Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) is a Game of Thrones fan-favorite character for her fighting skills, loyalty and general badass-ery. She has, hand down, some of the most epic scenes in the show, from her arena fight against a bear to swooping in at the last second to save Theon Greyjoy and Sansa Stark. And, after being made fun of her whole life for her looks, she has two men that are arguably in love with her.
Here’s everything you need to know about her character’s timeline.
We’re first introduced to Brienne in season 2, where she beats Sir Loras Tyrell in a tournament and is rewarded by being named part of Renly Baratheon’s Kingsguard (remember, Renly was one of the many contenders in the War of the Five Kings). She’s hopelessly in love with Renly because he is the only man she’s known not to disparage her for being un-feminine.
Catelyn Stark arrives at the Baratheon camp to negotiate an alliance between Renly and Robb Stark. Renly agrees that Robb can be “King in the North” as long as he recognizes Renly’s claim to the Iron Throne and bends the knee. But that hope is short lived; a shadow-demon of big brother Stannis Baratheon–sent by Melisandre–slides into the tent and kills Renly.
No one believes Catelyn and Brienne that a shadow killed Renly, and Brienne takes the blame for the assassination. The two flee, and Brienne swears fealty to Catelyn, becoming her sworn sword. Swearing allegiance to Catelyn is a major point in Brienne’s arc, because everything she does from there is informed by that decision.
Back at the Stark camp, Catelyn decides it’s a good idea to let prisoner Jaime Lannister free, thinking it will buy safety for Sansa and the missing Arya. So Brienne is tasked with taking Jaime back to King’s landing, a job she takes very seriously.
On their trek, Jaime and Brienne develop a very special–if not a bit strange–bond that led fans to “ship” the pair for years. They eventually end up imprisoned by Bolton bannermen, led by Locke, and are taken to Harrenhal — which the Boltons and Starks had recently taken from the Lannisters.
On the excursion as prisoners to Harrenhal, Jaime saves Brienne from being raped. Unfortunately for the Kingslayer, though, his arrogance angers Locke enough that he cuts off Jaime’s sword hand.
Jaime gets treated by the disgraced maester Qyburn (who will later end up as one of Cersei’s cronies in King’s Landing); Brienne and Jaime bathe together and tell deep dark secrets; when Jaime is released, Brienne gets thrown into a bear pit and Jaime returns to save her. They then leave together and finally get back to King’s Landing.
At King’s Landing, Brienne speaks Maergery Tyrell (who was Renly’s wife briefly before he died), who is now engaged to King Joffrey. Cersei clearly doesn’t trust Brienne, and makes a quip at the wedding feast about Brienne loving Jaime. Sansa escapes, and Jaime asks Brienne to find her and protect her from Cersei. He gives her his Valyrian steele sword that Tywin had reforged from Ned Stark’s greatsword Ice (this could become very important in season 7), and she names it Oathkeeper. Oh, she’s also given Podrick Payne of brothel-impressing fame as her squire.
Brienne and Podrick run in to The Hound and Arya on the road, but Arya doesn’t want to go with Brienne. Nonetheless, Brienne fights The Hound and seemingly mortally wounds him, but she loses track of Arya.
At a stop at an inn Podrick notices Sansa Stark with Littlefinger. Brienne offers her sword to Sansa, hoping to finally fulfill her duty to Catelyn, but Sansa refuses. Nonetheless, Brienne and Pod follow Sansa to Winterfell, where Littlefinger basically sells her to the Boltons to be Ramsay’s wife. Brienne waits in the nearby town to save her…
… Only to be interrupted by the arrival of Stannis, who attacks Winterfell but is defeated soundly. Brienne finds Stannis, wounded, in the woods after the battle, and finally, finally, gets her revenge.
Sansa and Theon escape Winterfell only to be hunted down by Ramsay’s dogs. In the nick of time, Brienne shows up and slays Ramsay’s men, saving them both. Sansa finally allows Brienne to swear her allegiance.
At Castle Black, while Sansa and Jon Snow are busy trying to find a balance of power, Brienne is busy trying to keep Tormund Giantsbane’s advances on her at bay, which adds some comic relief. Remember, our girl has come far.
Brienne spends her time at Castle Black accompanying Sansa to Mole Town to meet up with Littlefinger and overall being Sansa’s advisor. She heads to Riverrun to deliver a message from Sansa to her uncle the Blackfish, which, coincidentally, is where Jaime is, trying to get the Blackfish to surrender. The have a secret meeting, and Brienne tries to give Oathbreaker back to Jaime, but he insists it belongs to her. Brienne and Podrick escape in a canoe, and Brienne and Jaime wave goodbye.
We can’t wait to see more of Brienne kicking ass in season 7–and to see if she and Jaime get reunited again.
