In some particularly introspective interviews, Gwendoline Christie shared her thoughts on what makes Brienne such a unique character and how she’d like to see her to conclude the series and Pilou Asbæk and Gemma Whelan discussed what’s in store for the Greyjoys (hint: they’re probably not gonna hug it out).
In an interview with Newsweek, Gwendoline Christie dropped some exciting hints about Brienne’s journey this upcoming season.
“[W]hat’s recurrent in Brienne’s life is forming relationships with people that start with an opposing force, then a begrudging mutual respect and, out of that, a deep respect and pure love,” she said. “That happens again this season. Brienne will realize a deep alliance.”
Christie also discussed how part of Brienne’s initial appeal to her was how different she was from the sort of female characters Christie grew up with.
“Even when I was very young, I didn’t understand why the women had to have the boring parts. I didn’t understand why the women had to be submissive,” she recalled. “They predominantly seemed to be of one type — they were often beautiful, but I didn’t understand the relationship between virgin or whore, mother or sex object.”
It’s true that Brienne’s rejection of both Westerosi gender roles and television archetypes is one of the many factors that makes her a fan favorite. It’s additionally significant that, though she isn’t framed as a sex object, she still garners male attention. However, Christie doesn’t seem to think Brienne has much of a romantic future with either Tormund or Jaime (though seemed a little bit keener on the latter).
“I think it read, ‘Tormund hasn’t seen a woman like her before,'” Christie said of Tormund’s reaction to Brienne. “I don’t often laugh during filming. [Tormund’s chicken eating scene] was really difficult. Because he is so intensely hilarious.”
As for Jaime? Well …
“There’s a whole world there,” she said. “But I don’t think either of them has any idea of what’s going on or how to deal with it.”
It’s worth noting that when Christie was asked for her idea for Brienne’s perfect ending she didn’t mention any love interest. Instead, Christie envisions Brienne riding into the sunset, closely followed by Pod, heading home to Tarth and the “Finishing School for Unconventional Young Ladies” that she’s established there.
Shifting from one badass female warrior to another, Gemma Whelan spoke with Yahoo TV about Yara Greyjoy and offered her take on her character’s sexuality, which received special attention last season after she and Daenerys exchanged a few flirtatious glances (which were apparently improvised).
“It wasn’t in the script,” she said. “I guess that Emilia and I must have just found some chemistry. But then the episode before we’d seen Yara with a prostitute — so we know that she’s up for anything. Not a lesbian, as I often have to point out. She’s up for anything, she doesn’t discriminate — which I think is fantastic: she’s a very modern character in that sense. I’m really proud to represent her and I know from the Comic Cons I’ve done that she’s hugely loved as a strong, forward thinking, independent woman.”
As for Yara’s storyline in season 7 … it looks like things are about it get really rough for the Kraken’s Daughter. “[If] it starts out with everything looking tickety-boo for Yara, very quickly the wheels come off,” Whelan warned. “She soon finds herself in a diabolical situation.
However grim as it may get for Yara, though, family will remain at the heart of her storyline.
“Yara’s got a huge faith in family at the heart of it,” Whelan said. “Greyjoys have always had to stick together. Remember how hurt she was when she went to rescue Theon and he wasn’t the brother she loved anymore? Well this year he’s coming back, and there’s a beautiful circularity to what happens.”
Of course, Yara’s abounding familial love probably doesn’t extend to her uncle, Euron, whom Pilou Asbæk described to Yahoo TV as “a fearless psycho pirate.
“In the writing he’s not just evil – he’s evil with a little smile,” he said. “There are scenes this year when he’s fighting at sea and I’m covered in blood and I’m stabbing and screaming and yelling and that’s the destructive side of Euron – a fierce warrior who doesn’t give a shit because he’s untouchable.”
That’s not to say that he’s one-dimensional, however: “It’s my job in those scenes to make him charming and seductive and interested and a little bit more nuanced,” Asbæk said. “He can even be pretty funny when he wants to be.”
Asbæk was fairly upfront about Euron’s plans this season. He’ll be “coming to Westeros” and primarily focused on making some powerful friends .
“He knows his nephew and niece are on their way to meet the dragon mother. The viewers know that they’ve already teamed up and that the Ironborn ships are now part of Daenerys’ invasion party,” he said. “But Euron’s only gone and built the biggest fleet in the world. So now he needs a power base to use it. Just like his niece and nephew has, he needs to form some kind of alliance.
I hope both Brienne and Yara make it out alive this season!
YeS! Finally, Theon is mentioned and referred to. I love Yara, and Euron can frankly not die soon enough if you ask me, but despite Yara being a character ruling the “good” Greyjoys, and being badass, she isn’t the Greyjoy that matters in Game of Thrones. It’s Theon. I know he is going to have a great season 7 and the fact that there is little to no mention of him this year, speaks volumes to me. That, and the fact that I know approximately how many filming days, Alfie Allen’s been working on the season.
“That happens again this season. Brienne will realize a deep alliance.”
BRIENNE AND THE HOUND CONFIRMEDDDDDDDDDD
hahaha who am I kidding. What do I know
I don’t care much for the Greyjoys. I have tried. I swear. The only reason I care now is because they are Team Dany. Will see what they do this season… may change my mind.
Ooooh, Dee! That would be wonderful!
Euron has built the biggest fleet in the world – with no trees. Who needs a magical dragon-calling horn when you have such powers? Perhaps the mages of Assha’i taught him the arcane secret of making Kevlar hulls.
Gwen’s hints about Brienne’s “recurrent” habit of forming attachments with former adversaries are intriguing indeed. I’m hoping that means we will see the Maid of Tarth and Sandor Clegane fighting shoulder-to-shoulder this season!
Build me a thousand ships on my island with no trees in 5 months max 😛
just LOL
Brienne and Jaime are meant to be (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Roberta Baratheon,
I knowwww
Especially because what she said before that could apply to them (don’t know about pure love):
“[W]hat’s recurrent in Brienne’s life is forming relationships with people that start with an opposing force, then a begrudging mutual respect and, out of that, a deep respect and pure love,”
Firannion,
Flayed Potatoes,
You can import wood you know.
Agreed, absolutely. Alfie Allen’s superb acting has made me very invested in Theon’s redemption arc. The more screentime he gets, the happier I’ll be.
Dee Stark,
Where’s he going to import it if he’s enemies with everyone in Westeros? How long would it take to get the wood and bring it back to the islands to make ships? Technically by the time he’s done building them Dany will celebrate her 30th birthday or something.
Flayed Potatoes,
Yeah but who cares its trivial
Dee Stark,
You don’t follow spoilers, so I’ll keep quiet.
Flayed Potatoes,
Alright.
Thank you 🙂
Im just saying to me, even if he shows up with a thousand ships in episode one, I wont think, wait there are no trees in his vicinity how did he get those ships, because I think that’s trivial. Esp because the Greyjoys are water people (?) and have lived on/sailed reaped reeved raped etc on ships for thousands of years, so having ships is not out of the question.
When Dany was in Essoss, the source of the ships to get to Westeros was important. So we had to know that.
Clearly, some of us care about such real-world details. Alfred Hitchcock used to refer to us derisively as “the Plausibles.”
Firannion,
But some other real world details you don’t need?
Understandable 🙂
I should have worded my response as “who cares, in my opinion, its trivial”
How many did he film approximately? What is the usual for a 10 ep season?
“it starts out with everything looking tickety-boo for Yara”
I can assume what this means in context but could someone clarify please?
Just thought this:
Bran should just travel back to the scene of him catching Jamie and Cercie, then warg into Jamie and start yelling the same thing over and over… Jamie goes mental, doesn’t push Bran out the window, Bran runs, Cersi is exposed, Robert is pissed, Ned says Ef Kings landing and this drama and stays home… Show solved, everyone is happy 🙂
singedbylife,
Did he do a lot of filming? I didn’t spoiler code the question, but the answer probably should be hidden 👍
ramses,
It should! 🙂
BCog – nice read 🙂
http://ew.com/tv/2017/07/11/game-of-thrones-bryan-cogman-season-7-interview/
Interesting:
“What were some of the biggest writing challenges this season?
How do you write a compelling show about a war when one of the sides has dragons? It should all be over. Ultimately Dany’s got nukes. But somebody who wants to rule effectively and be supported by the people doesn’t want to just come in firing nukes… Also, balancing the characters. We have some of our main characters sharing the space. So there’s some balancing and making sure everyone has their moments and making sure all the story arcs are serviced. Also: Resisting the urge to have characters recapping the show that everybody has already watched when they meet — this is a tricky thing because you’ll have a character who hasn’t seen another character in however many seasons and you want those characters to compare notes on everything that happens. And while that would happen, and would make sense, it’s not always the most compelling thing to watch. So in some cases, we have that but other times you cut to another time and they’ve clearly had that conversation off-screen.”
Flayed Potatoes,
Yeah, I wondered about that time frame myself. I mean, how many people are on the iron islands? Where are they getting all the lumber from, it doesn’t look like there are a ton of trees. So someone help me out with the math on this – 1000 ships in 5 months is 200 ships a month, 40 ships a day? I can stretch my level of belivability to take in LFs and Varys travel speed, and several other little things that wouldn’t make sense in reality. But this has me scratching my head! That being said, can not wait to see what happens to Brienne and to Yara. hope they survive the season but afraid the latter might not….
Firannion,
So agree. His character has gone through so many changes over the years, and Alvie has never once disappointed me in showing how Theon is responding. Just genius; he really should win some award, maybe this year?…
HunterMac87,
except all the thousands of fans of the books and shows for losing one hell of a story!!
ash,
Flayed Potatoes,
IF they don’t have trees on the Iron Islands (is that canon, or what?) they surely have a timber network set-up with someone on the mainland.
Who the f*ck would those people be though? If I were a Westerosi, I’d immediately go after the timber suppliers to end my pirate problem.
–Intermittent Plausible–
Dee Stark,
Ive always assumed that which is why I think more happened between Jon and Sansa with catching up then they give us in the show, and why Im not bothered too much anymore by the quick switch from Jons resurrection and killing the traitors – there had to be more happening behind the scenes, up to the viewer to figure it out
ash,
Exactly.
Dee Stark,
“[W]hat’s recurrent in Brienne’s life is forming relationships with people that start with an opposing force, then a begrudging mutual respect and, out of that, a deep respect and pure love,” she said. “That happens again this season. Brienne will realize a deep alliance.”
I think you are right !
WHO ELSE COULD IT BE????
Brienne + Sandor:
Starts with “opposing force” ✅
“Begrudging mutual respect”✅
The Hound’s an “outsider”, just like her.
If Sandor runs into Arya, he’ll feel duty-bound to make sure she gets home safely because WF is no longer “a pile of rubble.”
I don’t care if people call it “fan service.” Sandor + Arya reunion 90% foreshadowed; it’ll be great to see her reaction that he’s alive. 😂
Then if they both show up at WF and encounter Brienne + his Little Bird, that’ll be almost as good.
Flayed Potatoes,
Greyjoys always has the biggest fleet built on that same island.
Ten Bears,
Its not Fan Service.. it makes sense to the story
And the fact that you agree with me is a good sign. I MAY RIGHT ABOUT SOMETHING FOR ONCE!!!!!!!
The Bloody Hound, Sandor Clegane
& Lady Brienne, the Maid of Tarth:
Dawn of Justice.
ash,
To be honest, it never really bothered me that detail… If I can suspend disbelief about dragons, frozen creatures, fire immunity and people changing faces, I can certainly suspend disbelief on the Ironborn building 1000 ships in very little time and with supposedly very little resources… However, here is my attempt to rationalize it: being sea-folks, they are in constant need of timber for building/repairing their ships… In peaceful times, they acquire them from the mainland… After Balon´s rebellion and seizing the North, the Ironborn initiated a massive deforestation of the occupied areas and sent those timbers to be stocked in the Iron Islands shipyards.
Please note that this is just for fun and not a real intent to explain the show… 🙂
A Dornish Tyrell,
Fully agree with you
Also, I kind of tried to say the same earlier… except you said “sea folks” I said “water people”
🙂
Great new interview with kit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9F6LPWrsIA
People should remember that Euron already had ships to begin with. Yara and Theon only took their best ships as was mentioned in 6×5, and Tyrion said in 6×9 that there are more ships in the Iron Fleet than the c. 100 that they took. Also, they can pay the iron price for some extra ships. Maybe that is the reason that Cersei mentiones “enemies to the west” in the trailer, Euron & co. could’ve stolen some ships from Lannisport. They can also send men to chop wood on the mainland and transport the lumber back for building. There could be half a year between the Kingsmoot and the start of S7, and to me that is enough time to built a few hundred ships. Maybe the Ironborn are just that good at it, they are sea people after all.
And maybe Euron doesn’t even need as many ships as Dany. From the trailer it seems that he has invested in weaponry (those fireballs that are hurled at the opposing fleet). However, the actor says that Euron has built the biggest fleet in the world, though that could just be exaggeration.
This makes me very excited, things coming full circle regarding Theon and Yara as Gemma put it. I am convinced there is something with the Theon and Yara story that we have not really heard about from all the spoiled information.
A Dornish Tyrell,
Dee Stark,
Plausibles need their fun too! 🙂
Examining this stuff is, for me, part of appreciating the intricate world GRRM built. Dragons, frozen creatures, fire immunity, and all 🙂
A Dornish Tyrell,
Yeah, that makes sense, they’d need to do that. Tho that deforestation will cause a hell of a lot of problems later but they aren’t germaine to this season, I think!
Of course! We are just speculating here anyway till Sunday anyway!
Dee Stark,
Seriously, it does make all the sense in the world to the story. The callback to “it was a woman” in Sandor’s talk with Brother Ray. “Tougher girls than you” in his 6×8 encounter with the BwoB. And the whole fight with Brienne in the first place, which as I understand it was a “show-only” event.
It’s also a perfect cointerpoint: the woman who embodies the ideal “knight” and the secretly chivalrous Anti-Knight who’s rejected “knights” and “sers” ever since his sadist brother was knighted.
This alliance would be a great part of the “top secret” S7 Arya story line. And if Sandor and Brienne ever take the time to compare notes, LF is toast. 😁
Masspsychosis,
All good explainations. Thanks for that. One less puzzle needing to be solved 🙂
ramses,
Totally!!
I was just saying.. haha
Ten Bears,
150%!!!!!!!
With 20 good men.
A Dornish Tyrell,
Dee Stark,
“Sea Folk and the Water People” sounds like a fantastic name for a cruise ship band. Love it ! 😛
(And now, I am imagining the Ironborn with fins…)
As for Euron’s ships, yeah, that’s lot of work in very little time…But there are a few plausible explanations (Dornish‘s, Masspsychosis‘s to name but two) The idea that he managed to either build or steal the ships he needed does not completely break the laws of physics so I’ll be fine with it.
PS Yeah for a strong Theon storyline. Alfie Allen absolutely never disappoints.
ash,
This is going to be us during the Euron scenes lol
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/021/464/14608107_1180665285312703_1558693314_n.jpg
As long as Brienne has Oathkeeper, I think she is safe. Will pray for Yara though.
Rygritte,
If Ser Twenty Goodmen changed sides, then Euron will have all his boats in a week max. 😛
LOL
Gemma’s interview gives me hope for Theon. Fans often remark about Jamie’s redemptive arc but it really pales in comparison to Theon’s. As a Stark fan, I hated Theon for a long time but now I simply wish him a peaceful end game. Theon is perhaps the most complex of all GOT/ASoIaF characters, his book chapters are in my opinion the best written POVs in the entire series. I am looking forward to Theon’s continue growth, may he become the best version of himself.
Most certainly!! 🙂
I’m going to copyright that name! 😀
Dee Stark,
I could totally be happy with that.
ash,
You’re welcome! 🙂
Dee Stark,
Sam ain’t learnin’ nothing & not doin’ shit.
Rygritte,
huh?
Augh I love them all.
Always though Brienne and Sandor could be great friends.
Finally, at least Christie gets it.
It is so stupid how every time a male and a female character strike a chord, their relationship *has* to transition into full-fledged romantic love. As if it otherwise falls short of any true value.
Are people forgetting that there is a world of emotion you can explore with another human even in the absence of sex?
What’s more, to me those worn beauty-and-the beast scenarios ignore the complex mechanics of love and attraction. Sometimes you just can’t develop sexual attraction, no matter how much respect, intellectual stimulus or common interests you find with that person. And that doesn’t make you a bad person.
Ignoring the very real factor of physical attraction just to indulge the viewers’ (or readers’) subconscious fantasies is weak and pandering, and I’ve certainly grown to expect more from GOT/ASOIAF.
Flayed Potatoes,
Ha!
Kosten,
Well, if you consider the Beauty and the Beast tropes to be worn, then you had better tell GRRM because he has confirmed that is what he was aiming for.
As for sexual attraction, Jaime literally pops a boner when he sees Brienne in the baths in the book. I think if GRRM chose to have Jaime be sexually stimulated when he sees Brienne, then that means something.
Of course, relationships as you described are interesting and beautiful in their own right, platonic and purely emotional, but that isn’t the relationship that is being written here.
Holy balls, people – Euron is essentially a pirate. Taking over a fleet of ships is probably a regular chore for him. He doesn’t need a forest.
Or he can build them out of very small rocks.
Pigeon,
So, when Euron says, “build me a 1,000 ships and I will give you this world”
he means steal me a 1000 ships?
Pigeon,
Maybe Euron is more of a sensitive modern day green pirate and only uses recycled materials to make his ships.
ramses,
Perhaps he said “bill me for a thousand ships” and just decided to ultimately skip out on the bill.
whateverdgaf,
And I am fully aware of that. It’s precisely why I brought up Beauty and the Beast, specifically. The fact that it’s George’s vision doesn’t exempt it from criticism, he isn’t infallible, after all.
And yes, it seems it isn’t the relationship that is being written here. But it rarely is, ever, anywhere in modern art or television. That’s precisely my point – the context.
When a series prides itself on breaking the mould and subverting tropes, succumbing to some of the greatest cliches and pandering to the viewers’ fantasies is going to be all the more jarring.
My disappointment is, however, indicative of the high standards and expectations the story has set with its strongest writing, I’ll admit that.
The instruction to cut down every tree is a nonsense anyway, because you can’t build ships out of unseasoned wood.
That’s a very romantic view of sex.
kam,
Thanks for that- cheered up my day! (Kit is hilarious)
Kosten,
I still think that the subversion of tropes is still there. How many characters such as Brienne are allowed the chance to have such a sweet, tender romance? Especially with a pretty boy like Jaime. One of the truly unique things about Brienne is that despite being a hard, battle worn warrior, deep down she is truly a romantic. And her desire for romance is not treated as a joke, the big ugly woman lusting after the pretty boy way out of her league, but as something truly genuine and beautiful.
That said, I do love GC’s endgame for Brienne. 1) Because she doesn’t die. 2) Because I can’t see her leading an inactive life and even if she decides that she has gotten tired of fighting, she is till doing something useful and 3) It’s consistent with Brienne’s character that she is extremely protective of women. He respect for Cat and Sansa, and her obvious anger over those ladies murdered by the Stark men. It’s one of my favourite things about her, so her ending the series teaching girls to defend themselves would be a perfect finish.
Exaaaaactly!
Yeah, I quit commenting on the massive fleet Euron will apparently have with the idea that he’ll TAKE most of them. Although, if numbers of things are to stay close to the books he’d have to do a lot of work and pirating all around Westeros to come up with 1,000 ships. That or sail a long ways away from Westeros to get them. (The largest individual fleet remaining in Westeros at (this point) of the story is the Redwyne fleet which is around 200 ships. The Iron Fleet was only suppose to be 100 ships before being split up while the other large fleet, the Royal Fleet, was almost completely destroyed already.)
I’ll begrudgingly accept him coming up with nearly 1000 ships but I hope there’s mention that he ‘stole’ most of them. They need to buff his strength and nerf Daenerys’ to make things interesting in some fashion…
Mr Derp,
Pigeon,
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The Hound appears to be the obvious candidate for Brienne’s developing alliance.
But I wonder if Ser Davos is also a possibility. With Brienne advising Sansa and Davos advising Jon they’re likely to have to develop some sort of working relationship, despite their differences.
Especially with the likes of Littlefinger hanging around scheming against them.
Perhaps Brienne will come to recognise the decency in Ser Davos and accept that they’re on the same team.
I must say I prefer that possibility, even though the Brienne/Sandor alliance seems to be a fan favorite… I think Davos and Brienne would make a good team and they need to smoothed over their differences since they are both serving the Starks.
Davos is married, although he seems to have completely forgotten about his wife.
Davos, the Hound and Tormund are the three characters I can see fitting into this a little. All three started off as enemies, but could for various reasons move into the ally column for Brienne.
Brienne dumped Davos and Melisandre into the same pile, but if she learns the truth about seasons two through six, perhaps Davos is someone she can see more sympathetically. And with the Hound, her main dispute was that she was a better person to protect Arya than him – maybe she discovers just how much he did protect Arya? Or that he offered to protect both Stark girls – something she was charged with. As for Tormund, while she clearly loathes him pretty much upon sight, he and his army fought beneath the banner of House Stark during the BotB. Perhaps that changes her perspective of him?
I don’t see any of them being fans of LF, and that may be the basis of an understanding between them.
Flayed Potatoes,
I love your new avatar!!!
Circularity. Will Yara need rescuing? Will she be abused? Will Theon become some badass savior?
Wood reavers! That sounds so naughty.
They’re a new, particularly destructive species of carpenter ants, on a relentless march northwards as a result of global warming…
And bearing in mind that Davos watched Stannis being led to his downfall by the scheming influence of a third party he might have some valuable advice to offer Brienne about how long to tolerate Littlefinger’s meddling before introducing his neck to Oathkeeper.
Grandmaester Flash,
Well we don’t know he’s not writing to her she just isn’t mentioned. BTW I also like your comment about waiting for wood to be seasoned before you can make a ship!
Love the idea of Brienne, Davos and Hound coming to some sort of agreement (maybe Mel too). That would be part of what unifies everyone to fight the real enemy, perhaps
Let’s not forget that the night of the Battle of the Blackwater Sandor offered to take Sansa home (something dear old Ned failed to accomplish). For whatever reason Sansa chose to count on Stannis prevailing and freeing her, but Sandor did present a chance to escape. (True, he showed up dirty and scary-looking. In a situation like that, you want an intimidating, scary-looking bodyguard.)
Rygritte,
“Intellectual stimulus” can be a powerful aphrodisiac. So can a biting sense of humor.
To be honest, he had been drinking… You’d want your bodyguard to be intimidating, true, but not drunk though.
Firannion,
Yup. My immediate thought was, “The Hound or Davos.”
Ten Bears,
It wouldn’t be “fan service,” and anyone who claims so is full of it. The relationship between Arya and the Hound is incredibly well-explored in the books, and ends on a note that makes it crystal-clear that GRRM wants/expects them to meet again.
A Dornish Tyrell,
I’d take a drunk Sandor over three sober Meryn Trants, one teeth-gritting Stannis, or one murder-framing DouchebagFinger.
I mean, look at what one drunk Sandor did on an empty stomach after guzzling two big mugs of ale. And that was only when he was willing to die for some chicken. I think he’d be more motivated to give his life for his Little Bird, drunk or not.
Grandmaester Flash,
Bingo!
I wasn’t going to wade into the discussion, but I had been reading through the thread and wondering why no one had mentioned this.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
And now that I’m making it all the way down the thread, I see great minds think alike. 🙂
Ten Bears,
The Hound is a complicated man and a wonderful character, but his borderline paedophilic obssession with his Little Bird has always creeped me out. Count me out of the SanSan and the Gendrya fandom.
Dee Stark,
Damn mother tongue interference!! 😛
Dee Stark,
Yes! The Hound is who immediately came to mind. I think they would have good chemistry. I’m thinking it’ him, but maybe Arya?
Dee Stark,
Wait. I thought you loved, or loved to hate, everybody!
Except Euron 🙂
Dee Stark,
And while that would happen, and would make sense, it’s not always the most compelling thing to watch.
But, to me and I’m sure many others, that IS the excitement of a reunion. To see the characters reactions to the changes in each other. No? I know they can’t always go over things we’ve already seen but when they leave it out too often fans are disappointed because they don’t get that pay-off. Oh well.
Ginevra,
Haha thank you!
I think Theon can only get his groove back when he’s put in a position to do something for Yara in return (and maybe also Bran). D&D love their circularity, so it wouldn’t surprise me if something like that happened.
Oh lord, now you have an even better one. 😂
It wouldn’t surprise me either, I kind of get the feeling that it’s a hung arrow or a Sulu’s table or something something.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
My mind had immediately gone to Sandor but Davos is such a brilliant pick !
Both the Onion King and the fair Maid of Tarth are both such fiercely loyal figures, so uniquely devoted to the people they serve that they can learn to respect each other on a very visceral, fundamental level.
And yes, they can both share a strong wariness over Littlefinger : Brienne has not liked him from very moment she met him under Renly’s tent and it is entirely possible that Stannis, having worked with Baelish in Robert’s Small Council, relayed some of his least pleasant characteristics to Davos. For some reason, I cannot imagine Petyr and Stannis liked each other ^^
Excellent idea, I’ll go grab my tambourine. 😉
To be fair, it was a bit worse than that.
I do love the Hound, for his gruff pragmatism, his tragic disillusion, his wry sense of humour, his one-liners, his oscillation between utter cynicism and odd bouts of purity, and of course for his adoration for a certain type of meat. But I wholeheartedly agree with Dornish Tyrell : the way he asked Sansa to follow him on the night of the battle was pretty awful. He was covered in blood, drunk and aggressive. The show toned down the most questionable aspects of the scene as portrayed in the books but it was still worrying. Considering that, by that point, Sansa had spent a good chunk of the night sequestrated with an increasingly drunk and threatening Cersei, I can see why she would recoil from Sandor or anyone from that matter.
As for why she would put her faith in Stannis, I may be completely mistaken here but I always thought it had something to do with Ned. The Stark patriarch had famously supported Stan’s bid for the Iron Throne and seemingly had a good-ish opinion of the man. So Sansa might have viewed the middle Baratheon as the safest option since he had been validated by her late father.
Flayed Potatoes,
Best. Avatar. Ever.
Pigeon,
Greyjoy’s gun 😛
And thanks 🙂
ACME,
Samwell will save the world!
ygritte,
I do love everyone except Euron
Hahaha
I just don’t care much for the Greyjoys in general.
Could Brienne perhaps be sent away (yet again), this time to treat with Dany and co on Jon/Sansas behalf? Maybe she will get to know one of Danys crew? Tyrion, perhaps? Yara?
Hound does seem possible as well. Or Arya, maybe.
Flayed Potatoes,
Someday, after Dragonwarts has flown past us, you could have flayed potatoes as your avatar. https://cdn.authoritynutrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/young-woman-peeling-potatoes-200×300.jpg
First: Euron’s “Build me a thousand ships” comment wasn’t literally build one thousand ships.. as in they all sit around and watch the last shipbuilder once 999 have been made. He means build me a massive fleet,, thousand was a suitably exaggerated figure.
Second: The Iron Islanders have been building lots of ships for thousands of years, therefore must have a sustainable method for repairing and building ships. Whether they attack the coast of the mainland and chop down trees, capture enemy ships or one of the Iron Islands is the place they grow trees or has a forest on it.
Also Euron has played an end game.. as in used every resource available to build as many ships as possible, because after this play they wont need to worry about it anymore. “I will give you this world”.
ACME,
I wasn’t questioning Sansa’s decision. I was just pointing out that Sandor did offer to take her home – and fulfill Ned’s wishes.
* Bonus Tinfoil Easter Egg in that Sansa-Sandor scene: Sansa clutching the doll her father gave her.
That’s what counts. 😍
Yes! Stannis is granite and Petyr is slime. Stannis in charge would have imposed stabilty, and a chaos lover could never advance in that environment. BTW, I think Stannis and Davos would also have investigated the Master of Coin ledgers and IMO would probably have found Baelish had been fiddling the books for years.
Ginevra,
I’d love that. I could photoshop Gilly’s face there or something. But I’ll need a square shaped image for that to work.
*saves idea* Thanks!
The deep alliance Brienne realizes is with Jaime. Not the Hound. Not Arya. Not Davos. It’s Jaime.
I like the suggestion that one way or the other Sandor and Brienne hit it off, but not literally! They’re both knights who aren’t knighted, tall, outcasts and warriors of great loyalty. Brienne supplies refinement and idealism vs Sandor’s gruffness and cynicism. Tormund would be miffed, but I doubt Jaime is long for this world so his opinion won’t count. I hope Sandor also stays by Arya’s side as Brienne does Sansa’s. Arya doesn’t need much physical protection, but we’ve learned that Sandor has other strengths to her weaknesses as she has strengths to his. Together, they are formidable. IF Arya ends up going after Cersei, IMO she needs Sandor with her.
Yes! Stannis is granite and Petyr is slime. Stannis in charge would have imposed stabilty, and a chaos lover could never advance in that environment. BTW, I think Stannis and Davos would also have investigated the Master of Coin ledgers and IMO would probably have found Baelish had been fiddling the books for years.
Sacred Lime,
yes!
Hee hee !
Rory McCann is a fantastic Hound, hilarious, horrific and heartbreaking. The way he delivered the line “I didn’t steal it, I just wanted to play with it” is utterly soul-crushing; in that moment, you can truly envision Sandor as a child, desperately trying to dissuade his sociopathic brother from hurting him as punishment for a “crime” he did not commit. Tragic and superb !
Stark Raven’ Rad,
I have to admit, you have much more faith in Stannis than I do… 😉
I struggle to imagine how bitterness-fuelled fanaticism can bring stability to anything. Stannis was chaotic in his own way, perhaps even more so than Littlefinger, because he was (willfully ?) unaware of his flaws and shortcomings, believing his unforgiving nature and relentless rigidity to be valuable qualities when, in a ruler, those characteristics tend to be utterly devastating, I think.
As for whether he or Davos ever discovered Littlefinger’s debt scheme, I would be tempted to believe they did not; otherwise, they probably would (should) have said something.
Dee Stark,
…having ships and making ships are two different things. These Ironborn folk aren’t exactly innovative..not like the Braavosi. I suppose Euron could have learned a thing or two about fabricating ships for the Braavosi.. but then he’d have to train his shipbuilders and they’re not too keen on learnin’. I estimate it takes Dany 3 months to sail to Westeros…not enough time for Euron to build a thousand ships. Anyway, I suppose the writers are counting on the audience thinking her voyage is many months long…. but what of the horses? War horses can’t be cooped up with no exercise for a year.
Oh well…
HotPinkLipstick,
I definitely think that’s what is meant by realizing a deep alliance, although that bit about themes does suggest that she makes one or more reluctant alliances. I would love to see her make friends with Davos because they’re both my favourite characters, and I think they would really get on.
HotPinkLipstick,
Hell no.
She’s pledged herself to Sansa and the Lannnisters are Sansa’s enemies. How is Brienne to make a deep alliance with Jaime who is aligned with Cersai?
whateverdgaf,
Yeah. She had already gone from despising Jaime to respecting him. So, that’s already done. It seems she means someone else. The only person she really hates is The Hound. My money’s on the Hound.
Anon,
He’s aligned with Cersei, for now. Plus, if Jon wants to drum up support against the White Walkers, then he may have to find himself willing to put the enmity between the Starks and Lannisters aside.
Jon probably would be willing to do so. Sansa: probably not. And if Arya is back on Team!Stark, then she’d be a “No way in all 7 hells!” not.
And, of course: nothing is going to convince Cersei that White Walkers are real or that Jon could be at all sincere about wanting an alliance.
Anon,
I will bet hard cold cash on this. Lots of it.
If you think this story is about Starks v. Lannisters, you’re missing the point. Also, Jaime isn’t a Cersei loyalist and Brienne has her own House as well.
Dee Stark,
That’s a cracking guess Dee and one which makes sense as I have no idea who else she could be referring too.
Also Interesting statement about Theon/Yara going full circle from Gemma implying she is vulnerable this season and Theon has to save her perhaps?
Also only two sleeps until the premiere the hype levels are rising:-)
Love both Theon and Yara, I’ve always loved them and Gemma and Alfie play them so so well