“The Dragon and the Wolf” was a big episode for Brienne, though in an understated way: she was introduced to the undead threat, which sharply rearranged her priorities, and reunited with her friend-but-it’s-complicated, Jaime, who she pushed to fight for the living. In a new interview, Gwendoline Christie gives her thoughts on this and more!
The New York Times sat with Christie to discuss Brienne’s journey, which returned to the forefront in the finale. In her first scene, she unexpectedly reunited with the Hound:
“She’s shocked when she spies him, because of course she thinks that when she defeated and dispatched him, that she killed him. And she decides to do the decent thing and go up to him, and he quite understandably gives her a bit of the cold shoulder at first. She says that she’s sorry for harming him, that she was only trying to protect Arya, and he says that’s all he was doing as well. And so they come to a sort of begrudging respectful silence. An acknowledgment of each other. Of each other’s status as warriors.” And they also act as proud aunt and uncle to the little murderous wolf girl, which was nice.
“Brienne is … not heartbroken, but incredibly shocked and hurt, and that hurt makes her question the relationship and what it really means to her,” Christie tells NYT, regarding Brienne’s reunion with Jaime. “They have had this complex relationship which really can’t be defined, so it’s a really fascinating setup to move forward, for where we will go in the final season. I think although he treats her fairly coldly, what we’ve seen with Jaime Lannister is that he might respond badly to something, particularly with Brienne, but then he takes the time to reflect and think about it, and he’s sort of brought back.”
“When Brienne and Jaime are together, something incredibly magnetic seems to occur,” she continues. “Last season, there was that scene where she tries to persuade him to allow her to speak to the Blackfish, and she’s able to communicate and negotiate with him, and be heard by him in a way that doesn’t really exist between many of the other male and female characters. In a way that’s not about manipulation, but is positive.”
Of course, there is another man in Brienne’s world now, whether she wants to or not. And does she? Slashing the hopes of many Tarthbane shippers, Christie says not:
“Tormund is quite a rough and ready man. He’s a man who’s bragged about having sexual intercourse with a bear, and so I question whether that is necessarily the right person for Brienne,” Christie reasons. “She seems fairly repelled by Tormund’s strong overtures toward her. She’s more enthused by a more cerebral approach.”
That said, Christie is open to a third, more healthy option coming along for Brienne:
“Look at her choices: the man who brags about having sex with a bear, or the man who has sex with his sister!” she laments. “Maybe there’s another option? I really want her to have someone more stable. I don’t know. I’m a bit surprised by how much attention that the most unconventional female character on the show has garnered for her love life!”
If you want to know more about Christie’s thoughts on this, as well as on Brienne’s relationship with Sansa and on Littlefinger’s execution, read the entire interview here.
The two on meeting at KL
Brienne: “Sorry about the ear”
Hound: “Sorry about kicking you in the c***”
But I want Brienne and Jaime to have beautiful, tall supermodel babies together. :’)
Funny how, whenever Brienne shares more than five words with a man, people on tumblr immediately start ‘shipping’ her with them. Briandor, I think they’re going with.
Kind of backwards, if you ask me. Who says she has to be with anyone?
I need to see Brienne and Sandor fighting wights and White Walkers back to back with Arya. One happy murder family!
I felt for Gwen this season… she had hardly any screen time at all, pretty much like S5.
Jaime may have to fight Tormund for her affections! 🙂 The mountain man may have some underlying quirky charm in him yet that may sway the speculated spawn of a certain hedge knight!
Re “…begrudging respectful silence.”
What was begrudging about it? I thought it was somber maybe but I got no sense of bitterness at all in that scene from either character. Sandor almost seemed happy when he found out Arya is alive. I thought it was all bygones and water under bridges.
I would love more screentime for all four next season. Especially together, fighting undead with fire and magic blades.
Same here. He almost seemed like a proud mentor. I’m surprised he didn’t ask about the “little bird” under his breath as well. The Hound is definitely being established as a mighty intriguing force for S8.
Hodors Bastard,
About Sansa. Maybe he is still a little ashamed about what he said to Arya about Sansa while dying? Brienne brought up Arya being alive. I wonder if Sandor would have asked about either specifically if Brienne didn’t mention Arya.
Sandor does still have his emotional defenses up imo so I can see him not wanting to show vulnerability to Brienne by asking about two women he cares for (but may not want to admit his care).
What about Gendry? He was healing at Eastwatch when the wall comes down…. Needs some thick plot armor to survive that….
Nah, Gendry is now part of Jon’s cadre not Tormund’s or Beric’s. Davos would have brought him on the ship and then left at Dragonstone to recover.
Ryan,
I don’t think Gendry stayed at Eastwatch. Or he also went to Dragonstone, or he’s on his way to Winterfell.
Ryan,
I think Gendry returned to Dragonstone on the same ship that Jon, Dany, and the others took at the end of Episode 6. There was no reason for him to stay at the Wall. He just didn’t appear in the finale because there was no point in bringing him to the Dragon Pit Summit (flaunting Robert’s bastard in front of Cersei would have been dangerous and counterproductive), and he wasn’t needed at the war council when everyone was making their plans to go north.
I think that the next time that we see Gendry will be him arriving at Winterfell with Jon and Dany’s party early in Season 8 (three cheers for his likely reunion with Arya). The same goes for Sandor, Brienne, Podrick, and all of the other characters that we didn’t explicitly see heading north. At this point, with the exception of Theon’s quest to rescue Yara from Euron and those characters huddled at what’s left of the Wall (Tormund, Beric, Edd), there are really only two major locations left in the story: the North/Winterfell, and King’s Landing. Any significant characters who have roles to play in Season 8 will most likely appear in one of those two places.
I believe Arya saw through the Hound’s BS. Could be quite interesting/bizarre to see a meeting in WF of the Hound, Arya and Sansa, especially since the Hound has sided with Tyrion (the estranged husband)! 🙂
(I almost thought that Tyrion would mention the Blackwater AWOL to the Hound during their brief convo at the pit. It should be fun to see all of them reacquainted at WF…if they ever get there together…)
Anyone note , yet, that all the Valyrian steel we know about on the show , is going north?*
Sam has Heartsbane. my bet is that the Hound will get that or borrow it.
Dark Sister has been mentioned, I sure hope Arya comes by it since she seems to need more that just that dagger.
There are more book wise. They could sure use more.
*Jamie went North alone, surprises me, figured a group of his old soldier buddy would go with him.
Is Bronn now going to have high tea with Cersei? That just does not compute.
LOL:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYWQYvJA_9d/?taken-by=khivju
You will never see Bronn and Cersei in a scene together.
I think his old soldier buddies would technically be sworn to the crown, Cersei. If he tried to convince any of them to leave with him, or if any wanted to, it would be treason, and she would have a reason to be all over them, to drag Jaime back. And Bronn is all happy that he thinks he’s in her good graces, and more likely to have a castle from her. He’s in for a sad awakening.
I have another question about Jaime – when he left, I tried to see if he had his Lannister armor on, or if he had left that behind too. I couldn’t tell. Did anybody notice?
Yeah, one of the final moments should have been Bronn heading out to catch up with Jaime.
Can’t wait for the Hound to see Arya and Sansa.
And for Arya and Gendry, never mind Arya and Jon!
Jon and Bran!
Tormund and Brienne
Jaimie with all of them – Brienne, Tyrion, Sansa, the Hound
I really hope Theon gets Yara out ok.
So many months to wait.
Can’t believe LF is dead.
Months? Could be years.
Thronetender,
Agree, Bronn needs to get out of KL !! As for Jamie, he is not wearing Lannister armor, just a leather tunic and cape, etc. I think in the Inside the Episode video D or D said he was wearing “northern leathers.”
Gwendoline is always so thoughtful and enthusiastic about both her character and her role on the show. That interview was a pleasure to read.
Oh, thanks! I didn’t see the Inside the Episode yet, I have to make a point to watch it now. Wow, except for when he was a prisoner, he has only ever been seen in Lannister armor, that I can remember. He originally took it on because of Cersei, to be close to her. Willfully removing it is greatly symbolic for him. He really has ditched the bitch. Good for him.
Agreed! She’s a joy, both on and off the show. I love that she is so androgynous on the show, and off the show, so unabashedly female in those gorgeous gowns. She wears them magnificently, too. In any interview I’ve seen or read, she expresses herself in a fluid, eloquent…Happiness. Yeah, she’s happy with life, you get that the minute you see her, and it’s a breath of fresh air to see.
She’s the epitome of Brienne, an unconventional woman carrying the memories of being hounded by pompous, arrogant young fools in her youth, yet being so determined in her desire to excel at swordsmanship and her version of “knighthood,” that she didn’t let the fools wear her down. She never lets the fools wear her down.
She’s one of the saner beings on the show: practical, stoic, skilled and wise. Even now, she sees quickly that the real problem is the marching dead; she doesn’t agonize over changing her view of the world, she rightly changes it, and urges Jaime to do the same.
It truly will be sad if Brienne doesn’t make it to the end of the story. She should make it, and have all the choices in her middle years that were denied in her youth, whether it’s monster babies, or life with a lord, or continuing to be herself. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Gwendoline Christie will be just fine. The path ahead of her shines.
I know about that 🙂
Have Lena and Jerome , as characters, ever spoken with one another , on the show?
Funny to think ,her screwball Hand is hardly worth talking too, Euron is a jerk, the Mountain.. what has he got to say?! … that leaves Bronn and he is not exactly sterling… they did have Carsei’s hand maiden back …. maybe she is glib?!
Tycho only wants to talk about money.
Well, Jaime, the Hound and Cersei were in the Dragon Pit together, and saw each other, although it wasn’t acknowledged. When the wight didn’t come out of the crate right away, I kind of expected Cersei to make a snide remark at the Hound about his desertion, and THEN the wight would come snarling at her. But it happened the way it happened, and neither she nor Jaime had words for him. But with Jaime in his new “mental space,” he will happily acknowledge Sandor when they next meet, and both will be glad for the other’s skills.
I love the idea of Brienne and Sandor being protectors of the Stark girls. Best bodyguards in Westeros. I’m not into Brienne and Jaime hooking up romantically but I really like their friendship. Hopefully Jaime makes better decisions in the last season.
Apollo,
Botj seasons took place prior to a Star Wars movie being released, both of which she starred in. Most likely added to the reduced screen time.
*cough* Sandor *cough*
Good point. Hadn’t thought of that – she doesn’t have anyone of equal or even close status to regularly talk with, and non of her underlings are particularly knowledgeable regarding world events. Maybe Qyburn is a somewhat worthy companion at times, but it seems his only contacts are his snoopy little birds, and his frankenmonsters, so his contributions might be limited as well. Maybe that’s why the conversations with Tyrion are so wonderful. They may intensely dislike the other, but each is a worthy conversational companion, even if it does seem they are always circling each other, looking for an advantage.
Thronetender,
Where is yara? Did Euron leave her at KL? He supposedly didn’t go back to Pyke , but to Essos, seems. No need to take Yara.
She could be at KL that might be interesting.
Thought Yara might be on display at the meeting.
Interesting that they left the Theon – Yara story open.
Thronetender,
“The lone wolf dies, the pack survives.” Cersei is turning herself into the lone wolf.
I like the part where Gwen says Brienne felt betrayed by Jaime’s coldness there. It’s so true. She is accustomed to being able to push him to do the right thing. …If only she knew that hours later he’s using Brienne’s words (paraphrased) while breaking up with Cersei!
As comic relief I enjoy Tormienne. It’s a happy accident after all. But I think it is SO WEIRD how many people (esp on Reddit) seem to legitimately want/believe Tormienne to happen. I mean, it’s literally the most 1-sided relationship in teh entire series – she wants nothing to do with him! It would be like if everyone legitimately wanted Sansa to get with LF or something. Maybe they are all just trolling though – it is reddit after all. Or maybe it’s just jaded Braime shippers who want Brienne to be happy lol. What fun is happy though, tortured is always more interesting. Brienne x Jaime forever!!!
Queenofthrones,
It’s because Tormund found her attractive the first moment he saw her. Remember how horrible and insulting Jaime was to her?
Tormund may be gruff, but he’s been so much more of a hero than Jaime can ever be. Too bad Brienne only sees Tormund making goo goo eyes at her, and he hasn’t had the opportunity to do something excellent in her presence. *
* Bonus points if you got the “Tao of Steve” reference.
Jack Bauer 24,
Savor the anticipation, my friend.
Ten Bears,
I love that movie!!! Donal Logue is the bee’s knees.
Have no idea, except that she might be prisoner on his ship somewhere, and he’s using her for whatever. It’s not a case of her needing to be there, it’s a case of him needing her there to torture in a variety of ways as punishment for standing up to him and taking the ships instead of just hanging around waiting for him to murder her and Theon.
Now, if she’s still alive, she might come to understand a little more of what Theon went through. She might not be so likely to say he “betrayed” her because he didn’t perk up right away in the dog pound and run away with her. I never could understand how the hell she didn’t understand just how much mind-numbing, soul-searing trauma he’d been through. She was actually angry that he didn’t realize right away that he was being rescued. She couldn’t comprehend that he had been thoroughly brain washed. Whatever, I hope she will be as ok as she can be, having been prisoner of a crazy man. I hope Theon rescues her.
Oh yes… but he came around. I mean it is tropey for sure, but this is an arc that is super common in fiction. Two people thrown together that don’t like each other much but ultimately realize they have everything in common that really matters.
While someone thinking you’re hot is sort of flattering I don’t know how that is going to by itself cause romantic feelings.
Tormund is a good dude, I agree. But like… what does he actually offer a person like Brienne? So far… all he has suggested is “good sex” (and that only via creepy body language). Which of course is pretty silly since at least for most people what makes good sex is who you’re having it with & whether you can talk to each other about what feels good…
And there are values as well. Part of why Jon and Dany were drawn to each other is their shared values. Protect the weak. Despise and work to defeat evil. Take leadership seriously. Wildling culture is very like… “if it feels good do it”. “If you want it, take it.” How utterly different that is from everything Brienne values? I suppose you could go with an opposites attract type of thing but I do not believe there’s any evidence that Brienne is fighting against a fierce animalistic attraction to our dear bear fucker that overcomes her sense of what is important. I agree wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could just be Free folk and have free love? Just not the case for the chivalric culture of Westeros.
Damn I didn’t! Guess I should check it out?
Thronetender,
Excellent, excellent point!
When did she say Theon betrayed her?
I think the actress at one point said Yara felt betrayed. But that’s not the same thing as saying it, you’re right.
QueenofThrones,
Yeah. You should check out “Tao of Steve.” Written/produced (?) by Jennipher Goodwin and starring her sister Greer Goodwin, and Donal Logue. Clever, witty, and smart. The “Steve” refers to being cool like Steve McQueen or Steve McGarrett. The “Tao of Steve” is a set of principles for attracting women that one of the characters has derived from Buddhism and other religions and philosophies.
One of the principles is “do something excellent in her presence.”
I know she’s only a secondary character but it’ll be interesting to see where Brienne’s arc ultimately leads. Given she has a valerian steel sword she’s almost certain to do battle with the whitewalkers but will she die perhaps defending the Stark sisters from them?