31 Things We Learned from the Game of Thrones Women
By Katie Majka
Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO
11. Don’t let unrequited love jade you.
Brienne of Tarth
We can all agree that liking someone who doesn’t like you back stings. Sometimes you get over it, but other times it’s not so manageable. Emotional pain manifests in different ways for different people. For some, unrequited affection can turn them ugly (see: Petyr Baelish), but others don’t let it get the best of them. Enter Brienne of Tarth
In Seasons 2-3, Brienne’s feelings for Renly Baratheon are made plain. Even if he had lived, he would never have returned her love. Brienne knew this—she told Podrick as much in Season 5—but that didn’t make her love any less meaningful. And let’s be honest, after hearing her story, we all fell in love with Renly a little bit, too.
No matter how much it hurt Brienne or how long those feelings stayed with her, she never let them harden her. Instead, she channeled that love into the fierce loyalty she’s known for, which has led her to where she is now. Her heartbreak manifests itself within Brienne as strength and she makes whatever has happened to her fit into her ideal form of self. So yes, unrequited love may be a terrible thing but for Brienne, it is just a fuel to the fire within her.