Maisie Williams says 'Game of Thrones' fans should re-watch the first season

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By VT

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We've only got a few weeks left until Game of Thrones returns to our screens for the last time. In fact, in just a few days we'll be living in the same month that it's due to premiere - so it's time to get your viewing parties planned!

But first, it might be worth going back in time - all the way back to 2011...

There are a lot of people out there who are so excited about seeing Westeros again after an excruciatingly long two-year break that they're happy to go back through the previous season to get up to speed on all the details.

Others are even more invested, and are looking to watch all 67 previously-released episodes in advance, going all the way back to the first season (that's two days, 15 hours, and 30 minutes - if you were wondering).

But if you just had to pick one season to go back to, it might be worth checking out the first - as Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams has suggested.

Speaking to The Rolling Stone recently, the actress (who plays Arya Stark) said that "after I read Season Eight, I watched Season One," before adding: "there’s a lot of similarities."

There are definitely some parallels and hints for what's to come in those early episodes, as many viewers have found out over the years. Many of which you'll only notice as a second-time viewer, like all the foreshadowing over Jon Snow's true parentage (spoiler: Daenerys is his dad's sister).

The first season, many will remember, is pretty slow moving. This is especially evident when you compare it to season seven, where characters travelled across continents in between scenes while the deaths and dragon battle scenes came out in full force.

The original 10 episodes had a lot of world-building and set-up to get through before they could arrive at where we are now - and it may be worth going back to see how cute and tiny all the Stark children looked back in the day... before they all went through absolute hell.

In the same Rolling Stone interview, both Williams and Sophie Turner (who plays her onscreen sister Sansa) delved into what we're all in store for during these final episodes.

As for Williams, she's glad to see her character develop over the years, and was perfectly happy with how the last season turned out:

"It was really amazing, perfect timing because Arya's just starting to feel again for the first time.

"So it was actually kind of beautiful, the way it was working. Because usually I'm trying to play Arya with no emotion, whilst feeling everything. And this time I was feeling nothing while I was trying to feel something, and it worked... I think.

"I feel very satisfied with the ending of the entire show. Every story arc came to a really good close."

Here's hoping she's right!