Now that the "Game of Thrones" Season 2 premiere is less than a week away, it's time to take a look at some of the secondary female characters that are set to make an appearance in one of the most popular HBO series ever. From the steadfastly loyal Brienne of Tarth to the ruthless Yara Greyjoy, some amazing female characters are on deck.
Brienne of Tarth
Steadfastly loyal and hopelessly in love with Renly Baratheon, Brienne is one of the most complex and fascinating female characters brought out of George R.R. Martin's fertile imagination. Although far from beautiful, she is nevertheless a very sympathetic character, precisely because she maintains her loyalty to those whom she swears it to. With Gwendoline Christie set to portray this fascinating character, we are in for a treat as we watch her struggles.
Margaery TyrellIn
In sharp juxtaposition to Brienne is Margaery Tyrell, the beautiful and blushing bride of Renly. Set to be depicted by Natalie Dormer, famous for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the popular series "The Tudors," Margaery is one of the more mysterious characters. We never get a strong glimpse of her true motivations within the novel, so it will be interesting to see how the show decides to portray her. Audiences, however, will not soon forget that Dormer also played the very cunning and very sexual Anne Boleyn, so this may color or influence the ways that we read this very different type of female character.
Yara Greyjoy
Known as Asha in the novels, this character is Theon Greyjoy's powerful and independent sister, who wants nothing more than to rule the Iron Islands as her father's acknowledged heir. However, she finds herself constantly stymied by her culture's intense and overriding misogyny. It will be interesting to see how the show depicts her, and whether it keeps her as the fiery-spirited unconquerable that we have grown to like so much in the novels.
Clearly, there are a lot of strong female characters to look forward to in the second season of HBO's epic series. These characters will make a fascinating addition to the already-present strong female characters, such as the villainous and cunning Cersei Lannister. As the show has already made clear, Westeros would be a much more boring, and probably a much safer place, without the empowered and cunning women that we love to watch.
