Game of Thrones Star Maisie Williams Shares Photo of the Night’s King Worst Nightmare

On Game of Thrones, the Night King is the stuff of nightmares. The master and first of the White Walkers — the once-human ice creatures with eerie blue eyes, the Night King once brought upon the world a generation-long, dark winter only to eventually be defeated in the War of the Dawn and driven into the Land of Always Winter for thousands of years. However, with the Wall breached last season, the Night King and his army was headed to war once again, marching on Winterfell in last night’s episode. But while the Night King is nightmare fuel for those in Westeros, Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams has figured out his worst nightmare.

Williams, who plays Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, took to Twitter on Monday to repost a throwback photo from Season 1 of herself as young Arya along with Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran being goofy behind-the-scenes.

So, why would that be the Night King’s worst nightmare? Well, in last night’s episode “The Long Night”, the Battle of Winterfell took place with the Night King making a major move to find and destroy Bran. With the Night King’s aim being to wipe out all life and the world’s very existence, Bran being the Three-Eyed Raven — the living memory of the world itself — was the main target. In the episode it looks like the Night King might end up being successful, too. His Army of the Dead dispatches all of the men guarding Bran allowing for the Night King to walk right up. It’s then that Arya shows up out of nowhere and, ultimately, stabs the Night King, ending him and his army on one fell swoop.

The two Stark children ultimately defeated the Night King, making those goofy moments from back in Season 1 pretty much what one would think the “villain’s” worst nightmare might be. Of course, when it comes to Arya’s epic moment in the episode, some fans have been less than happy about it. Some have taken to criticizing the moment online, declaring Arya to be a “Mary Sue”, whose actions were “unrealistic”. But the throwback photo serves to remind that that simply isn’t the case. Arya is a long way from the young girl she was when the series first began and has, the whole series, been on a long journey to becoming a capable warrior. With her journey taking her to the moment when she could literally save the world from the Night King, it actually adds another sort of dimension to that adorable photo. Arya’s come a long way — and it will be interesting to see how much further she goes.

What do you think of Williams’ post? Let us know in the comments below.

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.