During an interaction, 'Game of Thrones' actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Gwendoline Christie, who play the roles of Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth respectively spoke at length about their infamous relationship on the show.
In the last episode 'Last of the Starks' of Game of Thrones season 8, one of the most-awaited and shocking moments was witnessed. Yes, we are talking about the consummation scene between Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Gwendoline Christie respectively. From the time, they had their first encounter, fans were expecting something brewing between them. However, over time, the expectations died down but the makers surprised the fans by having that scene.
Going by the latest episode of GoT season 8, we can see that finally for Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, the flame of fire burned brightly. However, towards the end of the episode, Brienne was left heartbroken as Jaime after knowing the wrongdoings of his sister leaves Winterfell and heads to King's Landing. That emotional moment was gut-wrenching and many shed a tear while watching the sequence on the show aired on Star World.
Check out below what Nikolaj and Gwendoline have to say about their iconic moments:
1. It came as a shock to Gwendoline Christie!
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While fans had been waiting for this moment, it still came as a shock to them. Moreover, Gwendoline Christie, who plays the role of Brienne of Tarth was also taken aback by the sequence. Talking about the same, she said, "I was quite surprised actually because I wasn’t expecting that to ever happen at all so it took me quite a while to digest, The way I had conceived that the relationship was written was that it had no clear outset to it."
She further said, "I never felt that it was purely about romantic love. What I thoroughly enjoyed playing with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was exploring all these different machinations of the stages that the relationship would go through - the fact that it would move from distaste to admiration to a feeling of intimacy to anger to all of these different things."
2. The level of intimacy between the two characters
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Over the years, the level of intimacy between Jaime and Brienne increased and they finally reached a stage where they would do anything for each other. Christie said, "After the Great War in episode 3, I thought it was fascinating exploring the idea of what happens after those kinds of battles when people have pushed themselves to such extreme physical, emotional and mental levels."
The talented actor added, "I thought it was really beautiful that prior to the war, they had all been contemplating what may have been their last night on Earth. Then they managed to cheat death and so I suppose it feels like life is up for grabs really. It felt to me like the idea of acting on euphoria. What I particularly liked and I thought was important was that Brienne chooses that moment to occur. She chooses to have sex. It’s her choice. I felt that was really important."
3. Strongest character yet vulnerable
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We have rarely seen Brienne of Tarth shedding a tear despite several emotional moments taking place. But she broke down the moment, Jaime decided to leave her and head to King's Landing to be with his sister. Talking about the same, Gwendoline shared, "I don’t think Brienne knows at that moment exactly what he’s saying. I don’t think she knows whether it’s that he can’t overlook his bond with his sister, whether it’s too frightening to overlook that, whether the change is too much for him or whether he’s protecting her. But I think it’s very clear that whatever it's motivations, it is rejection. And what I loved about that scene is that we’ve never seen Brienne decide to grab the chance for something new and optimistic. We’ve never seen her chance of romantic love. She has no sexual experience and she decides to allow herself that opportunity. And I don’t think she’s a fool. I think that she’s very aware — due to the closeness of Jaime and Brienne’s relationship over the years — where that intimacy with his sister lies and how much it means to him, but also how dysfunctional it is. But in a way, it can be perceived that that was inevitable. I think when someone grasps for a rare moment of optimism in their lives, it’s incredibly killing to see that dashed, to see that just smashed."
4. On Criticism
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On criticism Gwendoline's character received for the latest sequence, she replied, "I thought it was really brilliant and essential to see a side of Brienne that we haven’t seen before. Because what we’ve seen is her overcoming the obstacle of pain by being brilliant in battle and having a stiff upper lip and being contained and forging forward and being in service of an idea larger than herself. I thought it was a really beautiful way to serve the final season that we get to see another part of this brilliant character that isn’t just about fighting. It’s about who she really is, what her interior life is, her inner world. I felt like the character as a woman was being honoured by allowing a very different side of her to come out that wasn’t purely about strength."
5. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's say on it
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When asked about the whole scenario of leaving Brienne of Tarth for his sister Cersei Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau aka Jaime Lannister said, "That’s, of course, said in a moment of passion. Who knows if it’s true? I’ve almost been married 20 years—June 6th will be our 20th anniversary—and I’m very, very lucky. I have a wonderful wife. But over 20 years, there are times where you have fights. You can be so angry that for a second in your passion and anger you can go, ‘Oh, fuck this.’ Of course, three seconds later, you go, ‘No, no, no. What am I doing? What am I thinking?’ . . . I think the fundamental emotions are the same in every relationship. As a setup for the season we’re shooting now, it was just amazing."
On being quizzed if Jaime ran to his sister after consummating with Brienne thinking of losing his sister forever, Nikolaj replied, "We’re used to having a whole season to get to a point. Now suddenly, a lot of things happen very quickly…[T]here’s so many things that obviously you can’t go through, on-screen, all of these moments, but you have to still walk through them in your mind, if you’re an actor, at least talk about them. There was a lot of those connecting the dots throughout."
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