“Game of Thrones” showrunners tease death for Brienne or Tormund, and we shippers are LOSING it

It looks like the couple we love to ship on Game of Thrones *won’t* be getting a happy ending — at least, according to showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff.

Despite a season packed with drama, a wordless meeting between everyone’s favorite bearded wildling, Tormund, and the most loyal warrior in Westeros, Brienne of Tarth, quickly became a breakout moment. So much so that it left fans begging Benioff and Weiss to find a way for Tormund and Brienne to end up together.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Benioff and Weiss revealed how the pairing came to be and how fans won’t see the characters become the warrior power couple of Westeros.

"We need to kill one of them now because there can’t be a happy ending or any romantic connection on the show," Benioff said. "But we’re not going to tell you which one."

Maybe that was in jest, but this isn’t something to joke about! There’s too much riding on this!

Seriously, look at the eye contact and tell me this isn’t endgame material:

Benioff revealed to EW that the pairing was entirely accidental, as the Tormund and Brienne scenes were just supposed to be passing moments at the Wall. He said he and Weiss were surprised when the Tormund and Brienne scenes became an instant hit because their favorite scenes are almost *never* fan favorites.

"That scene last season when Tormund was eating and lasciviously staring at Brienne was one of our favorites," Benioff said. "Usually, when we really love something there are a few other people who like it as well. It’s great because there was no dialogue written for that, or major stage direction. There was just a line like, 'He stares at Brienne because he’s never seen a woman like that before.' And then we let the actors do what they do."

It’s just, so great.

The duo credit Gwendoline Christie (Brienne) and Kristofer Hivju (Tormund) for bringing those now-iconic moments to life. What’s more, they noted that they could never write a scene that magical.

"There was the episode where they’re all leaving Castle Black together and there’s a shot — it wasn’t scripted at all — of two of them on horseback and she looks at him and he smiles at her. It’s not something you could ever write," Weiss said. "It’s just this moment where this guy is creeping out on her and he smiles in a way that makes her very uncomfortable and she just looks away. I saw it 150 times and every time it made me laugh; it’s purely the two of them."

Same, Dan. Same.

Unfortunately, fans embracing a potential Brienne-Tormund relationship may have led to their ultimate doom. We should know by now that there are no happy endings on Game of Thrones, but it’s still so hard to say goodbye to our favorite characters.

While we *think* Benioff is kidding — to an extent, at least — about killing the characters off due to fan interest, we know that the showrunners don’t shy away from killing off beloved characters and wouldn’t be surprised if Tormund or Brienne don’t make it to the end.

In any case, we’ll find out if Tormund and Brienne survive winter when Game of Thrones returns to HBO on July 16th!