Jaime Lannister

Though the second child, Ser Jaime Lannister is Tywin’s first son and the brother to his twin sister Cersei Lannister. As a famed knight of the Seven Kingdoms, he got ridiculed for his role in the Sack of King’s Landing. He got called Kingslayer and became one of the most hated knights in Westeros after killing King Aerys II Targaryen. Though hated, Jaime deeply cared for his family and even loved his sister Cersei to the point where he would do anything for her, including throwing a boy from a tower.

Jaime Lannister Personal Details

• Name: Jaime Lannister.
• Year of Birth: 266 AC at Casterly Rock.
• Titles: Ser, Warden of the East, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
• Aliases: Kingslayer, The Golden Man, The Lion of Lannister, Cripple, The Young Lion, Goldenhand.
• Allegiances: House Lannister, The Kingsguard.
• Parents: Lord Tywin Lannister and Lady Joanna Lannister.
• Culture: Westermen.
• Religion: Faith of the Seven.
• Lover: Cersei Lannister.
• Children: Joffrey Baratheon, Myrcella Baratheon, Tommen Baratheon.
• Eye Color: Green.
• Hair Color: Blond.

Appearance and Personality

Jaime is a strikingly handsome man with curled golden hair and cat-like green eyes. He is tall, muscular, and has a smile that could woo anyone. Jaime is among the strongest knights in Westeros. When he and his sister were younger, they looked so much alike that even their father could not tell them apart. With this, Cersei would fill in for her brother when he did not want to train. 

Jaime’s interest lies solely in battle. He is a natural-born warrior and a sword prodigy who feels alive only while fighting and making love. Though skilled, he is prone to anger and has a skewed sense of morals and honor. He earned a terrible reputation in King’s Landing for killing King Aerys II. Jaime wears a cloak and armor of white. Sometimes, he wears the golden armor of the Lannisters decorated with a lion. Jaime wields a longsword and an ornate lion’s helmet. Sometimes, he wears a crimson cloak with a silk tunic of the same color and wields a lance made from golden wood.

Biography

Early Life

Jaime was born at Casterly Rock in 266 AC with his twin sister Cersei. Upon his birth, King Aerys sent their weight in gold as Tywin Lannister was the Hand of the King and ordered him to bring them to court. However, it is unknown if they went to court, as Lord Tytos Lannister died in 267 AC. However, Jaime and his sister traveled to King’s Landing in 272 Ac for the tenth anniversary of King Aerys. As the relationship between the King and Tywin waned, Aerys mocked Lady Joanna by asking if her breasts were saggy from caring for her twin children; this angered Tywin as his wife got embarrassed by the question.

As children, Jaime and his sister were inseparable. They loved and cared for each other deeply and would go on adventures like traveling to the lion cage of Lord Tytos Lannister. With time, they grew sexually affiliated and would experiment with each other sexually. When they got caught by a servant who told Lady Joanna, their rooms were separated, and a guard got placed by Cersei’s chamber to prevent Jaime from entering. Though their mother threatened to tell their father what happened if they did it again, she could not as she died after giving birth to Tyrion in 273 AC.

Though Cersei and Tywin hated Tyrion because he was a malformed dwarf who caused Joanna’s death, Jaime deeply cared for his brother and even defended him from Cersei’s abuse. Later, the Princess of Dorne brought her children, Prince Oberyn Martell and Princess Elia Martell, to Casterly Rock, seeking a match with either Cersei or Jaime. However, Lord Tywin rejected the proposal. In 276 AC, Lord Tywin hosted a tourney for Viserys’s birth. During the event, he suggested that Jaime squire for Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. However, King Aerys rejected his proposal because of his paranoia and jealousy.

Jaime got sent to Crakehall, where he squired for Lord Sumner Crakehall. At thirteen, he won his first tourney melee. During his squire years, he got sent to Riverrun to deliver a message to Lord Hoster Tully, and the lord tried making him fall for his daughter Lysa, but Jaime gave her no attention as he was interested in Ser Brynden Tully.

Knighthood

At fifteen, Jaime accompanied Lord Sumner in the campaign against the Kingswood Brotherhood. He saved the lord from Big Belly Ben and confronted the Smiling Knight. For his actions, he got knighted by Ser Arthur Dayne. As a knight, he was to return to Casterly Rock, but he stopped at King’s Landing, where he met his sister Cersei. She told him of their father’s plan to wed him to Lysa Tully and concocted a plan for them to be together, involving Jaime joining the Kingsguard. 

Willing to do anything for his sister, Jaime applied for the position, and a month later, he got called to meet the King at the tourney at Harrenhal. On taking his vows as a member of the Kingsguard, Lord Tywin got furious and resigned as the Hand of the King; this spoiled Jaime’s plan to be with his sister as she returned to Casterly Rock. On becoming a member of the Kingsguard, Aerys sent Jaime back to King’s Landing, making him believe Aerys had accepted his proposal to rob his father of an heir. Later, a mystery knight called the Knight of the Laughing Tree would appear in the tourney.

The Kingsguard

On becoming a member of the Kingsguard in 281 AC, Jaime served for two years. He witnessed King Aerys slowly decay into madness and grew furious at how the King acted. In 282 AC, Jaime watched at the foot of the Iron Throne as the King burned Brandon Stark and his father, Rickard. When he witnessed the King rape the Queen, he protested but got told he swore to protect the King and not judge him.

Robert’s Rebellion

After Brandon and Lord Rickard’s deaths, Aerys ordered Lord Jon Aryyn to deliver Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon’s heads to him. He refused, and a rebellion against the Iron Throne began. After the Targaryen forces’ defeat at the Battle of the Bells, Aerys placed wildfire throughout King’s Landing, vowing to burn the city to the ground rather than surrender it to Robert. The King’s madness worsened as the rebellion drew to an end.

When Prince Rhaegar Targaryen left the Red Keep to face Robert, Jaime begged to accompany him, but the Prince told him he could not take him as the King wanted him to remain at the Red Keep. He then charged him with protecting his wife Elia and children Aegon and Rhaenys.

Sack of King’s Landing

After Rhaegar’s death, Eddard Stark led an army to King’s Landing. Before he reached it, Tywin Lannister appeared at the gates with twelve thousand men and asked to enter. Though Aerys was skeptical, he followed Grand Maester Pycelle’s advice and opened the gate. Tywin then proceeded to sack the city.

As the only member of the Kingsguard left in King’s Landing, Jaime sent a message asking the King to allow him to negotiate with the attackers. However, Aerys told him to bring his father’s head instead; this made Jaime realize the King was about to order the city’s destruction. Jaime rushed and killed Rossart to prevent him from executing the King’s order. When Jaime reached the throne room, the King thought he killed his father but learned he killed Rossart instead. He tried to escape but got caught by Jaime, who slit his throat.

Before Jaime could leave the throne room, his father’s men arrived, leaving him with no choice but to admit to killing the King. He then sat on the Iron Throne and waited until Lord Eddard Stark arrived to claim the throne for Robert Baratheon. For two days, Jaime hunted other pyromancers involved in the King’s Plot, and though Ned advised Robert to send him to the Night’s Watch, the King spared him. 

Robert Baratheon’s Reign

After Aery’s death, Robert married Cersei Lannister, and Jaime escorted her to King’s Landing as a part of her honor guard. He and his sister had sex the morning of her wedding, and he won the tourney organized for the event. Jaime and Cersei continued their affair and fathered three children with her. To prevent anyone from realizing he was the father, Cersei prevented him from seeing her after giving birth. When Robert impregnated her, she made Jaime get a woman to cleanse her.

Tysha

On a nightly ride from Lannisport to Casterly Rock, Jaime and his brother Tyrion met an orphaned girl named Tysha. He fell in love with her, and they got married. However, when Tywin found out, he forced Jaime to lie that Tysha was a whore, and he staged the affair. Though Tysha got brutally humiliated, it is unknown if Jaime knew what happened to her.

Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones

When Lord Jon Aryyn dies, King Robert Baratheon travels to Winterfell to meet Lord Eddard Stark. Jaime follows the King and his sister, and while at the castle, he sleeps with her and throws Bran Stark from a tower window when he finds them together. With Bran in a coma, Ned leaves for King’s Landing with his daughters, Sansa Stark and Arya Stark. Robert organizes the Hand’s Tourney, and at the event, Jaime gets unhorsed by Sandor Clegane. 

Lord Ned Stark begins investigating Jon Arryn’s death and learns of Cersei’s illegitimacy. When he confronts her, she tells him that Jaime is the father of her children. After Ned resigns from his position as Hand of the King, he gets attacked by Jaime and Lannister soldiers because of Tyrion’s arrest. Ned gets injured, and Jaime flees the city. 

Cersei plans her husband’s death and arrests the Hand of the King. Jaime amasses an army at Casterly Rock and smashes forces from Riverrun, besieging the castle. However, he gets captured by Robb Stark. After Ned gets killed, Robb becomes King in the North.

A Clash of Kings

With the War of the Five Kings ravaging Westeros, Jaime remains a prisoner at Riverrun. While in captivity, he gets made the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Tywin sends Tyrion to King’s Landing as the acting Hand of the King, and he tries freeing his brother by sending an envoy. However, the envoys get killed, and Jaime gets transferred to the dungeons. When Catelyn learns of her sons’ deaths, she confronts Jaime and questions him. He reveals to her that he flung Bran from the tower window.

A Storm of Swords

After Lord Petyr Baelish gets married to Lady Lysa Arryn, Lord Tywin Lannister makes Robert Arryn Warden of the East. When she learns of her children’s death, Catelyn frees Jaime and tasks Brienne of Tarth with taking him to King’s Landing in exchange for Arya and Sansa.

When Edmure learns of her actions, he releases an order stating that anyone who captures Jaime will get rewarded. To evade getting caught, Jaime shaves his head and continues the journey with Brienne and Cleos. However, he gets arrested by Vargo Hoat, the leader of the Brave Companions. 

Suspecting that Roose is working with the Lannisters, Vargo cuts off Jaime’s right hand and takes him to meet Roose at Harrenhal. At the castle, Roose tells Jaime he had nothing to do with cutting his sword hand and plans to send him back to King’s Landing while leaving Brienne behind as Vargo’s price. Qyburn gets tasked with treating his arm, and after having a dream, he returns to Harrenhal and saves Brienne.

On reaching King’s Landing, Jaime saves Brienne from getting killed by Ser Loras Tyrell. He learns of Joffrey’s death and sleeps with Cersei in front of her son’s corpse. When Tywin gives him a Valyrian sword made from the Starks’ greatsword Ice, Jaime hands it to Brienes and tasks her with finding Sansa and her sister. Meanwhile, Cersei accuses Tyrion of killing Joffrey, and he gets imprisoned. When Oberyn Martell loses the trial by combat, Jaime frees his brother, who kills his father before leaving King’s Landing.

A Feast for Crows

When Cersei tells Jaime to become the Hand of the King, he rejects her offer and chooses to serve as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. He trains his left hand with Ser Ilyn Payne but realizes he can never be as strong as he was. After Tywin’s funeral, Cersei commands Jaime to resolve the siege of Riverrun. 

On the journey, he meets Lancel, who confesses to sleeping with Cersei. Jaime reaches Riverrun and convinces Edmure to make his uncle Brynden give up the castle. Though he gets control, Brynden escapes. Maester Vyman then brings a letter from Cersei, who got imprisoned by the High Sparrow. After reading her letter begging him to help her, Jaime orders his squire to burn it.

A Dance with Dragons

Upon ending the siege at Riverrun, Jaime heads to Raventree, where he negotiates with the last of Robb Stark’s supporters in the Riverlands. After settling the issue, he and his men head to Riverrun and camp at Pennytree. While there, Brienne arrives and tells him she found Sansa. She says he must follow her, or she will get killed by Sandor Clegane.

Relevance in Adaptation

In HBO’s Game of Thrones, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrayed Jaime Lannister. He appeared in seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and starred in 55 episodes. After Margaery and Loras get captured by the Faith Militant, Jaime meets Mace at the city gate and marches to free the Queen.

However, the High Sparrow states that the crown and the Faith have created a new bond, and he releases Margaerys. Later, she, her brother, and her father gets killed by Cersei. Jaime and his sister eventually get killed when Daenerys Targaryen burns the entire city of King’s Landing with Drogon. They died in each other’s arms.

Jaime Lannister: The Path to Redemption

Jaime is strong-headed at the start of A Song of Ice and Fire. However, he tried redeeming himself by changing his ways, but no matter how much he tried to become a better person, the sins of his past would never elude him as he committed crimes that scarred others for life. Though changed and an advocate for peace, Jaime could never escape the title of the Kingslayer. Though killing Aerys II was the right choice, no one will ever know that his actions were to save countless lives, and he will forever be the vile man that killed the King he swore to protect.

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