I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul
Open-Mindedness
“I have made kings and unmade them. Sansa Stark is my last chance for honor.” Jaime smiled thinly. “Besides, kingslayers should band together. Are you ever going to go?”
Her big hand wrapped tight around Oathkeeper. “I will. And I will find the girl and keep her safe. For her lady mother’s sake. And for yours.”
-Jaime IX, A Storm of Swords
(by olestrange for the Jaime + Brienne fanworks fest at jaimexbrienne )
I chose this quote from the end of A Storm of Swords because it illustrates just how far Brienne’s relationship with Jaime has changed since she first met him. Before she met Jaime she considered him a murderer like most of Westeros, and even once they met she did not trust or like him. However, as they spend more time together, and especially after their encounter with the Bloody Mummmers, the relationship between them starts to change. I love that Brienne is able to get past her preconceptions of Jaime, and begins to see him for who he actually is. By the time this quote happens they have even developed a sort of trust and understanding of each other. A running theme this week seems to be how Brienne is a very good judge of character, and her open-mindedness is a credit to this. She is the only person in Westeros to understand Jaime and realize he is not the horrible person everyone thinks he is. Open-mindedness is, in my opinion, one of the most important traits someone can have because it lets you control your opinions and decisions, instead of allowing other people to make choices for you. Brienne being able to change from having such a strong negative opinion of Jaime to a positive one shows that she has open-mindedness in abundance.
(title is from the poem Invictus, by William Ernest Henley)