It’s been over a decade since we were introduced to one of the most badass Game of Thrones characters, Brienne of Tarth. Played by the wonderfully talented Gwendoline Christie, she entered Season 2 as a highly trained warrior which wasn’t commonly seen among women in Westeros. Now, five years after the Game of Thrones finale, Christie opened up about her beloved character and finally addressed one moment from the series that surprised fans.
Game of Thrones is not exactly the type of show that’s filled with too many feel-good scenes. Given the number of shocking moments GOT has given audiences with its gruesome character deaths, it makes any endearing moment on the show all the more memorable. When looking back on her epic character, Gwendoline Christie spoke to Radio Times about one Brienne of Tarth moment people were surprised by:
The character fed me for all of those years. The character never once stopped feeding me, and I never stopped working on the character right to the very end, even with things that people were surprised by, like when Brienne smiled when she was knighted. That made complete sense to me that she hadn’t really smiled. This is the time she smiled, because she got the thing she wanted in a very intimate and special way.
I can understand why people were surprised to see Brienne of Tarth not hide her smile in one of Season 8’s best moments. We normally didn't see the honorable warrior light up too much. Can you blame her? She battled dark forces to protect the people she served and had been a survivor of bullying due to her muscular appearance not being one of the typical women of Westeros. This is all the more reason why Brienne getting knighted was a moment worthy of a smile, because she finally got respect and recognition for her strength and skills.
After her standout performance in Game of Thrones, Gwendoline Christie continued playing strong female characters. She joined The Hunger Games: Mockingjay as Commander Lyme, she was the fan-favorite Captain Phasma in Star Wars, and she was part of Tim Burton’s Wednesday as Principal Larissa Weems. Despite having moved on from the adapted George R.R. Martin series, it doesn’t mean Christie doesn’t still hold Brienne of Tarth close to her heart, as she said:
I had a wonderful character to play that I loved so much and was so rich and there was so much to explore. I love the writing. I love the character as created by George RR Martin. I love the adaptation by [showrunners] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss]. I thought that was really brilliant.
The HBO series truly did a great job telling Brienne of Tarth’s story to make her such a fan favorite. By the end of the series, Gwendoline Christie's character was a well-respected knight and the commander of Bran’s Kingsguard. She was a character who knew who she was and never conformed to societal pressure around her to be anything less. And I love her explanation of that smile we got when she achieved what she'd been working toward.
Gwendoline Christie admits years after Game of Thrones that fans were surprised to see Brienne of Tarth smiling the moment she was knighted. I’m sure fans smiled along with the warrior who went from suffering a tough upbringing to finally achieving her lifelong dream of being a knight. Feel free to rewatch Brienne getting knighted and other epic moments of hers in the Emmy Award-winning series with a Max subscription.
