I am superexcited to see Brienne! She is definitely one of my favorites. It's the way others react to her, even being a skillful fighter, she is still mocked for being ugly, how that shapes her.

I hope they picked a relative unknown AND that she has great chemistry with Jamie.

re: shipping, that is true, I hadn't thought of it. I agree that the focus of the books not being romance anyway, in addition to the fact that there's just so many character, everyone can kinda spread out and not bump elbows :D