Games of Thrones star Maisie Williams reacts to the news of a sequel series following Kit Harington’s Jon Snow being in development. Based on George R.R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones aired on HBO from 2011 to 2019. Throughout its eight seasons, Williams played the daughter of Ned Stark and his wife Catelyn, Arya, who went on to be trained as a Faceless Man/super-assassin and avenge the Red Wedding. After closing some blue eyes forever at the Battle of Winterfell, Arya bid farewell to her siblings and sailed west of Westeros.
In the years since Game of Thrones’ divisive season 8, news of several prequels were either officially announced or leaked as in development at HBO; this included the working-titled Tales of Dunk and Egg, Sea Snake, 9 Voyages, Flea Bottom, 10,000 ships, and this year’s House of the Dragon—which is loosely based on Martin’s Fire & Blood, detailing the history of the Targaryen dynasty. Earlier this month, news broke that HBO was developing its first potential Game of Thrones sequel series following Jon Snow, a.k.a. Aegon Targaryen, with Harington attached to reprise his role. Now, Jon’s half-sister/cousin—an early fan favorite to receive a spinoff of her own—has responded to that development.
In a recent interview with People, Williams reacted to the news of a Game of Thrones spinoff focusing on her on-screen brother and off-screen friend, Harington. Turns out, Williams might be more excited than Game of Thrones fans. Read what she had to say below:
"Everything surrounding the story [of GOT] is very exciting. We had such a rich show, and there's still so much story to tell. I think it's really exciting, and I think that Kit is such a phenomenal actor. Him playing Jon Snow was just like a cultural reset. I think everything that he touches is magic, and I'm excited to see what it's going to be."
Given Williams’ real-world relationship with Harington, she’s likely known about the Game of Thrones spin-off for a while. Martin recently revealed that the TV show (working title Snow) has been in the works for years and was never leaked like the others. According to both Martin and Emilia Clarke, Harington was the one who came up with the idea for a Snow spin-off and brought it to the powers-that-be. While no members of Snow’s creative team have been announced, Martin is involved and it could be that a few other actors from the flagship series are as well. When asked if she’d been willing to return to Westeros, Williams told People, "It's obviously a very exciting prospect, so never say never.”
After Jon was banished from Westeros for killing Daenerys Targaryen (Clarke) in Game of Thrones' finale, he rode north of the Wall with Tormound Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) and the Wildings. It’s safe to say a sequel series will explore his time beyond the Wall while Bran the Broken (Isaac Hempstead Wright) rules the Six Kingdoms, Sansa (Sophie Turner) sits as Queen in the North, and Arya sails off the edge of the map with Needle. Theoretically, the Game of Thrones sequel could bring back those characters and everyone else who survived the Mad Queen, including Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister, John Bradley’s Samwell Tarly, and Gwendoline Christie’s Brienne of Tarth. If done right, Snow could go a long way in making fans will better about Game of Thrones season 8. And that is something to be excited about.
Source: People