"No One" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 58th episode overall. It was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Mark Mylod.
Arya Stark fights for her life and chooses her destiny; Jaime Lannister returns Edmure Tully to Riverrun; Cersei Lannister is thwarted; Daenerys Targaryen returns to Meereen; and Sandor Clegane tracks down the Brotherhood Without Banners.
"No One" received mostly positive reviews from critics, who listed the conclusion of Arya's story with the Faceless Men, the reintroduction of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and Jaime's scheme to retake Riverrun as high points of the episode, but also received some criticism as being anticlimactic. Filming of the episode's foot chase scene between Arya and the Waif required a month of practice in Belfast to get the choreography right. In the United States, the episode achieved a viewership of 7.60 million in its initial broadcast. The episode was Peter Dinklage and Maisie Williams' selection for the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards to support their nominations.
This episode marked the final appearance of Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H'ghar), Faye Marsay (the Waif), and Clive Russell (Brynden Tully).
Plot In King's Landing The Faith Militant arrive to take Cersei to see the High Sparrow, but Cersei refuses to go with them. Tommen announces he has decided to end the practice of trial by combat as a means of resolving conflicts. Cersei is unnerved by the prospect of a trial by seven septons instead. Qyburn then reports to Cersei about a "rumor" that she ordered him to investigate, and remarks that it is "more, much more".
In the Riverlands The Hound kills some of the men from the Brotherhood Without Banners who had raided his community. Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr try to recruit The Hound into the Brotherhood to fight the threat from the north.
Brienne proposes to Jaime that if she can convince the Blackfish to surrender, then Jaime will allow him and the Tully army safe passage north to fight for Sansa. Jaime gives Brienne until nightfall. The Blackfish is sympathetic to Sansa's plight, but refuses to abandon Riverrun, so Jaime coerces Edmure into commanding the Tullys to surrender by threatening to kill his son. The Blackfish helps Brienne and Podrick escape, but remains to fight the Lannisters and dies doing so.
In Meereen Varys leaves for Westeros to find more allies. Tyrion, Grey Worm, and Missandei celebrate Meereen's rejuvenation as a fleet sent by the Masters arrives to attack the city. Daenerys returns to Meereen with Drogon.
In Braavos Lady Crane finds an injured Arya and treats her wounds. While Arya rests, the Waif finds and kills Lady Crane, intending to kill Arya as well. Arya flees to her hideout with the Waif in pursuit. Once trapped at the hideout, Arya puts out the single candle lighting the room and fights the Waif in the dark.
Jaqen follows a trail of blood to the Hall of Faces, where he finds the Waif's face before being held at sword-point by Arya. Jaqen congratulates Arya for finally becoming No One, but she rejects the title, asserting her identity as Arya Stark of Winterfell and declaring that she is returning home.
Production Writing
"No One" was written by the series' creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.
In the "Inside the Episode" featurette published by HBO following the airing of the episode, David Benioff spoke about the revelation in King's Landing, and Tommen's decision to abolish "trial by combat," stating "This moment is a grievous blow for Cersei because she's been counting on trial by combat really since the end of season five. This was always her ace in the hole, the Mountain was never going to lose a trial by combat there's no one out there who could beat him. And then Tommen takes it away from her and knowing really what he's doing. He might be a weak King, but he's not an idiot, he understands that this move is going to mean that she's probably not going to fare that well in this trial. So it's a pretty devastating moment for Cersei, and you see that in her reaction, and partly because it just bodes so ill for this coming trial, and partly because it's her own son who's really betrayed her."
Speaking about the siege of Riverrun, Weiss noted about Brienne and Jaime's reunion that "Jaime didn't expect to see Brienne necessarily ever again, he certainly didn't expect to see her marching into his military camp. And his relationship is obviously very complicated, and fraught, and has undercurrents that he's uncomfortable with feeling." Benioff continued about Brienne's escape, "It's these two who are not quite sure how they feel about the other, and he lets her go. He'd be well within his rights to send his men after her, to capture her, and it wouldn't be that hard to capture her since she's being slowly rowed away by Podrick, but he doesn't. She might technically be an enemy now that she's serving Sansa Stark, who is still obviously a suspect in Joffrey's murder, but she's not Jaime's enemy."
Clive Russell, who portrayed Brynden "Blackfish" Tully in the series, spoke about his character's encounter with Brienne of Tarth, in an interview with IGN, noting "Brienne represented for him his young self, a person of integrity, a soldier of integrity, trying to do the right thing. That added to the conflict he felt of what was the right thing to do: whether to send men to Sansa or not." He continued by saying about their relationship to each other, "She spoke very clearly to power. She was talking to an older man who's, initially, very irritated by her being there, but eventually takes her very, very seriously. There's a touching moment where he acknowledges that to her face. It's very touching and sad, and I think that's what it's about. He's really recognizing the next generation of what I once was."
In the conclusion of the "Inside the Episode" segment Weiss spoke about Arya's story, saying "Arya is in danger, she's got an open wound in her stomach, and the one person who has protected her to this point unfortunately gets murdered. The fact that the Many-Faced God gets the people who have been promised to him really makes you think that there's almost an inevitability about what happens to people who run afoul of the Faceless Men, as Arya has done." Weiss continued about the final part of the sequence, "Arya's telling Jaqen by putting the face on the wall that 'this account is settled, and we're good here, and now I'm going to walk away,' and I think she knows what the answer's going to be. The implication, obviously, is that Jaqen was, on some level, rooting for the outcome that he got. He may be "no one," but there's still enough of a person left in him to respect, and admire who this girl is and what she's become. Arya finally tells us something that we've kind of known all along, that she's not no one, she's Arya Stark of Winterfell."
Casting
"No One" saw the reintroduction of Richard Dormer and Paul Kaye, who portrayed Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr, respectively, in the third season, last appearing in the episode "The Bear and the Maiden Fair", before returning for the sixth season. Dormer was previously asked about returning to Game of Thrones in an interview in February 2015, saying at the time that he was doubtful about coming back to the series, stating "they haven't told me about it, so I don't think so." He also noted about his portrayal of the character, "Beric was a noble character, a leader of men. Kind of like Robin Hood. So I thought, that's how I'll play the guy." Paul Kaye's participation in the series was confirmed in mid-April 2016, with his agency posting about the casting shortly before the premiere of the sixth season.
The episode also featured the deaths of several recurring characters in the series. Faye Marsay, who portrayed the Waif, spoke about her participation in the episode, and leaving Game of Thrones after several seasons, saying "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. Even though I won't be able to hang out with everyone again, I think it was done right and done properly. I think Arya deserved to rip off her face and stick it on a wall." Recurring guest actors Clive Russell as Blackfish, and Essie Davis as Lady Crane portrayed their characters for the last time in the series, as they were killed off screen.
In the first scene featuring Sandor "the Hound" Clegane, comedian Steve Love was cast as one of the Brotherhood members killed by the Hound. Love previously had become known for his impressions of various Game of Thrones characters, uploading the video to YouTube, which ultimately resulted in his appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Following the appearance, Love stated that he had received an email from Benioff offering him a part in the show, saying "I broached the subject by sending them an email back saying 'Listen I don't know what your plans are for me but it would really mean a lot to me if I could have one of those trademark Game of Thrones gruesome death scenes, and they wrote back saying 'Actually Steve, that was exactly what we had in mind for you.'"
Filming
"No One" was directed by Mark Mylod. Mylod previously directed the fifth season episodes "High Sparrow" and "Sons of the Harpy". Mylod also directed the previous episode, "The Broken Man", for the sixth season. Mylod stated in an interview that the most physically challenging scene to direct was the chase scene, while the scene he was most scared to shoot was the conversation between Jaime and Edmure, stating that he felt the writing was "so freaking good that I was scared about fucking it up."
Mylod additionally spoke about filming the final scenes of the episode, the foot chase between Arya and the Waif, in the behind the scenes featurette published by HBO after the airing of the episode. Mylod stated that he did extensive research in order to create the foot chase, saying "I devoured every foot chase in the history of cinema, but trying to take from that something that would fit into the blueprint of the Game of Thrones visual style, which is not necessarily the same kind of kinetic, handheld feel that you find in many contemporary thrillers. It's a much more classic frame." He continued, "Everything hinged from finding this very lovely, steep stairwell and thinking 'Wouldn't it be great if she leapt off that, and then tumbled down the stairs?' I had this image in my head that I wanted lots of oranges rolling down, not quite sure where that comes from, but it looked pretty." Mylod also stated in a separate interview that it was a conscious decision not to show the final fight between Arya and the Waif, given that it took place in the dark, noting "when the character dies in the dark, unless we switch on night-vision goggles, we're not going to be able to see that, and we're not going to stick around to hear a scream in the dark anyway. It was actually a conscious choice in the writing and I think, for me, a very elegant storytelling beat as to get that reveal a few seconds later."