One of the most popular memes in the wake of the finale sees Brienne telling better stories than the one she was given on the show.
Game of Thrones’ polarizing series finale has been met with plenty of unimpressed and negative reviews, but if you were a fan of Brienne of Tarth, the character’s final solo scene might have left you with an especially sour taste in your mouth.
“The Iron Throne” did see Brienne become the commander of the Kingsguard under the new ruler of Westeros, Bran Stark — but it also saw her pining over Jaime Lannister, and made her most meaningful screen time all about Jaime rather than her own impressive accomplishments throughout the course of Game of Thrones’ eight seasons.
Many fans already had little love for the show’s treatment of Brienne in “The Last of the Starks,” in which Jaime cruelly dumped her in the dead of night to leave Winterfell for King’s Landing, not long after they’d finally slept together. But in the series finale, the show went a step further: Brienne noticed that Jaime’s page in the Book of Brothers, which records the deeds of all knights who served in the Kingsguard, was unfinished — and took it upon herself to fill in some details. But rather than write about him with rancor or bitterness, she calmly framed his final acts as marks of heroism and valor.
On the one hand, the scene illustrates the nobility and grace of Brienne’s character. But on the other hand, it serves to make Brienne’s narrative all about a man. My colleague Zack Beauchamp likened Brienne’s actions to “functionally writing Jaime Lannister’s Wikipedia page, rendering her arc subservient to a man’s.” And fans of Brienne were quick to castigate Game of Thrones for concluding her arc in this fashion.
But if you’re among those fans who thinks Brienne deserved much better, you might be heartened by the redemptive work that’s happening on social media on Brienne’s behalf. One of the most popular Game of Thrones memes in the wake of the finale involves allowing Brienne to tell much better stories than the one she was given on the show itself. And honestly, it’s pretty vindicating.
Jaime Lannister: Fuckboy
— 9000 (@9000x) May 20, 2019
Fin. pic.twitter.com/X42HFQspyT
To Game of Thrones’ credit, one of season eight’s best scenes involved Jaime knighting Brienne, in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” which took its title from the moment. But from that point on, the show seemed to fall into the narrative trap of ultimately making Brienne’s story all about Jaime — who drunkenly took her virginity as Winterfell celebrated its defeat of the Night King and his Army of the Dead.
While Jaime’s intentions in leaving Brienne to return to his sister Cersei were never fully clear, his departure left many fans outraged at the image of Brienne, one of Game of Thrones’ strongest women, sobbing in a nightgown over the rake who took her innocence and then broke her heart. Given the show’s lackluster track record regarding its women characters, it’s hard to blame them.
i will never get over how the game of thrones writers managed to ruin most of the women’s characters this season. had dani turn into the mad queen in ONE fucking episode, had brienne crying over incestual dick, killed missandei. WHAT EVEN IS THIS
— robin arryn’s glowup (@_juwiiii_) May 13, 2019
Brienne of Tarth’s character arc ended with her finally... getting some dick and crying in a bathrobe outside.
— Stoic Apples (@TheMikeTre) May 20, 2019
Somebody come get this raggedy ass show.
The finale added insult to injury by doubling down on this irksome narrative trope. After Jaime and Cersei died together at the end of episode five, “The Bells,” the finale depicted Brienne as still being hung up on Jaime and his fate, and seeing to it that his legacy was preserved, rather than focusing on her own.
Remember, Ser Brienne is the first woman in Westerosi history to be eligible to have her own story recorded in these pages. So a scene in which she wrote about the man who loved and left her did not go over well.
All Brienne should have written in that book was "he knighted the first woman knight, Ser Brienne of Tarth." & then started her own fucking chapter.
— Nerdista (@Nerdista) May 20, 2019
Fuck D&D for wrapping up her storyline defending a dude who left her crying in the dark (wearing and amazing cape).#GameofThrones
Of fucking course they focused on Brienne emotionally eulogising Jaime, forgiving his betrayal & ERASING HERSELF FROM THE NARRATIVE instead of writing HER OWN DAMN PAGE in the White Book like she bloody deserves. #GameOfThrones #GameOfThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/QWDcie3ven
— Claire Rousseau (@ClaireRousseau) May 20, 2019
you mean to tell me i watched brienne fight the hound only to see her spend her last few moments writing about a man that rejected her instead of turning to a page that had a lil' biography on her. i really did. i did. pic.twitter.com/ssTGU5yvc2
— davalyn (@silkyfines) May 20, 2019
Enter the memes.
Many viewers were not impressed by Brienne’s gracious euphemistic recounting of Jaime Lannister as a heroic noble knight rather than the antihero who left her sobbing in her pajamas in order to return to his incestuous sociopathic lover. They quickly began to meme the scene where she writes of his exploits, turning the Book of Brothers into a classic Mean Girls-esque burn book.
Brienne was really hurt #GameOfThonesFinale #GOTFinale pic.twitter.com/6zCrx3V9IW
— Zie (@TheMessenger93) May 20, 2019
What Brienne of Tarth REALLY wrote about Jamie..#GameOfThrones #GameOfThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/5Ksa5fR3sa
— Amanda Guinn (@GuinnAmanda) May 20, 2019
I can't believe brienne wrote that omg #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/6TbIPuKTo5
— Kiran (@opalsrose) May 20, 2019
What Ser Brienne really wrote #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/USNRlInVix
— Michelle (@gingerlymyself) May 20, 2019
*SPOILER ALERT DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE FINALE OF THRONES*
— Pete Reilly (@Pete_Reilly_) May 20, 2019
Full text of what Brienne ACTUALLY wrote about Ser Jaime Lannister #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/CnQcNXPV50
Many also took the opportunity to comment on Game of Thrones’ reduction of Brienne to essentially a Lannister fan blogger, instead of a character worthy of her own fitting sendoff.
bran: king
— Nicole (@niccibelli) May 20, 2019
sansa: queen
jon: free
arya: literally columbus
samwell: inventing democracy
ser brienne: pic.twitter.com/sGjEdCgHTk
"...and I, Brienne of Tarth, am the first women to write on Game of Thrones since season 3..." pic.twitter.com/iZevZvdLKy
— Cat Staggs ️ (@CatStaggs) May 20, 2019
Brienne already posting her version of the final season to Tumblr. #GOT pic.twitter.com/804DJPWMoJ
— Ryan “Tweets” McGee (@TVMcGee) May 20, 2019
Several of the memes pointedly reclaimed the narrative for Brienne herself, depicting her writing her own, much flashier story in the book.
"Ser Brienne of Tarth- Super awesome knight. Probably the best. Beat up a wizard, had 40 boyfriends. Everyone loved her. They were all just, like, 'damn.'" pic.twitter.com/4I0w71HCxz
— Anthony Carboni (@acarboni) May 20, 2019
“And also Ser Jaime died while telling Cersei that he was in love with Brienne who was super hot the end” pic.twitter.com/9yr5i3lvHK
— Dylan Goforth (@DGoforth918) May 20, 2019
"Brienne was so good in bed that he went crazy and went to die with his sister. Yeah. that's what happened." pic.twitter.com/WvKRUItxgv
— Zito (@_Zeets) May 20, 2019
But not all the responses offered commentary on Game of Thrones’ finale; most memes involving text are easy to riff on, and lots of people simply took advantage of that.
I'm the most basic person. #GameofThrones #GameofThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/aCdMILLBgu
— Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) May 20, 2019
brienne tries to draw a chameleon from memory pic.twitter.com/4eb0wfxCmm
— ellie sunakawa (@elliesunakawa) May 20, 2019
I can't stop making Brienne writing memes pic.twitter.com/FkoZW3Exdl
— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) May 20, 2019
All in all, while “The Iron Throne” may have been a lackluster sendoff for Brienne — and, let’s face it, most of Game of Thrones’ women characters — it led to a great day for women getting their due on the internet.
from Vox - All http://bit.ly/2LVjnLX
Breaking News: Game of Thrones fans are giving Brienne the ending she deserved - News Paper
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