  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
|
| “ | The things I do for love. | „ |
| ~ Jaime just before pushing Bran Stark out a window. |
Ser Jaime Lannister, also known as The Kingslayer, is one of the deuteragonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its HBO television adaptation, Game of Thrones.
He is the second child and first-born son of Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock and his wife, Lady Joanna, also of House Lannister. Raised to be the Kingsguard of the Mad King at the age of 15, Jaime became the youngest member not only in the history of the prestigious knightly order but also the youngest member of in the history of the Kingsguard.
He earned the derogatory nickname "Kingslayer" when he infamously slew King Aerys near the end of Robert's Rebellion, an act condemned as treason by many. For most of his life, Jaime has had a secretly incestuous relationship with his twin sister, Queen Cersei. He has fathered three children by her: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, though most of the realm believes their father to be Cersei's husband, King Robert I Baratheon. He also has a close bond with his younger brother Tyrion.
He was portrayed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who also played Jeffrey Desange in Mama and Mark King in The Other Woman.
Appearance[]
Jaime has the classical Lannister look. He is tall with emerald eyes and long, curly, beaten gold hair. He is considered to be extremely handsome, as he has comely features and a "smile that cut like a knife". When on duty as a Kingsguard, he would dress in white armor and his white cloak. At times, he wears the colors of House Lannister. In battle, he wears distinctive gold-plated armor and an ornate lion helm.
During his captivity by the Starks, he has lost his handsome look. He grew a shaggy beard, and his hair is unwashed and in tangles. Despite this, his power and beauty are still apparent, which gives him the resemblance of a magnificent yellow beast.
During his return to King's Landing after being released by Catelyn Stark, Jaime shaved his head so his golden locks would be unrecognizable, though he kept his beard. As he now has a pale and thinner face with hollows underneath his eyes, he thinks he looks five years older. After being captured again, this time by the Brave Companions, Jaime's sword hand was amputated, leaving him left-handed.
Later, when Jaime returns to King's Landing with Brienne of Tarth, his hair has grown a bit, becoming short and bristly, though his face remains thin and hollow, and he now has lines underneath his eyes, which still makes him look older. During the events of A Feast for Crows, Jaime had let his hair grow out again along with his beard, though some hair had started turning grey. Prior to resolving the siege of Riverrun, the ancestral seat of House Tully, Jaime had his armorer forge a sturdy golden hand with mother-of-pearl fingernails so he could replace the hand he had lost.
Personality[]
| “ | When I was a child, my brother would tell me a bedtime story... about the man who murdered our our father... who stabbed him in the back and cut his throat... who sat on the Iron Throne and watched as his blood fell onto the floor. | „ |
| ~ Daenerys Targaryen recounting to Jaime his slaying of Aerys II Targaryen. |
Early in life, Jaime comes off as an amoral, arrogant, traitorous, dishonorable, and dishonest man, a code of conduct similar to that of his sister Cersei. In addition, he is rash, headstrong, and quick to anger. He is also impatient and only worries about the consequences after he has committed the act. Furthermore, as he was born to be a warrior, he was disinterested in politics, court intrigue, and leadership, though he is a professional at the latter.
Because he has done reprehensible and iniquitous acts such as slaying the Mad King, Jaime has such a bad reputation that everything he says is usually cast in the worst possible light. An offhand joke is taken as a grave threat by others just because it is spoken by the Kingslayer. And as for honor, Jaime took his Kingsguard vows, but when they come into conflict, he chooses a course of action and follows it to its conclusion, no matter the consequence.
Jaime's proudest moment of his life was when he was raised to the Kingsguard. However, that experience was soon soured as he was forced to bear witness to the atrocities of the Mad King, unable to interfere or help anyone. He is deeply traumatized by this experience and it has caused him to lose his idealistic faith in chivalry and knighthood.
During his imprisonment by House Stark and prolonged exposure to Brienne's stubborn adherence to a code of honor, Jaime's personality went through a major change, and he became much more honorable as he charged Brienne into finding Sansa Stark so as to keep his oath to Catelyn Stark. Following the loss of his sword hand to Zollo the Fat, Jaime was left a broken man, as he became deeply depressed and felt that he didn't want to live anymore. However, he regains himself after being reminded by Brienne that his family and vengeance are what he has to live for.
Jaime sees his adversity as a blank page for him to write a new history, jokingly thinking to himself that he might become Gold Hand the Good and noting, "This is what justice feels like," even when doling it out to men in Lannister colors. He has a dislike for most of his sworn brothers on the Kingsguard, most notably Ser Meryn Trant and Ser Boros Blount, as they are known to have forsaken their vows several times.
Unlike his sister, he is shown to care for his brother, Tyrion. When he found out that Eddard Stark had Tyrion imprisoned, he proceeded to attack his men in retaliation. Because of this, in the TV series, he was on bad terms with Sansa Stark, who had come to the conclusion that Jaime could not be trusted after he had attacked her father and nearly destroyed her family and her house.
His relationship with Cersei is deeply toxic and Cersei is a terrible influence on him. While Jaime genuinely loved Cersei, Cersei was mainly attracted to Jaime because she saw him as the male version of herself and mainly used him to get what she wanted. In the novels, after much character growth, Jaime succeeds in recognizing Cersei for who she is and burns a letter asking him for help. In the television series, he never gets over his obsession with Cersei and spends his last moments with her.
Skills and abilities[]
Jaime Lannister, due to being born a warrior, has legendary prowess, and most of his skills lie in his status as a great warrior. When it comes to military matters, Jaime is an exceptional and experienced battle commander. Jaime Lannister was an expert swordsman, having been knighted at 15 years old and becoming renowned as one of the best swordsmen in Westeros and one of the deadliest of the Kingsguard, second only to Ser Barristan Selmy. However, after losing his hand, his skills have rotted considerably, and he is forced to rely on his wits far more prominently.
Swordsmanship: Jaime Lannister was an expert swordsman, having been knighted at 15 years old and becoming renowned as one of the best swordsmen in Westeros and one of the deadliest of the Kingsguard. As a swordsman, his skill was surpassed only by Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Barristan Selmy. However, after losing his sword hand to the Brave Companions, his skills have rotted considerably, and he is forced to rely on his wits far more prominently.
Weapons[]
Jaime wielding a golden sword.
- Golden sword: In battle and war, Jaime wields a gilded sword, which is what he used to kill the Mad King.
- Goldenheart lance: Jaime wields a lance made of Goldenheart, a type of golden wood from the Summer Isles.
- Oathkeeper: After Eddard Stark's greatsword Ice was melted down by Tobho Mott, it was reforged into two smaller Valyrian steel swords, with one of them being a longsword, which Tywin gave to Jaime. Jaime himself believed that his uncle and father were mocking his missing right hand, but Ser Kevan Lannister insisted that it was a heartfelt gift. The blade of Oathkeeper has grey-black and red ripples, with the red being nearly as dark as the grey, since Tobho Mott tried to change the color of the steel to give it the crimson color of House Lannister, but the steel absorbed the color instead. The pommel of Oathkeeper has a golden lion's head with shiny red rubies.
Quotes[]
By Jaime in the Novels
| “ | So many vows... they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the gods. Obey the laws. It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or the other. | „ |
| ~ Jaime to Catelyn Stark, mocking the vows of knighthood. |
| “ | That boy had wanted to be Ser Arthur Dayne, but someplace along the way he had become the Smiling Knight instead. | „ |
| ~ Jaime Lannister describing himself. |
| “ | I think it passing odd that I am loved by one for a kindness I never did, and reviled by so many for my finest act. | „ |
| ~ Jaime to Catelyn Stark. |
| “ | It was that white cloak that soiled me, not the other way around. | „ |
| ~ Jaime to Brienne. |
About Jaime in the Novels
| “ | He is near as ignorant as Robert. All his wits were in his sword hand. | „ |
| ~ Cersei's thoughts about Jaime. |
By Jaime in the TV Series
| “ | Jaime: So many vows. They make you swear and swear. Defend the King, obey the King, obey your father, protect the innocent, defend the weak. But what if your father despises the King? What if the King massacres the innocent? It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or another. Where did you find this beast? Catelyn Stark: She is a truer knight than you will ever be, Kingslayer. Jaime: Kingslayer. And what a king he was! Here's to Aerys Targaryen, the second of his name, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm, and to the sword I shoved in his back! |
„ |
| ~ Jaime to Catelyn. |
| “ | Jaime: There it is. There's the look. I've seen it for 17 years on face after face. You all despise me. Kingslayer. Oathbreaker. A man without honor. You've heard of wildfire? Brienne: Of course. Jaime: The Mad King was obsessed with it. He loved to watch people burn, the way their skin blackened and blistered and melted off their bones. He burned lords he didn't like. He burned Hands who disobeyed him. He burned anyone who was against him. Before long, half the country was against him. Aerys saw traitors everywhere. So he had his pyromancer place caches of wildfire all over the city-- beneath the Sept of Baelor and the slums of Flea Bottom. Under houses, stables, taverns. Even beneath the Red Keep itself. Finally, the day of reckoning came. Robert Baratheon marched on the capital after his victory at the Trident. But my father arrived first with the whole Lannister army at his back, promising to defend the city against the rebels. I knew my father better than that. He's never been one to pick the losing side. I told the Mad King as much. I urged him to surrender peacefully. But the king didn't listen to me. He didn't listen to Varys, who tried to warn him. But he did listen to Grand Maester Pycelle, that grey, sunken c*nt. "You can trust the Lannisters," he said. "The Lannisters have always been true friends of the crown.” So we opened the gates and my father sacked the city. Once again, I came to the king, begging him to surrender. He told me to bring him my father's head. Then he turned to his pyromancer. "Burn them all," he said. "Burn them in their homes. Burn them in their beds.” Tell me, if your precious Renly commanded you to kill your own father and stand by while thousands of men, women and children burned alive, would you have done it? Would you have kept your oath then? First, I killed the pyromancer. And then when the king turned to flee, I drove my sword into his back. "Burn them all," he kept saying. "Burn them all.” I don't think he expected to die. He- he meant to burn with the rest of us and rise again, reborn as a dragon to turn his enemies to ash. I slit his throat to make sure that didn't happen. That's where Ned Stark found me. Brienne: If this is true why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell Lord Stark? Jaime: Stark? You think the honorable Ned Stark wanted to hear my side? He judged me guilty the moment he set eyes on me. By what right does the wolf judge the lion? By what right? Brienne: Help! Help! The Kingslayer! Jaime: Jaime. My name is Jaime. |
„ |
| ~ Jaime’s monologue explaining why he came to be known as the Kingslayer. |
| “ | I don't believe you. | „ |
| ~ Jaime leaves Cersei after seeing her what she truly is. |
| “ | It's alright... it's alright... just look at me... look at me... look me in the eye. Don't look away, don't look. Look at me! Just look at me. Nothing else matters. Nothing else matters. Only us. | „ |
| ~ Jaime's last words to Cersei before their deaths. |
Gallery[]
Pictures[]
.jpg "Jamie Lannister (GOT).jpg (259 KB)")
Videos[]
Notable Victims[]
- Lord Rossart - Killed while attempting to carry out the wildfire plot
- King Aerys II Targaryen - Throat slit in the books. Stabbed in the back and throat slit in the TV series.
- Wisdom Garigus and Wisdom Belis - Killed for their involvement in King Aerys’s wildfire plot.
- Heward and Wyl - Ordered; killed by Lannister guardsmen.
- Jory Cassel - Ordered by Jaime and killed by Lannister guards in the books. Stabbed in the left eye in the TV series.
- Torrhen Karstark - Killed in the battle in the Whispering Wood in the books. Strangled to death with shackles in the TV series.
Books only:[]
- Daryn Hornwood and Eddard Karstark - Killed in the battle in the Whispering Wood.
- Poul Pemford and Myles - Killed in an attempt to escape captivity.
TV Series only:[]
- Harrion Karstark - Killed in the battle in the Whispering Wood.
- Ser Alton Lannister - Beaten to death.
- King Euron Greyjoy - Stabbed in the stomach.
Trivia[]
- Alongside his brother Tyrion, Jaime is considered to be one of the most sympathetic villains in the franchise.
- Interestingly enough, in the novels, Jaime's journey seems to foil that of his brother Tyrion's. As the story develops, Jaime becomes more heroic, while Tyrion becomes more villainous.
- Jaime believed that he and his twin sister Cersei were always meant to be together, as the Gods intended, and was furious at her marriage to King Robert. Despite their secret relationship, having even slept together right before the wedding day, Jaime always felt he was the cuckold being robbed because he was Cersei's first lover, while Robert came later to "steal" her from him. Robert loved to put Jaime on watch duty outside his chambers every time he had sex with Cersei, just for fun. While hating being forced to be bedded by her husband, Cersei enjoyed the fact that Robert would always put Jaime outside their chamber during the act, as she loved it when her brother-lover was upset and envious, as she likes it when people care about her.
- Unbeknownst to Jaime, Cersei remains obsessed with Rhaegar Targaryen, almost as much as Robert never got over Lyanna Stark, and is still bitter about the fact she never married him. Cersei also has a tendency to "fill up" the places of the men she is attracted to, while said men are no longer available for her, as throughout the war she maintained a secret relationship with her cousin Lancel, who closely resembled a younger Jaime, and she entertained the idea of a relationship with Aurane Waters (a bastard of House Velaryon who served Stannis Baratheon), whose features are similar to Rhaegar's.
- During the first novel, Jaime was tasked by Cersei to find Arya Stark and kill her for assaulting Prince Joffrey, but failed as Jory found her first. In the fourth novel, Jaime confessed he would have killed Arya for real had he found her, admitting he was willing to do anything for his sister.
- In the novels, Jaime suggested to Cersei that he tell the truth to the public: that Tommen and Myrcella and the late Joffrey are really their bastard children, as Stannis Baratheon said, and proclaim their incestuous love. Jaime wished to use the fact that the realm had accepted House Targaryen's tradition of incest to make his relationship with Cersei accepted by the Faith of the Seven so that the two could finally marry. Jaime told Cersei to hand over the Iron Throne to Stannis, as he is Robert's true heir, while they would declare the independence of the Westerlands, with King Tommen a proper Lannister and the King of the Rock, as of old. Jaime wanted to continue to serve Tommen as the Lord Commander of the latter's Kingsguard after moving the capital back to Casterly Rock, with Lannisport as their kingdom's primary city, while King Stannis would keep the rest of Westeros and deal with the Iron Islands. The suggestion was met with Cersei's wrath and her looking at Jaime in disbelief as if he were gone mad.
- In the novels, Jaime and Cersei's relationship is far more toxic, in contrast to the television series. And since Jaime returned from the Riverlands, Cersei has started treating him poorly, rudely, and even mockingly. Cersei, being the narcissist she is, cannot stand Jaime's new appearance, with his hair cut short as well, and unsuccessfully tries to convince him to shave his new beard. Cersei only "loved" Jaime when he behaved more like she did and he physically looked like her, clean-shaven with long hair. Cersei loved that it was like staring at her own image, but as a male, and always thought of Jaime as "myself but as a man". She was also disgusted by his stump before Jaime finally obtained a golden hand to cover it. Other than the day Jaime returned to King's Landing after Joffrey's death, the two never had sex together anymore, although Cersei attempted to do so while attempting to seduce Jaime to kill Tyrion, only to be angrily sent away by her brother for her words. Cersei dislikes Jaime's current behavior and told him the war changed him, but not for the better.
- After such treatment and being alienated along with their uncle Kevan, and after learning about her infidelities and lies, Jaime becomes angry with Cersei in the fourth novel, and when she has a letter begging him to rescue her from the Faith, while he is residing in Riverrun, Jaime orders the maester to burn the letter without answers, thus abandoning Cersei to her fate.
- During the end of A Feast for Crows, Vyman, the maester of Riverrun, reads to Jaime Cersei's letter, which pleaded him to return to King's Landing to recue her, and Vyman accidentally read the part with her proclaiming her love for her brother. Jaime and Vyman both pretended that part didn't exist, and the former simply entrusted the latter to burn the evidence of Stannis's allegations against Cersei.
- In A Dance with Dragons, Jaime has one chapter in which he lifts the siege of Raventree Hall and welcomes House Blackwood back to the King's peace. The chapter ends with him stopping at the village of Pennytree, where he suddenly meets Brienne of Tarth, who tells him a lie about having found Sansa Stark being held by Sandor Clegane, who demands to see Jaime alone, without any other knight. In a later chapter in the same book, while Cersei is being held prisoner by the Faith, Kevan Lannister reports to his niece that Jaime has disappeared in the Riverlands for weeks. This may be a sign that he has been lured by Brienne into a deathtrap set by the monstrous Lady Stoneheart, the reanimated Catelyn Stark, who harbors a strong vendetta for all her enemies, chiefly House Frey, for betraying her and her son, Robb Stark, during the Red Wedding. As an insult to injury, she developed a more personal hatred for Jaime after she heard Lord Roose Bolton telling Robb, "Jaime Lannister sends his regards" before killing him. Whether Jaime is still alive or has died is unconfirmed as of now, and his current fate is unknown.
External Links[]
- Jaime Lannister on the Heroes Wiki.
- Jaime Lannister on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Jaime Lannister on the Wiki of Westeros.
