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Maisie Williams: No, Jon Did Not Help Arya Kill the Night King

Photo credit: HBO
Photo credit: HBO

From Harper's BAZAAR

SPOILER ALERT ahead for Game of Thrones Season 8. (But also you should be caught up by now.)


Game of Thrones fans know by now that the hyped-up Battle of Winterfell ended with the death of the Night King at the hands of Arya Stark, not Jon Snow. The plot twist was both celebrated and detested. While some viewers praised the fact that a petite, unassuming young woman warrior was the one to take out Westeros's biggest threat, others were upset that Jon, who'd been fighting White Walkers for years, wasn't the one to give the final blow. But, as we learned in with GoT's finale, you can't please everybody.

Those who were perhaps in denial of Arya's heroic feat resorted to a questionable theory: What if Jon Snow helped her kill the Night King? As viewers were well aware, Snow was essentially trapped in the courtyard of Winterfell with the undead Viserion guarding the exits. Seemingly giving up, he stood up and screamed at the wight dragon before Arya saved his ass (and everyone else's). Some viewers thought that, instead of simply yelling, Jon was shouting "Go!" to Arya, distracting the Viserion and letting her through so she could attack the Night King.


To that, Arya stans and Williams herself call B.S. "She did that on her own," the actress who portrays Stark said at San Diego Comic Con, confirming that Jon did not, in fact, help her character make her epic kill. "But if we were to give credit to anyone it would be Melisandre," Williams added.

Scenes before Arya attacked the Night King, the Red Woman gave the pint-sized killer a pep talk, reminding her that she's destined to kill people with brown eyes, green eyes, and blue eyes. The last in the list was obviously a nod to the Night King (and perhaps wights and White Walkers in general), which gave the young Stark the motivation she needed to sneak up on her enemy, stab him with Valyrian steel, and cause him to shatter in to a million pieces.

Long story short: Arya Stark really is that bitch, so let's not second-guess her skill, okay?

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