Last
year, I spent a few months crafting a Brienne costume for Halloween, complete
with papier-mâché armor and crocheted chainmail. The maid of Tarth is just that awesome, and
today, I’m going to count the ways.
(Note: I haven’t read the books, so
this post will be based strictly on the show.)
We
first meet Brienne in season 2, laying an epic beatdown on Loras Tyrell. Thanks to her father’s support, she’s been
well trained and has fine weapons and armor, but her fighting prowess is more
than that. Even in a world of male
knights, she cuts an impressive figure (actress Gwendoline Christie is 6’3”)
and uses her size to her advantage, barreling fearlessly into her opponents and
coming at them with brute force. Additionally, she has a strong survivor streak
and, while she holds the knights’ code of honor and chivalry very dear to her,
she doesn’t shy away from scrapping if it’s the best way to protect herself in
a fight.
(On a
side note, I love seeing a tough, can-fight-with-the-boys woman who’s big.
As much as I love Buffy, Black Widow, and their ilk, extremely petite butt-kicking
women can wear thin.)
I
mentioned honor. Though Brienne
repeatedly explains that she’s not actually a knight, she embodies the spirit
of knighthood more than any other character in the show. Those to whom she’s sworn her fealty receive
it whole-heartedly, and while she can clean up at a tournament, her real goal
is to serve. After swearing her sword to
Catelyn Stark, she treks across the country with Jaime Lannister, the North’s
most wanted and grade-A smart-mouth, in order to return him to his family and retrieve
Catelyn’s daughters. It’s a long, harsh,
aggravating task, but Brienne doesn’t allow anything to sway her from it, and
even when circumstances change dramatically, she still tries to figure out how
to fulfill her duty within these new parameters.
In
addition to her obvious physical strength, Brienne displays strength of
character at pretty much every turn. Just
to do what she does within her world requires tremendous fortitude – other knights
ridicule her endlessly, and despite her incredible talents on the field, she’s
widely known as a freak and a joke. For
her to hold her head up in the face of their taunts, to set out on quests when
no one will take her seriously and aid her, and to defy the traditional role of
women in her society is amazing. Even
something as small as cutting her hair short and wearing pants is radical in
Westeros.
This is
a woman who’s forged a hard road, one who’s suffered a lot of indignity and cruelty,
but who still dedicates herself to doing the right thing. Her firm convictions are unshakeable;
however, that’s not to say she’s inflexibly rigid. Over the course of the series, she’s learned
to reevaluate some of her initial judgments of people. I’ve already talked about her changing relationship with Jaime, how she’s grown to understand him as more than the
Kingslayer. Now, by the end of season 4,
she knows and trusts him well enough to speak to him in confidence, and to
confront him if she takes issue with his actions. Podrick is another character about whom she’s
changed her mind, and she’s started to see the value in her squire. Brienne’s kneejerk tendency to write people
off is probably her most problematic quality, so it’s good to see her becoming
more and more open seeing the potential in others.
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