Relationship Spotlight: Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones)

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My favorite parts of any story are generally the characters and the relationships between them.  Over the years, I’ve acquired tons of favorite characters in stories of every medium, along with a lot of favorite fictional relationships.  Here’s a duo I’ve loved almost from the moment they met.

 

Jaime and Brienne first come face-to-face in Game of Thrones’s second season (I haven’t read the books, so this is gonna be strictly TV.)  Jaime has spent most of the year held prisoner by the Stark family’s Northern army, and Mama Stark gives Brienne the task of escorting him on a cross-country trek to exchange him for the captive Stark daughters.  Brienne is to return Jaime to his family, the unscrupulous Lannisters, and bring the girls back to their mother.  Since Mama Stark doesn’t have the go-ahead to actually do this, the North is filled with soldiers thirsty for Lannister blood, and Jaime is contrary by nature, Brienne’s work is cut out from her.

 

Right away, these two brimmed with storytelling potential.  While handsome, charismatic Jaime is the Lannisters’ closest thing to a golden boy, he’s a “man without honor.”  Years ago, he killed “mad” King Aerys, toppling the dynasty and acquiring the name Kingslayer.  By contrast, Brienne is sullen, homely, and, as a female knight, considered an utter freak.  She’s one of the most genuinely good characters on the show; she holds honor and the ideals of knighthood above all.  Watching Brienne brusquely manhandle Jaime as he tries to get under her skin is a riot.

 

But that’s not the end of the story.  Jaime’s infamy comes with his eyes wide open, while Brienne’s principles root in naivety.  On their journey, both characters reveal new complexities.  Brienne’s derision Jaime wanes as he defies her assumptions of him.  Her black-and-white notions jar with the grayness of the world, and that’s strikingly apparent in Jaime.  It’s easy for her to look down on the Kingslayer, but when she hears the story of what really happened that day, she’s forced to reassess her rigid ideas of honor.  Jaime, for his part, has spent years embracing his black reputation, being the treacherous rouge he’s believed to be.  Brienne’s integrity, I think, reminds him of the knight he once was.  His own convictions were eroded long ago, but looking at Brienne, he sees a glint of hope that he could again be more than a villain.

 

It’s an intricate relationship that’s evolved at every step.  Both characters’ view of the other has grown far beyond their initial impression, but the change is slow enough that there’s still lots of drama to be had.  Each challenges the other, and each is most interesting in the other’s company.  I loved Brienne as soon as I clapped eyes on her, but I had almost no interest in Jaime until his storyline intersected with Brienne’s.  Now, he’s one of my favorites, and, not including the Giant! Shocking! Moment! scenes, his scenes with Brienne are my favorites of any episode.

 

I’m not sure if I want the relationship to end up romantic.  For the positives, it’d be nice for Brienne to get some lovin’, I’d appreciate seeing the Hot Guy fall for the Ugly Girl, and of course it’d be way healthier than Jaime’s current romantic entanglement.  Still, their relationship is excellent as is, and I’m not sure they need to change it (like I said, no book knowledge, so I have no spoilers on that front.)  Great friend/ally dynamics have been ruined by romance, and female characters have a tendency to wind up becoming more generic “girlfriend types” instead of the rich characters they were to start with.  I’d hate to see that with Brienne.  I dunno – for now, I’ll just adore them and hope the showrunners keep giving these two nothing but the best.