Jaime Lannister

Jaime Lannister
A Song of Ice and Fire character

First appearance
Created by George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Game of Thrones
Information
Aliases The Kingslayer
The Young Lion
Title Lord Commander of the Kingsguard
Warden of the West (formerly)
Family House Lannister
Children
Relatives
Kingdom The Westerlands
The Crownlands

Jaime Lannister is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. He becomes a prominent point of view character in the novels beginning in A Storm of Swords (2000).

Introduced in A Game of Thrones (1996), Jaime is a knight of the Kingsguard, and although he first appears to be unscrupulous and amoral, he later proves to be far more complex, honorable and sympathetic.

Jaime is portrayed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on the HBO series Game of Thrones. He was nominated for a 2014 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television for his performance in the show's third season. He and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Character

Description

In A Game of Thrones (1996), Jaime is introduced as one of the Kingsguard, the royal security detail, and the son of wealthy and powerful Tywin Lannister, the former Hand of the King. Jaime's twin is Cersei, the Queen of Westeros by virtue of her marriage to King Robert Baratheon. Perhaps the greatest swordsman in the kingdom, Jaime is sometimes derisively called "the Kingslayer" because he killed the "Mad King" Aerys Targaryen in the coup that put Robert on the Iron Throne.[1]

Eric Dodds of Time described Jaime as "handsome, an incomparably skilled fighter and disarmingly witty",[2] with The New Yorker calling the Lannisters "a crowd of high-cheekboned beauties ... who form a family constellation so twisted, charismatic, and cruel that it rivals Flowers in the Attic for blond dysfunction".[3] Lev Grossman wrote for Time that while Jaime and Cersei's younger brother Tyrion is a grotesque dwarf, "the rest of the Lannisters are stunted too, but on the inside."[4] The Los Angeles Times called Jaime "handsome and unscrupulous",[5] though Dodds noted in 2014:

Sure, he's done some of the most despicable things on a show full of despicable things—including but not limited to fathering children by incest, attempting to murder a boy who discovered said incest, and the cold-blooded murder of one of his own cousins—but despite all that, the Kingslayer remains one of Game of Thrones' most popular characters.[2]

Development

Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly noted that in the novels, "[Jaime is] a vaguely villainous minor character in Game of Thrones, then is basically absent from Clash of Kings, and suddenly he becomes a tragic hero in Storm of Swords."[6] In A Game of Thrones, Jaime is not only carrying on an incestuous affair with his twin sister, but he pushes a young Bran Stark out a high window to his likely death after the boy witnesses them in the act.[7][8] Jaime admits these crimes to Catelyn Stark in A Clash of Kings (1998), and tells her a horrific story of Aerys Targaryen's cruelty.[9] In A Storm of Swords (2000), Jaime initially loathes the female warrior Brienne of Tarth, but both his honor and his reluctant respect for Brienne compel him to lie to their captors to prevent her from being raped.[8][10] He later explains to Brienne that he killed Aerys because the king had planned to incinerate all of King's Landing and its inhabitants rather than let it fall into Robert's hands.[11] When Jaime is released to be sent back to King's Landing in deference to his father, he first saves Brienne, who has been thrown into a bear pit for the mercenaries' amusement.[12] Martin told Rolling Stone in 2014:

One of the things I wanted to explore with Jaime, and with so many of the characters, is the whole issue of redemption. When can we be redeemed? Is redemption even possible? ... When do we forgive people? ... Our society is full of people who have fallen in one way or another ... How many good acts make up for a bad act? ... I don't know the answer, but these are questions worth thinking about. I want there to be a possibility of redemption for us, because we all do terrible things. We should be able to be forgiven. Because if there is no possibility of redemption, what's the answer then?[8]

Specifically addressing Jaime's attempted murder of Bran, Martin said:

[What] Jaime did [to Bran] is interesting ... Remember, Jaime isn't just trying to kill Bran because he's an annoying little kid. Bran has seen something that is basically a death sentence for Jaime, for Cersei, and their children ... So I've asked people who do have children, "Well, what would you do in Jaime's situation?" They say, "Well, I'm not a bad guy—I wouldn't kill." Are you sure? Never? If Bran tells King Robert, he's going to kill you and your sister-lover, and your three children ... Then many of them hesitate. Probably more people than not would say, "Yeah, I would kill someone else's child to save my own child, even if that other child was innocent." These are the difficult decisions people make, and they're worth examining.[8]

Appearances

Novels

A coat of arms showing a golden lion on a red field
Coat of arms of House Lannister

A Game of Thrones

In A Game of Thrones (1996), Queen Cersei's arrogant twin, Jaime Lannister, accompanies the Royal Family to Winterfell, where King Robert hopes to persuade his old friend Ned Stark to serves as Hand of the King. During the visit, Ned's young son Bran inadvertently spies Jaime and Cersei having sex in a remote tower,[7] at which point Jaime calmly pushes the boy out a window to his certain death.[8] Bran's unlikely survival sets in motion a series of events that threaten to destroy both the Starks and the Lannisters.[1] In King's Landing, Ned eventually discovers that Robert and Cersei's three children—Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen—are actually the products of Cersei and Jaime's incest.[1] However, before Ned can expose the secret, Cersei outmaneuvers him, and he is ultimately beheaded.[1]

Hillary Busis of Entertainment Weekly called the twist of Jaime and Cersei in the tower "lurid and shocking, exactly what I needed to jolt me awake and make me start paying closer attention ... By the end of the chapter — 'The things I do for love' — I was totally hooked on Thrones".[7] Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone noted in 2014 that the moment in which Jaime pushes Bran to his likely death "grabs you by the throat".[8] Martin commented in the interview:

I've had a million people tell me that was the moment that hooked them, where they said, "Well, this is just not the same story I read a million times before."[8]

A Clash of Kings

In A Clash of Kings (1998), Jaime has been captured in battle by Stark supporters. Jaime's brother, the dwarf Tyrion Lannister, attempts to free Jaime using disguised soldiers; the plot fails, and Jaime is transferred from his comfortable accommodations to the dungeons. Meanwhile, in King's Landing, Cersei takes their cousin Lancel Lannister as her lover. Negotiations for Jaime's release lead to nothing, and Tyrion swears in open court to trade Ned's daughters Sansa and Arya—purportedly in Lannister custody—for Jaime's return. However, Ned's son and heir Robb Stark, now raised to King in the North, rejects this exchange. Distraught at the news of the reported deaths of her youngest sons Bran and Rickon, Catelyn interrogates Jaime. When asked, he calmly admits to pushing Bran out the tower window, to his incest with Cersei and to fathering her children.[9][13]

A Storm of Swords

In A Storm of Swords (2000), Catelyn takes it upon herself to remove Jaime from Robb's custody and send him, chained and under the guard of Brienne of Tarth, back to King's Landing in exchange for Sansa and Arya. He has given his word as a knight to see Catelyn's daughters returned, and she trusts him. Though somewhat impressed by Brienne's swordsmanship, Jaime is condescending and cruel to the homely female warrior, and tries to escape. They are captured by mercenaries, who later cut off Jaime's sword hand.[10][12] Jaime explains to Brienne that he killed Aerys because the king had planned to incinerate all of King's Landing and its inhabitants rather than let it fall into Robert's hands.[11][12] Jaime is released, to be sent back to King's Landing in deference to his father, but not before he saves Brienne, who has been thrown into a bear pit for the mercenaries' amusement. Jaime and Brienne arrive at the capital to find that Jaime and Cersei's son Joffrey has been murdered. Cersei rebuffs Jaime, and Tywin gives him a Valyrian steel sword remade from Ned Stark's confiscated blade. Sansa and Arya have escaped the Lannisters, and though Catelyn is now dead, Jaime gives Brienne his new sword and tasks her to find and return the girls to their family. Tywin and Cersei see to it that an innocent Tyrion is convicted of Joffrey's murder, but Jaime helps his brother escape and confesses his complicity in Tywin's ruin of Tyrion's first wife Tysha. Furious, Tyrion swears revenge on his family for a lifetime of cruelty, lies to Jaime that he did murder Joffrey, and kills Tywin.[12]

A Feast for Crows

In the aftermath of Tywin's death, A Feast for Crows (2005) finds Jaime, frustrated by Cersei's mismanagement of the kingdom, out on campaign seeking to reclaim the Riverlands for the Lannisters. He receives a plea for help from his sister, who has been imprisoned by the militarized Faith of the Seven, but ignores it and leaves her to her fate.[14]

A Dance with Dragons

In A Dance with Dragons (2011), Jaime has ended the war against the remaining Stark supporters. Brienne reappears with news of Sansa.[15]

TV adaptation

Jaime is portrayed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the HBO adaptation Game of Thrones.[5] His casting was announced on August 20, 2009.[16]

Matt Fowler of IGN noted in 2013 that "the people who do seem to get redemption arcs on this show are the villains".[17] Over the course of the first three seasons, the series has transitioned Jaime from an obvious villain to an antihero of sorts.[18][19][20] Eric Dodds of Time wrote that Jaime had become "a complex, bizarrely likable character".[2] Andrew Romano of The Daily Beast explained:

But Jaime wasn't a black-and-white baddie for long. In fact, GoT spent the next three seasons transforming him into a pretty sympathetic character. The turning point was when Jaime was captured and chained up by the Starks—an ordeal that humbled him, humanized him, and eventually left him without a sword hand, struggling to find a new, post-Kingslayer identity for himself. Sure, Jaime could still slaughter his own cousin to escape captivity. But he could also rescue his sidekick Brienne of Tarth from a bear. And pledge to return the Stark girls to their mother, Catelyn. And refuse to kill his brother Tyrion on Cersei's behalf. And so on. He was a compromised, conflicted asshole—but he was basically trying to do the right thing.[21]

Fowler wrote that Jaime's adventure with Brienne was "the best storyline of the season" in Season 3, aside from the Red Wedding.[17] Jaime's rape of Cersei in the fourth season episode "Breaker of Chains" created controversy among fans and journalists, who debated the show's depiction of sexual violence against women as well as Jaime's character development.[18][22][23] In the source novel A Storm of Swords, the sex between Jaime and Cersei in the equivalent scene is consensual.[18][21][24][25] Several critics argued that the TV series' change damaged Jaime's redemption arc.[19][20][21][26] Dodds noted that the episode "irreparably changes the way we see Jaime Lannister".[2] Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post wrote:

What happens next dramatically complicates the work Game of Thrones has done to make Jaime a more explicable, even sympathetic character, given what we learned of his reasons for killing the king he was sworn to protest. Jaime has experienced profound losses over the last two seasons. His hand and his identity as a fighter have been taken from him. His son has been murdered. His father, a toxic, commanding man has returned to his life. And what Cersei is asking of Jaime is that he remove one of the few remaining things that gives him happiness, the little brother who makes him feel better about his hand, from existence. To assuage her pain and grief, Cersei is asking Jaime to inflict more pain on himself ... But his response is not to stop loving her, not to stop believing that he is victim to the gods. Instead, Jaime rapes his sister, passing that sense of unendurable pain on to her. He must know that this is the worst possible way that he could hurt her. Jaime knew that Robert raped Cersei ... Not only does raping Cersei remind his sister of her repeated, humiliating violation, Jaime is poisoning their own relationship, the thing that had been Cersei’s antidote to the miseries of her marriage. It is an exceptionally cruel thing for Jaime to do.[27]

Coster-Waldau said, "If you look closer there are those moments where she—well, I haven't seen the finished edit, of course—but we tried to have it where she goes into it then she pulls away, she goes in then she pulls away, but of course he is forcing himself."[28]

In Season 5, the series creates a storyline in which Jaime and Bronn travel to Dorne in secret to retrieve Myrcella, who Jaime believes is in danger from the Martells. Their plan is foiled, but Doran Martell sends Myrcella and his own son Trystane back to Westeros with Jaime to keep the girl safe from his late brother Oberyn's vengeful lover Ellaria Sand. As the ship sets sail, Myrcella admits to Jaime that she knows and is happy that he is her father. The two share a brief embrace before Myrcella suddenly collapses and dies, having been poisoned by Ellaria.

Reception

Matt Roush wrote for TV Guide that Coster-Waldau plays "dastardly" Jaime "with malevolent charisma",[29] and Dodds noted that, despite the "despicable things" he has done, "the Kingslayer remains one of Game of Thrones' most popular characters".[2] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe wrote:

The most riveting characters are the most self-serving, notably the queen, Cersei ... and her twin brother Jaime Lannister ... with whom she is having an incestuous affair. They have gorgeous, aristocratic features, but they are pure, compelling evil.[30]

Coster-Waldau was nominated for a 2014 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television for his performance in the show's third season.[31] He and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016.[32][33][34][35][36][37]

Family tree of House Lannister

Family tree of Tytos Lannister
Tytos [lower-alpha 1]Jeyne
Marbrand [lower-alpha 2]
Joanna[lower-alpha 3]Tywin[lower-alpha 3]Genna[lower-alpha 3]Emmon
Frey[lower-alpha 3]		Kevan[lower-alpha 3]Dorna
Swyft[lower-alpha 3]		Tygett[lower-alpha 3]Darlessa
Marbrand [lower-alpha 3]		Gerion[lower-alpha 3]Briony [lower-alpha 4]
Robert
Baratheon[lower-alpha 3]		Cersei[lower-alpha 3]Jaime
"The Kingslayer" [lower-alpha 3]		Tyrion
"The Imp" [lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 5]		Sansa
Stark[lower-alpha 6]		Lancel[lower-alpha 3]Amerei
Frey[lower-alpha 7]		Martyn[lower-alpha 3]Willem [lower-alpha 3]Janei[lower-alpha 3]Tyrek[lower-alpha 3]Ermesande
Hayford [lower-alpha 8]		Joy
Hill[lower-alpha 3]
Joffrey
Baratheon[lower-alpha 9][lower-alpha 10]		Myrcella
Baratheon[lower-alpha 9][lower-alpha 10]		Margaery
Tyrell [lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 12]		Tommen
Baratheon[lower-alpha 9][lower-alpha 10]
References and notes:
  1. ↑ Martin, George R. R. (1996). "Chapter 56: Tyrion". A Game of Thrones. p. 593. ISBN 978-0-553-89784-5.
  2. ↑ Martin, George R. R.; García Jr., Elio M.; Antonsson, Linda (2014). The World of Ice & Fire. ISBN 978-0-553-80544-4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Martin. "Appendix: House Lannister". A Game of Thrones. pp. 787–788.
  4. ↑ Martin; García Jr.; Antonsson. "Appendix: Lannister Lineage". The World of Ice & Fire.
  5. ↑ Tyrion's first wife was a peasant girl named Tysha. The marriage was later annulled by Lord Tywin's order.
  6. ↑ Martin, George R. R. (2000). "Chapter 28: Sansa". A Storm of Swords. pp. 382–393. ISBN 978-0-553-89787-6.
  7. ↑ Martin, George R. R. (2005). "Chapter 30: Jaime". A Feast for Crows. pp. 501–518. ISBN 978-0-553-90032-3.
  8. ↑ Martin. "Appendix: The King on the Iron Throne". A Storm of Swords. p. 1131.
  9. 1 2 3 Martin. "Appendix: House Baratheon". A Game of Thrones. p. 783.
  10. 1 2 3 Though officially Robert's children, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are the products of an incestuous affair between Cersei and Jaime.
  11. ↑ Martin. "Appendix: The Queen Regent". A Feast for Crows. p. 782.
  12. ↑ Martin, George R. R. (2011). "Appendix: The Boy King". A Dance with Dragons. p. 1055. ISBN 978-0-553-90565-6.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Martin, George R. R. (1996). A Game of Thrones.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dodds, Eric (April 22, 2014). "What Is Game of Thrones Doing With Jaime Lannister?". Time. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  3. ↑ Nussbaum, Emily (May 7, 2012). "The Aristocrats: The graphic arts of Game of Thrones". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ Grossman, Lev (July 7, 2011). "George R.R. Martin's Dance with Dragons: A Masterpiece Worthy of Tolkien". Time. Archived from the original on August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  5. 1 2 McNamara, Mary (April 15, 2011). "Swords, sex and struggles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  6. ↑ Franich, Darren (April 1, 2011). "George R. R. Martin on Game of Thrones and what might have been". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Busis, Hillary (April 4, 2011). "The Game of Thrones Book Club, week 1: First impressions, and when I got hooked". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gilmore, Mikal (April 23, 2014). "George R.R. Martin: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Butler, Leigh (July 20, 2012). "A Read of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings, Part 27". Tor.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Butler, Leigh (December 21, 2012). "A Read of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords, Part 12". Tor.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Butler, Leigh (March 8, 2013). "A Read of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords, Part 21". Tor.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Martin, George R. R. (2000). A Storm of Swords.
  13. ↑ Martin, George R. R. (1998). A Clash of Kings.
  14. ↑ Martin, George R. R. (2005). A Feast for Crows.
  15. ↑ Martin, George R. R. (2011). A Dance with Dragons.
  16. ↑ Hibberd, James (August 20, 2009). "HBO appoints subjects to Thrones". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  17. 1 2 Fowler, Matt (June 17, 2013). "Game of Thrones: Season 3 Review". IGN. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  18. 1 2 3 Saraiya, Sonia (February 1, 2016). "Rape of Thrones". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  19. 1 2 Marcotte, Amanda (April 21, 2014). "The Director of Sunday's Game of Thrones Doesn't Think That Was Rape". Slate. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Wigler, Josh (April 22, 2014). "Game Of Thrones Author Reacts To 'Disturbing' Jaime-Cersei Scene". MTV. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 Romano, Andrew (April 14, 2014). "Why We Should Pretend the Game of Thrones Rape Scene Never Happened". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  22. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (May 2, 2014). "For Game of Thrones, Rising Unease Over Rape's Recurring Role". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  23. ↑ Quiñónez, Ariana (April 24, 2014). "Jaime Lannister is a feminist: Why the Game of Thrones rape scene matters". Hypable. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  24. ↑ Kain, Erik (April 21, 2014). "'Game Of Thrones' Season 4, Episode 3 Review: Sex And Violence". Forbes. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  25. ↑ Moore, Ben (April 22, 2014). "Game of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin Reacts to Controversial Altered Scene". Screenrant.com. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  26. ↑ Rowles, Dustin (April 24, 2014). "Why the Game of Thrones rape scene caused fans to respond in the worst possible way". Salon. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  27. ↑ Rosenberg, Alyssa (April 20, 2014). "Game of Thrones review: Breaker of chains, breakers of will". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  28. ↑ Vejvoda, Jim (April 21, 2014). "Nikolaj Coster-Waldau On That Controversial Jaime-Cersei Scene". IGN. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  29. ↑ Roush, Matt (April 15, 2011). "Roush Review: Grim Thrones Is a Crowning Achievement". TV Guide. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  30. ↑ Gilbert, Matthew (April 15, 2011). "Fantasy comes true with HBO's Game of Thrones". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  31. ↑ Johns, Nikara (February 25, 2014). "Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Lead Saturn Awards Noms". Variety. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  32. ↑ "The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild. January 29, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  33. ↑ "SAG Awards Nominations: 12 Years A Slave And Breaking Bad Lead Way". Deadline.com. December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  34. ↑ "SAG Awards: Lone Survivor, Game Of Thrones Win Stunt Honors". Deadline.com. January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  35. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (December 10, 2014). "SAG Awards Nominations: Birdman & Boyhood Lead Film Side, HBO & Modern Family Rule TV – Full List". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  36. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (January 25, 2015). "SAG Awards: Birdman Flies Even Higher & Orange Is The New Black Shines – List Of Winners". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  37. ↑ "SAG Awards Nominations: Complete List". Variety. December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
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