It got people talking
There are certain moments when you just have to take a step back and examine the events that we’ve seen unfolding in Game of Thrones.
Obviously, spoiler alert warning if you haven’t seen the latest episode, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
An incestual relationship between a brother and a sister. Yep, we’ve somehow normalised that, despite the fact that Jaime even crippled Bran after he discovered the shocking secret of House Lannister.
A young girl losing all of her innocence as she becomes one of the finest assassins in Westeros/Bravos. In terms of memorable highlights, Arya killed Walder Frey’s own sons, cooked their remains into a pie, and then fed them to Lord Walder. Yep, that’s cool too.
In terms of sex scenes, we saw a 15-year-old King Tommen enjoy a post-coital chat with Margaery Tyrell – a woman that’s at least 10 years older than him. All this without mentioning the horrific scene of Sansa on her wedding night with Ramsay Bolton.
However, certain people still felt that watching a sex scene with Maisie Williams, a 22-year-old actress, was something that’s worth making a big fuss over.
Granted, Williams grew up on our screens as we were first introduced to her as a teenager but despite the fact that Sophie Turner found the whole thing hilarious, it has led to some discussion.
HBO posted the following tweet – clearly referencing the character arc of Arya – and Bryan Cogman, writer of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, has also been talking about that scene.
By age 18 in Westeros you should have:
– Had a pet.
– Moved out on your own.
– Travelled extensively.
– Had a kill list.
– Pretended to be the opposite sex to evade capture.
– Been blind for a while.
– Ticked at least three people off of your kill list.— HBO (@HBO_UK) April 21, 2019
Cogman joined the Still Watching podcast to discuss the episode and he gave a frank and honest answer to those that felt uncomfortable watching the sex scene between Arya and Gendry.
“I hope none of those people ever have kids that have to grow up. That’s what happens! Teenagers have sex, guys. Hate to tell you!,” he said.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen younger character in the show have sex and while the TV show does differ from the books in terms of the age of the characters, we have seen some similar scenes before – mainly with Tommen and Margaery.
“Obviously, the passage of time is murky on the show for lots of reasons,” Cogman said. “Obviously, Tommen grew up really fast.
The writer then added that “trying to figure out the exact age Arya is foolhardy,” but he also reminded people that the actress herself is 22.
In terms of Arya’s character arc, Cogman stated that the scene was essential to show a “human side” to her and that “she’s been so focused on one thing for so long, which is vengeance, and almost forgetting herself and what it is to be human. That was very much what the time at the Faceless Men was—it was about erasing humanity.”
Cogman also gave an insight into Arya’s mindset during that particular scene.
From her perspective, Arya was thinking the following: “I want to be a human being. I want to be a woman. I want to experience this stuff, and I want to experience it on my terms.”
Given the fact that the army of the dead are almost at the gates of Winterfell, this episode boiled down to one question, “How do you spend what you think is the last night on earth?”
On this note, Arya and Gendry’s scene makes perfect sense and Cogman stated that Arya’s choice was very much “a valid option” for an end-of-the-world scenario.
With regards to filming the scene, Williams told EW that the Game of Thrones showrunners and director of the episode, David Nutter, were extremely helpful and respectful when it came to filming the scene.
“David and Dan were like: ‘You can show as much or as little as you want. So I kept myself pretty private. I don’t think it’s important for Arya to flash. This beat isn’t really about that. And everybody else has already done it on the show, so…” said Williams.
Given the fact that the 22-year-old actress has grown up on screen, Joe Dempsie (Gendry) said that he also found the sex scene a strange one to film, especially since he has known Williams for quite some time.
“It’s obviously slightly strange for me because I’ve known Maisie since she was 11, 12 years old. At the same time, I don’t want to be patronising toward Maisie — she’s a 20-year-old woman. So we just had a lot of fun with it, said Dempsie.
