JAIME LANNISTER

Introduced in the very beginning, Jaime Lannister, the eldest son of Tywin and Joanna, twin brother of Cersei, older brother of Tyrion and member of the Kingsguard to his brother-in-law, Robert. He is introduced to the audience in awe, by watching members of the Stark family as he traipses into their keep, and we quickly learn that there is nothing he appears to value in this world, except his family. Too much, some might say.

Throughout the first season, he is caught sleeping with his sister, tries to kill a child, is generally disrespectful and insulting to everyone, attacks Ned, stabs his biggest fan in the eye, and continues to be smarmy and punch-able. This is all set in contrast to how many characters seem to hold in almost mythical reproach. He is seen as the quite-literal golden boy of the Lannister family, a warrior with marvelled combat skill, and a sinister story behind his most common moniker; Kingslayer.

It’s apparent from the get-go that he wears this reputation like armour. He is a man who is well aware that he can do what he wants, and anyone who tries to stop him are the ones who face the repercussions. He is face is fixed with a permanent smirk, and there’s a sing-song, taunting quality to everything he says, as if it’s always some underlying taunt, that cloaks the true danger of his character. He is brash, proud and bold, and loyal to those few he loves. He is despicable, and presented as a true antagonist to the Starks.

His true love for Cersei is not shown, only animalistic lust, but he does have a soft spot for a few characters. Tywin, his steely father; sees Jaime as the true heir and deserving of the Lannister name, and Jaime is loyal to his bloodline, and eager to please his father. He is one of the only characters to show true affection to Tyrion, whom he dotes on. Tywin is not the only character he respects and admires however, the other being Ser Barristan Selmy, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, who he idolises as the best swordsman in the Seven Kingdoms, and whom he once squired for. Everyone else, is an obstacle or an enemy.

In season 2, things change. In an off-screen battle, Jaime is ambushed by Robb Stark, and imprisoned. As the days go by, he becomes dirty and damaged, but his pride is still there, and his arrogance, of course, apparent. He makes crude remarks to Catelyn, and openly mocks his captors. His role during this time is largely expanded upon in the TV adaption, as he hardly appears at all in the books, instead being a focal point for the other characters to decide upon.

On interesting invention in the show, is the introduction and death of Cleos Frey, half Lannister, half Frey, a squire who shares a cell with Jaime, who is cleary idolising Jaime, and the two share in similar experiences and bond. Then Jaime murders him. This scene is absent from the books, as Jaime would not harm any of his kin, half Frey or not, but it is telling to his character, the first instance we get of how desperate he is to return to Cersei, who we learn soon, is the only thing he loves in this world.

The big change, is how in the books, he and Catelyn have a more in depth conversation, bluntly revealing that he pushed Bran out of the window, but did not hire the assassin to kill him, and drunkenly swears an oath to her.

Up until Season 3, the audience has no real idea of the character underneath his posturing and ruthless determination, but we see small glimpses.

“There are no men like me, only me.”

The first time we see his true character, is when he stops the Brave Companions from viciously raping Brienne, a character he had spent a large amount of time insulting, confronting and threatening, and in return he loses the one thing he believes defines him; his sword hand.

Even though up to this point, Jaime had been captured and bound in his own filth for months, he kept his smirk and quiet air of danger, from the sheer comfort of knowing he could probably kill anyone in his way once he was free, and that his family name hangs behind him at all times. When he is captured by Locke (In the show) or Vargo Hoat (In the books), it is made abruptly clear to him and the audience/reader that none of these things matter anymore. They are not interested in promises of gold or sapphires, they are sadists who just take what they have in front of them. Without his right hand or vague threats regarding his father, Jaime Lannister becomes just a man.

The true change, and one of the best scenes in the season, comes when they arrive at Harrenhal, with the newly appointed Roose Bolton securing the castle, and Jaime joins Brienne for a bath.

This scene plays mostly similar in the show to the book, with some small differences. The majority of how this one conversation plays out, is Jaime breaking down his walls; no longer a legend or a feared knight, just an amputee. He goads Brienne a little hear, in order to get a reaction out of her, as he always has been, insulting her honour and Renly simultaneously. However, unlike the man with his right hand, he takes it back and apologises, noting that it was force of habit to lash out, even at those who helped him, the reason being the same look Brienne gives him that everyone else has, since he killed the Mad King.

Jaime discarded his honour and oath to dot he right thing, something even Brienne would do. As he passes out, she calls out for help for the Kingslayer, where he tells her his name is Jaime, and as he is carried away, she remarks how he looks half a corpse and half a god.

Jaime becomes more humble after this, now he knows what it is like to be a normal person, and he is aware enough to no longer keep his protective, compassionate side hidden, as evident when he returns to rescue Brienne from the bear.

It’s this change that gives him the chance to connect with his children, before they perish, and what compels him to save Tyrion, no matter what the cost, and eventually, leave the woman he loves more than anything to stop the Night King.

His level of trust and love for Brienne is so high after losing his hand, he appoints her with Valyrian steel, and bids her to continue her mission to protect the Stark girls, in honour of their deceased mother.

Family is everything to Jaime. He dotes and truly cares for Tyrion, engaging Ned Stark, the Hand of the King, in name of honour, and rescues him after his false imprisonment.

In the show, he is shown to truly care for his illegitimate, inbred children, mourning over each of their deaths, and showing genuine love for Myrcella. In the books, however, he was strictly sworn by Cersei to keep his distance, and grow no attachments. He is absent for Joffrey’s death, but does not mourn for him, and even thinks he deserved to die, and if he had the choice between his hand and his son, well, they could just make another son.

Brienne is the one person who listens to Jaime, and sees the man beneath the moniker, and in turn he sees the person behind hers, Brienne the Beauty. The two argue and fight, but soon come to a mutual respect over each others honour, which develops into a genuine love. This is ultimately undone in the last few episodes of the show, but it was nice while it lasted.

Jaime was the child that disappointed Tywin the least, and thus his favourite, until he decides his pride is worth more than his title, and continues to be Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, effectively disowning himself from his father, who will never know how he sacrificed his reputation and future to save him.

Living... in King’s Landing. A Lannister by birth, Jaime grew up in Lannisport but moved to King’s Landing when he was invited to join the Kingsguard. However, in truth he moved to King’s Landing so he could continue his incestuous affair with his twin sister, Cersei, the Queen of the realm and wife of the man Jaime is sworn to protect.

Profession... a member of the Kingsguard. The Kingsguard are a sacred order of seven knights who are sworn to protect the King. They take no wives, accept no lands, and forsake their noble birth rights when they don the white, instead dedicating themselves wholly to the King. Jaime’s tenure as a Kingsguard was forever stained when he struck down the previous ruler, the “Mad King” Aerys – an action that earned him the scorn of most of the kingdom and the moniker of “Kingslayer.”

Interests… fighting, mostly. Jaime is one of the deadliest warriors in the Seven Kingdoms, and enjoys nothing more than proving his superiority on the battlefield.

Relationship Status... unmarried, but was once in an incestuous relationship with his sister Cersei. Bran Stark, the youngest son of Lord Eddard Stark, stumbles upon them in a castle, so Jaime pushes the kid out a window in order to keep their secret safe. If the world were ever to discover their relationship Jaime’s three children with Cersei would likely be put to death, instead of put on the Iron Throne.

Challenge... keeping his forbidden relationship a secret. The entire Lannister family has a lot to lose if that ever gets out. His father is the richest man in the Kingdom, and if Jaime and Cersei disgraced the Lannister name, they might not only have to end their relationship – they might be killed.

Personality... arrogant, cynical, and utterly pragmatic. It would be easy to label Jaime as evil, but in reality he just practices a form of moral calculus that is very similar to his father, Tywin. A charming rake, Jaime often does questionable things, but usually in service to his family or some perceived greater good. He is a willing practitioner of intimidation, cruelty, and violence – but never without cause. While he’s twisted, he isn’t wholly ignoble. Somewhere inside him are knightly principles and inclinations that he’s long since suppressed in reaction to a cruel and arbitrary world. At least, that’s his view.

Jaime was known for his handsome looks, arrogant demeanor, and his superior and incredible fighting skills, and for his superb martial skills.He was so skilled and great with a sword, that he bragged there were only three men in the Seven Kingdoms who might have had a chance against him.

At first glance, outsiders perceive Jaime to be arrogant, cocky, cold, dishonorable, extremely dangerous, disdainful, and sarcastic. To a large extent he is arrogant about his own abilities, but not without cause. Jaime Lannister was arguably one of the greatest swordsmen ever, but the loss of his sword-hand warped his abilities, which did much to humble him. 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 and straightforward. Much like his brother Tyrion, he typically just says what he is thinking, and has no reservations about mocking those he perceives as incompetent. Despite this, there were men that Jaime admired (like Ser Barristan Selmy, for whom he squired) and, underneath this cold and sarcastic attitude, Jaime is a very complicated man.

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 or principles, 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 honor and nobility, yet they both frequently avoid unnecessary violence.

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 - this was influenced by him being hated and loathed by everyone because he killed a man who had infamously terrorized the Seven Kingdoms, opening his eyes to how people perceive goodness and honor. However, he still has some respect for the rules of engagement, as he refused to kill Ned Stark when their duel ended abruptly, since Ned was incapacitated by an opportunistic guard rather than Jaime himself - Jaime personally punished that guard seconds after the duel ended. Jaime also was capable of treating his own enemies rather respectfully, telling Ned Stark that his father and brother didn't deserve to die the way Aerys killed them, and saved Olenna Tyrell from a crueler fate that Cersei would have inevitably given her, by allowing her to die painlessly.

Jaime was never politically ambitious, much to Cersei's annoyance, and often turns down her frequent urgings that he should try to become Hand of the King, stating that the days are too long and their lives are too short. 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. Indeed, Jaime's lack of political thinking leads to him heatedly suggesting that either he or someone else execute the High Sparrow and his followers for manipulating Tommen - at the time, he did not quite see the long term ramifications of such an act because he was angry at the possibility of losing his only surviving child.

After losing his hand and confessing the real reason he killed Aerys to Brienne of Tarth, Jaime begins to redevelop a sense of personal honor once again as he reevaluates his past and future. In no small part to Brienne's influence, Jaime begins to see his father for who he really is and begins to wonder if there are ideals worth fighting for. To this end, he outfits Brienne with new armor and even gifts her the Valyrian steel sword reforged from Ice so that Brienne can fulfill her oath to Catelyn Stark. Jaime himself is more mindful of the promises he makes, and eventually tries offering his solemn oath in certain circumstances, treated with understandable skepticism by the likes of Edmure Tully. Jaime's new outlook develops to the point where he is disgusted with Cersei for stabbing Daenerys's faction in the back, and announces his intention to keep his own promises (although the undead horror bearing down on the Seven Kingdoms clearly has something to do with it).

Jaime is the only member of Tyrion's immediate family 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, the only adult of Tyrion's immediate family to recognize how irrational it was to blame him for their mother's death in childbirth. 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 was tarnished with the death of 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. Over time, however, and especially after learning that it was Olenna who killed Joffrey, Jaime comes to accept that Tyrion effectively murdered Tywin out of self-defense, a man bound and determined to execute his son; when they meet again in King's Landing, Jaime is initially hostile towards Tyrion, but deep down understands his motives and listens to him, and by the time of the parley in the Dragonpit, Jaime treats Tyrion with the same respect as before, indicating that he has at least partially forgiven his brother. Over time it becomes clear that Jaime has fully forgiven his brother and shows him the same amount of love and respect as before. This can be seen in the brother's final goodbye where Tyrion tells his brother how much he has meant to him, bringing Jaime to tears as he embraces his little brother one last time.

Tywin was 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. He 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. He also becomes enraged when the High Sparrow brainwashes his only son, and he contemplates a plan to bloodily finish the High Sparrow's schemes, even though sound judgment states that this plan wouldn't work.

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 Locke's soldiers. The difference seems to be that after witnessing the depravity of the Mad King, needless violence and brutality deeply offend Jaime, 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. However, he was dreadfully sorry for crippling the boy and was amazed to learn that Bran was not angry at him. Jaime killed his defenseless cousin Alton Lannister in order to orchestrate an escape from Robb Stark's camp, but he deeply regretted it afterwards, subtly hinting at it to Tyrion and then outright confessing to the High Sparrow about it, showing that he has a greater conscience than he is given credit for. This sets him apart from Cersei, who destroyed the Sept of Baelor and everyone inside (including their uncle and cousin) and around it, and proved unapologetic about what she had done. Jaime also was capable of reproach for the mistakes he made and their consequences, unlike Cersei: he felt guilt for freeing Tyrion because it led to the death of his father, whereas Cersei is blind to her own mistakes, which led to the deaths of her children. The upshot of this is that Jaime has no delusions about his own conscience. He is certainly ruthless when he needs to be, but unlike Cersei or Joffrey he does not act with cruelty for his own enjoyment. Quite the opposite, in fact: the very murder of Aerys that gained Jaime his negative reputation was actually an act of prevention against a potential genocide that would have engulfed all of King's Landing.

Although Jaime was a highly skilled warrior, he has never distinguished himself as a battle commander. He has won a couple of battles (a battle in the hills below the Golden Tooth and the Sack of Highgarden), and resolved the second siege of Riverrun almost without casualties; on the other hand, he was defeated in two major battles - Battle of Whispering Wood and Battle of the Goldroad, in both cases his troops suffered heavy casualties, simply because he neglected basic precautions (placing sentries and sending scouts). Jaime has partly learned from his mistakes: remembering how Robb tricked him by leaving a small decoy force to be overwhelmed while the rest of the army moved to attack more important targets, Jaime allowed the Unsullied to take Casterly Rock (after having emptied its larders) while taking most of the Lannisters' forces south to storm Highgarden; he failed, however, to learn from the same battle the importance of precautions, and that led to his defeat at the Battle of the Goldroad. Regardless, Jaime quickly recognized that the only way he could turn the tide was by killing the enemy commander, even risking his own life for the sake of a chance to kill Daenerys; this demonstrates him to be a man of courage as well as military skill.

Jaime seems to care about those beneath him, refusing to flog stragglers after the Sack of Highgarden, refusing to leave his men at the Battle of the Goldroad, and lamenting at how easily the Dothraki army broke his own army. Not only is Jaime a prodigal leader, but he has a good amount of common sense, as evidenced by his decision to ride north to combat the threat that the White Walkers posed to Westeros, and his utter incredulity at Cersei's refusal to contribute.

One defining trait of Jaime is his lack of fear of death; he once told Catelyn "the dark is coming for all of us" ("Fire and Blood"). Even when facing a nearly-certain and extremely agonizing death, he shows very little or no fear at all (like when Robb threatened to have Grey Wind kill him, or when he charged at Daenerys during the Battle of the Goldroad and was nearly burnt by Drogon). During his final moments, Jaime peacefully accepted death and used his final moments to comfort his distraught sister.