Jaime Lannister

Ser **Jaime Lannister**, also known as the **Kingslayer**, is an anointed knight of House Lannister, and serves as a member of the Kingsguard for King Aerys II Targaryen and later King Robert I Baratheon, as well as Robert's legal sons, Joffrey and Tommen. He is the twin brother of Cersei Lannister and the older brother of Tyrion Lannister.

## Appearance and Character

Jaime holds many of the usual traits of House Lannister, with blonde hair and green eyes. He has a tall frame, and very comely features. He is considered very handsome with a cutting smile. He wears the white of the Kingsguard when on duty, but also wears the colours of House Lannister, as well as his signature gold armour with a lion helm. Jon Snow thinks that he is what a king ought to look like - strong, handsome and charismatic.

In the eyes of many, Jaime has one of the worst reputations of any knight in Westeros, even to compare with the likes of Gregor Clegane: the reputation of a man who swore sacred vows to a king, and then shattered those vows by killing said king. He is perceived as being arrogant, cruel, sarcastic and dishonourable to an extreme - anyone with a perception of personal honour appears to hate Jaime in this regard, and only ever refer to him as the Kingslayer. Jaime *is* arrogant and sarcastic, and has proven capable of murder and deceit in pursuit of his objectives, but he is one of the most complicated people in the Seven Kingdoms. The real reason he killed King Aerys was because the psychopathic king sought to obliterate the entirety of King's Landing with wildfire, and had commanded Jaime to kill his own father, and therefore Jaime committed his heinous crime (which he views sometimes as his greatest act) with honourable motivations.

Jaime has always been supremely skilled in combat, which is his singular interest - he understands, but does not care much for political manoeuvring and would rather be a soldier than anything else. A master swordsman who was renowned even as a young age, Jaime is not unbeatable (which he himself admits) but has the instincts and experience of a warrior. When he loses his sword hand, he is shocked and traumatized, having relied on his fighting skills for so long, but he becomes more reliant on his wits than before and even becomes less arrogant and more respectful of others - however, he maintains the pride and temper of a lion.

An extremely complicated aspect of Jaime's personality is the fact that he loves Cersei - he has never in his life slept with another woman but her, and she considers him utterly devoted to her. Throughout the War of the Five Kings, Jaime is motivated by this love - his acts of attempting to murder Brandon Stark, his violent attempts at escape from Brienne Tarth, and his actions throughout their journey are spurred by his love for his sister. When he finally returns to King's Landing, and begins to realize the woman Cersei has become and how people expect him to act, he begins to doubt the severity of his love, which is made excruciating when he learns from Tyrion that Cersei has betrayed him to other men, including their cousin Lancel, who is openly considered to be a very poor imitation of Jaime.

Jaime is also one of the very few Lannisters to have any respect or adoration for Tyrion, whom he has cared for all of the man's life. He respects Tyrion's intelligence and selflessness, and does not hate him for being a dwarf, unlike both their father and especially their sister. However, this love is essentially decimated when Tyrion vengefully kills Tywin, only made possible because Jaime released him. The tragic irony of this is that the murder of Tywin Lannister was partly because Jaime also revealed that the woman that Tywin had damaged, who had been Tyrion's lover, was not a whore; this caused Tyrion's hatred and contempt for their father to become uncontrollable and motivate him into his heinous act.

There are very few people that Jaime genuinely respects - he does not hold his father in truly high regard, nor does he mourn for the Mad King, and he is openly hateful of the Freys and Starks. He considered Robb Stark to be his enemy, and is frustrated by being unable to finish him off when he was captured. The difference from Cersei is that Jaime knows the boundaries of decorum, even with people he doesn't like, and is able to maintain at least some civil conversation with them. Despite all of this, he is remarked to be the least like Tywin out of the latter's sons, and that he rather shares the qualities of Tywin's brothers - he favours combat and charm, rather than political savvy.

## Books

### A Game of Thrones

Jaime rides north when Robert Baratheon decides to replace the recently deceased Jon Arryn with Lord Eddard Stark as Hand of the King. He is amongst those that sit at the high lords table for the celebratory feast, entering the great hall alongside his younger brother.

Jaime uses the abandoned tower of Winterfell to secretly meet with his sister. Here they talk about the appointment of Eddard and the threat that Lysa Arryn poses. Bran Stark overhears them and then witnesses them having sexual intercourse in the tower. For this Jaime throws him out of a high window.

Four days later he is informed by Tyrion that Maester Luwin believes that Bran is going to live. He is defeated during the Tourney of the Hand by Sandor Clegane ,but manages to unhorse Ser Barristan Selmy himself.

For the attempted murder of Bran Stark, Tyrion is falsely arrested; in retaliation, Ser Jaime confronts Eddard Stark in the streets of King's Landing. When Ned argues that any attempt on his life will only give Catelyn cause to kill Tyrion, Jaime orders his men to kill the northern guards. Ned is gravely injured during the brawl that follows, but does indeed survive, while Jaime flees the city and heads to Casterly Rock.

During the early stages of what becomes the War of the Five Kings, Jaime wins a number of battles, at the Golden Tooth and Riverrun. At the same time, after King Robert's death and Joffrey's coronation, Ser Barristan Selmy is dismissed from the KIngsguard, making Jaime the new Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

During the Battle of the Whispering Wood, despite eventually losing the battle, Jaime attempts to cut down Robb Stark himself, killing Eddard and Torrhen Karstark before being taken prisoner. When brought before Robb after the battle, many of Robb's bannermen are desirous for Jaime's execution, and the Kingslayer is routinely protected from them, especially Rickard Karstarks, who lost two sons to Jaime's sword.

### A Clash of Kings

Tyrion promises to achieve Jaime's release upon being appointed as acting Hand of the King. However, the bloody escape attempt that follows as a result of Tyrion's plan fails, and Jaime is confined to a cell in Riverrun, chained to a wall. In his absence, and without his knowledge, Cersei takes their cousin Lancel into her bed and makes him her lover.

Jaime is visited by Catelyn Stark, who interrogates him and gets him drunk. He confesses to being the father of Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella, but denies being the architect of the attempt of Bran's life, as he would have done it himself otherwise. Eventually, however, Jaime steers the conversation towards Brandon Stark and his father Rickard. He tells Catelyn the gruesome story of how the two men died at the hands of the Mad King, and how the Kingsguard present did nothing about it. He then taunts Catelyn with the existence of Jon Snow, proof that Ned Stark loved another woman. Catelyn angrily orders for Brienne of Tarth's sword.

### A Storm of Swords

Jaime is released from custody by Catelyn, in defiance of her son, out of a desperate attempt to exchange the Kingslayer for her two daughters. Along with his fellow captive and cousin, Ser Cleos Frey, he is escorted by Brienne of Tarth. Jaime shaves his head but keeps his beard, so that he is not recognised. He hates Brienne on sight and they frequently trade barbs.

They evade capture several times by a hunting party sent by Robb to recapture Jaime, but are unable to shake off their pursuers for long. On the way to Duskendale, Ser Cleos is killed during a skirmish with bandits. Jaime steals his sword and challenges Brienne, having grown tired of being her captive. The two of them engage in a vicious battle, and Jaime is shocked to realise that the woman is a match for him. The fight is interrupted by outlaws of the Brave Companions commanded by Vargo Hoat.

Vargo believes that his commander, Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort, is considering siding with the Lannisters following the Battle of Blackwater Bay. In order to stop this, Vargo has Jaime's hand cut off. Jaime is traumatised by his maiming, having relied on his fighting ability all of his life. He descends into a depression, until Brienne compels him to continue on living so that he can take revenge.

After arriving at Harrenhal and being taken into Bolton's custody, Jaime and Brienne share a bath. While in a mad fever, Jaime divulges his side of the Sack of King's Landing and how he slew the Mad King. While dining, Roose Bolton explains that Jaime will be released if he does not blame the Leech Lord for his maiming. When Jaime agrees, he is released, but Brienne is left behind for the entertainment of Vargo Hoat. However, Jaime returns to Harrenhal and rescues Brienne from Hoat.

Jaime learns on the road about the Red Wedding. When he returns to King's Landing, he learns also of his son Joffrey's death at the Purple Wedding. Upon his return, he is confronted by Ser Loras Tyrell, who has joined the Kingsguard. When the Knight of Flowers accuses Brienne for Renly's murder, Jaime persuades him to imprison her rather than facing her with bare steel. He then proceeds to the Sept of Baelor to see Cersei at last, consequently meeting Osmund Kettleblack, who aggressively mistakes him for a peasant. When he finally meets Cersei, they have sex next to Joffrey's dead body.

After this encounter, Jaime and Cersei's relationship begins to crumble to the ground. Jaime's imprisonement and relationship with Brienne has influenced Jaime quite significantly. Tywin procures a Valyrian steel sword for Jaime, the twin of another sword forged from Ice, but Jaime is only angered because his once-unparalleled skill has been taken from him. Father and son argue ferociously when Jaime refuses to resign from the Kingsguard and become the future Lord of Casterly Rock, leading to Tywin disowning Jaime. Jaime later calls a meeting in the White Sword Tower to analyse his Sworn Brothers and enforce the duties of the white cloak on them.

Jaime gives the Valyrian steel blade to Brienne, naming it Oathkeeper and tasking her with finding Sansa Stark. He provides her with gold, a horse and armour of her own, along with a letter sealed by King Tommen as she will be doing the king's service. When Tyrion is accused of Joffrey's murder, and both his conventional trial and his trial by combat end disastrously, Jaime is convinced of his brother's innocence. He ambushes Lord Varys and demands his aid in freeing Tyrion. During the escape, Jaime confesses to Tyrion about the incident between Tyrion and Tysha years ago - that she was not a whore, and that hse loved Tyrion. Shocked, awed and furious at this, Tyrion hits him and falsely claims responsibility for his murder. During this showdown, Tyrion tells his brother that Cersei has betrayed him repeatedly with Ser Lancel Lannister and Osmund Kettleblack. Jaime leaves, therefore not seeing Tyrion sneak into the Tower of the Hand and murder their father with a crossbow.

### A Feast for Crows

Ser Jaime is amongst those contacted after Tywin Lannister is found dead. Jaime climbs down the shaft to investigate the secret passages, and Cersei laments sending the crippled Jaime. He then rejects Cersei's request of becoming Hand of the King, and gets slapped by her for embarrassing her in front of Qyburn, Puckens, Hoke, Shortear and the Kettleblacks. Jaime stands vigil over his father's corpse in the Great Sept of Baelor.