Will Brienne be a goner on Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3?
Is Westeros’ newest knight in trouble on Sunday’s Game of Thrones?
This Sunday, Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3 is going to air, and it’s going to be an event. The episode is built around the battle of Winterfell. A battle that both the story, and HBO’s marketing are selling as the biggest, and possibly the most pivotal battle between the forces of the living and the dead. The last two episodes of the show have been the warmest the show has ever been. Characters have been reunited, and had the chance to deepen their friendships.
Next week, there is going to be peril and death. Characters we know are going to die, and Brienne is a top contender. Here’s why:
She’s a character we know
Everyone in the audience knows who Brienne is. Even more importantly, she’s a character we know well. We know she’s a brave fighter, and that she is selfless. We know that she will do anything in her power to protect the Starks.
More from Game of Thrones
- House of the Dragon Season 2 is not coming in 2023
- House of the Dragon Season 2 release updates and everything we know
- Game of Thrones: How old were the stars of the series then and now?
- House of the Dragon Season 2 is not coming to HBO in June 2023
- House of the Dragon Season 2 is not coming to HBO in May 2023
All of these character traits make her a good character to kill. Game of Thrones has always made sure that each battle in the series has a sense of tragedy, no matter who wins. Brienne is one of the perfect characters to kill to add tragedy to the Battle of Winterfell, and I’m pretty sure she won’t be the only one.
We’ve followed her journey for a long time on Game of Thrones
Also making her a good candidate to kill is how long we’ve been following her story. We’ve spent 7 years enjoying her verbal sparring with Jamie Lannister, and frustrated that it took her until season 6 before she finally saved Sansa. At this point, she has survived in the show longer than Catelyn Stark or Khal Drogo.
Because she has survived so long, in a show famous for ruthlessly killing off characters, her death will have some sting to it.
Her character’s journey has reached a logical end point
What makes her death make sense is that her story has reached a place where her death can be played as meaningful end to Brienne’s story.
Think about where she is, and what she wanted. When we first saw her, she was a fierce warrior who wanted a cause worth fighting for. She was someone who fought better than several knights, but was not allowed to be a knight because she was a woman.
The bond Brienne and Jamie developed during Bolton captivity was important to humanizing both characters. Jamie saving Brienne from rape and death made him more selfless. He also benefited from finally having someone who understood why he had killed the mad king. For herself, Brienne found the one person who respected and protected her.
It took 3 years of viewing time and several frustrating near misses before Brienne finally saved Sansa from the Boltons, and made good on her vow. Yet in both success and failure, Brienne always did he best to fulfill the ideals of being a Knight, even though she didn’t expect to actually become one.
This is what made her knighting scene A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms one of that episode’s emotional lynch pins. In that moment, she was given the honour she’d always deserved, but never believed she’d get. She was given to it by Jamie, the man who’d saved her. It was done just before the battle of Winterfell, where she will lead a flank in a fight worth fighting. It’s the crystallization of everything her character has ever wanted to accomplish. There is nothing more meaningful way to end the character, then to give her a noble death fighting for all the living.
Next. PSA: This Sunday’s GoT episode is over 80 minutes long. dark
So what are her chances of living?
Honestly, we’re in the last four episodes of a show that has made it clear that many of it’s characters won’t be getting a happy ending. The only reason she could survive is if she has some part in Daenerys and the Stark’s fighting the Lannister’s. However, my gut tells me that this is not the case. I like Brienne, and the scene where she was made a knight was one of my favourite parts of the episode. I see her as a dead knight walking, and we’ll see if that true this Sunday.
Do you think Brienne will survive? Sound off in the comments below.