Faye Marsay reacts to the Waif’s death

Faye Marsay portrayed Arya Stark’s nemesis the Waif for the better part of two seasons on HBO’s Game of Thrones before meeting her demise at the hands of her rival in the most recent episode, “No One.” From the moment Arya stepped foot in the House of Black and White, the Waif seemed to hate our young heroine, and once Arya refused to fulfill the contract on Lady Crane’s life, she was officially given the green light to kill her. But as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Marsay after the Waif’s death. “I think it was done right and done properly,” she said of the Waif’s end. “I think Arya deserved to rip off her face and stick it on a wall.” She also talked about that episode-ending chase sequence:

"Yeah! And it was so much fun to do. We had such a laugh out there. We get on so well in real life. I remember us running through the streets, and we were both exhausted. You don’t do just one take; you do, like, a hundred million takes of running up and down pavement, jumping off walls, and all sorts of things. We had so, so much fun. It was intense. They started calling me “The Terminator,” and I hadn’t made the connection that the Terminator does that in the Terminator movies — it had been a long time since I watched those films — but maybe she is a bit like that!"

Despite so much onscreen animosity, it appears Farsay is quite the fan of Williams.

"I’m a huge fan of Maisie Williams as a person and a huge fan of her character, so I think it was done really well. As much as I’m sad that I’m now off of the show, I think that storyline needed to be concluded that way. I’m rooting for Arya and Maisie as well."

Some fans have complained that, after two seasons of rivalry between the Waif and Arya, their confrontation happened offscreen. Marsay sees things differently.

"It would have been amazing to do a final fight scene, but the creators of this show are so good at making people second-guess things. You don’t see what you want to see. You see what you don’t want to see sometimes — like last season, with Jon Snow’s death and everything. I would have loved to have done it, but I also like leaving it up to the audience’s imagination on how exactly did Arya rip that girl’s face off. By the looks of it, there was a lot of blood."

As for what drove the Waif to defy Jaqen’s orders and make Arya suffer a little bit, Marsay thinks it’s mostly about the Waif being irritated that Arya is invading her territory, although she allowed that the character may have a darker undercoating to her.

"I think Jaqen is the man she respects and wants to work for, but she does have this sadistic side of her that causes her to rebel. He’s the leader of this entire place, and she serves him, and that’s what she wants to do. I guess Arya coming in and getting credit for stuff, the Waif just does not like that."

And for all you conspiracy theorists out there who think the Waif may still be walking around Braavos, Marsay had one last comment for you:

"I would love that! Nothing is impossible on Game of Thrones. The Waif’s face has gone up on that wall now, and we know those faces can be used. I have no idea. As an actor, I’m not privy to any of that information. But you never know. Not that I know anything, but you can’t second-guess these guys."