#kingslayer and the wench

[vitaminkenjoyer]

brienne and her names for jaime from asos to adwd

[thewench-and-thekingslayer]

The Wench & the Kingslayer recommends: Maxton Hall!

When lower-income student Ruby Bell (Harriet Herbig-Matten) discovers a secret about the uber-wealthy Lydia Beaufort (Sonja Weißer), she attracts the unwanted attention of Lydia’s twin, James Beaufort (Damian Hardung). What follows is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance that takes place in a heightened world of extreme privilege and family drama.

6 episode series on Amazon Prime

Trailer:

Know a book/series/movie/etc, that might interest Jaime and Brienne shippers? Send us a message and we'll post your recommendation! See our other recommendations here.

[almostaknight]

“Guards!” he heard the wench shout. “The Kingslayer!” Jaime, he thought, my name is Jaime.

“You are speaking of a highborn lady, ser. Call her by her name. Call her Brienne.”

[shripscapi]

“Guards!” he heard the wench shout. “The Kingslayer!”

Jaime, he thought, my name is Jaime.

[rohanneofcoldmoat]

I've always found it interesting that Brienne calls Jaime 'my lord' when she approaches him at Pennytree, which is something we've never seen her call him before. It especially sticks out considering the weight names carry in their story (You will call me Brienne, not wench / Jaime, he thought, my name is Jaime). Brienne, knowing that she's about to betray Jaime, can't bring herself to compound the betrayal with the intimacy of using his name, but she's well past calling him Kingslayer, so she settles on My Lord, which is formal and respectful yet impersonal, and perhaps allows her to keep some level of emotional distance from what she's doing.

[sierrabravoecho]

I just finsihed None But the Lonely Heart by OccasionalAvenger after seeing your fic rec and loved it even though i dont read much jamie x brienne centric stories.

Do you have any other fic recs from asoiaf/got?

Omg yay I’m so glad you liked it!

If you enjoyed None But the Lonely Heart in terms of setting, here are a few more in-universe fics you might enjoy:

I'm dying to be born again by angel_deux

After the wars are done, Daenerys is queen of the six kingdoms. Jon and Sansa Stark rule the north. And Jaime serves as a hostage in Kings Landing to ensure his brother's good behavior. When Tyrion schemes to see Jaime married off and removed from the city, Jaime is allowed to choose his wife.

He should be happier that the woman he loves is quick to accept his proposal. Except maybe it's too quick. And she just says, "all right". And she calls it sensible.

Bound by the Things We Choose by winterkill

Jaime's pretty certain he would remember standing across from the dour, hulking Maid of Tarth and swearing to be with her until the end of his days.

Personally, I love an AU. These are the ones I always return to:

Light a fire, burn up all you know by brynnmck

When rich, arrogant Jaime Lannister swans into Brienne's dad's diner and spends the whole time making out with his rude stepsister, Brienne couldn't be more relieved that she'll probably never have to see either one of them again. The only problem is, over the next 15 years, Jaime keeps coming back.

Or: five letters that Brienne burned, and one she didn't.

Same Time, Next Year by angelowl

“I’m Jaime,” he says, his eyes gleaming with laughter.

There’s a wicked edge to his mirth that makes Brienne wonder if it’s her freakishness that’s the butt of his joke so she spins on her heel and stiffly marches away.

After that, Jaime inexplicably keeps seeking her out.

The Dark, Dread Toyshop by Miss_M

The summer she turns sixteen, Brienne suffers a grave loss. She and her siblings are forced to move in with their Uncle Tywin and his sons, who own a fabulous and eerie toyshop. Sexual awakenings occur, dark family secrets are revealed, and puppet theatre echoes real life.

Baby I Will by sdwolfpup

When a country singer with a stripper's name and a model's looks strolls into Selwyn's bar to perform one Tuesday night, bartender Brienne isn't sure what to expect. What they both end up with is so much more than they bargained for.

Brienne, Plain and Tall by greenmtwoman

Farmer with two children and substantial property in the West seeks a wife. Requirements are honesty, sobriety, a strong back and a thick skin. A practical arrangement will be made. Beauty is unnecessary and intimacy not expected. Interested parties should contact Mr. Jaime Lannister, Casterly Farm.

Did this Mr. Lannister want a wife or a hired hand? But in either case what did she have to lose?

Or if you’re in the mood for some longer-form reading, these are amazing:

The Lion, The Wench, and the Wardrobe Trailer by GilShalos1

Jaime Lannister’s entire acting career has been built on playing reckless cads and heartless villains – ever since a scandalous death on his first film, Kingslayer, was quickly hushed up at his father’s behest. Nearly fifteen years later, acclaimed director Olenna Tyrell has announced her retirement: after one last film, Oathkeeper, inspired by the mythic story of the Long Night. She wants Jaime to do what he does so well, play into his on-screen persona and off-screen reputation, and be a villain for the ages in her final film. But to make sure his infamous ways don’t interfere with production, she requires his personal assistant to keep him on the straight, narrow and sober. Brienne Tarth, in her first job on a film set, finds herself tasked with keeping the impossible Jaime Lannister under control …

Heart Full of Gasoline by sdwolfpup

Jaime Lannister is a Formula 1 driver with a sordid past, dubious future, and nothing left to lose as he hits the far edge of his career. He thinks all he wants is the world championship title he’s never quite been able to reach and to finally give up smoking. What he finds to his great surprise is what he really wants might be Brienne Tarth.

Brienne Tarth is an unknown mechanic eager to make the jump to the big time of Formula 1. When Jaime hires her as Chief Mechanic for his team of misfits, she discovers she’s ready for the work, but is she ready for Jaime?

[ilynpilled]

being denied for being a jb pegging truther when we have an actual dream sequence of them naked and jaime giving her a sword, an established phallic symbol in the text, with a passage that’s verbatim: “the steel links parted like silk. “a sword,” brienne begged, and there it was, scabbard, belt, and all. She buckled it around her thick waist.” and mind you we had jaime say shit like “it was the gods who neglected to give you a cock, not me.” and “give me the sword, kingslayer.” “oh, i will.” and “a big strong peasant wench to look at her, yet she speaks like a high-born and wears long sword and dagger. ah, but can she use them? jaime meant to find out, as soon as he rid himself of these fetters.” oh ye he’ll find out alright

[jaimexbrienne-fic-finder]

Wedding

May is Wedding month, so here are stories about weddings! Some are only about a wedding, some just have a bigger part about a wedding. There are lots more I can't remember right now, if I think of many more there will be a part 2!

Found Wanting by dreadwulf

Brienne is still convinced that the entire affair is a joke on her. Surely there is a real bride somewhere in the castle, who will be brought out once the crowd has had a good laugh at the cow in a satin gown. When she said as much to her intended, he said it was surely a joke on them both. Let them laugh, he said. What’s funnier is that Queen Daenerys made the match in the first place – she must have thought them intolerable to one another. The Beauty and the Kingslayer. Surely Brienne could see the humor in it?

Something Drastic by bearsofair

Brienne ducks out of a wedding reception early. Her "date" comes looking for her.

the battlefield between us (isn't here tonight) by robotsdance

“I missed you, ” Brienne says like she’s admitting something else, and Jaime wants to say it back to her in exactly the same way: loaded with all of the things they’re not saying. Let that truth settle between them, unsaid but at least somewhat spoken. That could be enough. To share that quiet understanding with Brienne, here, alone together in the middle of the woods, in the middle of a war, in which one of them will be on the losing side. That could be enough. I missed you too.

Brienne would understand.

What Jaime says instead is “Marry me.”

The Lion, the Wench, and the Wardrobe Trailer by GilShalos1

Jaime Lannister’s entire acting career has been built on playing reckless cads and heartless villains – ever since a scandalous death on his first film, Kingslayer, was quickly hushed up at his father’s behest. Nearly fifteen years later, acclaimed director Olenna Tyrell has announced her retirement: after one last film, Oathkeeper, inspired by the mythic story of the Long Night. She wants Jaime to do what he does so well, play into his on-screen persona and off-screen reputation, and be a villain for the ages in her final film. But to make sure his infamous ways don’t interfere with production, she requires his personal assistant to keep him on the straight, narrow and sober. Brienne Tarth, in her first job on a film set, finds herself tasked with keeping the impossible Jaime Lannister under control …

Something Blue by Aviss

Jaime Lannister was a wedding planner, though he sometimes missed his old job where he was actually allowed to kill people. Ten minutes with his latest clients and he was already convinced they should not get married. He wasn't a marriage counsellor though, he wasn't invested in this Hunt and Tarth wedding beyond the planning of the ceremony.

Never A Bride by CourtingDisaster

(Modern AU) Wedding bells are ringing in Westeros. After an unpleasant first meeting, Brienne and Jaime find themselves being thrown together over and over as their friends and family marry off. After all, as Tyrion likes to point out, there really aren't any other groomsmen tall enough to escort everyone's favorite bridesmaid...

Over the course of several weddings and receptions, Brienne and Jaime form a sort of truce, perhaps they even become friends. But Brienne isn't going to let the atmosphere of romance carry her away, no matter how handsome Jaime is...is she?

Vows by theworldunseen

Jaime Lannister profiles the most interesting and romantic weddings in the country for his super popular blog, The only problem? His own heart has been stomped on, and it might have ruined weddings for him forever. When he finds out about a woman who’s going to be in her twenty-seventh wedding party, he thinks writing about her might be his way back to loving weddings. But Brienne Tarth isn’t anything he ever expected.

What happens in Sunspear (doesn't) stay in Sunspear Series by Luthien

Brienne wakes up the morning after a night on the town in Vegas Sunspear, with unexpected company in her bed - and that's just the first surprising discovery she makes.

My Best Friend's Wedding by wildlingoftarth

A desperate Brienne hires a “professional party date” to accompany her to Renly’s wedding on Tarth. It’s just a weekend – what could go wrong?

so keep me close. by SeeThemFlying

Brienne pines for her husband, Jaime, who she is convinced is not madly in love with her.

[inlovewithquotes]

"Jaime," Brienne whispered, so faintly he thought he was dreaming it. "Jaime, what are you doing?"

"Dying," he whispered back.

"No," she said, "no, you must live."

He wanted to laugh. "Stop telling me what do, wench. I'll die if it pleases me."

"Are you so craven?"

The word shocked him. He was Jaime Lannister, a knight of the Kingsguard, he was the Kingslayer. No man had ever called him craven. Other things they called him, yes; oathbreaker, liar, murderer. They said he was cruel, treacherous, reckless. But never craven. "What else can I do, but die?"

"Live," she said, "live, and fight, and take revenge."

-A Storm Of Swords

[jaimebrienneonline]

Fun with Fics

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll roughly to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

(I got this twice in my inbox, so here goes.)

1. The Wine Is Not Enough

Sam leaned forward and offered Dany some unsolicited wisdom, “Never, ever wear open-toed sandals in a Port-o-Walder.”

2. The Seduction

Jaime lunged forward and pressed his mouth to hers in a sloppy, wet kiss. He pulled back and began kicking off his shoes. "Fine. See. You've won. I yield. You can have your way with me."

3. Vows

He shifted on the bed to lean back against the pillows, angling himself to her. “I left you unprotected in the North. Did that Wildling try to steal you? Did you let him?” His eyes glittered with something she didn’t understand. “Is that why you’re trying to refuse me?”

“No one stole me. Why would anyone even try? I’m not a possession to be stolen,” she huffed.

4. Age Gap

“Seriously though, Tyrion, what’s the point in having a sexy young girlfriend if I can’t have her hold up restaurant menus to prove I can read them from a distance?”

5. The Right Time

He rose from his seat and turned around, facing the bear-like man. With a deliberate swipe of his stump, he knocked the unopened cup to the floor before leaning his perfect muscular backside against the edge of her desk. His voice was like shards of ice as he spoke to the investigator. “Brienne already has plans for lunch. With me.” He then stood straight and took a step closer to the other man. “She has plans today. Tomorrow. Every lunch. Every day. Every dinner, too.”

6. Life's Sweetest Reward

Brienne shoveled a bite of eggs in her mouth and swallowed before answering. “Shuffleboard tournament.” After watching the other couples at parasailing yesterday, she thought she and Jaime were probably the most athletic ‘couple’ on board. “If Jaime manages to get up in time, we’ll likely win.”

Howland drew back from her and his previous affable expression turned into something much harder. Jyana touched his hand, a look of alarm on her face.

“Jya and I have been on ninety-seven cruises. We compete in the shuffleboard tournament every single time.” He leaned in then, his voice dark and low, “And we always win.”

7. The Kingslayer's Speech

No matter how she argued that the first kiss had been an accident, (did you trip and fall into my lips, wench?), he had insisted that he was entitled to a kiss with every goodbye now. It was his due, he said. Just to shut him up, she’d smacked her lips against his and sent him on his way.

8. The Singular Discomfort of Jaime Lannister

He hadn’t thought it possible to be this hard and not explode. “Are you,” he paused, needing to catch his breath, “are you asking me to tell you about the hot, dirty things I want to do to you?”

9. Everyone Has a Price

Aunt Myranda (wife of Stafford, mother of Daven, Cerenna and Myrielle), passed around tequila shots while discussing the benefits of erectile dysfunction medication, but the drawbacks of four-hour erections.

10. Words in the Dark Night

“Or I could warm it on your teats, what little you have, wench. Or perhaps under the sweet curve of your ass.”

Sam watched as the Maid’s gloved hand gripped the hilt of Oathkeeper. He wondered if Ser Jaime planned to die tonight.

----

Okay..this was a lot of fun. Thank you. I haven't double checked all the links, but you can find all my fics by just clicking one and then my user name. I can't always connect writers to tumblrs, so I'm going with the first few I remember. @ddagent @writergirl2011 @seaspiritwrites @glamaphonic @isolacaramella @quizzicalquinnia @ladym-rules @wackygoofball @wildlingoftarth @bussdowntarthiana

[deadmegumi]

Brienne calling him kingslayer in shock as he jumps into the bear pit with her vs immediately after they're pulled out and he corrects steelshanks calling her wench with "her name is brienne" and then she calls him ser jaime. SER JAIME

[waitingforwinterwinds]

ASOS; Steel and Snow: 11 JAIME II (pages 146-160)

The BROad-trip continues as the team finds an inn along the river, where they pick up some local gossip and some horses to continue the journey overland.

-

"Did you kill them?" "Would i tell you if I did?" The man spat. "Likely it were wolves' work, or lions, what's the difference? The wife and i found them dead. The way we see it, this place is ours now."

And ain't that just a summary of it all: the smallfolk don't know or care who's responsible, all they know is someone in charge is killing them, and they're left to scrape up a life in the aftermath as best they can.

... omg, Brienne and Jaime getting the vibes, meanwhile Cleos is all 'la-lala-lala, what a lovely inn, time for a kip~"

idjit.

Cleos, you bring down the IQ of the entire party... he's going to get himself killed, isn't he? I can half imagine this as a tabletop, and the player just "it's what my character would do" attitude, while everyone else throws scrunched up note paper and "stop trying to get us killed in the first session!"

"He may have been lying about the river as well, to put us on these horses," the wench said, "but I could not take the risk. There will be soldiers at the ruby ford and the crossroads."

ruby = 🥛 I'm thirsty, so it counts.

Jaime! stahhhhp. Stop thinking mean things about Brienne!

"- Aerys had Ser Ilyn Payne's tongue torn out just for boasting that it was the hand who truly ruled the Seven Kingdoms. the captain of the Hand's guard, and yet father dared not try and stop it. -"

Ohhhhh, so that's what happened to his tongue and why.

"Tell me true, one kingslayer to another - did the Starks pay you to slit his throat, or was it Stannis? (...) Or perhaps your moon's blood was on you. Never give a wench a sword when she's bleeding."

*smacks Jaime with the steel chair* be thankful I'm not hitting you harder Mr. PMS jokes. And the only reason for that, by the way, is because I'm aware you're deflecting from your own trauma and guilt re: killing Aerys. You chose a shitty way to go about it though. Stop it.

I feel like I'm becoming more liberal with the application of chair as we go on. This series has changed me. (joking)

But when he closed his eyes, it was Aerys Targaryen he saw, pacing alone in his throne room, picking at his scabbed and bleeding hands. The fool was always cutting himself on the blades and barbs of the Iron Throne.

"Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the silly sword-chair, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."

Yeah, and the silly sword-chair doesn't like you, Aerys!

I do like that the people who do get cut all seem to be the kind of folks who you'd think "oh of course they're unworthy, they are selfish and cruel" when you hear they get cut, and it perpetuates the idea that the Throne cuts the unworthy.

But also, the only real time we've seen that thought from someone on the Throne was from Ned, and he was well aware how dangerous the chair was.

... Jaime needs therapy for what happened during the rebellion, and probably before that as well.

They broke their fast on oatcakes , alt fish, and some blackberries that Ser Cleos had found, and were back in the saddle before the sun came up.

I don't know that I'd trust berries from Ser Cleos, he doesn't seem that bright. (I'm being mean, I'm aware.)

Luckily (fun fact incoming) there's a good chance the berries are fine.

Fun Fact:

While roughly 50% of red berries are poisonous, 90% of blue/black/purple skinned berries are edible.

[rawwkfingers]

""Oh, I will." He sprang to his feet and drove at her, the longsword alive in his hands. Brienne jumped back, parrying, but he followed, pressing the attack. No sooner did she turn one cut than the next was upon her. The swords kissed and sprang apart and kissed again. Jaime's blood was singing. This was what he was meant for; he never felt so alive as when he was fighting, with death balanced on every stroke. And with my wrists chained together, the wench may even give me a contest for a time. His chains forced him to use a two-handed grip, though of course the weight and reach were less than if the blade had been a true two-handed greatsword, but what did it matter? His cousin's sword was long enough to write an end to this Brienne of Tarth.

High, low, overhand, he rained down steel upon her. Left, right, backslash, swinging so hard that sparks flew when the swords came together, upswing, sideslash, overhand, always attacking, moving into her, step and slide, strike and step, step and strike, hacking, slashing, faster, faster, faster . . .

. . . until, breathless, he stepped back and let the point of the sword fall to the ground, giving her a moment of respite. "Not half bad," he acknowledged. "For a wench."

She took a slow deep breath, her eyes watching him warily. "I would not hurt you, Kingslayer."

"As if you could." He whirled the blade back up above his head and flew at her again, chains rattling.

Jaime could not have said how long he pressed the attack. It might have been minutes or it might have been hours; time slept when swords woke. He drove her away from his cousin's corpse, drove her across the road, drove her into the trees. She stumbled once on a root she never saw, and for a moment he thought she was done, but she went to one knee instead of falling, and never lost a beat. Her sword leapt up to block a downcut that would have opened her from shoulder to groin, and then she cut at him, again and again, fighting her way back to her feet stroke by stroke.

"Not bad at all," he said when he paused for a second to catch his breath, circling to her right.

The dance went on. He pinned her against an oak, cursed as she slipped away, followed her through a shallow brook half-choked with fallen leaves. Steel rang, steel sang, steel screamed and sparked and scraped, and the woman started grunting like a sow at every crash, yet somehow he could not reach her. It was as if she had an iron cage around her that stopped every blow.

"For a wench?"

"For a squire, say. A green one." He laughed a ragged, breathless laugh. "Come on, come on, my sweetling, the music's still playing. Might I have this dance, my lady?"

Grunting, she came at him, blade whirling, and suddenly it was Jaime struggling to keep steel from skin. One of her slashes raked across his brow, and blood ran down into his right eye. The Others take her, and Riverrun as well! His skills had gone to rust and rot in that bloody dungeon, and the chains were no great help either. His eye closed, his shoulders were going numb from the jarring they'd taken, and his wrists ached from the weight of chains, manacles, and sword. His longsword grew heavier with every blow, and Jaime knew he was not swinging it as quickly as he'd done earlier, nor raising it as high.

She is stronger than I am."

me: I hate tropes

author: they were so evenly matched that their fight looked like a dance

me: oh my god they were so evenly matched that their fight looked like a dance

[balladedutempsjadis]

On the state of the ship ...

Apparently, Nikolaj has said some things in post-finale interviews that are upsetting my fellow J/B fellow shippers. Now I am no stranger to being frustrated, angry and upset with this show, and specifically with how it has treated Jaime, Brienne, and Jaime/Brienne.  Those of you I’ve only recently “met” may not know this, but I rage-quit the show after episode 4.10, when Jaime does the exact opposite of what he does in the books, and has sex with Cersei in the White Sword Tower. At that point, I became 100% convinced that there was absolutely nothing romantic ever, ever, ever going to happen with Jaime and Brienne, and that the same was either true of the books, or it was a minor story that D&D felt they could cut out (like Arianne Martell, like fAegon/Jon Connington) because it didn’t really matter to the ending of the whole tale. 

I only started watching again nearly two whole seasons later because I saw all the GIFs of Riverrun on Tumblr and Nikolaj talking about it afterwards, and man, I fell down the rabbit hole again so thoroughly I may never find my way back again. I’m mentioning this to establish my salty-as-fuck non-show-loving credentials, so that perhaps what I say next may help those of you in despair over the non-happening of J/B in season 7. I’m not worried. I’m really not! I have faith in GRRM and to a much lesser degree D&D (because see above re: 180, and the time Jaime has spent with Cersei long, long, long past his quitting time in the books) that they are going to finish the story they have set up since Jaime’s and Brienne’s journey of bonding and pain together in Storm of Swords/Seasons 2-3. (And by finish in GRRM’s case, I mean he told D&D the ending for these characters, and it must matter that they are together, and by finish in D&D’s case I don’t mean to imply that it will be entirely satisfying. BUT I do think they are ending up together.)

I agree that Jaime’s journey to being his own man has been excruciatingly and frustratingly slow on the show, but … he is literally at the same place on the show now that he is in the books (far away from Cersei’s crazy because Brienne asked him to do something) and he is way more aware of his feelings and Brienne of hers than their book counterparts.  If, as Nikolaj says, it’s always going to be Cersei for Jaime, there were ways to write, film, and edit the storyline to make that be what we are seeing onscreen. But that is emphatically NOT what they did onscreen

Here’s the thing: they brought Brienne to Riverrun last season and Brienne to KL this season for ONE REASON. Just one. It was to establish that she and Jaime have romantic and sexual feelings for one another, that they *LOVE* one another, but have never been in a position to act on that love and desire. If it were only ever going to be unrequited one-sided love from Brienne for the flawed worthless Jaime who is irrevocably bound to Cersei, they would have had her THINK about him, sigh, and go about her business. 

Brienne isn’t at Riverrun in the books; Jaime handles that entire situation in the same way not because Brienne’s presence gives him a stake in the peaceful transfer of power, but because it’s the honorable thing to do (more on that later). Instead, on the show, they had her come to give Jaime a compelling personal reason to make sure there was no battle in which he and Brienne would be on opposite sides. They had Bronn spell out that this is a SEXUAL attraction by saying that from the way Jaime looks at Brienne and Brienne looks at Jaime, it’s clear they want to fuck each other. That scene, those lines, weren’t to set the stage for her to find true love with Tormund or some other guy we haven’t met yet. I think D&D are somewhat mediocre writers, and there are lots of things I quibble about with them, but THAT is just not something anyone who puts a drama onscreen would do. 

The show framed the scene in Jaime’s tent a certain way that was done for a reason, a reason that was repeatedly spelled out in offscreen interviews, and in commentaries, by the actors, the director, and the showrunners. They want us to know that Jaime loves Brienne and that - at this time - because he also has a relationship with Cersei, and because Brienne serves his enemies, they CANNOT act on that love and attraction.

As disappointingly short as the Dragonpit interaction was, if Jaime and Brienne were never going to be a thing, there was no need for her to be in KL. They could have had her go on the wight hunt as apparently originally planned. She came to King’s Landing because she needed to be there, to be a part of the cascading series of events and people this season telling Jaime Lannister that he needs to nut up and make his goddamn choice at last.  

And to lampshade that, Jaime sits there, watching Brienne, the most honorable person he knows, the person who TRUSTS HIS HONOR to whom he has GIVEN HIS HEART, and WHILE he’s watching her, WHILE she’s watching him, and his sister/lover is also watching him, Jon Snow says that he can’t serve two queens at once (JUST LIKE JAIME CANNOT SERVE TWO QUEENS, OR BOTH LOYALTY AND HONOR.) Jon made his choice; Jaime - who is in so many ways an older, bitterer, more damaged (even though he didn’t DIE!) Jon - has to make the same choice.

Again, there’s a reason why BRIENNE is there, why the show focuses on the looks between her and Cersei and Jaime, and the showrunners talk about them after the episode (we didn’t talk about why Varys is looking at whoever he’s looking at, did we?) There’s a reason why the ONLY other person Jaime talks to after the wight-demonstration besides his brother and his sister … is Brienne. The fate of humanity is in the balance and Jaime talks to THREE people, the three people whom he loves: Brienne, Tyrion, and Cersei. There’s a reason why BRIENNE tells him “fuck loyalty”; after all, the last time they met, she said “honor compels me to fight for Sansa’s kin.“ 

Sidebar: in the lead to “fuck loyalty” I almost got the impression Jaime was not only shielding Brienne from Cersei by his gruff antagonism towards her, but shielding himself too. How painful that he’d let himself almost hope that he and Brienne could be on the same side - the right side, for once in his life - and … then that all got yanked away from him. That’s why he’s so angry at Jon; because if Jon had only been diplomatic, maybe Cersei would have said "yes." 

That’s why he calls Jon a dolt while at the same time, Jon’s words about not serving two mistresses strike at the heart of Jaime’s dilemma. “So many vows, they make you swear and swear …” He served Cersei because of his loyalty to his family and to the woman whom he loved and who bore his children; he wants to serve humanity, and he needs someone to tell him what he knows deep down: some vows matter more, some causes matter more. The thing is that Jaime did that once: he tried to save a portion of humanity at the expense of the loyalty he vowed to Aerys. And that did not turn out so well for Jaime personally. 

Jaime can’t let himself act on his feelings towards Brienne, or even let himself feel what he does, or to think tenderly about her, because he thinks they’ll be killing each other, in a situation over which - unlike Riverrun - he has no control. Or perhaps even worse, Brienne will be off fighting this army of the dead, and will die far away from him.  So he puts up his walls to deal with her and the feelings he doesn’t want to feel, and then she blows up those walls with two words, and he’s got to face that dilemma again, and make the choice that he knows is right. 

And the reason Brienne is there saying these things is that she is the only person Jaime will listen to this statement from: Cersei and Tyrion are too devious, and have their own agendas. Brienne is the only truly honest person he knows. And also he will listen to her because he LOVES her, and it’s clearly devastating to him to think of being on opposite sides of a battlefield from her. (Look how relatively happy and calm and at peace he is when he’s talking to his commanders about the troop movements - he’s finally fighting for a cause that he believes in, and he’s finally going to be on the same side as Brienne.) And there is a reason why this is framed not as "Brienne asks Jaime to do something and he does it” but as “Jaime becomes his own man and Brienne is a huge part of that, because she made him want that, but she isn’t the ONLY reason he does this." 

 At Riverrun, where, in the books, Brienne never makes an appearance, Jaime did something (relatively) good because of Brienne’s being there; in the books, Brienne comes to Jaime at Pennytree, and he leaves with her, letting Cersei face whatever her fate is alone, which is kind of what he does at the end of ‘The Wolf and the Dragon.” They flipped Riverrun and Pennytree from the books, basically, and it’s because - and I FIRMLY believe this - in order for Jaime to be Brienne’s soulmate, to be worthy of the love that she has bestowed on him, he needs to be his own man. In the books, the order was different; he was already well on his way to fashioning himself anew at Riverrun; he didn’t need Brienne there to remind him of his honor and his vows, because he remembered them perfectly well by himself. Do I prefer the book version? In some ways, yeah. But on its own terms, the show version of the breakup also works for me. 

I guess I just don’t think there’s really that much cause for despair right now. Jaime left Cersei; Jaime LEFT Cersei. Brienne played a huge role in that choice, because Jaime chose to be the honorable man Brienne believes him to be, when she wasn’t even there to witness it. Let me say it again: HE LEFT CERSEI. He left her because he made a pledge and he intends to keep it. He left her because everything Brienne and Jon and Tyrion said sank in - he’s a slow learner but he got there in the end. 

Jaime’s lonesome departure from King’s Landing at the end of his s7 arc is giving a DIRECT lie to what Tywin told him in Season One: Tywin told Jaime ONLY his family mattered. But in fact, ever since he met Brienne, Jaime has been on a trajectory to understanding that individuals, their choices, and their actions, not their blood or breeding, are what truly matters. Jaime matters because he is JAIME, not because he’s a Lannister of Casterly Rock; his actions and choices - as an individual -  make a difference and have done since the moment he acted as an individual to save Brienne from rape. That’s why it’s so important that he left KL, alone, as one soldier in the war for the dawn, not as the General of all the Lannister armies.  Earlier this season, Olenna Tyrell said that Cersei, who is guarded literally by a dead thing, who chooses not to help the living fight the dead, would be the death of Jaime; well, Jaime left his death behind in King’s Landing and rode off to find his life, in the person of the woman who recalled him to life when he wanted to die. 

[ilynpilled]

due to the recent discussion about the ancestral connection between these two I wanted to say something about their thematic overlaps. Brienne and Dany, among other female characters, and how their stories is in vague conversation with each other is something I really love because I do think there are a lot of parallels ingrained into their narratives. I adore how they are thrust into, or in a lot of ways choose to embody, “traditionally masculine” roles. In the meta sense too, like their narratives are about filling the role reserved for male fantasy protagonists. Brienne is the Protector and the Knight. Dany is the Conqueror and the Savior. They are a deconstruction and reconstruction of these tropes. They also have a lot of differences too, which just elevates the whole thing in my eyes because it really hones in on what it is to be gender nonconforming and how fluid that whole idea is.

Brienne’s role exploration is so clearly delineated, but it is still about duality:

“It was the gods who neglected to give you a cock, not me."

"Lady Brienne?" She looked so uncomfortable that Jaime sensed a weakness. "Or would Ser Brienne be more to your taste?"

"Give me the sword, Kingslayer." "Oh, I will."

bound them face-to-face. “The lovers," Shagwell sighed loudly, "and what a lovely sight they are. "Twould be cruel to separate the good knight and his lady." Then he laughed that high shrill laugh of his, and said, "Ah, but which one is the knight and which one is the lady?"

but the faint light revealed only Brienne of Tarth, her hands bound in heavy chains. "I swore to keep you safe," the wench said stubbornly. "I swore an oath." Naked, she raised her hands to Jaime. "Ser. Please. If you would be so good." The steel links parted like silk. "A sword,"

In this light she could almost be a beauty, he thought. In this light she could almost be a knight. Brienne's sword took flame as well, burning silvery blue. The darkness retreated a little more.

"Ser Galladon was a champion of such valor that the Maiden herself lost her heart to him. She gave him an enchanted sword as a token of her love. The Just Maid, it was called.

"I will ask after her. What is this woman to you?" “My protector."

It is still about this idea that you are not really restricted by gendered tropes. (This duality is also present in the Bear and the Maiden fair, and the BaTB reconstruction. The point is that they are both simultaneously.) She has a complicated web of motivations: love, trust (a lot on gender constructs here too), and her own altruism. You can be the romantic heroine, as well as the knight: the protector. Same with Dany. She can be conqueror, savior, and mother. The whole point is the taking apart these dichotomies and constructs.

Dany echoing Rhaegar: “I will require sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior.'"

And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. “The last dragon,” Ser Jorah’s voice whispered faintly. “The last, the last.” Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own.

Dany takes up Viserys’s role, she takes up Rhaegar’s role, she takes up Drogo’s role. But she is still the mother of dragons. I think what George wants to emphasize with a lot of these characters is that gender and the constructs around it are very complex and you are not gonna neatly fit into the strict boxes that society forces you into. When that happens, characters often end up in ruin. People are not meant to fit into these rigid boxes. Anyways, Dany’s story is filled to the brim with this duality as well: it is present in the sun and moon symbolism (lol also Brienne’s sigil), as well as the AA prophecy subversion. The flaming swords are forged with the burning of her husband etc, again the genders become switched. But it is not about one or the other. I think really it is like: Dany must become the conqueror, the warrior, the executioner even, the butcher, because she is a mother & savior. Because she is also a protector, nurturer, and planter. For her children. Also, how “the children” represent the self for her. Like they are/were her. But she has power now. A sword/dragons. It is such a large weight on her shoulders. What does her inaction mean? What is her obligation with that kind of power? She must get blood on her hands to save her children, and to in some form save herself. What does “better to be the butcher than the meat” really mean? I read Brienne the same way. She is not a knight for glory and empty chivalry. She has some vindictive tendencies rooted in her trauma, but at the end it hurts. She is a knight to protect. It is rooted in the fact that she is a lover. They are both so selfless, they are both so strong. But their fight is also ultimately a fight for themselves too.

And to finish my little mwuah love note about my two favorite female characters in the series, this is such a cute little romantic parallel, even though they are filling opposite roles in it:

[balladedutempsjadis]

I may have already reblogged this but I’m doing it again because LOOK AT THEIR FACES OMG THESE TWO IDIOTS ARE SO IN LOVE.