The actress behind Arya Stark remembers her brief moment of happiness, her front-row seat to the season's biggest brawl and how she applied her lessons from the Hound.

HBO: Arya spends the whole season with the Hound. What has he become to her?

Maisie Williams: They're not necessarily friends but I think she does look up to him. Not quite in the way she looked up to Yoren; they'll never be that close. The Hound has so many walls up and so does she, but they are looking out for each other. They both have qualities that the other needs to survive. I feel like Arya was a popular character because of the decisions she made, and this year, the audience really started to see a nicer side to the Hound too.

HBO: Is the Hound like the father she needs to have in the world they live in now?

Maisie Williams: Arya's angry that she didn't know more about this world until it was too late and is now desperately trying to be one step ahead of the game. The Hound's been very helpful for that. I think Arya and Sansa go through the same situation this year, despite being in completely different worlds. Sansa has been around really powerful people and they all bat her off like she's nothing. And all of the sudden, she turns around and uses their skills against them. It's the same with the Hound. He's bringing Arya up to be a great killer, and all of a sudden, she has the power to be that.

HBO: Speaking of great killers, what did it mean to Arya to meet someone like Brienne?

Maisie Williams: There's actually a direction in the script in between their interaction about how they named their swords and learning how to fight. It says: "Arya smiles. She likes this weirdo. Brienne smiles. She likes this weirdo." I remember reading it and thinking, "That is it. It's perfect." It's the most happy Arya has been in forever. She realizes you can be female and fight, and be strong and be a leader. It gives her a whole new inspiration…and then it all turns sour.

HBO: Is there something Brienne could have said or done to make Arya trust her?

Maisie Williams: Not mention Jaime Lannister. In Brienne's defense, she didn’t say anything wrong. It's that thing where the audience knows so much more than the characters do, but mentioning Jaime Lannister is when it takes a spin on its head. Brienne was telling the truth but Arya's guard goes straight back up and her hand is back on her sword. It's a shame because I think they could have been great together.

HBO: What do you think Arya was feeling watching Brienne and the Hound fight?

Maisie Williams: In all of the previous fights, Arya has never been nervous about the outcome. The Hound took on four or five guys at the inn. She wants to have confidence in him, but she's realizing it's not as easy as it's been before. It's first time she's seen him struggle so throughout the fight, she's thinking about what she's going to do next if it does go wrong.

HBO: And what was it like to watch the scene filmed?

Maisie Williams: It's so brutal to watch. They're fighting with everything they have; loyalty and honor go completely out the window. They're literally fighting with their bare fists. The Mountain and the Viper fight was fantastic, but this is something else, seeing two 6-foot-something humans just purely going at each other. And I got a front row seat.