Maisie Williams initially thought the Gendry and Arya scene was a joke

Maisie discussed her surprise scene with Gendry and her thoughts during filming of the scene. Was it a joke, or is Arya human after all?

The eternal little sister of the Game of Throne‘s fandom, Arya Stark, finally sealed the deal with Gendry and for many of us it was certainly appreciated.

Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark on the show, spoke with Entertainment Weekly exclusively about the scene. She revealed she initially had mixed feelings over it, including believing it might be one of the many famous pranks writers pulled on writers.

“At first, I thought it was a prank…I was like, ‘Yo, good one.’ And [the showrunners were] like, ‘No, we haven’t done that this year.’ Oh f—k!” Maisie told EW.

Maisie still wasn’t sure the scene was really going to happen until the table reading.

Williams and writers Dan Benioff and Epstein mused that it was time for Arya to return to humanity from her Batman-ing, at least for a bit. The scene wasn’t solely fan-service to shippers, but a way to allow Arya to encounter a handful of “normal” emotions and feelings.

Arya’s character arch has taken the Stark sibling to some seriously dark places, where she now most recently works as Sansa’s executioner. Her dedication to the art of assassination took her down a road of self-denial, denying both her identity and her humanity. Since coming home, she has owned her name, Arya Stark of Winterfell. She has continued to keep her focus away from her human needs, with her goal of being a better killer.

But with the Night King just outside, death is coming, and she seems to be changing her mentor Syrio’s words into “Not today, but probably tomorrow.”

With that possibility, Arya makes her decision and tells Gendry she doesn’t want to die without knowing what “it” feels like

“It was really interesting because it’s a very human relationship for Arya. This is something she’s stayed away from, an emotion we’ve never really seen her engage with” Williams tells EW.

Gendry and Arya Stark in Game of Thrones S8E2. Image: Courtesy of HBO

Prior to the scene, Maisie was told she would determine what she was comfortable with in the scene, which is worthy of applause since other actresses have had to put their foot down in the past for excessive nudity.

Maisie stated that everyone tried to be respectful on camera, and she decided to keep the “bare” to the bare minimum to keep the focus of the scene on Arya’s growth rather than distract from it.

However, Williams was still required to strip down on set, and as anyone could imagine, it felt awkward. The actress tells EW:

"“No one wants to make you feel uncomfortable which kind of makes you feel more uncomfortable, because no one wants to look at anything that they shouldn’t look at, which in turn makes you feel like you look awful because everyone is kind of like—“ [Williams averts her eyes]. “You want people to act more normal.”"

Williams’ scene with Joe Dempsie (who plays Gendry) may have been the most discussed one from last night’s episode, along with Brienne becoming Ser Brienne. However, while Brienne’s scene was a moment of motivation and inspiration, many picked apart Arya and Gendry getting together. On social media, fans questioned Williams’ age (for the record, she is 22), and whether this was appropriate to watch (it is, because she’s of age, and Dempsie’s of age at 31).

While it’s understandable to be stunned by this moment, since many of us see Arya Stark as our (murderous) little sister, we have to remember she’s a woman who’s experienced a lot of death and darkness.

It’s about time Arya treated herself. And last night, that meant being intimate with someone else as the potential end of the world inches closer to Winterfell.