Jamie and Brienne

“So why did you come back?” “Because of you.”

“I love my doctor”

“But what if I want you?”

“I can’t do this without you!”

“I’m here for you. For all of it”

“I do favour you.”

“I need you”

“The Max I need.”

“So you found a reason to stay?”

“Burden me, please, always.”

“Do you trust me?” “With my life.”

“I’ll burden you if you burden me.”

EDIT: Part 2 is now up!

Somewhere out there, in some other universe quite similar to our own, constructed by writers far more talented and empathetic than D&D, Jaime and Brienne are happy together. I’ve decided to compile a list of all my favourite Jaime x Brienne modern AUs, inspired by a post by @ayofandomthings. (Tagging @ben-roll-io too, as requested, and @bedeliadumaurier who was asking for recommendations)

This was very therapeutic to put together; honestly I can’t deal with anything canon right now (even canon divergence/fix-it just makes me feel worse). Hope this will be helpful for anyone out there wanting an escape after 8x04. Also this took me way too long so I’m splitting it into at least two parts, starting with 10 fics here.

All fics listed here are completed ones from AO3 with happy endings – I think I’ve read almost all of them at least twice, some of them many more times. They’re in no particular order, but I’ve included short descriptions just so you know which ones have more angst or fluff than others, but again, they all end well for Jaime and Brienne – some are tough to read but with a good payoff.

At Harrenhal the tubs had been huge, and made of stone. The bathhouse had been thick with the steam rising off the water, and Jaime had come walking through that mist naked as his name day, looking half a corpse and half a god. He climbed into the tub with me, she remembered, blushing. She seized a chunk of hard lye soap and scrubbed under her arms, trying to call up Renly’s face again. - Brienne, AFFC

bonus + 

I’ve been meaning to put this rec together for a LONG TIME but as always, time got away from me! I fell in love with this pairing before I even was a fan of the show OR the books–the concept of their dynamic intrigued me so much, the double-reverse Beauty and the Beast, the unexpected commonalities, the bonding through my favorite trope: the odd-couple-road-trip. Then I started watching the show and comparing it to book canon, and before I knew it, they had reached an OTP status in my heart on the same level as my other long-term faves (Zutara, Eowyn/Faramir, Captain Swan, Luke/Mara Jade, Royai). 

To ship Jaime and Brienne is to be committed to the SLOW BURN, and thankfully we have amazing writers in our fandom that pull us through, whatever ending these two have in canon. This is my love letter to the JB fandom as the show draws to a close, and to the writers who have explored and loved on these characters and enriched them for us. I’ll keep updating this as more fics come in! 

Here’s some of my collection: 

**= personal faves 

Authors

janie_tangerine: I love the variety, the humor, and the poignant humanity of their stories. One of the most prolific writers for J/B. Faves include (and this was like picking a favorite child): 

this is the power of love revealed (T)

bathe me up in light, call me when you drown (M)

winterlude (T)

and I’m never going to care about my bad reputation (M)

**scars like the number of stars (M)

ink on a pin, underneath the skin (T)

love has to be remade all the time, made new (T)

two cats are better than one (T) - It has CATS

**cat’s cradle (T) - You can tell I love cats

**and give all the love that you have in your soul (E): A beautifully written long-fic with an ending so perfect and earned and I love it (don’t forget to read the deleted scenes too!) 

**more like the man you were meant to be: in which Robert, instead of keeping Jaime in King’s Landing after the rebellion, sends him to Winterfell.Or, alternatively: in which Jaime gets to keep his oaths, gains both Ned’s and Cat’s respect and Jon Snow finds himself growing up with his own sworn sword.Or, even more alternatively: in which Brienne’s father sends her to be a warden at Winterfell after she defies her last suitor and some things change and others stay the same. (T)                     - One of my absolute favorite JB stories, favorite take on Jamie-at-Winterfell, and favorite Jamie-as-awesome-surrogate-dad story 

I’ll be the frosting to your cupcake, wench (E)

**where you invest your love you invest your life: In the dungeons of the Dragon Queen, Jaime saves his skin by telling her stories of his lady love. (T) - Just the idea of it is so romantic and haunting

searching for a heart of gold: where Jaime comes to the conclusion that no one in Westeros deserves knighthood more than Brienne and finds out what he really wants in the process. (M)

QuizzicalQuinnia: Their stories are hilarious, poignant, sometimes bizarre but refreshingly original 

**O-T-P: A Saga of Epic True Love and Stuff saga: These stories are freakin’ HILARIOUS chronicles of Myrcella and her friends well-intentioned and completely dysfunctional plans to get Hot Uncle Jaime and Awesome Brienne together. I’m still mindblown by how the author comes up with the most bizarre scenarios and weaves so much believable human drama and emotion into them (M) 

Madonna of the Balcony: Jaime Lannister hides away at an isolated Sothoryos resort, mired in the loss of his identity as a sculptor after a devastating injury. Fate is cruel and allows his muse to be found only after he can no longer capture her form, but perhaps she’s there for another purpose entirely. (M) 

Rellie: Their stories often break my heart, but they write Jaime and Brienne so poignantly that it’s a good kind of hurt 

**The Covering Sky: AU, from the end of 3x07 in which the timeline is changed slightly and Brienne ends up as the reluctant guest of the Lannisters in King’s Landing. - Wonderful characterization and I love the exploration of J/B navigating King’s Landing and finding a way out 

Everything Broken (G) 

As Loud as Lions: Cersei will not stand for having what is hers stolen. (T)

astolat: Characters are vividly realized and the voices are both humorous and poignant 

**Traveling Far: Three weeks into their delightful slog across Westeros, during yet another charming day of shitting in the woods, eating half-raw squirrel, and trudging his feet bloody, the single most dour and uninteresting woman Jaime had ever met in all of Westeros stopped in the middle of a field, drew a deep breath, and said… (E) - This story probably has the most unexpected and delightful ending of the fics I’ve read and one of the few I’d LOVE to see continued as a miniseries 

**Laying Siege: “Marry me instead,” Jaime said. (E) - I’ve read this story so many times and never get tired of the wry humor and sweetness of it. Jaime’s voice is just so spot-on and clever. 

The Red Fork: "It’s a choice every time,“ she said. (E) 

dreadwulf: I adore this writer’s exploration and expansion of canon, their introspective and honest characterization, and the organic, effortless quality of their storytelling. 

**A Man for All Seasons : Jaime Lannister is riding North to join the fight against the Night’s King. At last he is free of his family, doing the right thing, and becoming the hero he was meant to be. Unfortunately, nothing is going according to plan.(M, WIP)  - The BEST Jaime characterization I’ve read so far. It packs a powerful emotional punch and builds a compelling Season 8 alternative and love story for Jaime and Brienne. I literally would marry this fic if I could…

Terrible Love: Brienne seeks out Jaime in the Lannister encampment to conclude her quest and return his sword. This time, her doesn’t want to let her go. But is Brienne ready to stay? (T, WIP)

ssstrychnine: Adept at capturing the push-and-pull of Jaime and Brienne, their camaraderie and the kindredness that draws them together in so many different scenarios 

lavender: jaime helps brienne with her armour. brienne takes a bath. they share a bed. (T)

The Lion Prince: Brienne comes across a lion who wasn’t always a lion. (T)

Wouldn’t You Prefer A Maiden Fair?: That was what men wanted, wasn’t it? Soft helpless women that they needed to protect? (G)

**It’s Like Weather: Modern day Medieval Times style restaurant AU.(M)   - You would think this premise would be cheesy, but it’s really not. It’s completely believable and you end up rooting for these characters so much

Miss_M: Writes evocative pieces grounded in realism and a keen understanding of how Jaime and Brienne work as a partnership 

On the Night’s Watch: Detective Brienne Tarth transfers to the King’s Landing Police Department and is assigned to permanent nightshift duty: the Night’s Watch, where careers go to die. As if that weren’t bad enough, her new partner is the infamous Jaime Lannister. When they land a time-sensitive missing person case, trusting each other is the only way they might solve the mystery. (M)

**Where the Wind Takes Us: A year after the events of A Dance with Dragons, Jaime and Brienne arrive in the Free Cities to look for Arya Stark.A storm blows their ship all the way to Volantis, forcing our intrepid knights to go about their quest the long way around. (T) - I love the comfortable intimacy and the world-building in this one, plus it’s one of the few that send J/B to Essos

A Song of Thunder and Comfort: In which Jaime discovers Brienne is afraid of thunder and reacts accordingly. (T)

The Twenty Deaths of Brienne of Tarth: What could have been, what may yet be. (T) 

Love is Not Love: Brienne never expected to be a mother. (G)

RoseHeart: Their pieces always manage to feel like a breath of fresh air and craft such compelling character interactions 

**I Will Not Close My Eyes: What could happen much later than the events from ADWD… (M) - A painful premise, but where it goes from there is worth it

Nothing That Is So, Is So: Brienne must go to King’s Landing, pretending to be her brother and grow up living a lie, waiting for the day she is sent back home, away from being a knight and away from the man she meets there. This is a Twelfth Night inspired story. (T)

**The Alcove: Jaime and Brienne have survived war and winter. But now they must try to find their new lives amidst something they have never truly experienced before: peace. - There’s a simplicity and serenity to this piece that I love as an ending for these two

**The Seven Bind Their Fate: What if Jaime became a prisoner of Renly Baratheon, instead of Robb Stark, and he met Brienne earlier? This story delves into the changing nature of Jaime and Brienne’s relationship in a time of war and shifting alliances and then explores how their journey, and the land, is changed by this small twist of fate. (M) - This is a sprawling epic of a story that I was totally enthralled with 

One-Shots

**hold my hand as I’m lowered by dollsome: In which Jaime Lannister never shuts up, and Brienne of Tarth discovers that perhaps she does not want his silence. (T) - It’s the last line that gets me every time

Kismet with a Side of Fries by francoeurs: “You’re the last person I expected to see in here,” a very familiar voice interrupted her pity party. “Bad night?”Oh, no. Brienne looked up and froze with her burger halfway to her open mouth. A glob of sauce landed on her tray with an annoyingly loud plop.Jaime Lannister — her co-worker, friend, and possibly the love of her life — was standing next to her table, holding his own loaded tray and looking almost as surprised as she felt. (T)

Thaw by francoeurs: He didn’t miss the way Brienne leaned into his touch immediately, even as her eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t miss the way they fluttered shut, her near-white lashes fanning over her flushed cheeks. When he removed his hand, he didn’t miss the quick flash of distress on her face before she remembered to hide it behind a mask of indifference.Jaime didn’t miss any of it. (M)

Rescued Again by kirazi: Jaime and Brienne, still fighting their way side by side through the aftermath, in the twenty-four hours after the Battle of Winterfell (T) 

ardently admire by NotusLethe: They fought off the army of the dead. Now, the real impossible task begins: Jaime Lannister deals with feelings. (T) 

Evenfall by arlathahn: Lord Selwyn has a singular daughter. Brienne-centric (G)

**Mercy by arlathahn: The truth is, there’s one thing left Jaime Lannister can believe in, and it has nothing to do with himself at all. (T) - Beautiful introspection

a hundred thoughts to make this one disappear by lodessa:  He cannot deny that Brienne is the reason he is here. (E) 

On the Shadow by lodessa: Asshai is the end of the world (T) 

Smiles Await You When You Rise by  goldenslumber: The first time Jaime hears Brienne sing. (T) 

Season 6, Episode - 10 After the Siege by Nurdles: In anticipation of episode ten of season six of Game of Thrones, this is a continuation of Jaime and Brienne’s story from episode eight.

**Blizzards Makes Strange Bedfellows by CommaSplice: After his impractical sports car fails him, Jaime Lannister catches a ride to his hotel with Brienne Tarth. Before long, they are caught in a brutal blizzard that causes them to take shelter with an unlikely host. (G) - Because this one has a creepy Roose Bolton and made me laugh 

Honourable Intentions by Eloisa: Most men engaged in fighting a duel for a woman’s affections would not find themselves fighting the woman. (E) 

**The Only Prayer by sea_spirit: Brienne stumbles upon a sept on her journey back to Winterfell. As she ponders and prays within its walls, Brienne has no idea that someone unexpected is on his way to find her. (T) - Sweet oneshot

until my breathing stops by qqueenofhades: Shamelessly, utterly fluffy one-shot. Jaime and Brienne return to Casterly Rock for their wedding. (T) 

The Blue Lion by sbarmarj: Brienne returns to Winterfell and her husband, but something is rotten in the North. (T, part of a series) 

**Little Does My Lady Dream by openmouthwideeye: Great men weave lives into tapestries, making powerful pictures from forgotten bits of straw and string. This thread is worth her weight in gold. (G) - Dreamy, subtle and fantastical 

Open Your Eyes by ellaria: Brienne of Tarth has come to learn that when alliances shift faster than the wind, oaths are a double-edged sword. (M)

Father. Mother. Warrior. Maiden. Smith. Crone. Stranger. by H3L: Jaime Lannister is judged. (G) 

Homecoming by Who Shot AR (akerwis): At some point, homecoming had become Brienne’s favourite part of journeying. (G)

Daylight Dreaming by queenofthorns: "I am not the man you think I am.“In King’s Landing, at the court of Queen Cersei, First of Her Name, Jaime thinks about what he used to want, and what he wants now. (T) 

**Remember Spring Swaps Snow for Leaves by orphan_account:  Whatever happened to the Kingslayer and the Maid of Tarth after A Dance with Dragons. A Brienne-centric endgame fic for A Song of Ice and Fire. (T) - Beautifully written

Blossoming Roots by gnosiophobic: Reconciliation. (M, part of a series) 

Salt Wife by Lady_in_Red: After the war, Jaime and Brienne begin a new life at Casterly Rock in the shadow of the dragon queen’s rule. (T)

Home is Wherever I’m with You by BrienneofThrace: Brienne makes an embarrassing mistake. Jaime decides to torment her over it. Because he’s Jaime. Fluffy stuff. (T) 

At the Close of a Winter Day by beachglass5387: Four times Brienne didn’t kiss Jaime and one time he kissed her. (T) 

Checklist by SandwichesYumYum: My random tune was ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ by Ol’ Blue Eyes. (T) 

Golden Sunbursts Over A Silver Lion by CourtingDisaster: “When are you going to tell your lady knight you’re in love with her?” (G)

Multi-Chapter 

In a Lengthening Sun by trulily: Brienne rides north with Podrick to rejoin the Starks and prepare for the coming battle of their time. Back in the south, Jaime Lannister begins his own journey.They find each other where their paths intertwine. (T, WIP) 

**Fever by Lady_in_Red: As a professional bull rider, Jaime Lannister cheated death, eight seconds at a time, for more than a decade. When his luck finally runs out, Brienne Tarth becomes his unlikely savior. A slow-burn romance set against a backdrop of dangerous sports and pop culture geekery in a Westeros-flavored United States. (M) - Because I never thought I would read a bull-riding fic yet here we are 

Sparring in the Vale by Lady_in_Red: Brienne and Jaime face their feelings for each other as the search for Sansa Stark comes to an end. (M, part of a series)

Unsure and Certain by Angelic_Temptress: As Jon and Daenerys settle into their roles as monarchs in the North and South, it is their advisors who make the move to treat. (M, multiship) 

**Before Your Judgment by lionoftarth: Directly after ADWD. Mostly j/b and canon compliant, except if I forgot things. Brienne and Jaime point of view. (M)        - Rich characterization and a believable continuation of ADWD 

**Tale As Old As Time by BrienneofThrace: An AU inspired by Beauty and the Beast, where Jaime is the crippled and bitter Lord of Casterly Rock, wallowing in his own misery, until a stubborn and homely girl from Tarth shows up, demanding he release her captive father.When Brienne agrees to be a hostage of the Rock to ensure Selwyn’s loyalty, she changes Jaime’s life in ways he never could have imagined. (T) - I’m a SUCKER for a good BATB story

The Road North by Priestess_of_Groove: It was one thing to leave King’s Landing. It was entirely another to escape Queen Cersei. Jaime embarks on his journey north to face the Long Night and reunite with Brienne of Tarth. Spoilers for S7E7. (M)

**Affiancing by H3L: PROMPT-Totally AU-Brienne receives a proposal from someone else which she plans on accepting, thinking it’s the best offer she’ll ever get and Jaime can’t handle it. Brienne can’t figure out what’s wrong with him since he’s acting really strange and stand-offish until Jamie finally snaps and confesses his love to Brienne. Brienne thinks it’s just a bad jape, so Jaime sets out to court her and show her just how much she really means to him. (M)                 - Another J/B classic

Consign Me Not To Darkness by karevsprincess: The Night King is marching on Winterfell and winter has come to Westeros. The living must band together to end the Long Night, while also dealing with family matters and affairs of the heart. Love is the death of duty and a war is no time for romance, but some things can’t be helped.The Great War from thirteen perspectives, told in thirteen parts. (T, multiship)

**Before Destruction by renaissance: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young governess must be in want of a more exciting way of life – and if she does not want it, it will nonetheless seek her out. When a new family moves into the area, Brienne Tarth finds her comfort turned on its head, sweeping her away into a life of society, intrigue, and romance. As she balances between pride and destruction, will she lose her way, or will she adjust to the changes around her? (T) - Because I saw “Regency” and couldn’t resist 

**A Tale of Spring by WackyGoofball: Jaime and Brienne encounter an uncertain future, following the Long Night.They have to make some life-changing decisions, come to terms with their old and new demons, and wrestle with those things left unspoken for so very long.They now live the Dream of Spring, whatever dreams that spring may hold is history, a tale yet to be told. (T)             - Poetic, thoughtful, and a lovely denouement for these two characters

Seven Days of the Seven by greyathena: Jaime Lannister arrives in the North, bringing his gods with him. (T) 

**Living Fiction by Archetype_ElectraHeart: When Brienne Tarth is assigned to be Jaime Lannister’s new editor at Winterfell Publishing, she knows he has a reputation for being difficult, but she has never been one to back down from a challenge. (M) - Really interesting take on a more confident Brienne and I love how her relationship with Jaime develops 

**Austenland by imagineagreatadventure: Sansa Stark is rich, bored, and desperate for her own Mr. Darcy - an almost disastrous combination that leads her to buy a trip to Austenland - the resort where you get to practically live as if it was 1814 and find your own Austen happily ever after! When she finally gets her much poorer (and about twice as Austen obsessed) friend Brienne Tarth to agree to go with her, they both find that the land of Jane Austen is not exactly what they expect. (T, multiship) - Fun, fluffy, and the chemistry between Jaime and Brienne is right on and perfectly Austen 

**Irony by  kuolettava (salainen): Daenerys, now queen of the Seven Kingdoms, advised that she can’t feed every last one of her enemies to her dragons, arranges what she assumes are a lot of unwanted marriages amongst the nobility.It doesn’t go as planned. (T, multiship) - I LOVE the hilarious thread weaving these love stories together and watching them unfold just makes me smile. Funny, sweet, and so pure 

Beast and the Beast by SigilBroken: Anyway, it’s a Modern AU version of Westeros where things like Google, American Football, Mary Poppins, and fascists all exist. Just…roll with it (or don’t). (E)

Honor Thy Regard series by SigilBroken: Canon continuation after ADWD

the summer queen by honey_wheeler: It had taken her quite some time to name her Queensguard. Not to choose them; Sansa had been choosing them for a great deal of time – since the day she watched her father die, in truth – her choices growing and expanding over the years until she’d known with no doubt who would make up her Queensguard before she knew for certain she would be Queen. women-centric (T)

**A Dance with Ice and Fire by ShirleyAnn66: This is how it ends (or Jaime and Brienne and End Game). (T) - Plotty with some well-drawn political scheming and lots of twists and turns 

A Change of Heart by Ladyoftarth: Jaime finally comprehending the source of the rope burn on Brienne’s neck asked, “What have you done?”“Jaime, I’m sorry….” she said her voice mournful and blue eyes watering.A woman so slight in figure it could not be believed emerged from the thicket of brush, along with several men, all armed. The woman was hooded, but Jaime recognized her. Book-canon (E) 

**A Wreath of Thorns by LadyNormaOfTheWesterlands: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Bastards and the destruction of the Great Sept in King’s Landing, new allegiances are forged and family ties will be tested, as two Queens dance around a blood-dripping throne and a new King rises in the North. The day of reckoning is getting closer, for princes and commoners, for friend and foe, while cold winds bring the longest of winters, and, with it, an enemy who doesn’t respond to honour, nor love. (M, multiship) - Great post-Season 6 fic with nuanced characterization 

Sworn by the Noose by gnosiophobic: No matter what you do, you’re forsaking one vow or the other.After finding Jaime at Pennytree, Brienne must make a choice. Book-canon. (E) 

**Nights Without Armor by bratanimus: An unlikely trio – Jaime, Brienne, and Podrick – set out to rescue Sansa from Petyr Baelish. Can they return the last known Stark heiress to Winterfell and fulfill their oath to Catelyn, thereby releasing them all from Lady Stoneheart’s death sentence? (M)                           - Great tension and chemistry, and I always love a good team-up of Pod, Brienne, and Jaime 

Three Nights on the Run by BrienneofThrace: After fleeing from Lady Stoneheart and the Brotherhood with Podrick Payne, Jaime and Brienne work out some feelings and tensions in unexpected ways. Book-canon. (M) 

**A Septa’s Advice by Currawong: Jaime Lannister never expected to survive the war, but sometimes the gods are kind. A gentle romance between two people who have travelled a long way together. (T) - Sometimes you just need a sweet story about people who love each other and this is one of those 

**The Gentlest Schism by SandwichesYumYum: The war is over. Some of them hadn’t thought that they would outlive it. And yet… (E, unfinished)                 - This story made me tear up several times and while lengthy in parts, it’s a gem

More Bunny Fic Recs:

My Top 10

The Next Top 10

Game of Thrones

Merlin

Makorra

LOTR/The Hobbit

Captain Swan

Star Wars: Romance One-shots

Star Wars: Gen One-shots

Star Wars: PT Multi-Chapter Fics

Since The Big Bang Theory ended last night, I thought I would use some good nerdy wisdom from it to explain to those who still don’t understand why people are so pissed off at the destruction of Jaime’s 8-season character arc in Game of Thrones and think it’s all down to expecting happy endings and/or shipping preferences.

Watch this scene from season 7, where Amy and Sheldon are discussing Raiders of the Lost Ark:

If you think about the way D&D concluded Jaime’s arc, it basically amounts to the same thing. Jaime could have stayed in King’s Landing and the living would have won in WF,  just like they did. Jaime could have stayed in King’s Landing, and Dany would have gone mad and razed the city to the ground, just like she did. Jaime could have stayed in King’s Landing (or stayed in the North), and Cersei would have died, just like she did. Jaime could have stayed in King’s Landing, and at least Brienne’s wouldn’t have had her heart broken and their respectful and admiring relationship would have remained intact.

If you think about the way S7 was constructed, literally the *only* outcome of the wight hunt, Dany losing a dragon, and the parlay at the Dragonpit was Jaime going North. So the way they wrapped up Jaime’s arc also made that entire storyline pointless. They lost a dragon, which contributed to the destruction of the wall and weakened their defenses, only to gain one soldier (missing a hand) that made no more of a difference to the outcome than Podrick. 

They didn’t seem to want to even try and find a role for Jaime to play, when they had so many opportunities. He could have used his military skills to make a major difference in planning their defenses against the AoTD, especially given that he was the only one who ever fought a dragon. Those Valyrian steel swords could have made a difference, instead of being just… swords. He could have tried to help Jon and Dany take down Cersei without bloodshed, with his knowledge of the city and her armies (and that would have been a great way to explore his inner conflicts). Just off the top of my head. 

And then they went and reduced him to some sort of addict who, no matter what, crawls back to his abuser to die like a rat. So not only Jaime makes no difference to the outcome of the wars, he also does not make any difference in the aftermath of the wars. And, not content with just that, they had to go and retroactively make pretty much everything that ever happened to him after the push in the pilot, pointless.

- Losing his hand? Pointless: he discovered no new role for himself, went North to swing a sword around like he had never lost that hand and that was it.

- Rediscovering his honour? Pointless: he eventually “accepted what he is” (i.e. a hateful man) and essentially became suicidal because of it. 

- Killing Aerys and his bathtub confession? Pointless: he eventually decides he never really cared about the innocents he ruined his reputation to save.

- His long and carefully built relationship with Brienne? Pointless: he basically told her that everything she saw in him, the things that their bond was rooted into, either doesn’t exist or doesn’t really matter. Her knighthood tarnished because of that. 

Some will argue that maybe that’s the point of Jaime: to be pointless. I highly doubt that is the case. GRRM is just not that type of author. He doesn’t even introduce POVs unless he thinks it’s necessary. He loves his butterfly effects and carefully thinks about how one action here will affect everything else that’s connected to it, no matter how far. And he always speaks of Jaime’s arc as a hopeful arc. That doesn’t necessarily guarantee survival, but it most definitely does not indicate the ultimate goal is to depict some kind of nihilistic futility. The latter is all D&D.

D&D have adapted a lot of my favorite ASOIAF characters terribly (Sansa, Jon, Cersei) but, at least to me, Jaime has been the worst and most offensive adaptation on GoT.  Throughout the show, Show!Jaime has had some truly upsetting scenes to Book!Jaime stans, but I think this week’s episode is his worst moment so far.  Though this episode devalued the beautiful and earned romance GRRM has created between Jaime and Brienne, making it look like a cheap relationship of conveniance, what bothers me most about this episode is this line:

“She is hateful, and so am I.”

- Jaime, 8x04

His preamble of telling Brienne his past sins is kind of in character, Jaime has always been self-loathing:

“How can such a night be beautiful? he asked himself. Why would the stars want to look down on such as me?”

- Jaime IV, A Storm of Swords

But the point the writers are trying to have him make with these admissions is what really frusterates me.  I’ve always seen the stories of Jaime and Cersei as GRRM’s way of exploring whether or not humans are destined for good or evil. They’re twins, raised in a mostly similar circumstances (though Cersei admittedly suffers a great deal because of patriarchal expectations society has placed on her), yet she chooses cruelty while he chooses redemption.  This is GRRM’s means of showing that virtue is an active decision, a choice to be made over and over, a promise to honor that requires continuous renewel.  No one is destined for villainy or heroism, and to believe that is moral cowardice meant to justify inexcusable moral failings.  So seeing Show!Jaime talk as though he’s destined to be as hateful as Cersei, despite the fact that she has committed herself to narcissism and self-destruction while he has pursued redemption, was pretty damn upsetting.

Disclaimer: I understand that some of you do not wish to be further distraught by angsty Braime-related posts. I respect your positive disposition and will kindly ask you to ignore this post.

Hello, everyone. I am sorry for being late to the Braime post ep. 4 misery party, but I had to let everything marinate a bit before sitting down to collect my thoughts. I watched and analyzed every single scene first, because I was afraid I’d missed something, a fleeting detail perhaps, that would connect the dots and give me a different perspective on the characters’ actions.

I wondered how I would begin this. I wanted to open this post with an alltogether different story, the story of a girl who grew up bullied, excluded and ridiculed for her unconventional hobbies and intellect. This girl, she was small-framed and extremely pale, with an unruly shock of brown hair and an unelegant nose. She grew up ashamed of not being girly, of not being particularly attractive, of loving books, and most importantly, for standing out in a crowd. She grew up believing she was hideous, seeking consolation and empowerment in fictional heroines who, against all odds, ended up finding acceptance, up until the moment she met an intelligent and handsome boy who loved everything about her, from her mood changes to her monstrous eyebrows.

I am that girl.

You might be wondering where all this is going. You might even say, this is a Game of Thrones related post, what does your personal drama have to do with our collective faces being punched in by D&D? Well, I wanted to make it clear that, even though I know these are fictional characters, their arcs, just like every artistic creation since the dawn of humanity, aren’t just inherently political, but also personal to many of us. As such, I am not afraid to confess that, after two full viewings of s8ep4, I am unwell. Like, physically unwell. My hands are lowkey shaking whilst typing these words, and I will try to explain why in the following paragraphs, as calmly and as astutely as possible.

1) Rip: the greatest love story ever told in a high fantasy setting, or: how to throw five seasons of romantic buildup in the trash can.

Let me begin by saying that, as a vocalist and as a wannabe writer, I have absolutely zero chill when it comes to beauty-you know the kind I am talking about. I am the kind of person who will revisit a text countless times in order to make sure everything is aesthetically true to the context, that every word is as heartbreaking, resounding and impactful as possible. As a reader, I live for the rare moment of writing brilliance that will have me staring at a wall, the kind of raw and fiercely emotional piece of prose that will make me feel like I’ve just been murdered by art.

Which is why I find it absolutely unforgivable that they had two years to come up with the perfect conclusion to the J/B dynamic and ultimately insulted us by writing what we eventually got.

You may say I am whining, but hear: we have this absolutely gorgeous slow-burn relationship that defies genre and gender conventions alike. Two people so different and yet so similar, whose primary motivation has always been love and honor, the pure as opposed to the twisted kind, the passionate as opposed to the nurturing kind. You have a man you consider irredeemable, a child-defenestrator, a sister-fucker, a murderer, and this thoroughly beautiful unladylike warrior woman who, in a world as grim as hers, still remains a ray of blindening sunlight, true to honor and oaths and everything the bards sing about.

Now picture this: the unthinkable happens. The murderer, this self-congratulatory narcissist who cripples minors, he becomes the first male to actually see this woman. He admires her. He sees in her everything he is not. Unbelievably, this very woman understands him and becomes his moral compass. Whenever they meet, it feels as if the air is suddenly scarce, and they both look in each other’s eyes for the missing oxygen. Whenever they part, we telepathically contract their pain. Those incompatible people, we realize, they are star crossed lovers; if they coexist within the same space, the universe vanishes around them.

The pining! The buildup! The beautiful but evil man is transformed into a knight on his path to redemption, thanks to the “unattractive” but good woman. He fights a bear for her! He arms and armors her! They wield twin swords! He defies tradition and knights the fuck out of her! What a romance, amirite?

Wrong. Watch D&D destroy it within minutes:

The bang that was promised, but at what cost? Listen, I won’t tell anybody how to write their stories, but, these two, episode four Brienne and episode four Jaime, aren’t the pair I shipped all these years. The chemistry and meaningful glances, they are still there, but even in their “happy” moments, I feel something nasty brewing. I don’t ship those people. After so many seasons of wanting them to be together, the worst the writers could do to me hadn’t even crossed my mind as a possibility, until I actually experienced it: I don’t ship those people. Who are those people? Even the actors seem unable to handle  the baffling characterization given to them. The air no longer sizzles- it simply smells of booze and lowkey sexual tension and impending doom.

A drinking game? I mean. Such a nuanced, poignant romance, half a decade in the making. He gave up a thirty-year old toxic relationship! She’s never been with anyone! Surely, this isn’t the most climatic way to consummate their arc. Moreover, given Brienne, currently, is the standard-bearer to every strong but gender-non-conforming woman in fiction, I doubt it was wise to have her lose her virginity in a way that a) shames her for being sexually inexperienced, b) involves copious amounts of alcohol and c) leaves even the slightest shadow of doubt that Jaime truly, wholly, desires her.

Five seconds of sex scene, everyone! One (1) second for each season of crippling sexual tension and pining. This is all we deserve, I guess. Nothing more romantic, or dramatically satisfying, or remotely close to a narrative climax. No post coital scene, apart from one where Jaime looks rather depressed, so that every misogynist on the planet gets the good old “abort mission” vibes. Nothing to indicate the desperation these two people felt for one another, for so long. No discussion of feelings, or genuine bonding, nothing to indicate that this particular and inherently political arc is a) a love story and b) a love story the writers give actual fucks about.

Jaime, the man who looked absolutely mesmerised by her very existence when knighting her, looks at Brienne sleep next to him with an unreadable, almost pained expression. If this were a regular, ten episode season, and if it hadn’t all come undone so easily, I would wait for the meaning behind such a glance. This time around there is no definite answer. Instead of feelings, of tenderness and the sweet agony of realizing that a new, unknown path lies ahead, we get something worryingly like regret, something that retroactively taints whatever moments of sexual tension we’ve witnessed throughout the years. I already feel the abyss staring back at me, and believe me, I ain’t liking it.

Domestic. Bliss? Weeks evidently pass. Given Jaime is seen at Brienne’s room, we easily surmise they’ve agreed on equal terms to stay at WF, fuck, and play house together. Tyrion says Jaime is happy, and I wish they’d expanded the episode’s runtime by a lousy, meager minute, so that I could agree or disagree. When Jaime decides to ghost her (pun half-intended, sorry goodest boi Ghost), Brienne instinctively fumbles towards his designated bedside, which I dig. I also dig the ease with which she cups his face, the way the acting has shifted and they communicate in a wordless manner, a coordination of eyes and bodies only ever witnessed in couples.

But this is not a couple, the writing wants to tell you. The writing that, long ago, has stopped serving the characters, turning them instead to zombies with Night-King-esque panache in order to further the plot, treating them like moving, breathing twists instead of human beings. And it deteriorates exponentially, until you hope none of this had happened, and that Jaime had left Brienne the fuck alone.

Which brings me to this:

2) Rip: Jaime’s entire character arc from season 2 onwards. (or: how the writers subverted everyone’s expectations by butchering not one, but two fan favorites, effectively betraying our trust and devotion to the plot)

The reason why I don’t ship s8e4 Braime is Jaime fookin Lannister. I surmise NCW’s commentary hasn’t been released because it was ninety something percent comprised of swearwords. Perhaps his alleged happiness with season eight is his way of dealing with the writers shitting all over his character. In his shoes, I would be in denial. Hells, I would be dissociating like there’s no tomorrow. I am already passing through all seven stages of grief at the same time whilst I type.

See, this utter character assassination doesn’t exactly qualify as great storytelling. If Jaime Lannister’s arc wasn’t one of redemption, you could have told us earlier, before having half the planet root for him. This is not the kind of twist that offers genuine drama, it’s not even the kind of tragic revelation that makes us hurt so bad it’s good. This is the type of sadistic, punishing writing that triggers your misanthropy and leaves you shaking afterwards. We feel forlorn. We feel cheated.

Okay, okay. This is Game of Thrones, you’ll tell me. This is about characters making horrible mistakes and paying for them in all sorts of horrible ways. You wouldn’t be precisely right, since, as I have already said, this is a redemption arc, and we’ve already seen Jaime relapse multiple times. An arc has to possess a clear beginning and an equally clear end, therefore, if a character leaves the show as unwise, unchanged, and emotionally stilted as they entered it, whatever comes in between automatically seems redundant. This kind of thinking also very much negates Brienne’s arc a satisfying conclusion, since the only mistake she could possibly be paying for is her choice of partner, which seems, frankly, misogynist to boot.

You may even argue that Jaime is plotting to return to Cersei out of fear because, after the news of Rhaegal’s death, either the Mad Queen herself or Bronn killing both him and his lady-knight is becoming a dangerously possible outcome. At this point, King’s Landing, too, seems doomed. So, we want to hope that Jaime feels responsible for letting Cersei gradually devolve to whatever kind of monster she is now. That he wishes to prevent a catastrophe he helped make. We cling onto the notion that maybe, just maybe, he hurts Brienne so that she doesn’t weep for his demise.

The good news: there is actually a lot of narrative subtext to support the hopefuls among us. Some random observations:

-Jaime obviously looks distraught by the prospect of leaving Brienne, as rendered evident by the way he glances at her sleeping form, or the way he touches her arm while she pleads. He is also, very much, crying his eyes out and trying very hard not to blink because of it.

-Brienne is kind of a dick herself here. I mean I love her to death, but sis. Sis. You kept going on and on about how honourable and just and whatnot Jaime is, and how your faith in him is unwavering. Jaime, whose self esteem is dangerously close to the average surface temperature of Mars during nighttime, literally moved in with yo sorry ass. And what do you do? One look and the first thing you infer is that he’s relapsing. Going back to save his sister. His sister whom he fucked. His sister who is mad and murderous.

-Look at his facial expression shift while she talks about saving Cersei. There is unmistakable confusion, which turns to a brief glint of shock, then something very close to heartbreak. Before, he was saying something about not fleeing from a fight, but Brienne didn’t give him space to elaborate. It looks as if it’s slowly, painfully dawning on Jaime that Brienne, the person he fucks, the person he chose to trust more than anyone else, the person he’s been sharing a bed with, the one person he expects to believe in him, has just misunderstood him horribly, assuming the worst of his intentions. So he stops trying to explain. Tears well in his eyes. He touches her wrist. Hurt. I am hateful, he says, but the person he is hating first and foremost is himself.

(I really hope this is what the writers went for, not only because the acting supports it so much, but also because, if Jaime’s true plan is to stop Cersei, it would be less of a character assassination and more of an unfortunate, hasty decision.)

-There is nothing more hateful than failing to protect those you love. Perhaps it was foreshadowing, back when Brienne told Pod. Perhaps Jaime believes that only a hateful person like him can take down his own sister, who carries his child. Perhaps this exhibition of self-pity is his way of coping with the fact that, to protect Brienne, he has to stray as far from her own knightly ideals as humanely possible, and become a kinslayer. If anything, the sins he mentions can be paralleled to what he might have to pragmatically deal with: a) murdering a child (he tried to kill Bran), b) “strangling” Cersei, as per the valonquar designated way of killing (I strangled my cousin), c) the death of innocents if all fails and Daenerys burns KL to the ground. (I would have murdered, every woman, man, and child…)

Even if all the above is true, however, it still makes for a very, very OOC version of Jaime. The Jaime we know has always done everything in his power to ensure Brienne is happy and safe. He’s given her everything, starting from a sword and armour, to a squire, to a knighthood, to himself, as per s8. He would never hurt her for no lame ass reason, not even to save her life, because he knows the woman he loves, and the woman he loves is a warrior first and foremost. Furthermore, he certainly knows that rejection, the romantic kind, is her biggest fear, and that she’d rather face death on a battlefield than have her feelings crushed this way. The way their relationship ends destroys her precious knighthood for her, since she will never be able to mention it again without remembering the man who took her virginity and gave her everything under the sun, endangering her “honour”, her marriage prospects as the future Evenstar, and risking a pregnancy, the same man who ultimately left her for the incestuous, forbidden love of his sister.

What scares me further is that he may be actually, like, for real, going back to be with Cersei. Not because I believe it makes even a lick of sense, but we’ve already established that D&D royally fucked up characterization. And there’s this shitty opinion circulating, that if Jaime is ultimately revealed to be just that, irredeemable, immune to change and common logic, it would be “tragically human.”

Bitch, no.

Theon’s arc was tragically human. The fact that Sam remains a coward is tragically human.The fact that Dany loved her rapist is tragically human. We are talking stories with a start, a middle, and an end here. We know both good and bad coexist within Jaime, but we’ve seen the good side surface more and more as the show moved forward. We rooted for him. We rooted for his romance with Brienne. It was “tragically human” that he stayed in KL even though he saw through Cersei’s shit and despite his feelings for Brienne. Now it’s just plain dumb. It’s spitting in the face of everyone who ever watched the show by having a male lead do a 180 an inch away from the finish line. Season 3? Pointless. Riverrun? Pointless. Every conversation in s8ep2 about Cersei being in the past and about Jaime being a changed man? Pointless AND shameless trolling.

You don’t get to score writing points for such a cheap twist, and yet here it is. The leaks support it. The fact that Oathsex was directed like an unimportant one-night stand supports it. Braime was not a romance, they tell you. I mean, you thought it was, during the five years you spent aching vicariously for these fictional humans to bond, but plot twist? It was the shadow of what could have been. A rebound. A practical joke, on the receiving end of which sits, very conveniently, a strong, traditionally unattractive woman countless outcasts in the world look up to.

The moral of the story? Two, in fact, both distillates of pure misanthropy:

One, you can’t change. If you’re shit, you’re shit. You either die, like Theon did, or you turn back to shit. You, the traumatized, problematic outcast who wants to atone after exiting a toxic relationship? No happiness for you. Nah-uh. Fuck off.

Two, if you are an ugly bitch ass woman and you pursue a hottie, you had it coming. If you try to aim higher than your designated fuck-pool, if you crave for genuine romance with a face like that, nah-uh. You are setting yourself up for disappointment. Tears will be involved.

Another thing that worries me is that GRRM himself might be setting up something similar. I mean, I love book Braime, but everything in Jaime’s weirwood dream has already come true, and in that very same dream, Brienne appears only after Cersei leaves, and while Cersei was the bright light, Brienne is more of a pale blue haze, like the faint glow of your torch after a power outage. Like, ugh, a rebound. I hadn’t noticed it before, but, courtesy of s8ep4, I was compelled to reexamine everything I thought I knew.

(I mean, I always thought the twin swords must mean something. But we saw how well that kind of thinking worked for the Azor Ahai storyline. Thanks, D&D for this dumpster fire of a season. )

And finally,

3) RIP: Brienne’s entire reason of existence.

Don’t misconstrue the statement. I don’t mean she exists solely to be with Jaime. But let’s examine the facts. I already explained why, due to Jaime’s actions last episode, season three has retroactively become meaningless. Season three Brienne is a catalyst to Jaime’s redemption, only that now, we know there is none. After that, Brienne’s Lady Stoneheart arc is ripped away, so she is given nothing particular to do, up to the point when she saves Sansa, but even then, the writers shit all over the show’s strongest female by stripping her of both fight scenes and narrative gravitas.

In s8, we learn she is a commander, but we see very little of the actual commanding. Instead, we get close ups of a man, Jaime. We collectively cheer for her when she becomes a knight, but looking back with our current knowledge, it feels like a prank. It’s forever ruined for her. Would you stand the idea of having been knighted by the very same man who left you weeping in the snow, rejected and possibly pregnant? Like, here, Brienne, see how much I care about you. Let me give you everything so that you let your guard down and I prove you wrong for having left your guard down. Let me take your virginity so that Lord Selwyn potentially dies of a heart attack when you present him with my blonde bitch ass lannister bastard cub. Let me flee to get back to my sister who likes to burn people and wants to have me killed.

So, what was her purpose? As of s8ep4, it wasn’t even the promise of romance, since, we get it, Jaime and Cersei belong together (thanks, we hate it). So, what was it? To hurt us? To avenge her hopefulness? Her closing scene in ep4, the one where she is seen ugly crying and heaving, says it all: her purpose was, evidently, to put strong women back where they belong. No romance, no happiness, not even a bit of narrative glory reserved for the likes of smaller, more feminine women, like Arya. It is not coincidental that this is the most feminine Brienne has ever looked, with her disheveled curls and a house robe that looks like a dress. She has abandoned her armor, both literal and metaphorical, only to be stabbed in the heart. And in that moment, with tears in her eyes (a woman’s weapon, as per the Dorne storyline; a woman’s kind of courage, as per Catelyn’s entire arc) ,her delicate fingers caressing Jaime’s face as if he’s a husband off to war, Brienne is as much a traditional woman as Sansa has ever been.

And, after this point, given Jaime will probably never see her again, the only way her arc can end is just like it started. Another stilted, nonexistent arc. A woman with armor, both emotional and literal. Broken by men who managed to get to her. Destined to want what she cannot have.

On and on it spins, Dany said. The writers didn’t mean to break that wheel.

My, did this end up being enormous. I wanted to close this by returning to the start, to the insecure girl with the brown, scruffy hair. You see, despite the height difference, Brienne is very much like her. And, given the cultural phenomenon that GoT is, Brienne is as close to mainstream representation as non-traditionally attractive girls will ever have. Sure, there are other shows, but GoT is a cultural juggernaut, ripe for making statements that could potentially alter the way we look at gender, beauty, and love. But this same show chose to shit on eight seasons worth of material to tell us that, look, the writers believe that it is much more realistic to love a horrible, but beautiful woman, than to love an “ugly”, but amazing one. If you have a vagina, the say, you exist solely to be looked at- and if you aren’t useful in that aspect, dear, what can we ever do for you?

See, I am unwell, physically unwell, because this rejection speaks to me on a personal level. In my life as a woman, it is the most heartbreaking cliche. All of us have met numerous s8ep4 Jaime Lannisters, and in a way, we were all rejected by Jaime Lannister last Sunday, all left crying amidst the falling snow, clutching our robes to our broken hearts.