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[Book Spoilers] Is Brienne Ugly Enough? How was she?


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I just read that scene again, and I don't remember George saying a thing about her being same height as Jamie.

Jamie is one of the greatest swordsmen in Westeros, and that scene plays out wonderfully as he begins to realize he is being bested by a woman. In fact that fight is what gets them caught by the Brave Companions.

Jamie , at one point, wish that both he and Brienne had swords, they could have taken out more than half of the Brave Companions, he now has so much respect for her that he would be proud to die at her side.

Jamie, as we know, becomes a very complex character, as poor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau keeps trying to point out.

I hope they can pull off Jamie's subtle change in attitude towards her/people in general with so little time and no internal PoV to do it.

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This is all I could think of when she was on screen.

As far as her book-size goes:

Brienne is well over six feet tall, but not close to seven, no. Just off the top of my head, I would say Brienne is taller than Renly and Jaime and significantly heavier than either, but nowhere near the size of Gregor Clegane, who is the true giant in the series. Shorter than Hodor and the Greatjon, maybe a bit shorter than the Hound, maybe roughly the same height as Robert.

That's George himself speaking, by the way.

If memory serves, Jaime's words when he thinks about her is that she is "almost as tall as the Hound".

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She looked fantastic and she played Brienne exactly how I imagined her in the books. I never thought Brienne to be freak type ugly, just sort of homely and mannish along with the fact that she's built like a man. The actress definitely had the presence and no nonsense attitude that Brienne had when we first meet her.

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Squeeee! Gwendolyn is *perfect*. Her devotion is obvious. When Renly and Cat were walking towards the tent, I said " I bet Brienne will be right behind". Then she shows up a second later. I love her expressions, her movement. I can not imagine a more perfect casting.

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Other than Tyrion (and maybe The Mountain), this is probably the most difficult casting for the series to date and I think they nailed it.

Could she be uglier to match the books? Sure but that is a pretty small complaint. I do picture Brienne being a little thicker than Cristie, but again, small complaint.

Great job by the Maid of Tarth!

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I though Brienne was perfectly matched on screen compared to my mental image. I never really took her as being hideous in the traditional sense. Again, since all of this is through POVs, I took her descriptions from the male POVs as being hideous because of her size. She is not shapely like a typical woman. Check. She is intimidating for men, not just by her shear size, but because she carries herself like a man, and is a very skilled warrior. Much like teenage boys are ruthless to a girl that is a better athlete than they are, Brienne is ridiculed by the men of the series because they are intimidated by her, and "bend the truth" of her looks. If you think about it, the only male POV that seems kind to Brienne in the books is Jaime, because for him, he is not intimidated by her. He is impressed with her, both as a warrior and a person. Remember, it was partly due to her dialogue about honor of being knight that sort of reverts Jaime back to what he wanted to be as a child.....

On Yara, I think too many (me included) pictured her in the Pirates of the Caribbean view. That is not the Greyjoys. They are more Viking. She fits perfect with that imagery. Also, the Iron Islands are known for being a very hard place. Having some exotic beauty from there would make no sense. She is who she is because of her skill, not her looks. Her character on screen is slowly developing, and I am sure once we see her in action (attacking the North) you will see the fire and charisma come out.

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I though Brienne was perfectly matched on screen compared to my mental image. I never really took her as being hideous in the traditional sense. Again, since all of this is through POVs, I took her descriptions from the male POVs as being hideous because of her size. She is not shapely like a typical woman. Check. She is intimidating for men, not just by her shear size, but because she carries herself like a man, and is a very skilled warrior. Much like teenage boys are ruthless to a girl that is a better athlete than they are, Brienne is ridiculed by the men of the series because they are intimidated by her, and "bend the truth" of her looks.

I believe our first descriptions of her comes from a Catelyn POV and is one of the least kind descriptions as far as her ugliness is concerned.

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Just to be sure...

Was it her who fought with Loras or was it a stuntman? What did you think? cause in retrospective it seemed as it was actually a guy fighting and only after Renly asks her to approach it switches to her,

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Since I know this will most likely be a fairly common complaint/debate, thought it would it would be a good idea to go ahead and make this into a thread. So - is Brienne as hideous as you imagined? And how did she do? She prepped so much for this part, so I am expecting a lot.

Well, she didn't look like Brienne in the books but I think she was very good. She felt like the character from the book despite "not being ugly enough". Well casted and well acted (unlike yara/asha).

BTW, Is she really that tall?

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Just to be sure...

Was it her who fought with Loras or was it a stuntman? What did you think? cause in retrospective it seemed as it was actually a guy fighting and only after Renly asks her to approach it switches to her,

She said in an interview she took kick boxing and sword fighting lessons so I would assume it was her.

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I'm a big Brienne fan, and was looking forward to this episode for her entrance. That being said, I picture her differently than the actress, but that isn't a big deal. Tha'ts common in these cases. I do like the actress's look though & am looking forward to her scenes.

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I remember reading an interview by Rory McCann where he says he fought in a golden helm, which was confusing as it is doubtful the Hound would fight in some other helm besides his dog's head helm. In the fight scene we saw Brienne with a golden helm. I'm thinking that it was actually Rory McCann we saw fighting as Brienne.

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