It’s been a long time since a guest star of such huge, fandom-crossing proportions landed on Doctor Who. Maybe since David Warner appeared in Series 7’s “Cold War,” catering to all those die-hard Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze fans. At any rate, this week sees the first of two episodes in which Game of Thrones‘ own Arya Stark, Maisie Williams, in what is one of the most closely-guarded characters in the show’s history. Who is she playing?!?! Gosh darn it, Steven Moffat and co have been exceedingly tight-lipped about exactly who Maisie is and why she’s so important. I’m guessing it has something to do with the episode titles – this week “The Girl Who Died,” next week “The Woman Who Lived.”

Above, we get our very first, albeit rather uninformative, look at Ms. Williams as Viking girl Ashildre. She and Clara appear to be in a spot of bother, to use a very upper-middle phrase, along with other Vikings inside some kind of crushing room.

Luckily, the below introduction has Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman explaining a bit of what the story will be.

And, for more of our favorite Stark-Noblewoman-turned-Nordic-villager, here’s Maisie Williams talking about crossing over between two of the most massive fandoms on television.

The mystery will start to unravel this week, when “The Girl Who Died,” written by Moffat and Jamie Mathieson (who wrote “Mummy on the Orient Express” and “Flatline” last year) and directed by Ed Bazalgette, premieres on BBC America at 9pm ET/PT.

Are you excited to see Maisie Williams in a different period-garbed role? What are your theories about the mystery behind her character? Let us know in the comments below!

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Images: BBC America

Kyle Anderson is the Weekend Editor, a film and TV critic, and the resident Whovian for Nerdist.com. Follow him on Twitter!