Game of Thrones star Kristofer Hivju up for a Brienne and Tormund spinoff

Game of Thrones is over, but the world is definitely in the market for a followup. And star Kristofer Hivju has a grand idea for one all about Tormund Giantsbane and the unrequited object of his affection, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie).

Hivju talked about the idea while appearing in London alongside his costars to promote the release of season 8 on home video, according to Fandom. “I’m up for it,” he said. He even laid out the specifics: the show would take place at Castle Black and would feature Tormund and Brienne trying to “run it together,” with episodes running around 19 minutes each. Sold. Sign us up.

Just for context, HBO is already making a Game of Thrones prequel series: House of the Dragon, about the epic history of House Targaryen. That show promises to deliver the same thrills as the original show, and that’s great, but I think we could all do with something a little lighter in our lives.

Hivju also talked about paths not taken on the show. Although we don’t have enough fingers to count all the ways in which it was impossible, he was bummed that he never got to have a scene with Jason Momoa’s Khal Drogo. “[My favourite scene] was Jason Momoa’s speech in the tent before he kills Daenerys’s brother,” Hivju said. “He’s just ranting and he’s going all the way.”

We’re sure those two would have gotten along famously.

Also at the panel was Isaac Hempstead Wright, who played Bran Stark. For his part, Wright wishes he had gotten to have more scenes with Jaime Lannister.

"Jaime Lannister was someone who I only had a brief interaction with; he was one of my favourite characters to watch on screen. I don’t know why we do, but we empathise with him — after he tried to murder a child, you can sit there and say, ‘Oh, he could be a nice guy’. What does that say about him? I think there’s a really interesting parallel with Bran, in that [Jaime] loses his sword hand, the thing that defined him, [just as Bran loses the use of his legs]. So I’d always wanted to have some kind of conversation — have Bran and Jaime Lannister interact — and I thought it would be a perfect reunion."

Wright also names Jaime as the character he’d most like to play other than Bran. I’m picturing the actors in each other’s roles and I’m liking what I see.

“I’m not just saying this but I think Bran has the best character arc of anybody,” Wright continued. “He starts off, and in the very first episode you think, well, he’s toast. There’s no chance. He’s dead, and he grows and learns the hard way about a lot of things, and goes from being this traditionally vulnerable character to the most powerful person there is.”

"I was pretty happy … [it’s] a great story of this boy, this disabled 10-year-old in the harshest world ever, to triumph. And so to see him become king, and victorious — I think it’s so brilliant how a disabled character [can] win the whole Game of Thrones. I mean, what are the odds of that when there are dragons and all these things going on?"

Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy) picked up on Wright’s comments about his disabled character overcoming the odds to talk about the importance of representation for women on TV. “The question I’ve been asked a lot is what did I feel about the strong female characters, which is the most appalling question — because by default women are strong and feisty,” she said. “I feel like [Yara] is a real woman written for the screen. This is the person that I am. I am so many elements. So I feel like it did a lot for television writing for women, particularly.”

"She’s a great example of someone who just staked her claim and does what she feels is right. That was really inspiring to me — to play a character who is very similar to who we are as women. And so it changed things in that way."

Yara didn’t get as much screentime as a lot of fans would like, but we always enjoyed how multifaceted she was. In addition to being a leader and a daughter and a sister and a warrior, she also clearly had no hangups about her sexuality, pursuing relations with both men and women. “Women, they just come out to you at conventions and stuff, and they say that Yara made a difference in terms of their journey to their gender, and their sexuality, and how they feel about themselves and complications that they met along the way,” Whelan said. “If TV characters can help them, it’s truly special.”

Eh, just give all of them spinoffs.

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