Game Of Thrones: Why Everyone Needs To Ship Brienne And Tormund

Ever since Tormund Giantsbane clapped eyes on Brienne, he's looked like a man possessed by a very singular desire. Far more than taking a shine to her, Tormund appears to be utterly smitten, reduced from his usual brusque self to making eyes at her awkwardly.

Inevitably, their new dynamic has set shipping Game Of Thrones fans into over-drive, with Briemund quickly taking hold on social media.

Their story will inevitably come to some sort of head: at the minute it looks more like Brienne will run him through with her sword than letting him run her through with anything of his. But the very fact that he's been allowed to survive this long while eye-f*cking her hungrily might suggest she's actually not entirely repulsed.

According to Gwendoline Christie, the schoolyard element of their "flirtation" was actually more pronounced in a deleted scene that saw Sansa teasing the warrior about Tormund's obvious affection for her. That sort of comedic element is missing from the show's currently glum overall feel, and it is refreshing to see a dynamic that is based entirely on fun (as Bronn and Tyrion's once was).

And it's very much a good thing, because Brienne needs this relationship as much as the fans who are shipping it do.

Look, there will always be fans who suggest Brienne doesn't need to be paired off with someone, because she's an independent woman defined by duty and honour, who doesn't need to be "made complete" by romance. Except, that's almost exactly what she needs.

Game Of Thrones has a central message of family and the strength and power of familial love. It might not exactly work for the Starks, but it is upheld as the definitive power in Westeros, and it is mostly what the morally good and uncorrupted characters are driven by. Arya, Sansa (now, at least), Tommen, Bran, Dany, Sam Tarly, Jon Snow and most of the wildlings are driven by the need to protect their close loved ones (so too was Catelyn Stark), because they value the sanctity of the family unit.

And Brienne falls into the same category. Though she seems most committed to duty and honour, she actually seeks a family, which is why she took Renly's death so hard. That wasn't merely a feeling of dereliction of duty, it was that her one defining personal relationship was destroyed.

If she wasn't inclined to seek personal relationships, she wouldn't have sought Jaime's company even when he was her prisoner. He was a wretched scoundrel (and he still is), but thanks to his sob story about killing his king and his vulnerability in the wake of losing his hand, the Brienne/Jaime relationship almost seemed like it would transform from furtive glances and mutual appreciation into real romance.

Since then, Brienne has reverted to her cold, Terminator like exterior: she exists in black and white (in terms of her morality), and while love and personal relationships probably compromise her commitment, they enrich her and allow her to see in shades of grey. It might seem like that's a betrayal of her role, but it's also key to her actually surviving the Game Of Thrones.

It is only when characters are able to adapt to the game and accept that morality is fluid (hence Jaqen H'ghar's comment on the decent dying as well as the wicked) that they tend to flourish. We've so far seen Arya, Dany, Jon Snow, Sansa, Sam, Jaime and Theon shift their moral compasses and step away from their initial definitive role in order to survive. In all of their cases, the characters have come into contact with characters who should be their enemy, but who they've grown close to and who have enriched them.

So in giving in to Tormund's desire for her, Brienne will ensure on two fronts that she will flourish as a character and have more chance of surviving the Game Of Thrones. Surely that has to be worth considering?