‘Game of Thrones’ Fans Confused by Latest Relationship Twist for Arya and Gendry

Love is strange, even in Westeros. A scene in this week’s Game of Thrones made that clear during a scene with Gendry and Arya Stark.

Back in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” Arya (Maisie Williams) and Gendry (Joe Dempsie) had sex the night before the Battle of Winterfell because she wanted to “know what it’s like” before everyone dies. Thankfully, both Arya and Gendry survived the battle against the Night King and his White Walkers after Arya stunningly drove her sword into the Night King.

At the beginning of this week’s episode, everyone in Winterfell gathered to mourn the dead and celebrate their victory over the Army of the Dead. Gendry spent his time at the party seeking out Arya, but he could not find her until later. During the celebration, Daenerys Targaryen legitimized Gendry as the Lord of House Baratheon.

When they finally reunite, they kiss and Gendry proposed marriage. However, she pushed him away, telling him she was not a lady.

This left some fans confused, although others pointed out that she did not exactly seem happy after they had sex in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

One fan suggested this was for the best.

The sex scene was a big surprise for everyone involved, including actress Maisie Williams, since Arya has spent a huge chunk of Game of Thrones on a deadly serious quest to exact revenge on people who hurt her. Williams told Entertainment Weekly she first thought it was a prank, but showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were completely serious.

Williams said she understood how important it was for the audience to see this scene, since it could have been the last opportunity to have Arya get in touch with her humanity before her death.

“This may be is a moment where Arya accepts death tomorrow, which she never does — ‘Not Today,’” Williams told EW. “So it was that moment where she says, ‘We’re probably going to die tomorrow, I want to know what this feels like before that happens.’ It’s interesting to see Arya be a bit more human, speak more normally about things people are scared of.”

“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” was an important turning point for the season, showing how the characters would spend a night if they believed they would all die the next day.

“Everyone faces [the end of the world] in different ways, but they’re all facing it and that’s why this episode was so important to us because it’s all these characters that we’ve been following for so long and now they’re facing a common enemy,” Benioff said in HBO’s “Inside the Episode” segment.

Game of Thrones airs on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. There are only two episodes left.

Photo credit: HBO