At the start of Game of Thrones, Jaime Lannister
is like an R-rated version of Shrek’s Prince Charming – he’s an arrogant, selfish,
violent knight, who roots his sister, and tries to murder a child. Jaime’s a bad guy, and it looks like author
George Martin originally planned to keep him that way. In an old outline of the series, written before
the first book, Martin says that Jaime would become king – taking the Throne by murdering
everyone in his way . It also says that Sansa would have a child with Joffrey, Tyrion would
fall in love with Arya, and that Catelyn would be killed by white walkers. So the actual story turned out very different
to this outline. Because Martin doesn’t like to stick to
a plan when he writes. He says he writes not like an architect, but
like a gardener – he lets his characters gradually develop and grow, and he follows
where they lead. Which means sometimes his characters surprise
him – and become something he didn’t expect. Jaime is a great example of this – cause
over five books and seven seasons, he grows into someone much more complex than even the
author imagined. In the first couple books, Jaime really is
just awful. He’s arrogant and vain , wearing glittering
gilded armour . He’s impulsive, reckless, and violent – willing to kill anyone who
gets in his way . He tries to kill Bran for seeing him with Cersei. He kills three Stark men to intimidate Ned
. He implies he’d have hurt or killed Arya if he’d caught her . And he uses cruel words
to hurt people . Apart from his twin sister Cersei, his brother Tyrion, and his father
Tywin, Jaime doesn’t seem to care about anyone , or anything . He doesn’t believe
in anything. He thinks that knights and the Kingsguard
are corrupt , that gods and religion are bullshit . When confronted with the evils of the world,
Jaime just laughs . Catelyn thinks Jaime is “vile” . “There is nothing here but
arrogance and pride” – “If there was ever a spark of honor in him, it is long dead”
. Jaime seems irredeemable, but in Book 3, we start to learn why Jaime is the way he
is. Jaime was born the son and heir of the rich
and powerful Lord Tywin Lannister. Jaime grew tall and beautiful , with golden
hair, like his twin Cersei – who he had an incestuous relationship with from a young
age . Jaime’s other love was the sword – he was a highly skilled fighter , and dreamed
of being a great warrior . When he was fifteen, he fought outlaws alongside the famous Arthur
Dayne, and was knighted on the battlefield . Later, he joined the Kingsguard, a famed
brotherhood sworn to protect the king. Kingsguard can’t marry or hold land – so
Jaime gave up his claim as heir to Casterly Rock. But Jaime had never wanted to rule . He wanted
“Honor and glory” as a brother of the Kingsguard – and he wanted to be close to
Cersei at King’s Landing . So at fifteen, the Kingsguard seemed like everything Jaime
had ever wanted – but it soon soured . It turned out that the king, Aerys Targaryen,
only took Jaime into the Kingsguard to piss off Tywin and to use Jaime as a sort of a
hostage – ““He’ll win no glory here,” the king had said” . Tywin got mad and left
the capital with Cersei – separating Jaime from his twin and lover who he joined the
guard for in the first place. So Jaime got no Cersei, and no glory – and
was stuck serving a mad king. Aerys grew more and more violent and cruel
– he liked to burn men alive, and he attacked his wife Rhaella . And since Jaime had sworn
to obey, he could only stand and watch – trying to “look without seeing” the burning men
that would haunt him all his life . Eventually, the kingdoms rose against Aerys, in Robert’s
Rebellion. And near the end of the war, Jaime killed
Aerys – the king he’d sworn to protect. Westerosi society takes sacred oaths seriously
– so forever after, Jaime is hated as the Kingslayer, an oathbreaker, “A man with
shit for honor” . The irony is that people hate Jaime for best
thing he ever did . We learn in Book 3 that the reason why Jaime killed Aerys was that
Aerys planned to burn down King’s Landing – to kill thousands of innocent people with
wildfire . Jaime killed the king to save the city – but no one knows this. Cause after Jaime killed Aerys, Eddard Stark
arrived and looked at Jaime with cold eyes “full of judgement” . Ned didn’t wanna
hear Jaime’s explanations – “He only had to look at [him] to judge [him] guilty”
. So it seems that Jaime felt he couldn’t explain the wildfire plot to people – that
no one would listen, or believe him. But what really gets to Jaime is the judgement. Jaime is haunted by memories of Ned Stark,
Prince Rhaegar, the Kingsguard. They represent Jaime’s failures – his
broken oaths, the blood on his hands – not only of Aerys, but of Rhaegar’s family,
who died under Jaime’s watch . Deep down, Jaime’s ashamed at the man he became . And
the way he deals with this is to hide his insecurities, and laugh at everything , and
pretend he doesn’t care . People say he’s a bad knight and a bad Kingsguard – so Jaime
mocks knighthood and Kingsguard, says it’s all corrupt anyway . People say the gods will
punish him, so Jaime says gods aren’t real . All his cynicism, sarcasm, nihilism are
defence mechanisms to protect him from criticism. It’s kinda like what Tyrion says, to wear
your identity like armour . Tyrion plays the Imp, Sandor plays the Hound, and Jaime plays
the callous uncaring Kingslayer. It’s easier to play a villain than to face
the pain of old trauma, to grapple with grey morality and the shame and guilt of failure. Jaime distracts himself with the two things
he’s good at – fighting with swords, and sex with Cersei . Cause in combat and sex,
you don’t have to think about the past or the future, you live only in the moment – Jaime
says time sleeps when swords wake . But in Book 3, Jaime loses these distractions, and
is forced to face his past and his future. Jaime is captured by Robb Stark, then he’s
freed by Catelyn on the promise that he’ll return Sansa and Arya to the Starks . So Jaime
travels to King’s Landing with Brienne. But along the way, they’re captured by the
Brave Companions, or Locke in the show, who suddenly, brutally, cut off Jaime’s hand
– his sword hand, the part of him that him that makes him who his is . It’s the hand
Jaime used to kill Aerys, to cripple Bran, to love Cersei . He loses “his glory and
his shame, both at once. Leaving what? Who am I now?” Jaime asks . Proud Jaime Lannister is devastated,
brought low , he almost just gives up and dies – but he’s urged to live by Brienne. Brienne and Jaime have a complex relationship. At first, they hate each other. Jaime calls Brienne “wench” , and thinks
she’s a “stupid” “ugly” “freak”. Brienne calls Jaime Kingslayer, and thinks
he’s a “monster” for his crimes . But Jaime and Brienne have some things in common. They’re both outsiders in society – Jaime
as the Kingslayer, and Brienne as a misfit female warrior. Eventually, they start to respect each other
– not as Kingslayer and wench, but as Jaime and Brienne. They learn from each other. Jaime shows Brienne that doing the right thing
can be more complicated than she thought. And Brienne shows Jaime that even in cruel
complex world, a true knight persists. Even when she fails, even when no one believes
in her – Brienne keeps her word, and defends the weak, and does what’s right . And so
should Jaime. So Jaime learns from Brienne’s example. He heroically rescues Brienne from a bear,
and later he gives her a priceless Valyrian sword called Oathkeeper – so Brienne can
keep Jaime’s oath to return Sansa to the Starks. “[Sansa] is my last chance for honor”,
Jaime says. So Brienne looks for her – for Catelyn’s
sake, and for Jaime’s . Jaime returns to King’s Landing a changed
man . He’s gone through hell, he’s lost his hand, and he has no more patience for
lies and schemes . Which frustrates his lying scheming family. Tywin wants Jaime to leave the Kingsguard,
and get married and rule the Rock – Jaime refuses, so Tywin disowns him , and is later
killed by Tyrion. Jaime saves Tyrion from execution, but in
the books the brothers have a falling-out when Jaime reveals he lied about Tyrion’s
first wife Tysha . And from Tyrion, Jaime learns of Cersei’s infidelity. He increasingly sees her as a lying , manipulative
, fool . And Cersei rejects this changed Jaime . So gradually, the lifelong lovers begin
to break up. By the end of Book 3, Jaime feels he’s lost
everything – his sister and lover, his brother, his father, and his hand . Everything that
makes him who is his, everything that he loved, is gone. All he has left is the Kingsguard – so Jaime
turns to the White Book. The White Book records the history of each
member of the Kingsguard. There’re all these great heroes, like Arthur
Dayne, with all these great deeds written in their pages. Jaime’s page doesn’t say much apart from
his killing King Aerys. But there’s still lots of blank space there
– Jaime realises he can fill his page, write his future, with “Whatever he [chooses]”. In the show, Jaime chooses to stand by Cersei
for three more seasons. But the books are different. In Book 4, Jaime travels the riverlands, mopping
up the last of the war. And he starts to build a new identity as a
more honourable man. He’s sick of people hating him for being
an oathbreaker , so he tries to keep his promises to Catelyn – not only by sending Brienne
after Sansa, but by ending the Siege of Riverrun without fighting Tullys, which was another
of the oaths Jaime made . He starts taking his Kingsguard and knights’ vows more seriously
. He protects innocent people like Pia , and gets mad when the Mountain kills an innocent
boy – when Jaime himself had once tried to kill an innocent boy. Jaime does justice – executing criminals,
and sorting out conflict between Loras and Brienne. Jaime’s still often rude and aggressive
. But he is less reckless and less arrogant – at one point he refuses to wear his gold
prosthetic hand. “Let them see the cripple”, Jaime thinks. He “would not show the crowds a golden lie”
. Jaime even starts being nice to people sometimes – he’s kind to Pia , and Jeyne Westerling
, and lets Lord Blackwood keep his daughter . Jaime even decides to take an interest in
his children, Myrcella and Tommen. He used to think of his kids as “no more
… than a squirt of seed in Cersei’s cunt” . But now he decides he wants to help them
grow up right, even to tell Myrcella that he’s her father. He also decides to help fix the politics in
King’s Landing . So Jaime is trying to build a better legacy for himself – he hopes to
be known not as the Kingslayer, but maybe as “Goldenhand the Just” . But some people
aren’t convinced. Edmure and Brynden stand against Jaime, showing
that for all his thoughts of reform, Jaime’s still the Kingslayer in their eyes . Like,
sure, Jaime technically keeps his word to the Tullys at Riverrun, but he still hands
their castle to the Freys as reward for betrayal and slaughter at the Red Wedding – an atrocity
plotted by Tywin, who Jaime emulates with his trebuchet threat . Ultimately, Jaime’s
still serving the brutal regime that killed King Robert, crowned a bastard, savaged the
riverlands – fought a terrible war that all started with Jaime’s incest and the
crippling of Bran. If Jaime really wants to be a better person,
if he wants redemption – surely he must somehow answer for his crimes. How else can he escape the judgement and trauma
that haunts him? If Jaime’s to have a brighter future, he
must face his past. Catelyn Stark is murdered at the Red Wedding. In the books, she’s then resurrected as
Lady Stoneheart – transformed into a terrible vengeful spirit. She takes over the brotherhood without banners,
and leads them to hunt down and kill everyone involved in the Red Wedding. In Book 4, Stoneheart captures Brienne, and
threatens to kill her – unless Brienne brings her Jaime. In Book 5, it looks like Brienne does – taking
Jaime to Stoneheart somewhere in the riverlands . You can see Stoneheart as a symbol of the
evil in Jaime’s past – a monument to all his sins. Catelyn is the mother of the boy Jaime crippled
to cover up incest. Catelyn is the wife of Ned Stark, whose judgement
haunts Jaime as Kingslayer. Catelyn is the woman Jaime promised he’d
save Sansa and Arya – who still aren’t home in the books. And Catelyn’s a Stark, the family that Jaime’s
family all but destroyed. So Stoneheart could represent Jaime’s guilt
and regret. But unlike the Kingsguard, and Rhaegar, and
Ned, Stoneheart lives, in the flesh. There is no ignoring her, no more excuses
or distractions. This could be the big confrontation between
Jaime and his past. Will he be consumed by the dark, and hanged
with Stoneheart’s other victims? Or will he make peace with his demons and
rise up a better man – not just someone who talks about honour and justice, but someone
who rights his wrongs. There are all sorts of possibilities – Jaime
could join the brotherhood for Red Wedding revenge, maybe finally find Sansa or Arya. Or maybe it’ll be more about putting Stoneheart
to rest, with the help of Brienne. We won’t know til the next book comes out. But Jaime probably will survive Stoneheart
– cause his destiny is with Cersei. Jaime has loved Cersei all his life. He joined the Kingsguard for her, fathered
bastards with her, tried to kill kids for her. Cersei brings out the worst in Jaime – all
his vanity, violence, cruelty. If Jaime’s to be a better person, he needs
to face his twin . And thing is, Cersei is obsessed with a prophecy that says she’ll
be killed by her brother. She thinks this means Tyrion, but fans suspect
that it means Jaime. Remember in the show, Cersei blows up the
Great Sept with wildfire. There are hints she’ll use wildfire in the
books as well – but she won’t just blow up the Great Sept . Fans believe that Cersei
may try to burn the whole city of King’s Landing – just like Aerys tried to do years
ago . Jaime may have to save the city again by killing his sister. That would fulfil the valonqar prophecy. And it could represent Jaime finally defeating
his darker half. It could also mean Jaime’s death – cause
the twins both believe that just as they were born together – they will die together . This
could be self-sacrifice by Jaime – heroically, tragically, dying with his lover in fire. The twins came into the world so similar – but
they’ll die so different. Cersei dies consumed with fear and hate , but
Jaime could die a hero – finally a knight worthy of the White Book. And Jaime might have an even higher destiny. Some people argue that Jaime may be Azor Ahai,
the hero prophesied to save the world from the white walkers, using a burning sword called
Lightbringer. Jaime does have a mystical dream of “doom”
where he wields a flaming sword that pushes back darkness . And there are some weird connections
in the Valyrian language invented for the show – the words for gold and hand are similar
to the words for lord and light – the god connected to Azor Ahai. And Jaime’s arc could loosely fit the story
of the forging of Lightbringer – tempering his swords first in water, then in the heart
of a lion , then in his beloved wife. Cersei could be the sacrifice. And if Jaime dies with her, he could then
be reborn amidst smoke and salt as Azor Ahai, his hand transformed into a burning weapon
– Lightbringer. So this is sorta plausible – if you fudge
some other bits of the prophecy, and believe Jaime is secretly Aerys’ son – but overall,
it doesn’t seem likely. Because Jaime’s story isn’t about the
mystical fight of ice and fire – leave that stuff to Jon and Daenerys. Jaime may play some role in the fight against
the walkers – that’s where he’s going in the show, with his black cloak and Valyrian
sword. But Jaime’s real war is in his heart – trying
to define his identity in a dark and complex world. And that’s not about white walkers. That’s between Jaime and Aerys and Brienne
and Stoneheart and Cersei. Thanks for watching. If you want to read more about Jaime, there
are some really great posts on Tumblr and Reddit to check out – links in the description. Thanks also to fan artists serclegane, eluas,
Katie Hillman and Ertaç Altınöz. Alt Shift X is made possible by our Patrons. If you wanna support high-quality, carefully
researched content on Game of Thrones and more, please support us on Patreon, where
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Jaime was a villain according to the original plans until George decided to cut that out of him. Now he is some sort of inverse Macbeth (strangely Cersei is also turning into Lady Macbeth).
Edit: Does that mean Bran will send the Kingswood trees storming Aegon's Hill as Jaime kills Cersei and King's Landing is engulfed in wildfire?
It would be interesting if Jaime's endgame is that he slays the Night's King. It would turn his title of Kingslayer from something pejorative to something heroic.
I really don't think that Jaime was still planned to be a villain after George began writing the books. His dialogue with Catelyn in CoK heavily hints towards him being a much more complex character and even a GoT Jaime is much more similar to the Jaime we got later in the books than to an ambitious and ruthless monster who would kill people to get to the throne.
It seems to me that Jaime's character heavily changed in George's mind before he started writing the books, but to compensate, George invented Cersei.
Last one of 2017. Probably.
I love the way he talks about Lady Stoneheart being a way for Jaime to deal with his past. We still don't know why GRRM resurrected her, maybe it was just so we aren't shocked by Jon resurrection, but I like it more if her role is to cleanse Jaime.
New Alt Shift X = Best birthday present ever!
I am so happy Alt Shift X still makes those videos!
Do we know if Cersei knows the 'true' story about the Kingslaying? What does she think about it?
Anyway, love the video! Jaime is one of my favorite characters, I wonder if him leaving the Kingsguard in the show will eventually lead to him ruling the Rock. Go Goldenhand!
Gods be praised