The last time we saw Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), she was setting sail for parts unknown in the series finale of Game of Thrones.
Earlier this year, rumors arose that HBO and writer Quoc Dang Tran (Drops of God) were toying with the idea of bringing the character back for a spinoff set in the continent of Essos. Which tracks with Game of Thrones mastermind George R.R. Martin writing on his blog that he‘d had with Williams in London for a meal of pizza and pasta to discuss…something.
“Better not get into that, do not want to jinx it,” teased Martin. “But it could be so much fun.”
Now, Williams has offered up her thoughts Arya’s return.
Maisie Williams on Possible Return as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones Spinoff
“I saw that, too! I was like, huh?” she said of the swirling rumors during a recent interview with The Guardian. “I don’t know, really. She would have to be developed in some way because I feel like I’ve changed so much, and I feel like what people loved about Arya is that she was always a child doing things that were quite grown-up.”
Aside from exacting revenge on Walder Frey and defeating the Night King, Arya’s potential as a chameleon-like killer felt as though it was needlessly squandered in the final seasons of the flagship series. Having the character come back and really put her training with the Faceless Men to the test would be really awesome to see.
“We are very interested and excited by the prospect of a sequel,” an HBO insider told THR, “but also keenly aware of how high the bar of execution needs to be.”
HBO also tried to develop a spinoff centered around Kit Harington’s Jon Snow, who was exiled to a life beyond The Wall in the series finale. While the show remains in limbo, it isn’t fully dead.
“If you pick him up again, it needs to be for the right reasons,” Harington said at Motor City Comic Con earlier this year (via ScreenRant). “But we couldn’t find the right thing. So we put it down. For the moment. Maybe there’ll be a time…you know, he’s not dead, and that’s the amazing thing, is that he could be picked up again…But there’s nothing being planned at the moment.”
Harington has officially reunited with HBO for season two of the network’s Harry Potter adaptation (based on Chamber of Secrets), in which he’ll play woefully inept Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart.
