According to Ed Sheeran, Arya Stark Wasn’t Supposed to Be On Game of Thrones Past Season 7

Musician Ed Sheeran famously had a cameo appearance in the season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones, playing a Lannister soldier Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) meets on her way to King’s Landing. The showrunners knew Williams was a fan of Sheeran's, so they brought him into the Game of Thrones universe as a surprise for the actress.

It was a sweet little scene that humanized the Lannister soldiers and helped viewers reconnect a bit with Arya after her long, strange adventure in Braavos. Sheeran recently talked about his cameo on an episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, and he dropped a potential bombshell.

“She’s always been awesome,” Sheeran said of Williams. “I don’t think they had written the ending yet. It was meant to be her last season, but it wasn’t. And as a surprise for her, [they got] me on. So, she was meant to turn up on set, and I was by the fire.”

Was Arya Stark supposed to die in Game of Thrones season 7?

That said, it's hard to believe Arya was meant to leave the show after season 7. For one thing, while the producers might not have written the ending to the show as a whole yet when Sheeran’s scene was filmed, they’d definitely written the ending to season 7. On a show as complicated as Game of Thrones, stories have to be planned out well ahead of time. And, as fans know, Arya survives the season.

You can also see the writers laying track for Arya’s final moments in the series finale, when she leaves on a ship to discover what’s “west of Westeros.” In season 6, she talks to Lady Crane in Braavos about wanting to do just that. Looking back, it’s pretty clear this was to set up the end of her story in the series finale.

And then there’s everything Arya gets up to in season 8, including killing the Night King and finally letting go of her vengeance against Cersei. It could be that Sheeran is just misremembering, as he filmed his cameo years ago.

[h/t The Hollywood Reporter]

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