s what Arya’s drive has been." I think many fans also thought that's where the scene was headed, but Williams soon began to embrace the character's more hopeful direction.

The Hound says, ‘You want to be like me? You want to live your life like me?' In my head, the answer was: ‘Yeah.’ But I guess sleeping with Gendry, seeing Jon again, realizing she’s not just fighting for herself anymore but also her family — it’s bringing up all these human emotions that Arya hasn’t felt for a long time. When The Hound asks her if she has another option, all of a sudden there are so many more things in [Arya’s] life that she can live for, that she can do. It was a shock for me because that wasn’t how I envisioned her arc going this year. Then I realized there were other things I could play, bringing Arya back to being a 16-year-old again.

"It’s not a Game of Thrones ending for Arya, it’s a happy ending," Williams added. "It gave me a place to take Arya that I never thought I’d go with her again." Lena Headey also expressed regret that the final season didn't include a final confrontation with Arya. "I lived that fantasy until I read the script," Headey said. "There were chunky scenes and it was nothing that I had dreamt about. It was a bit of come down and you have to accept that it wasn’t to be. There is something poetic about the way it all happens in the end with her and Jaime." The last we saw of Arya, she was headed out to explore the uncharted lands west of Westeros.