Game of Thrones: Clive Russell on Brienne and the Blackfish's Connection 

Game of Thrones: Clive Russell on Brienne and the Blackfish\'s Connection

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Full spoilers for Game of Thrones continue below.

Clive Russell\'s return to Game of Thrones as the Blackfish might have been short, but he had enough time to have several impactful character interactions. After his great face off with Jaime Lannister in "The Broken Man," he got a chance to share words and respect with Brienne of Tarth in "No One" before his death by Lannister men.

When I spoke to Russell, he explained why Brynden Tully immediately saw a woman he could respect in Brienne, even if he couldn\'t help her complete her mission of his army coming to Sansa Stark\'s aid in the North.

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"Brienne represented for him his young self, a person of integrity, a soldier of integrity, trying to do the right thing," Russell said. "That added to the conflict he felt of what was the right thing to do: whether to send men to Sansa or not."

These two characters had never met before, but Brienne has had plenty of interactions with members of the Blackfish\'s family; first with Catelyn, then with Arya and now with Sansa. Still, Brynden saw something in his fellow soldier that he could connect with from the start.

"She spoke very clearly to power. She was talking to an older man who\'s, initially, very irritated by her being there, but eventually takes her very, very seriously," Russell said. "There\'s a touching moment where he acknowledges that to her face. It\'s very touching and sad, and I think that\'s what it\'s about. He\'s really recognizing the next generation of what I once was."

Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion in Game of Thrones

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister and Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones

Essie Davis as Lady Crane and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones

Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones

Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth and Clive Russell as the Blackfish in Game of Thrones

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as The Mountain and Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones

Eugene Simon as Lancel Lannister in Game of Thrones

Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones

Conleth Hill as Varys and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones

Reflecting on the scenes he shot with Gwendoline Christie, Russell felt that some of their real-life physicality lent itself to their dynamic on screen.

"There\'s something very curious, by the way," he said. "I\'m probably about 6\'6" tall. I think she\'s about 6\'3", but all the time I worked with her, I felt like she was taller than me. Now I don\'t really know what that has to do with it. It might be something to do with being confronted by a physically charismatic very tall woman, or maybe it\'s that she\'s caught the impressiveness of the character of that woman, that soldier.

"She\'s also an extraordinarily hilarious woman," he added. "We had great fun together. It was great fun to play."

Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.

Game of Thrones First Aired Apr. 2011

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