Note: Major Game of Thrones season 8 spoilers are below, so beware!
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington doesn’t want anyone but Arya Stark taking credit for one of season 8’s most divisive moments.
Home Box Office (HBO)
The battle between the living and the dead in ‘The Long Night’ climaxes with The Night King (Vladimir Furdik) having slain Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) on the way to finally confront Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright).
With Bran seconds away from death, Arya (Maisie Williams) springs out of nowhere to slide her dagger into The Night King’s unprotected midsection – shattering him and his entire undead horde.
Some angry fans have argued it was illogical for Arya to take The Night King by surprise with no prior experience with him, instead suggesting that she was actually being coached from the sidelines by Jon Snow on when to strike.
Home Box Office (HBO)
Well, Kit Harington isn’t buying it. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Harington shut down any suggestion that Jon was instructing Arya.
“Yeah, come on,” he quipped. “What, the big man goes and tells the little girl to go and [do it]? No thanks. That’s crap.
“She did it all on her own. It had nothing to do with Jon!”
Harington did acknowledge that he was initially surprised when he learned that Jon wouldn’t be the one to finish off the White Walkers.
Helen Sloan/HBO
“I was a bit pissed off, only because I wanted to kill the Night King,” he joked. “I think I felt like everyone else did, in that it had been set up for a long time, and then I didn’t get to do it.
“But I was so happy for Maisie and Arya. I was secretly like, ‘I wanted to do that!’ Especially because I love fighting with Vlad, who also played the White Walker I fought at Hardhome. I’ve never seen a better swordsman.
“But it was a really great twist, and it tied up Maisie’s journey in a really beautiful way. Over the seasons, we’ve seen her build up these skills to become this hardened assassin, and she uses it all to kill our main antagonist.”
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For anyone wondering how exactly Arya got from the castle to the Godswood in ‘The Long Night’, the episode’s director also recently offered an answer to that question.
Game of Thrones aired on HBO in the US, and you can also catch up on the show via Hulu. Pre-order seasons 1-8 on DVD and Blu-ray now.
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