Gendry Sees An Old Friend Again On 'Game Of Thrones'

The first episode of Game of Thrones' final season opened with Arya Stark watching Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen march into Winterfell with their epic army in tow. Amongst their crew was Gendry, Arya's pal from way back in the day. It was clear that seeing him again inspired some serious feelings in her — feelings the audience surely shared when they watched Arya and Gendry reunite on Game of Thrones.

Though Arya hadn't seen Gendry in years (and in that time she basically became the world's most thorough method actor), she didn't rush the reunion. She spotted him in the first few minutes, but their meeting didn't come until close to the end of the episode. Perhaps she was waiting to have a pretense to drop by the forge, because Arya didn't go to see Gendry just to reminisce about old times. She had a task for him.

Gendry was hard at work creating blades out of dragonglass when Arya appeared. Winterfell has been awhirl with preparations for war, and Gendry's job is one of the most important; without him, the Northern armies wouldn't be equipped to fight the oncoming horde of White Walkers. However, he seemed willing to make space in his docket for Arya.

Before Arya and Gendry could chat, the Hound was monopolizing Gendry's time. He wanted an axe made out of dragonglass, and Gendry obliged, though he noted that it wasn't easy to create a blade that big out of the material. While the Hound was reading Gendry for his (expert, in my humble opinion) craftsmanship, Arya popped up to tell him to leave Gendry alone. She had a short face-off with the Hound, which she won easily by being about ten thousand times more hardcore than him. Some facts just cannot be denied.

Once the Hound was out of the picture, Arya complimented Gendry on his blacksmith skills. They both remarked on how good the other looked (again, facts) but the awkwardness quickly dissipated once their familiar banter took hold. Gendry called Arya "Lady Stark," which she rebuffed, but a nostalgic "as you wish, milady" got a smile out of her.

Arya unfurled plans for the weapon that she wanted Gendry to make, though they were hard to decipher if, like me, you are not a weapons expert or a blacksmith. It was something that came in two pieces, with a blade on one end. Since both characters are much better versed in the world of weaponry than I am, they didn't need to discuss it further. Arya made sure that Gendry could make it, then Gendry teased her about being a rich girl and Arya informed him that he didn't know any other rich girls. Gendry was left, quite honestly, shook.

It was a promising reunion for the two characters. And it may not be the last time they link up onscreen in Season 8. Arya will have to pick up her shiny new blade, after all, and that gives her a very good reason to stop by the forge again.