Hey Claudia! I'm obviously not into shipping but love Brienne x Jaime in the books and its been not bad in the show. Though I do kind of want something to happen with Tormund like not them together but a fling or something haha. Just wanted to hear your thoughts (strictly show speaking unless grrm writes Brienne going to the wall at some point)
Hi Mark! I’m very curious to see how the situation with Tormund evolves. I guess we’ll get some comic relief from it, because Tormund is a funny guy and the situation is funny, but I also don’t want Brienne’s love life to be framed like a joke, you know what I mean? So I hope there’ll be also a more serious side to it, that maybe helps Brienne bring out what she really feels for Jaime by the simple fact that she’s confronted for the first time with the possibility of starting a relationship with a man that actually wants her.
I think Tormund might play a similar role to Hyle Hunt in the books: a potential love interest, not the one who’s really Brienne’s heart desire, but someone who reminds her that a part of her wants romance, and makes her go “well I’m not super into this guy but he’s better than most and Jaime is unavailable anyway, maybe I should give him a chance” (which is a bit sad actually, but that’s the point: Brienne has a terribly low self esteem and feels like she doesn’t get to choose—she doesn’t really deserve to be happy).
Like Hyle in the books, Tormund is not a bad guy. Unlike Hyle, he and Brienne have no prior history that tainted their relationship (Hyle participated in a cruel wager to take Brienne’s maidenhead when she was in Renly’s army). Otoh, Tormund is a wildling and it’s reasonable to expect Brienne be wary of him for cultural reasons, initially. Introducing a new love interest is often a good way to make two people who are in an awkward “friendship” but too stubborn to confess (or even acknowledge) they have feelings for each other, finally make some kind of move. Which is what I think Jaime might do if he ever gets to meet Tormund and see with his own eyes that he plans to put his wildling hands on Brienne, lol. I’m not sure how and when this might happen, however? I mean not in the short term: Jaime and Brienne are going to meet again in the Riverlands, and I very much doubt Tormund will be there too. So, maybe, it happens later, if and when Jaime follows Brienne north.
Regardless, Tormund taking an interest in Brienne is good news because it shows that the writers are willing to explore Brienne’s romantic/sexual sphere, which is something she never thought she would have, as well as something a part of the audience can’t believe she can have due to the fact that she’s not a conventional beauty. I’m not sure this will develop into an actual fling or something. It’s possible! Maybe Tormund will steal a kiss from her (as a ser Owen Inchfield did in the books, in the context of the aforementioned wager… she “knocked him arse-backwards into a cookfire,” though. And then, interestingly, she “looked at herself in a glass. Her face was as broad and bucktoothed and freckled as ever, big-lipped, thick of jaw, so ugly. All she wanted was to be a knight and serve King Renly, yet now…”—cue Brienne starting to think about the possibility of romance and sex).
But probably nothing more substantial than that—as I said, I think Tormund’s interest for Brienne is going to be essentially a device to create some romantic/sexual strife in Jaime/Brienne, let Brienne finally believe that she can be attractive to someone, and make her feelings for Jaime more evident to the audience. Like I totally expect some scene in which Tormund hits on Brienne hard and asks her if her heart belongs to another man and she’s like “no… I mean… yes”. :)