There isn't a Game of Thrones fan among us who don't ship Tormund Giantsbane and Brienne of Tarth. Watching Tormund, a giant, lumbering warrior get in touch with his softer side when he's around the equally tough Brienne are some of the cutest moments on a very dark show about murder and betrayals. Last week's season 7 premiere, "Dragonstone," gave our shipping fantasies plenty of fodder when the not-couple interacted after Brienne was giving Podrick some sword fighting lessons. After she shoved Pod to the ground, a lovestruck Tormund smiles and calls him a lucky man. The scene then cuts away to Sansa and Littlefinger speaking on the balcony. From above, we see Tormund still smiling and Brienne shaking her head and walking away.
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It turns out that the two very cold lovebirds were having a risqué conversation, according to the director Jeremy Podeswa. Or rather, that Tormund was trying to impress Brienne by talking about sexy wildling things. We can't hear the characters speaking because the camera is trained on Sansa and Littlefinger, but the actors were instructed to ad-lib a conversation in character before Brienne reappears in the scene. "There is one thing that they scripted and they riffed on that, which is Tormund says something about his relationship with Sheila the Bear," Podeswa told Insider.
Tormund first brings up Sheila in season 4, asking Ygritte "did I ever tell you about her? Sheila? Oh, that was a night to remember. Of course, I'd had a good bit to drink. Her fangs were sharp, but she knew how to use them. And she was nice and soft down below. No, she was no ordinary beast." We don't know who exactly Sheila the Bear is, but she's probably a warrior woman from Bear Island. In the book series, women from Bear Island are expected to learn how to fight. Considering Tormund has a thing for strong badass babes, it's not surprising the learn that one of his former flings was also a warrior.
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