See the Inside the Episode video for last Sunday’s Game of Thrones episode “Kissed by Fire,” where the showrunners reflect on the big developments.

In this video, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss discuss the character arcs of Arya, Jaime and Robb in season 3, episode 5:

The first scene they talk about is the one where the Hound defeats and kills Beric Dondarrion. Benioff says that from Arya’s perspective, it all seems so unfair because all the admirable people she meets get killed.

“She’s not a little kid anymore,” Weiss says, “she’s had all that stripped away from her, and this is just another nail in the coffin of her childhood.”

At this point, “she just believes that the strong survive, and if you’re not capable of killing your enemies they’re gonna kill you,” Benioff explains.

Moving on to the scene where Jaime tells Brienne the truth about how he killed the Mad King, Benioff says, “I think the great reveal is that Jaime was actually heroic in that moment, and actually was saving lives.”

It is his pride that has kept him from revealing the truth for all these years, and so he’s been poisoned by the slander he’s had to endure.

“Jaime’s always been a fascinating character, because he’s someone who starts out in such an awful, seemingly irredeemable place,” Weiss adds. “And by the time you get to this point in the story, you’re really starting to see him as a person who’s presented with a lot of impossible choices that he was forced to make, that have turned him into this seemingly irredeemable character.”

Weiss explains that what George R.R. Martin does so well in his novels is complicating the idea of good and bad people. And speaking of good people, Robb Stark seems like he might be beginning a journey to a darker place, juxtaposing Jaime’s road to redemption.

At this point, Robb needs a dramatic victory, and plans to take Casterly Rock. “If he can pull it off, he can prove that Tywin is vulnerable and regain some much-needed momentum,” Benioff says.

And for that, he needs Walder Frey. “Marrying Talisa was a huge mistake strategically,” Benioff says, “everyone knew about this promise [to the Freys], and then he broke that promise, so I think that was the decision that has probably had the most adverse consequences.”

Game of Thrones returns this Sunday at 9/8c on HBO with season 3, episode 6, “The Climb.”