Post by Balerion's Whiskers on Jul 12, 2016 15:48:40 GMT -5
Part 1
These two characters have been on a journey of character development from the very first chapter when Jaime pushed Bran from the window. He was arrogant, self absorbed and totally under Cersei's control. Everything he did, was to have alone time with her. He wore his Kingslayer badge on his chest for everyone to see and his actions were a confirmation of who people perceived him to be. Jaime was universally despised by just about everyone. He is rarely seen in his Kingsguard whites and as far as I know, he's the only member of the Kingsguard to wear 'civilian' clothes (except Arys Oakheart when he wanted to be disguised) His arrogance got him captured in the Whispering Woods and he was still snarky and insolent in Riverrun's dungeons talking to Catelyn...but he did want to have news of his family, but he freely admitted pushing Bran from the window and affirmed that Cersei's kids were his. He was playing full-on Kingslayer at the time, not caring that he was loathed....and in some part of him, I think that included loathing himself.
Jaime drank some more wine. "Ask your next."
Catelyn wondered if he would dare answer her next question with anything but a lie. "How did my son Bran come to fall?"
"I flung him from a window."
That was about as callous and hard hearted a statement as anyone could make...he wanted to hurt Cat with it.
Brienne, on the other hand suffers from very low self esteem...she's been the victim of an overbearing septa (I have a real problem with septas) Septa Roelle must have been septa Mordane's sister since the way she treated Arya was similar.
A stupid thing to say. She had been a slow child; Septa Roelle often told her so. She felt near as stupid now, so she took the little man's place at the end of the bench, signaled for stew, and turned to thank the dwarf.
She always thought they were younger than they were, perhaps because she had always been big for her age. Freakish big, Septa Roelle used to say, and mannish.
Even the men who told her what a pretty girl she was, how tall and bright and clever, how graceful when she danced. It was Septa Roelle who had lifted the scales from her eyes. "They only say those things to win your lord father's favor," the woman had said. "You'll find truth in your looking glass, not on the tongues of men." It was a harsh lesson, one that left her weeping,
Renly Baratheon was the only man to show her any courtesy and for that, she loved him. When he crowned himself king and called his banners she immediately left Tarth to seek his service. She was hopelessly in love with him.
All of it came pouring out of Brienne then, like black blood from a wound; the betrayals and betrothals, Red Ronnet and his rose, Lord Renly dancing with her, the wager for her maidenhead, the bitter tears she shed the night her king wed Margaery Tyrell,
When Renly was murdered, Cat could have left Brienne to take the fall, but she helped her escape. It was an act of kindness that Brienne never expected and she pledged her sword to Cat. Brienne is honorable, honest and smarter than many people give her credit for and when Cat charged her with delivering Jaime to Kings Landing to exchange him for her girls, she understood the importance of the job and vowed to make it happen. Brienne has an overpowering sense of duty and nothing was going to keep her form delivering Jaime to KL.
Jaime starts out mean and hurtful, thinking if he can shame Brienne enough, she'll slip up and he can escape...he has no doubt in his mind that he can out wit her...he thinks her slow and susceptible. But one of his first acts was to cut his hair and shave his head...the clumps of hair float down the river...I think that is the first instance of him letting the Kingslayer go. He notes how graceful Brienne is when she dives and even helps her back into the boat. He still insults her, calls her wench and looks for an opportunity to escape, but he's softened a bit.
As they travel, he comes to appreciate her decisions and even though, those decisions prevent him from escaping, there's a bit of admiration forming. When they fight in the stream, he realizes that she's strong, quick and an able warrior...which is about all that Jaime ever admires in anyone.
The first bit of foreshadowing is here, when the Brave Companions catch them...I don't know what GRRM has planned for them as a couple, but it sure looks fishy to me. (if they live)
Brienne lurched to her feet. She was all mud and blood below the waist, her clothing askew, her face red. She looks as if they caught us fucking instead of fighting. Jaime crawled over the rocks to shallow water, wiping the blood from his eye with his chained hands. Armed men lined both sides of the brook. Small wonder, we were making enough noise to wake a dragon. "Well met, friends," he called to them amiably. "My pardons if I disturbed you. You caught me chastising my wife."
He also goes out of his way to protect her from the rape that he knows is inevitably coming when he tempts Vargo Hoat with sapphires. He didn't have to...it would have probably resulted in her death, since she would have fought like a shadowcat...Hoat may have lopped off arms and legs so that everyone could have had a turn without her fighting....but Jaime pulled up a bit of honor in that black heart of his and figured out a way to keep them from raping her for awhile at least.
These two characters have been on a journey of character development from the very first chapter when Jaime pushed Bran from the window. He was arrogant, self absorbed and totally under Cersei's control. Everything he did, was to have alone time with her. He wore his Kingslayer badge on his chest for everyone to see and his actions were a confirmation of who people perceived him to be. Jaime was universally despised by just about everyone. He is rarely seen in his Kingsguard whites and as far as I know, he's the only member of the Kingsguard to wear 'civilian' clothes (except Arys Oakheart when he wanted to be disguised) His arrogance got him captured in the Whispering Woods and he was still snarky and insolent in Riverrun's dungeons talking to Catelyn...but he did want to have news of his family, but he freely admitted pushing Bran from the window and affirmed that Cersei's kids were his. He was playing full-on Kingslayer at the time, not caring that he was loathed....and in some part of him, I think that included loathing himself.
Jaime drank some more wine. "Ask your next."
Catelyn wondered if he would dare answer her next question with anything but a lie. "How did my son Bran come to fall?"
"I flung him from a window."
That was about as callous and hard hearted a statement as anyone could make...he wanted to hurt Cat with it.
Brienne, on the other hand suffers from very low self esteem...she's been the victim of an overbearing septa (I have a real problem with septas) Septa Roelle must have been septa Mordane's sister since the way she treated Arya was similar.
A stupid thing to say. She had been a slow child; Septa Roelle often told her so. She felt near as stupid now, so she took the little man's place at the end of the bench, signaled for stew, and turned to thank the dwarf.
She always thought they were younger than they were, perhaps because she had always been big for her age. Freakish big, Septa Roelle used to say, and mannish.
Even the men who told her what a pretty girl she was, how tall and bright and clever, how graceful when she danced. It was Septa Roelle who had lifted the scales from her eyes. "They only say those things to win your lord father's favor," the woman had said. "You'll find truth in your looking glass, not on the tongues of men." It was a harsh lesson, one that left her weeping,
Renly Baratheon was the only man to show her any courtesy and for that, she loved him. When he crowned himself king and called his banners she immediately left Tarth to seek his service. She was hopelessly in love with him.
All of it came pouring out of Brienne then, like black blood from a wound; the betrayals and betrothals, Red Ronnet and his rose, Lord Renly dancing with her, the wager for her maidenhead, the bitter tears she shed the night her king wed Margaery Tyrell,
When Renly was murdered, Cat could have left Brienne to take the fall, but she helped her escape. It was an act of kindness that Brienne never expected and she pledged her sword to Cat. Brienne is honorable, honest and smarter than many people give her credit for and when Cat charged her with delivering Jaime to Kings Landing to exchange him for her girls, she understood the importance of the job and vowed to make it happen. Brienne has an overpowering sense of duty and nothing was going to keep her form delivering Jaime to KL.
Jaime starts out mean and hurtful, thinking if he can shame Brienne enough, she'll slip up and he can escape...he has no doubt in his mind that he can out wit her...he thinks her slow and susceptible. But one of his first acts was to cut his hair and shave his head...the clumps of hair float down the river...I think that is the first instance of him letting the Kingslayer go. He notes how graceful Brienne is when she dives and even helps her back into the boat. He still insults her, calls her wench and looks for an opportunity to escape, but he's softened a bit.
As they travel, he comes to appreciate her decisions and even though, those decisions prevent him from escaping, there's a bit of admiration forming. When they fight in the stream, he realizes that she's strong, quick and an able warrior...which is about all that Jaime ever admires in anyone.
The first bit of foreshadowing is here, when the Brave Companions catch them...I don't know what GRRM has planned for them as a couple, but it sure looks fishy to me. (if they live)
Brienne lurched to her feet. She was all mud and blood below the waist, her clothing askew, her face red. She looks as if they caught us fucking instead of fighting. Jaime crawled over the rocks to shallow water, wiping the blood from his eye with his chained hands. Armed men lined both sides of the brook. Small wonder, we were making enough noise to wake a dragon. "Well met, friends," he called to them amiably. "My pardons if I disturbed you. You caught me chastising my wife."
He also goes out of his way to protect her from the rape that he knows is inevitably coming when he tempts Vargo Hoat with sapphires. He didn't have to...it would have probably resulted in her death, since she would have fought like a shadowcat...Hoat may have lopped off arms and legs so that everyone could have had a turn without her fighting....but Jaime pulled up a bit of honor in that black heart of his and figured out a way to keep them from raping her for awhile at least.
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