Warning: Contains Spoilers
HBONot everybody has been happy about the steep twist in Jaime Lannister’s redemption arc over the last couple of episodes. And I kind of get it.
When we first meet Jaime in season one, he’s a pretty vile individual with his only redeeming quality apparently being the ability to care about his brother.
An incestuous would-be child killer, early seasons Jaime is made all the more contemptible by his arrogance and the sense that he is totally above any sense of justice.
However, once his path intertwined with Brienne’s, everything changed, and a far more human, vulnerable character emerged.
Left with a life-changing injury and a divided heart, we came to understand Jaime more. Although once derided as an ‘oathbreaker’ and the ‘kingslayer’, we came to realize how difficult his past choices had been.
This was demonstrated in his speech to Brienne in Season Three, where he cautioned her to consider how complex keeping your oath could be:
Tell me, if your precious Renly commanded you to kill your own father and stand by while thousands of men, women, and children burned alive, would you have done it? Would you have kept your oath then?
When Jaime defied Cersei and headed up to Winterfell to fight against the Army of the Dead, we felt his character arc was almost complete.
It was touching to see Jaime laughing with Tyrion, and showing real romantic affection towards Brienne. He appeared to have grown as a person, with his desire to protect people overriding his obsessive love of his twin sister. Even his hair was less golden.
HBOAnd then Jaime went back to King’s Landing to be with, and ultimately die with, Cersei. For many people, this felt like a huge U-turn on the progress Jaime has made as a character.
Many fans feel that, as a redeemed hero, he deserved more than to be crushed beneath the Red Keep with a sister who has been – to put it lightly – a poisonous influence.
Although this is no doubt how Jaime would have wanted to go, many fans couldn’t help but wonder why he was brought so far in the plot just to end up where he began.
To counteract this, a fan has put together a poignant video as a tribute to the knight. Take a look for yourself:
Not always a particularly honourable Ser, Jaime Lannister remains one of the best characters in Game of Thrones, with his redemption arc being among the most complicated in TV history.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.