Brienne of Tarth finally made her move in the Game of Thrones season finale, abandoning her post watching Winterfell. It was a big moment for Gwendoline Christie and the actress talks to The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly about Brienne’s actions in “Mother’s Mercy.”

Christie’s comments in the New York Times make the fate of Stannis absolutely clear, despite some viewers finding the scene’s ending ambiguous.

Christie says of Brienne finally moving to take revenge on Stannis:

On the one hand it’s fantastic to see her reconcile something she has been carrying for all these seasons. That’s very satisfying. But once she finds out that she missed Sansa’s candle, as I’m sure she will, she will be even more crushed than when we saw her at the start of this season, having had Arya slip through her fingers. Brienne has been staring at that window waiting for the candle to appear for, well it feels like about three months but I think it’s probably only been about three weeks of standing there, staring.

The actress confirms Brienne has been standing watch at the windows for probably weeks.

But what it does reinforce in our minds is her tenacity, and her loyalty and her dogged determination. It was Season 2 when Renly died, and it’s at the end of Season 5 that Brienne avenges his death. It’s about something a lot more sustained, and that’s what I think is fascinating about “Game of Thrones,” conceptually.

Her hopes for Brienne’s future?

One, is that there’s all of Stannis’s army there without a leader now, and they’ve actually become disillusioned by him due to his action toward his daughter. It would be fantastic if perhaps Brienne decided she would be best served as a leader and led the army. Or let’s not forget that she has Valyrian steel.

Christie has confirmed that Brienne has avenged Renly and that Stannis’s army is without a leader, so I think we can put the debate about Stannis’s fate to rest. The cutaway to Ramsay executing a soldier similar to how Brienne was killing Stannis struck me as a poetic editing choice but it caused some confusion in viewers. I believe we can consider Stannis confirmed dead with Christie’s words. Though some Stannis hardcore fans will remain resolutely stubborn, in the manner of the Mannis himself.

The actress also talks to Entertainment Weekly about Brienne’s decision to turn away from the window and pursue Stannis:

Brienne is depressed about the situation she’s in. She hasn’t been able to achieve what she’s wanted. Arya slipped through her fingers and she just went through the fight of her life. The notion of the oath comes up again and again and she remains resolute. A lot of her personal needs remain unacknowledged. She puts all of her life’s focus on the greater good. What occurs is something very interesting. There’s an exploration of this character as a person—she’s dedicated to the greater good, not acknowledging her personal wants and needs in favor of something better than her. [Going after Stannis is] the one moment she responds to her emotional world and her feelings. She’s overtaken by something that we haven’t seen before. She chooses not to stand vigilant and to go and seek Stannis. In the script it says, “a darkness comes over her,” in that way it does when you’re hell-bent on something.

Check out EW’s complete article at their website.

For those who still doubt Stannis’s death, HBO Viewer’s Guide confirms Stannis’s death at Brienne’s hands: LINK