The world came to know Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane when he appeared in the first episode of season 3 in the iconic HBO TV show, Game of Thrones. Eating chicken and being jovial, Jon Snow accidentally thought that Kristofer Hivju was Mance Rayder until the real Mance Rayder had a talk with him.
Still, Hivju’s charisma and his portrayal as Tormund Giantsbane received all the love from the world. However, he was disappointed in his fans after the tragic season finale, not because the show was bad, but because he didn’t get what he wanted.
Kristofer Hivju was disappointed in his fans
Even Hivju agreed that when the character of Tormund Giantsbane was introduced in Game of Thrones, he was an antagonist. Not trusting Jon Snow (of course) in the beginning, Tormund really opened up when he was faced with a situation of life and death, and Snow was his only support.
When he comes south of The Wall, Hivju’s Tormund sees Brienne of Tarth and instantly falls in love with her. Calling her “The big woman”, Tormund has almost a child-like obsession with her, and fans loved to see the two of them together.
Fans even stated that Tormund should end up with Brianne of Tarth when all is over, but much like the final season, they were disappointed. Kristofer Hivju sat down for a chat with Paste Magazine, wherein he talked about how much fans loved to see his character with Brienne of Tarth. The actor even jokingly said that he was disappointed in fans when there were no riots.
And all the fascination and craziness on social media when it comes to Tormund and the big woman. I read once that ‘If Tormund doesn’t get Brienne, we riot.’ So where are the f*cking riots?
Turns out, even Kristofer Hivju found a way to be disappointed in season 8 of Game of Thrones. Although the world had bigger complaints with the series finale, Tormund Giantsbane not ending up with the big woman was Kristofer Hivju’s complaint (which is very valid).
However, the show wasn’t bad at all for Hivju and his character of Tormund Giantsbane, since his character went through many ups and downs and really changed. That is what Kristofer Hivju thinks was the most beautiful part of this journey.
Tormund Giantsbane really opened up to his emotions
Grumbling and chewing away his chicken as if there’s no tomorrow, Tormund Giantsbane was a ferocious man who feared no one. However, when Jon Snow proves to be the leader that he is, Tormund changes completely.
As the talk continued, Kristofer Hivju revealed that although Tormund was a cold-blooded warrior, something changed in him. He really opened up to his feelings, and his friendship with Jon Snow was totally unexpected for Hivju.
I was sure, this is going to be a bad guy, and he’s going to do horrible sh*t. And then, when we attacked the wall, he became a softie. And he fell in love, and the friendship with Jon was beautiful. So, in many ways, I feel like even though he was a strong, tough guy, he opened up and became something else.
He continued,
And that’s the beauty of the show, that it went that way. I know in one of the last episodes Tormund cried, and I didn’t think he had the ability to cry. Even when Mance Rayder died—his mentor and kind of a father—even then he kept it in.
Even Kristofer Hivju didn’t know that Tormund Giantsbane would turn out to “become a softie”. However, we are glad that Tormund changed his ways, which made him even more lovable. His conversations about Brienne of Tarth and his boisterous laugh with Jon Snow have become a trademark for Tormund.
Although the final season was a disappointment to us and Kristofer Hivju as well, the HBO show currently stands at a rating of 9.2/10 on IMDb and a whopping 89% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max (USA).
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
