Maisie Williams Reveals She Now Feels Differently About Game of Thrones’ Ending

Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark on all eight seasons of HBO's Game of Thrones, recently watched the entire series again and left feeling underwhelmed. Find out what she revealed.

By Daniel Trainor Oct 24, 2022 9:21 PMTags
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Maisie Williams had issues with the end of Game of Thrones, too. 

The actress, who played Arya Stark on all eight seasons of the HBO fantasy drama from 2011 to 2019, reflected back on the show during a recent Twitch stream with her brother James Williams.

"I re-watched it all recently," Maisie told James. 

James was surprised, and asked, "What did you think?"

"It definitely fell off at the end," Maisie said while laughing, "but it started really strong."

While disdain for the final season of Game of Thrones isn't exactly uncommon, Maisie said the first season still holds up at least. 

"I was heartbroken when Ned (Sean Bean) died," she said, "and I knew it was coming!"

Ned, the father of Arya and the head of House Stark is—spoiler alert!—beheaded in the penultimate episode of season one.

Maisie's candid comments about Game of Thrones aren't the first time she's wrestled with her opinion of the show in recent months.

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In April, Maisie revealed that she eventually started to have a strained relationship with her very own character during filming.

"I think that when I started becoming a woman," Maisie told GQ UK, "I resented Arya because I couldn't express who I was becoming."

Maisie, 25, was just 12 years old when she was cast on Game of Thrones, and said it became difficult to distinguish herself from Arya, who became one of the most beloved characters on the series over its eight year run.

"I also resented my body," she continued, "because it wasn't aligned with the piece of me that the world celebrated."

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When asked about what part she missed the most about her time on the show, Maisie replied, half-jokingly, "Can I say none of it?," before clarifying, "I don't think it's healthy [to miss it], because I loved it. I look at it so fondly, and I look at it with such pride. But why would I want to make myself feel sad about the greatest thing that ever happened to me? I don't want to associate that with feelings of pain."

If you're interested in your own Game of Thrones re-watch, all eight seasons are available to stream on HBO Max.

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