Jaime Lannister

Jaime Lannister is a major character in Game of Thrones. He is played by starring cast member Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and débuts in the first episode of the first season.

Ser Jaime Lannister is a knight of the Kingsguard, a position he has held for twenty years since a teenager. He first rose to the post under the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, whom he killed at the conclusion of Robert's Rebellion. For this act he earned the epithet 'Kingslayer'. He was forgiven his breaking of his vows by King Robert Baratheon and permitted to remain in the Kingsguard, part of Robert's alliance with House Lannister (along with the marriage of Jaime's twin sister Cersei to Robert). After Robert's death and the dismissal of Lord Commander Barristan Selmy, Jaime was promoted in absentia to commander of the Kingsguard.

Jaime is the eldest son of Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock, but due his place in the Kingsguard he cannot inherit his father's lands. He is the older brother of Tyrion and the twin brother of Cersei. In a secret known to only a few, he is also Cersei's lover and the biological father of her children, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, whom the world belives are Robert's. Jaime is infamous for his killing of the Mad King, but is also noted for his arrogance and his supreme martial skills.

Season 1
In King's Landing, Jaime counsels his sister, Cersei over fears that Jon Arryn may have discovered their secret prior to his death. Jaime informs her that this could not be the case as they would already be dead. He accompanies King Robert to Winterfell where he plans to ask Eddard Stark to replace Jon Arryn as Hand of the King. After their arrival, Cersei sends Jaime to find their younger brother Tyrion. Jaime tracks Tyrion to a brothel, tells him that he is needed at the feast that night and brings him several whores to speed his exit.

Eddard and Robert go hunting, leaving the castle largely empty. Cersei and Jaime liaise in derelict tower. Bran Stark climbs the tower and finds them engaged in sexual intercourse. He is caught watching by Cersei, and Jaime grabs him. He asks how old Bran is. When Bran replies "Ten", Jaime sighs and pushes him out of the window, saying "The things I do for love".

The next day, at breakfast, Tyrion tells his family that Bran is expected to live and notes his sibling's guarded reactions to the news. Tyrion informs them of his decision to journey north to see the Wall before returning to King's Landing. The parties depart Winterfell. Jaime is with the group traveling south to King's Landing.

The royal party reaches King's landing. Eddard barely has time to get off his horse before he is asked to attend a meeting of the king's small council. Jaime awaits him in the throne room. Jaime is unhappy with Eddard judging him for killing the Mad King, the murderer of Eddard's father and brother, but Eddard is unapologetic.



A raven arrives at King's Landing with news of Bran's recovery. In the capital Cersei fears he will expose their secret, but Jaime comforts her. Elsewhere, Robert swaps old war stories with Ser Barristan Selmy, a distinguished and famous knight and commander of the Kingsguard. They are joined by Jaime who is questioned by Robert about his role in the death of the Mad King. Robert initially mocks Jaime for killing a defenceless old man, but Jaime points out that the old man had spent the day ordering the execution of supposed traitors and criminals by being burned alive.

Jaime guards the king's bedroom whilst he cavorts with several women, taking it as an insult to his sister. He reminisces with Jory Cassel, the captain of Eddard's household guards, about the Siege of Pyke during the Greyjoy Rebellion and the fierceness of the fighting.



Upon hearing of his brother's capture by Catelyn Stark, he confronts Eddard in the streets of King's Landing. Knowing that killing Eddard will result in Tyrion's death, he instead has Eddard's guards executed, stabbing Jory through the eye himself. He and Eddard cross swords, and Jaime is surprised that Eddard is a match for him. The fight ends prematurely when a Lannister guardsmen stabs Eddard through the leg. An irritated Jaime knocks out the guardsman and then departs the city, telling Eddard that he wants his brother back.

Jaime joins the army of his father, Tywin Lannister, in the field. Tywin is incredulous and disgusted that Jaime would let Eddard live and go free because his victory was not 'clean'. Tywin says that Jaime must accept responsibility for the future destiny of their house, which will be decided by this war against the Tullys and Starks. He gives Jaime thirty thousand men and sends him to besiege Riverrun. In King's Landing, Eddard tells Cersei that he knows that Jaime is the true father of Cersei's three children. She admits it, saying they have loved one another from the womb and are destined to be together always.

Some weeks later, Ser Kevan Lannister, Jaime's uncle, tells Tyrion that Jaime has won several significant battles, smashing a host of the river lords at the Golden Tooth and is now laying siege to Riverrun.

Robb Stark marches two thousand men towards Tywin's forces in order to create a distraction. The remaining force feints outside Riverrun, drawing out Jaime and a small number of troops to deal with what appears to be a small scouting party, and Jaime is taken prisoner in the resulting Battle of the Whispering Wood. Robb initially intends to use Jaime to bargaining chip for his father's and sister's lives. However, Eddard is executed in King's Landing before news of Jaime's capture can reach the capital.

Catelyn Stark visits the captive Jaime, who admits to pushing Bran from the tower but doesn't reveal why. He taunts Catelyn, saying widowhood suits her, informing her that he would have sex with her if she was lonely which she strikes him for. Jaime knows that the Starks won't kill him as long as his sister holds Sansa and Arya hostage. He then says that her gods have abandoned her and arrogantly says, "There are no men like me. Only me."

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, Jaime Lannister was a prodigious warrior. Knighted at fifteen and appointed to the Kingsguard by King Aerys II Targaryen, he served alongside such great warriors as Ser Arthur Dayne, the legendary Sword of the Morning, and Lord Commander Gerold Hightower. However, Jaime's appointment angered his father, Tywin, since it meant Jaime was no longer his heir, the honor of which instead fell to Tywin's misshapen and hated youngest son, Tyrion. At the climax of Robert's Rebellion, when the Lannister armies stormed King's Landing, Jaime betrayed his king by murdering him at the foot of the Iron Throne itself.

Jaime was forgiven his crime by King Robert Baratheon and reinstated to the Kingsguard, but he has carried the name 'Kingslayer' ever since.

A point highlighted in the books (but also observable in the series) is that Jaime is the only member of Tyrion's immediate family who ever treated him with respect or kindness. Jaime never approved of Tywin and Cersei's long history of abuse towards Tyrion and instead actually treated him like a brother. In his own warped way, Jaime is one of the few Lannisters (other than Tyrion) who shows any hint of honor or principles, even if this is largely based on his arrogance and pride at being a member of the Kingsguard. Although he wasn't aware of it at the time, Jaime is deeply upset when he finds out that Cersei dismissed Ser Barristan Selmy and started staffing the Kingsguard with political cronies, whom he felt were not worthy of that high honor. Moreover, Jaime isn't a very ambitious man, and while the early sections of the book A Game of Thrones play to the suspicion that Jaime wants to seize the throne himself, this is later shown to be a red herring. The series made this clear with the invented scene in the first episode when Jaime tells Cersei that he doesn't want to become the Hand of the King.