Season Seven Episode Four Spoils of War left us with the eerie image of Jaime
Lannister looking like he's about to drown, weighed down by the Lions of his
Lannister family armour. As we figure out whether he could really be dead or alive
the cliffhanger leads us to look back at Jaime's character development over these
seven seasons to see who he's become and if the show could really be done with
him just yet. Jaime Lannister is among the most popular characters in Game of
Thrones and that's a curious fact given his completely unsympathetic
introduction,
[The things I do for live.]
and the countless questionable deeds he goes on
to commit. Within two seasons he's committed incest, attempted child murder
and cousin killing.
[There's no kind of kidding that doesn't have its own word.]
Yet from the
third season on Jaime's character takes a turn. He appears to be redeeming
himself behaving like an honorable man yet questions remain has he truly
changed? Is his goodness for good or just a flirtation with another version of
himself that can't really last?
Your bed must be lonely. Is that why you came? I'm
not at my best but I think I can be of service.
Slip out of that gown and we'll see if...]
A crucial turning point for
his character arrives with the sudden loss of his sword hand permanently
stunting his ability to fight and challenging his identity as a warrior.
The wounded Jaime minus a key piece of himself
gradually appears to become more of a man.
[How many lives have you saved?]
[Half a million.]
The real birth of the new Jamie comes through his relationship with Brienne. We
witness the first sign of human Jamie when he talks the Bolton men out of
raping Brienne seemingly out of basic decency
[Her honor un-besmirched]
But basic decency is significant for Jaime as so far he's been happy to commit
egregious acts for even limited expediency or self gain. He then goes on
to reveal begrudgingly that he's had a sense of decency all along -- that he
stabbed the Mad King in the back to save King's Landing from destruction out of
noble concerns for innocent lives rather than
as an act of dishonor. He starts showing redemption through action when he puts
himself in harm's way to save Brienne from the bear pit. After this point the two
sides of Jamie -- the Lannister and the human -- are embodied in his two most
significant relationships: his love affair with Cersei, and his friendship
with Brienne. Like Cersei the Lannister in him is beautiful, self-serving
superior and ruthless, allowing no room for human weakness. Significantly, when
Cersei first sees Jamie without his hand she rejects him as less than the former
Jaime she knew.
[Everything's changed! You come back after all this time with no
apologies in one hand and expect everything to be the same.]
Like Brienne, the human Jaime is dedicated and chivalrous.
[If you were a woman you wouldn't resist. You'd let them do what they wanted.]
[If I was a woman, I'd make them kill me. I'm not, thank the Gods.]
Following the death of Joffrey, Jaime forces himself on Cersei in a disturbing
scene. It departs from the same scene in the book significantly and that many
interpret as rape. Jaime's violent behavior complicates the picture of the
developing humanity we've been seeing, although it's clear at least that his
uglier inhuman side comes out around her. Yet while the siblings resumed their
affair after this, the other human Jaime continues to act against Cersei's will.
He personally arranges for Tyrion's escape -- an extreme betrayal of his sister
in favor of humanity or doing the right thing. Yet the human in Jaime with this
reawakened emotional sensitivity also turns him even more into Cersei's tool.
Through their shared losses they forge a bond stronger than ever. He appears to
love Cersei more than his own goodness; perhaps even more than life itself.
in season seven Jaime's loyalty to Cersei is all-consuming and
unconditional, as if her faults are irrelevant to him due to his addictive
love of her.
[Yes I'm sure Queen Cersei's reign will be quiet and peaceful.]
[Ahh, stranger things have happened.]
[Like what?]
At the same time his failure to argue
back or bother contradicting the many criticisms thrown at Cersei, is a tacit
admission that deep down he's not blind. He sees her accurately.
[You love her. You really
do love her. You poor fool. She'll be the end of you.]
[Possibly. Not much to be gained
much to be gained from discussing it with you though is there?]
The first episode of season seven gave us a fascinating scene between the twins as
Cersei speaks of a future dynasty and Jamie gives her an aggressively puzzled look
as if to say, 'with what children?'
[Our children are dead. We're the last of us.]
[A dynasty for us then.]
He chooses to keep supporting her yet he's aware of her
growing madness. A key prophecy in the book predicts that Cersei will die at
the hands of a little brother. The most obvious suspect would be Tyrion who
hates his sister but some fans believe Jamie may ultimately fulfill that
prophecy, possibly in an effort to save the world from Cersei which would be
reminiscent of his murder of the Mad King. if there's truth in this prophecy
it sets up a dark climax to Jaime's final choice between his two
personalities. At the end of the Spoils of War, Jamie sees a defenseless Daenerys
right in front of him and he willingly sacrifices himself for the chance to win
the war for Cersei. It's a classic move for the chivalrous Knight which is a
trope Jamie mostly subverts. But Tyrion's brokenhearted words to his brother
express that, to Tyrion, Jaime's unbreakable Lannister loyalty is blind
stupidity, embodied in the image of the knight charging into the mouth of a
dragon for his love. Jaime's behavior here even reminds us of
Jon Snow's reckless yet lovable heroics in the Battle of the Bastards. The final
moment of Jamie in the water is a callback to Bran falling from the tower
in season 1, our most significant introduction to Jamie. And now we
witness another stupid thing he does for love of Cersei. Given how much Jamie
still has left to do in the show, the shot in the Spoils of War is most likely
not the literal death of Jamie, but a metaphorical one telling us he's as good
as dead eventually. And it foreshadows that the ultimate cause of his demise is
the one predicted by Olenna -- the heavy burden of his loyalty to family and
Cersei, like the Lion Armor, will weigh him down to a sad isolated end. Water can
be a symbol of love or emotion, so to drown signifies that Jaime's addiction
to Cersei will destroy him in one way or another.
Still he's got a lot left to do in this story.
Jamie's even become a recent favorite with fans to be the character who
ultimately fulfills the Azor Ahai or Prince he was promised, and Light-Bringer
Prophecy. The split in Jamie's character must come to a head as he finally
decides for good between his sister and his humanity