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| “ | 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 television adaptation Game of Thrones.
He is the eldest son of Tywin Lannister and Joanna Lannister, the twin brother of Cersei Lannister and the older brother of Tyrion Lannister. Known as the Kingslayer, he is known throughout Westeros as the man who killed King Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, and put an end to his reign. Initially a villainous character, he slowly attempts to redeem himself starting from the third novel and season.
He was portrayed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who also portrayed Horus in Gods of Egypt.
Personality[]
At the beginning of the first novel, Jaime is in his 30s and has a very clean handsome appearance, with long blonde hair and fine highborn clothes, unless his wearing his Kingsguard armor. During his captivity he becomes dirty and bearded, until he cuts his hair in Harrenhal but keeps a clean beard in order to avoid being recognized while travelling to King's Landing. He still currently keeps his beard. In the TV series his hair were not as long as they were in the first books, but he cuts them anyway like in the novels, the difference is that he does it in King's Landing and shaves his beard as well, but later he keeps an unshaved face. In both versions Jaime becomes more serious, tired, and older-looking.
As a boy Jaime was an average good highborn person, not a great hero, but not a cruel one as well. However he was easily manipulated by his twin sister Cersei, who ruled his mind and took advantage of his infatuation to her to get what she wanted. His mentors were Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of Aerys's Kingsguard. Ser Addam Marbrand, one of Tywin's chief knights, is an old close childhood friend of Jaime.
Spending so many years living in the corrupted King's Landing of King Robert I Baratheon, changed Jaime into a more villainous individual. At first glance, outsiders perceives Jaime to be arrogant, disdainful, and sarcastic. To a large extent he is arrogant about his own abilities, but not without cause. Even his enemies admit that he is arguably the greatest living swordsman in Westeros with few able to match him. This ends when Jaime suffers a mutilation during the late War of the Five Kings. Jaime's loss of his sword-hand did much to humble him, given that in many ways he was that hand and how much his self-identity depended on his skills with a sword. Jaime does not mock others over minor insults the way Cersei does, and he can muster up polite behavior, but he is usually very blunt. Much like his brother Tyrion, he typically just says what he is thinking, and has no reservations about mocking those he perceives as incompetent.
Tywin Lannister has raised Jaime and Cersei with the principle of ruthlessness as a virtue. Yet even though Jaime Lannister often behaves unapologetically amoral, in his own warped way, Jaime is the only member of the core Lannister family (Tywin and his three children) aside from Tyrion who shows any hint of honor, principles, or empathy whilst Tywin claims to see family as his highest priority but simultaneously is willing to have Tyrion, whom he views as an incalculable disgrace, killed, and Cersei herself ironically sees no immorality whatsoever in anything she does. This is largely based on his arrogance and pride at being a member of the Kingsguard.
Jaime became extremely disillusioned with ideals of honor and loyalty when he saw firsthand the atrocities committed by the Mad King, how other "honorable" members of the Kingsguard stood by and did nothing while King Aerys had people burned alive for imagined insults, because they felt bound by vows of faith and fealty - in this sense, Jaime is surprisingly similar to Sandor Clegane, since they both have powerful disillusionments about honour and nobility. A key difference between Cersei and Jaime is that Cersei honestly believes, in her skewed view of the world, that she is "good", Joffrey is a great king, and all of her enemies are "evil" people trying to destroy her and her children. In contrast, Jaime does not maintain any pretense of being a "good" or honorable man, as he has become apathetic to such concerns. However, he still refused to kill Ned Stark when their duel ended abruptly, since Ned was incapacitated by an opportunistic guard rather than Jaime himself. This may or may not be considered mercy or honour, because the alternative would be Jaime shamelessly killing Ned Stark in what had thus far been an honorable duel.
Moreover, Jaime isn't a very politically ambitious man, much to Cersei's annoyance, and often turns down her frequent urgings that he should try to become Hand of the King. Political maneuvering is not his way, and he sees himself foremost as a soldier who when confronted with a problem takes out his sword and cuts its head off. Up until the day his hand was cut off, he had immersed himself in combat so much that it is his sole value, and when he does lose his hand, his sword hand, he loses the will to live because, thus far, he has only ever had to decapitate a problem so as not to face it again, but now he cannot wield a sword the same way ever again - he laments that he was that hand. Brienne of Tarth is quick to tirade to him about him having a small taste of a world where people have their good things ripped from their possession, and after that one small taste he gives up - she mistakes him for a coward at this point. Only there Jaime is reminded that he must live to have his vengeance.
Jaime is the only member of Tyrion's immediate family (the main Lannister branch) who ever treated him with respect or kindness. In fact, he admires Tyrion's intellect and his ability to tell off those who insult him. Jaime never approved of Tywin and Cersei's long history of abuse towards Tyrion, and has always treated him like a brother. Indeed, Jaime is the only member of the core Lannister family who has a reasonably good relationship with all of the others. Among the three siblings, Cersei and Tyrion can't stand each other, but they both like Jaime (both Cersei and Tyrion have acknowledged the only reason they haven't gone out of their way to seriously harm or kill each other is because Jaime would never forgive them if they did). However, in recent times, Jaime's good relationship with Tyrion seems to have died with their father, and Jaime said he would kill Tyrion the next time they meet (though it is unclear if he really meant it). His relationship with Cersei has also deteriorated in the aftermath of Tywin's death since it was Jaime who set Tyrion free and inadvertently allowed him to kill their father. Jaime is annoyed by Cersei alienating their uncle Kevan and preferring the former Brave Companion Qyburn over trusted men. Despite Jaime is being nice as usual towards his uncle Kevan, he receives a cold treatment from the latter, being still upset of the loss of his brother Tywin at the hands of his own nephew, as well as the loss of his son Willem, killed by Rickard Karstark. Before leaving the capital Kevan tells Jaime that he always knew the true parentage of Cersei's children. When Jaime learns from his cousin Lancel about Cersei's infidelities with other men, including Lancel, Jaime doesn't want to see her anymore.
Tywin is a stern man feared and resented by all of his children, ignoring Cersei for her gender and scorning Tyrion for both his stature and killing his wife in childbirth. However, Jaime is on reasonably good terms with Tywin - not so much that he is "proud" of Jaime so much as he has the "least shame" for him compared to his brother and sister. Even so, Tywin is upset that Jaime willingly joined the Kingsguard, as while it is considered the highest honor for a knight, its members give up the rights to marry or inherit lands, meaning that Jaime cannot be Tywin's heir. Jaime wasn't in a position to act as a father to his biological children with Cersei, though he is generally supportive of Tommen and Myrcella. However, in sharp contrast with Cersei, Jaime isn't particularly fond of Joffrey, nor will he defend his actions the way Cersei does.
In the TV series version Jaime shows obvious joy when Myrcella reveals her knowledge that Jaime is her father and is happy about it, and embraces her, since this is the first time he has ever been able to show his feelings as a father to his children. He is equally saddened when Myrcella dies in his arms moments later.
Jaime's attitude towards violence is also complex: he threw Bran Stark out a tower window to kill him, but later saved Brienne twice (from being raped, then fed to a bear) from the Brave Companions (or Locke's soldiers in the show). The difference seems to be that after witnessing the depravations of the Mad King, needless violence and brutality deeply offend Jaime (raping his queen wife, burning those who disagreed with him...), though if he decides that violence and murder are absolutely necessary he will ruthlessly carry it out himself. He threw Bran out of a window because had the boy reported that he saw the incest between Jaime and his sister, Cersei, the woman he loved, then all of their children would be executed, so he felt he had no choice. After Cersei sends him away from King's Landing to help the Freys and his cousin Daven Lannister in the Second Siege of Riverrun, Jaime sees better the destruction and desolation that the War of the Five Kings has left in the Riverlands. He develops again the empathy for the commoners he had as a boy, and watches with his own eyes these unresting lands who are still a place of fightings and raids from bandits, outlaws, deserters, and former Brave Companions.
Blinded by grief upon learning about the apparent deaths of her sons Bran and Rickon, Catelyn Stark gets drunk with Jaime and the latter swears a vow that he will try to find Arya Stark and deliver her, along with the captive Sansa Stark to Brienne. When the drunkenness was gone, Jaime only wanted to kill Brienne and flee, until his experience with the Brave Companions made him think about his previous life as a youth and how he learned to close his eyes ("going inside" as he calls it) to anything he did not wish to see, just like Robert Baratheon. Jaime whent from dismissing Brienne as an ugly wench to recognize her as a good friend who reminded him who really was and not the hateful Cersei's puppet he had become, reminding how he would have killed Arya Stark just because Cersei ordered him to do so. When Ser Ronnet Connington insults Brienne, Jaime slaps him with his golden head and tells him to avoid mocking Brienne upon his hearing. However he soon learns that even Renly Baratheon, the man Brienne loved and admired, used to make jokes about her aspect and called her "grotesque" at her back.
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[]
Trivia[]
- Alongside his brother Tyrion, Jaime is considered to be one of the most sympathetic villains in the franchise.
- Interestlingly enough, in the novels, Jaime's journey seems to foil that of his brother Tyrion's. As the story develops, Jaime being a villain who becomes more heroic while Tyrion is an anti-hero who 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 with 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 tendence 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 to 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 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 was 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 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 tried 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 is 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, and 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 fifth 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.
- During the end of A Dance with Dragons, Vyman, the maester of Riverrun, read Cersei's letter pleading her brother to return to the capital to recue her, and 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.
External Links[]
- Jaime Lannister on the Villains Wiki.
- Jaime Lannister on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki.
- Jaime Lannister on the Villainous Benchmark Wiki.
- Jaime Lannister on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Jaime Lannister on the Wiki of Westeros.
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