Arya’s bittersweet reunion with her direwolf explained by GoT creators

The latest episode of Game of Thrones saw Arya Stark reunite with her long-lost direwolf Nymeria, in a bittersweet scene that left GoT fans wiping away their tears in nostalgic memories of the earlier seasons.

The direwolf’s pack surrounded Arya, but as Nymeria emerged out of the woods and seemingly recognised Arya, the young assassin invited her childhood pet to join her in her journey to Winterfell. But the animal slowly retreated, clearly reluctant after years of living in the wild.

That’s when Arya uttered the mysterious words: “That’s not you”.

During a post-episode discussion, the show’s creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss explained how the phrase was a flashback to season one, when Ned Stark tells his daughter that she will one day be a lady and get married, to which Arya replies: “No. That’s not me.”

Benioff described how Arya wants Nymeria “to come back home with her and be her loyal companion again. But Nymeria’s found her own life.”

“‘That’s not you’ is a direct reference to what Arya herself said to her father when her father painted this picture for her as a lady of a castle and marrying some lord and wearing some frilly dress,” said Weiss.

“Arya’s not domesticated and it makes total sense her wolf wouldn’t be either. Once the wolf walks away, at first she’s heartbroken to have come this close. Then she realises the wolf is doing exactly what she would do if she were that wolf.”

Fans didn’t take long to tweet out their emotional reactions to what can easily be considered one of the saddest scenes in this season so far. 

Game of Thrones season 7 episode 3 "The Queen's Justice" airs next Sunday, July 30.