Do we like them?

Do we like Brienne of Tarth?

A character from Game of Thrones (2011–2019)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes, absolutely. She's honest, brave and loyal in a world of schemers, and she keeps her oaths even when it costs her.

Brienne is the daughter of a lord on the island of Tarth. She is far taller and stronger than the ladies around her, and she has little interest in the life they expect of her. She trained as a warrior instead, and the world of lords and knights often mocks her for it. Game of Thrones follows rival noble houses fighting over the Iron Throne, and she comes into that war as an outsider with a strict personal code.

She first appears in the second season, when she serves Catelyn Stark. Catelyn gives her the job of escorting the captured Jaime Lannister to King's Landing. The trip is dangerous and tests her patience, her skill and her honour. It also shows she will not bend her principles, whatever the cost.

We score her high because she is one of the few people in the story whose word means something. She is tough and stubborn, and sometimes too rigid or too trusting. She still keeps going out of loyalty and decency, not ambition, and that makes her easy to back.