Game of Thrones director reveals Arya Stark almost had a different storyline in The Long Night

Maisie Williams' character famously faces off with the Night King

Warning: The story below contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season eight.

Arya Stark almost had a very different storyline in "The Long Night", a Game of Thrones director has revealed.

Maisie Williams's character faces off with the Night King (Vladimir Furdik), in the third instalment of the fantasy drama's eighth and final season.

In the episode, Arya stabs the Night King to death after leaping in his direction in a dramatic moment.

Director Miguel Sapochnik, who crafted the episode, told The Hollywood Reporter that he "questioned everything" when creating the moment, which was shot several times as the team searched for the right pace in storytelling.

"At one point there was an elaborate plan to have her fight her way into the Weirwood forest, but as we progressed we realised she'd already done that earlier in the episode, so it felt like a repeat," he said.

"In the end we felt it didn't matter how she got there – what mattered was setting up that moment when the Night King catches her mid-leap and we think she's done for, then she pulls her knife switch and takes him out."

Game of Thrones ended in May this year after eight seasons.

Williams will star in The New Mutants, a Marvel superhero horror film scheduled for release in 2020.