How does this fit into her overall evolution?
Because she’s gonna use it all again — these are all skills that she’s gonna take with her. A lot of people found Arya’s Season 5 really boring. They were like, “Why is she sweeping floors? Why is she getting hit on the hands?” But this is about a process that she’s going through and its ultimately going to be the best weapon. And when that day comes, when she uses all of this, everyone’s gonna be like, “Wow, that’s so cool!” Which is great, but it wouldn’t have been as cool if you hadn’t seen her go through that process. No one becomes a [warrior] overnight, guys. Give her a break.
But can you speak more broadly about what Season 6 is about for her?
It’s her second chance. She’s learning to fight blind, and at the beginning people are going to have that same opinion of, “God, this is so boring. Why isn’t Arya the [warrior] she used to be?” O.K., let’s take away your sight and see how you do without it. There are episodes when it’s going to be really difficult to watch. Arya, who we’ve always loved, is getting pulled apart. But she will ultimately use it to her advantage, just as she always does. She takes every negative and uses it as a positive, and that happens in a big way this year.