Why It's Extremely Likely That Brienne Will Die In The Battle Of Winterfell On 'GoT'

Brienne of Tarth has long been a force to be reckoned with, though she's constantly underestimated and under-appreciated. That all changed during last week's Game of Thrones episode, which resulted in her becoming a knight — a longtime dream of hers. But could this nice story arc indicate a grim future for this beloved character? Will Brienne die in the Battle of Winterfell? If this show has taught us anything it's that happy moments don't last very long, and given that Brienne's now reached her ultimate goal, many fans are (and should) be fearful that this new knight will fall in the war against the dead.

Look, this prediction doesn't come lightly. In fact, it'd be difficult — if not impossible — to find someone out there who wants to see someone as genuine and honorable and loyal as Brienne die in this battle, especially when she's survived so much and come so far. She makes Jaime want to be a better man. She's helped Podrick become the squire he always wanted to be. She's Sansa's most trusted advisor. One could argue that no one deserves a happy ending more than Brienne.

But when has this show ever been kind to its characters, especially the ones who deserve it the most? Which is why Brienne's knighthood could basically spell out her own doom: to get everything she ever wanted right before it was taken away from her forever is very much Game of Thrones' mantra.

The silver lining to all of this is that, as the first female knight in all of the Seven Kingdoms, there's no doubt that Ser Brienne would go down in a blaze of glory, fighting the good fight and taking as many wights and White Walkers down as she could in the process. Her death would be heartbreaking, there's no question about that. But it absolutely would not be in vain. She'd be dying saving the people she cares about most, and if we were able to ask Brienne how she would want to die, that would be it. She'd die with honor and a sword in her hand.

Of course, there's always a chance she could beat the odds and survive the Winterfell battle. She fought the Hound and lived to tell the tale and has gotten out of some other pretty sticky situations in the past, so it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. But if we're truly being honest with ourselves, that outcome seems very unlikely.

If anything, the purpose of Episode 2 was to remind us all why we love these characters so much right before Episode 3 will take away many of them for good. It may seem harsh and cruel, but this is the final season, so all bets are off.

Game of Thrones has never been afraid to kill off beloved characters in the past and Season 8 should prove to be no exception to that rule. So let's just be grateful for the remaining time we have with Brienne and hope that if death does come for her, that it will be quick and painless. She deserves that and so much more.