Entertainment

'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Spoilers: A Big Stark Reunion Could Be Bad News

by Meredith Jacobs

As long-time Game of Thrones fans, we can barely wait to see Jon Snow and Arya Stark finally reunite in Season 8, but a recent interview with Maisie Williams (Arya on GoT) suggests that reunion may not be totally amicable. The actor hints that a dangerous new dynamic could be brewing between the remaining Starks, one that could put both Sansa and Arya and odds with their older brother (who’s actually their cousin).

Light spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 below.

There’s some good news and some bad news regarding the Stark siblings in Game of Thrones Season 8. The good news is Arya and Sansa will remain on the same side after working together (with Bran) to defeat Littlefinger in Season 7. The bad news is they won’t always be on the same side as Jon.

“You see Arya teaming with Sansa and sometimes calling out Jon.” Williams told Entertainment Weekly.

That’s a natural progression from Season 7, which already saw Jon and Sansa at odds after the King of the North’s decision to head South and eventually bend the knee to Daenerys Targaryen.

“It was really tough for Sansa because Jon was thinking with his penis and it kind of made Sansa look bitter,” she said.

Sansa’s not pleased that her brother bent the knee to Daenerys in Season 7, and though she’s respectful when the two powerful women meet in Season 8 (at least based on a clip HBO released), it’s clear she disagrees with Jon’s decision. Sansa may say “Winterfell is yours, Your Grace,” to Daenerys, but that wasn’t her choice.

However, they’re going to have a bigger problem in the immediate future in Game of Thrones Season 8. The Night King and his Army of the Dead are on their way. Leaks suggest that battle is happening in Episode 3. Could Sansa and Arya disagree with Jon (and presumably Daenerys) about how to ready Winterfell for the battle along with other key decisions.

After Jon left in Season 7, we saw Sansa rise to the occasion and lead her people as they prepared for the long winter. Now that Jon is back, the two Starks may end up clashing over who’s in charge.

Or could they call out Jon after the battle, perhaps with regards to who has the rightful claim to the Iron Throne? After all, Jon is about to learn, likely from their brother Bran (since he’s the one with all the information), that he is the true heir. His parents, Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, were married, and he isn’t a bastard.

Jon may be, once again, in Williams’ words, “thinking with his penis,” when he learns his true identity since he and Daenerys are now lovers. However, his sisters may be more concerned about what his claim to the Throne would mean for the North and prefer him to put his family he’s known his entire life above the one he’s just discovering.

Whatever happens, these final six episodes are all culminating leading to what should be a very big finale for Game of Thrones.

“No matter how you end it, people don’t want it to end,” Williams told EW. “So the ending is not going to be okay, because ‘the end’ is not okay. … I think the way we end it is right. And I think it’s time.” 

Could there be more to her suggesting people won’t be “okay” with the ending than just fans being upset it’s over? Could the series end with the Stark siblings not entirely on the same page and Arya and Sansa “calling out Jon” being a precursor to something that happens in the finale? (This, of course, assumes they all survive until the finale.)

We don’t know how this will end for any of the characters yet. For now, let’s just hope that the Stark siblings’ bond isn’t completely destroyed in the final episodes.

Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. on HBO.

Related Tags