Game of Thrones‘ Tormund Reveals Why Brienne Isn’t the One

Warning: This post contains spoilers for season seven of Game of Thrones.

Tormund Giantsbane seemed to still have hopes of kindling a romance with Brienne of Tarth in the Game of Thrones premiere. But according to the actor who plays Tormund, Kristofer Hivju, the Wildling leader holds a candle for a woman from his past.

In a video interview with HBO Nordic, the Norwegian actor revealed that Brienne would only be his character’s first choice if non-human females were excluded, referencing Tormund’s fabled relationship with a bear named Sheila.

“When we shot “Hardhome” I asked creators David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], ‘Where’s Tormund’s family? Where are his kids?’ And they said, ‘He’s a bachelor, he has women everywhere,'” Hivju explained. “But there is only one woman for Tormund and that is Sheila. He really loves Sheila…If you had to include humans, of course Brienne is the first choice.”

“Dragonstone” director Jeremy Podeswa even told INSIDER that Tormund shared his feelings for Sheila with Brienne in the premiere.

“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 said of the unheard conversation between Torienne in the courtyard of Winterfell. “And nobody knows what that means or what that’s all about, so that’s meant to make Brienne look at him askance. He’s either trying to shock her or he’s just oblivious that he’s saying something that’s crazy.”

Watch Hivju’s full interview below.