Maisie Williams confirms the return of an important character
By Dan Selcke
First of all, if you do not wish to read SPOILERS about Game of Thrones Season 6, please turn back now.
Okay, now listen to the last 40 or so seconds of this 2-minute interview that Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) did for BBC Radio 1 with Nick Grimshaw. Here are the pertinent quotes:
"Interviewer: “Will we hear from Rickon Stark, your brother on the show, this season?”Williams: “Yeeeeesssss…”Interviews: [Excited noises]Williams: “Oh no, I’m actually gonna get off of the air and someone’s gonna email me.”"
First of all, I love how tentative Williams was when giving her “yes” answer. Second of all, to some this news probably won’t come as…well, news. We’ve known for a while that Rickon Stark, the youngest Stark child, would be returning for Season 6. Still, it’s nice to have it confirmed.
Rickon was last seen heading off to visit the Umbers at the end of Season 3. He was traveling with Bran, Hodor, Meera, Jojen, and Osha the wildling, but with Bran going north of the Wall, it was decided that Rickon should split off from the group and got somewhere safe. Osha escorted him.
We haven’t heard about Rickon or Osha for two seasons, but Ramsay Bolton mentioned the Umbers in “Home,” this past Sunday’s episode. Now that he’s officially the leader of House Bolton, might Ramsay pay the Umbers a visit, or vice versa?
About 11 seconds into the trailer for the next episode, “Oathbreaker,” a bunch of bearded men present Ramsay with “a gift.” Is this gift Rickon? Will a long-lost Stark reenter the fray only to immediately be given over to the person who means him and his family the most harm?
We’ll have to wait until Sunday to find out.