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First, Brienne and Jaime sleep together.
We assume they sleep together, that is; the scene is unusually demure forGame of Thrones.
We get no signals of her pleasure, or his.
Then Brienne is abandoned.
What must she have felt?
But there is nothing.
Brienne, a knight of the Seven Kingdoms, deserves more than that.
All of her agency is reduced to pleading with Jaime not to leave her for another woman.
In its hastiness, the scene prioritizes Jaimes departure and shortchanges Briennes growth.
If Briennes story were just one misstep in an otherwise strong episode, it mightve been easier to forgive.
But The Last of the Starks finds similarly depressing beats for most of the shows major female characters.
Being raped and tortured helped her grow up, shes saying.
The Last of the Starks leaves the worst for the very end.
Missandeis ending wouldve been bad enough if itd just been about her death.
The point is that her death fuels Danys rage and vengefulness.
Its just a catalyst for Danys change.
When Missandei says it, the word has no power.
Missandei dies as a pawn rather than a person.
She is not a lady.
She never has been.
She, alone, has been given the space to unapologetically hate them.
