[Book Spoilers] Jaime/Brienne

[bobbybuilderton]

Why is Brienne in this scene not shown from the front side! Because she is not so perfect as all the other women we have seen naked?

Until now the show never hestiated to show dirt and filth and not so pretty persons, why now?

They probably want to maintain the illusion that she's unattractive and masculine. That's harder if you know what she actually looks like. Plus I think they wanted to show Jaime's face. The scene is, after all, primarily about him.

[Khal Vader]

This scene couldn't have been done any better. NCW's work has been masterful. Even the look on his face when Lord Bolton was telling him about the battle of Blackwater. I'll add my voice to the many others that say he is deserving of an Emmy.

[Shaula Black]

I think they should have show Brienne's body at all. But besides that, I agree with everybody, the scene was perfect!!

[LeananKite]

Plus I think they wanted to show Jaime's face. The scene is, after all, primarily about him.

I agree, its his scene. But when she stands up because he insulted her, this is about her.

In the first place she was a bit shye about Jaime joining her in the bathtube. But after his insult she did'nt care any more.

And he looked at her and recognised her as a woman for the first time.

We should have seen her as he did.

Besides this: Best scene ever.

[Katydid]

Why is Brienne in this scene not shown from the front side! Because she is not so perfect as all the other women we have seen naked?

Until now the show never hestiated to show dirt and filth and not so pretty persons, why now?

Considering HBO and the show's history, I was rather pleasantly surprised that there was no frontal nudity - especially considering the setting and the context of the scene.

In the book, they both get an eyeful of each other naked, and IMO, it's an important element of the scene (Jaime's literal and metaphorical cleansing, finally imparting the truth about Aerys to another living soul, couldn't have been set in a more perfect environment. GRRM knew what he was doing.) But flaunting them less tastefully on-screen would have been distracting, unnecessary, and I think would have taken away from the powerful emotion of the scene. I'm glad they went the more subtle route with this one. Bravo.

[StarkSister]

Why is Brienne in this scene not shown from the front side! Because she is not so perfect as all the other women we have seen naked?

Until now the show never hestiated to show dirt and filth and not so pretty persons, why now?

Gwen might not have been up for showing off the goods. Not every actress goes topless, although it does seem to be the norm on this show! Also like others suggested it might be to preserve the fact that she isn't supposed to be viewed as "beautiful".

Amazing amazing scene.

[Katydid]

I agree, its his scene. But when she stands up because he insulted her, this is about her.

In the first place she was a bit shye about Jaime joining her in the bathtube. But after his insult she did'nt care any more.

And he looked at her and recognised her as a woman for the first time.

I loved what Gwen had to say about the scene on EW.com:

During the scene, Brienne responds to Jaime berating her by angrily standing up in the water, exposing herself.

“The moment of nudity is an act of defiance from Brienne,” Christie explained. “In that moment she realizes the power of her womanhood without the armor, without the fighting, without killing anyone, while she’s opposite this man, who she has such a complex relationship with. He has saved her from being brutally raped and she still cannot understand him. And he pushes her in that moment. So when she stands up naked in front of him, she’s angry. She overcomes her own issues about her own femininity and vulnerably and gender and in that moment finds the power of not only what it means to be a woman, but who she is as a woman. It’s a really powerful moment.”

[MsLibby]

As much as I loved NCW in this scene, I don't expect any Emmy love. Despite the amazing acting this series has, only PD has had any love from any of the award shows. It SUCKS.

It wouldn't surprise me for the whole series not to get a nomination either.

[Talvivaara]

Agreed, it was a brilliant scene!

[Sun]

I agree, its his scene. But when she stands up because he insulted her, this is about her.

In the first place she was a bit shye about Jaime joining her in the bathtube. But after his insult she did'nt care any more.

And he looked at her and recognised her as a woman for the first time.

We should have seen her as he did.

Besides this: Best scene ever.

I disagree. The whole point of that shot was for us to see Jaime's reaction to her. We, as the audience, are meant to conclude that Brienne is attractive because Jaime was obviously taken by her physicality. Jaime's attraction to Brienne at that moment was purely physical, but it was also influenced by his respect, admiration and trust in her. It's also influenced by his vulnerability at that moment.

Brienne is not an unequivocal beauty, she's not supposed to be. She's not Cersie, or Marg, or Sansa. Had Jaime seen her naked back in S1, she wouldn't have had any effect on him. At this moment he is pre-desposed emotionally to finding her beautiful, because he already admires her in so many other ways. If they had shown us what he was seeing our opinions of her would have substituted his, and that lust for beauty we saw in his eyes would have been diminished by whatever our eyes perceived.

We were meant to see Brienne through Jaime's eyes in that scene, not our own. We were meant to find her attractive because he does. We were meant to feel for her what he feels. With the glimpse of her beautiful muscular ass and his lusty face, we were meant to lust for her as well. When it comes to Brienne's beauty, how Jaime sees her is all that really matters.

[Darryk]

Utterly superb acting from Nikolai.

I was hoping they'd show how Jaime became "the Kingslayer" through flashbacks, but I guess that's too "Hollywood" for this series. The way they did it was much classier. I know "show don't tell" is considered one of the golden rules in filmmaking but when you've got an actor who can carry the scene like Nikolai then you can rely on dialogue alone.

[Impish]

Why is Brienne in this scene not shown from the front side!

My interpretation of this is that, usually when we are shown a nude woman onscreen, it's in a romantic/sexual context, she is generally offering herself to someone, etc.

NOT showing a frontal, highlighted how strikingly different this particular encounter was. The important visual is that she towers over Jaime, enraged. Quite literally, "her back's up". The nudity is almost irrelevant, a distraction... a function of the bath house setting, not the plot.

[bobbybuilderton]

Something that struck me seeing the scene visualized is how clean Brienne looked and how absolutely horrible Jaime looked. It was almost a physical representation of what is inside them. With them being in a bathhouse and confession in the Christian tradition being associated with cleansing, I'm a bit disappointed the metaphor went over my head on the read through

[Janicia]

I imagine that the show will avoid Jaime's dream sequence and have him make the decision to go back for Brienne while conscious. I find a conscious decision more compelling than a decision inspired by a dream. It was a cool dream sequence in the book, but I think the show is right to strip away much of the mysticism.

[giant snake]

I'm surprised that the show's Jaime is so good that he's starting to replace the one I've been picturing all of this time. Normally that's a bad thing but not in this case.

Also, giving credit where it's due; this was the first one where Arya's acting was just right. That detached, sorrowful look but finally she got some fire in her when it came to hating The Hound.

[PhoenixFlame]

I thought the level of nudity was perfect. The back and glutes show off one's athleticism more than one's tits. We see her as a woman, but not entirely forgoing her athletics for softer femininity.

What i also loved was Brienne catching him as he swoons. A cute inversion of the typical manly-man catching the fainting maiden.

[Theda Baratheon]

Spectacular. It was everything I wanted and more.

[Frey Pie a la Mode]

I was so so happy that they didn't mess this one up :). It's one of my favorite scenes in the books, and it was done so well.

As for why they didn't show GC from the front, Brienne's supposed to have a very flat chest and be generally built like a dude. I have a feeling that GC is not :).

[Currawong]

The entire emphasis in this scene is not on sexual nudity but on psychological nakedness and vulnerability, and I am really glad they filmed it the way they did. I thought it was far more effective and powerful to have Brienne simply stand up in sudden anger, watch her face, and then show Jaime's reaction to both her physical and emotional nakedness. It has nothing to do with GC not being 'generally built like a dude'. In this case, seeing 'less' is definitely 'more' in terms of the characters themselves and the scene as a whole.

[MsLibby]

I imagine that the show will avoid Jaime's dream sequence and have him make the decision to go back for Brienne while conscious. I find a conscious decision more compelling than a decision inspired by a dream. It was a cool dream sequence in the book, but I think the show is right to strip away much of the mysticism.

Part of me really, really wants the dream sequence but I worry it might be total cheese to have it. Or maybe I just want the line "I dreamed of you".