Maise Williams plays fan-favorite character Arya Stark in HBO's "Game of Thrones" and is dishing details about her character's story arc.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actress gave insight to Arya's final scene in the season finale and why she decided to leave Westeros despite knowing her sister Sansa is alive.
The "Game of Thrones" finale showed Arya giving a Braavosi man a coin given to her by Jaqen H'ghar, the faceless assassin, in order to board a ship to Braavos. Willaims believes a part of her character wants to see her family, but realized she held something of great value and must leave her past behind.
"I think she's overwhelmed by the power she has over the captain when she unveils this coin," Williams told WSJ. "Automatically, she knows that's who she can be for the rest of her life. When she gets on the ship, the final moment for her, she looks over her past life, this world she's been in and spat out the other side, and she turns around and forgets all of that."
Williams claims Arya is more concerned with staying alive at the end of season four than she is with reuniting with her loved ones. The first time Arya tried to reunite with her family was during the show's infamous Red Wedding. Her brother Robb Stark and mother Catelyn were killed during the encounter. The second time she comes close Arya finds out her Aunt Lysa died before she could be reunited with her.
"If you give someone enough time to think about things, they go through every outcome, and I guess that's what she's been doing," Williams told WSJ. "Because of all the betrayal and deceit she's been through so far, it has completely changed her attitude about trying to get the family back together."
