Maisie Williams Explains Arya Stark's Game of Thrones Season 4 Finale Actions

Arya Stark had plenty to do in the Season 4 finale of HBO's Game of Thrones, and actress Maisie Williams took the time to explain her character's motivations and actions to IGN in a recent interview.

[WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW]

The 17-year-old provided a lengthy explanation for Arya's decision not to kill The Hound, who was bleeding to death up against a rock. She reasoned the young Arya, who is supposed to be 12 years old or slightly older, does not want to kill The Hound because he is trying to force the decision on her, much like a parent forces a child to apologize to his or her sibling. But she also explained the deeper motivation behind her letting him die slowly.

"You know, he's talking down to her and telling her how useless she is and how she doesn't know what she's doing and that I'm a dumb girl; she's got these stupid dreams that are never going to come true," Williams said of the Hound's treatment toward Arya.

"And then he turns around and asks her to kill him says, 'You know where the heart is. Go on, girl.' She's just like, 'You know what? I put my trust in you, and you've helped me out a lot, but I'm not going to give you this final thing that you want. I'm going to show you a lesson. You can't treat people like this and get away with it forever.' I think that's what she's trying to do. Plus, she doesn't want to kill this guy. She makes it out like she's this hard, badass girl that has no emotions, but he has done a lot for her. Maybe not killing him is the worse outcome or whatever you want to call it, but she doesn't want to kill him, and she wants him to finally take her seriously, and he does."

She added The Hound "realizes that he's created a bit of a monster" in his final moments.

As for the future of her character and the show, Williams said she would love for Arya to face off with Cersei (Lena Headey) but admitted it's "too soon in the story" for that to happen. Asked if it ever would, Williams laughed and said she had no clue.

"I'm really glad I don't have to make the decision either, because that's a lot of pressure," she said.

What do you think of Williams' explanation? Let us know in the comments below.