It’s hard to believe sometimes that at the beginning of the Game of Thrones series, Jaime Lannister was the most hated character on the show. Everyone viewed him as the true villain of the story, at least at that point. The biggest part of the hatred fans had for Jaime spawned from a moment in the premiere. See, while in the midst of an inappropriate intimate moment with his twin sister, Cersei, young Bran Stark stumbled upon the scene. And what was Jaime’s reaction? To push him out of the window at the top of the Winterfell tower.
Though Bran survived, it put Jaime on the map as the villain of Westeros. But over time, we saw more to his character, and by season 3, we saw an entirely different empathic side to Ser Jaime. At this point, he had gone through so many trials and tribulations that the guard he had up was being torn down and his vulnerability was showing.
Since then, fans have decided he’s not as bad as they once thought, and have even begun rooting for Jaime. It’s hard not to when you’ve witnessed the intense character development he has undergone over the course of the past 7 seasons. Even so, there are plenty of flaws that Jaime has - serious ones, in fact. Yet, we all choose to ignore them in favor of supporting the Lannister knight.
Whether or not we actually should be rooting for Jaime is still up in the air. But for now, let’s look at the 20 Things Wrong With Jaime Lannister We All Choose To Ignore.
He Has A Superiority Complex
This was most exemplified in the earlier seasons but has still shown through now and then throughout the series. Jaime has always had a big ego and feels as though he is better than most.
In the first season, he even enjoyed ridiculing others, especially those who were “morally righteous”. A prime example would be when Jon is distraught over Bran’s fall - that Jaime caused, mind you - and to make matters worse for Jon, Jaime mocks his decision to join the Night’s Watch.
Though he appears to be purely egotistical, we know he was actually hiding resentment towards himself for his titles of “Kingslayer” and “Oathbreaker”. But taking out his insecurities on others was never going to help anything.
Jaime Is Sometimes Gullible
In the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones, Cersei was carrying on a relationship with her cousin, Lancel. This was happening with Jaime being completely unaware.
But later on, after Lancel found his faith and joined the movement known as the Sparrows, effectively abandoning his family name, Lancel ends up telling the High Sparrow of all of his sins. Including his relationship with Cersei.
This eventually led to Cersei’s much-talked-about Walk of Shame. At this point, it should be more than obvious to Jaime that their past is actually true. But he still sides with Cersei, seeming to just write it off as a rumor. This shows his gullible side that comes out whenever something is off with Cersei. He’d rather believe her lies than face the truth.
He Doesn’t Have A Backbone With His Father
Tywin Lannister was the patriarch of House Lannister and tended to pull all of the strings when it came to the families dealings. Of course, at least until Tyrion ended his life.
But before that happened, Jaime always did everything his father told him to do, whether he believed it was the right thing or not. He pretty much never questioned the man simply because he was his father. But Jaime is supposed to be a brave swordsman who fears no man, not even his dear old dad. Why was he never able to stick up for himself, or for those less fortunate who had gotten on his father’s bad side? Especially in life or death situations?
He Didn’t Believe Tyrion About Joffrey
In one of the most dramatic moments in Game Of Thrones history - which is seriously saying something - Joffrey was poisoned and met his ultimate demise from it. Because of Tyrion and Joffrey’s tension-filled relationship as uncle and nephew, as well as Tyrion already being a pariah in his own family, all of the blame immediately fell on Tyrion.
Most of this blame, of course, came from Cersei, who absolutely despises Tyrion. But Jaime always believed it to be the truth, also, and it took him hearing from Lady Olenna herself that she was the one behind it to finally believe his brother was innocent.
He should have believed Tyrion wouldn’t be capable of something like that, no matter how much Tyrion disliked Joffrey.
Jaime Is Arrogant
In the first season of GoT, Jaime is very selfish, bitter, and most obviously, arrogant. Part of this is because he was born into a rich and privileged family, plus he’s very handsome. On top of all of that, Jaime is incredibly gifted with his combat skills few other men are able to match up with.
Over time, his arrogance calms down a bit, but never fully goes away. It is one of his worst qualities and is one of the main reasons he was viewed as a villain in the early seasons. But even now, there have been times his arrogance has gotten in the way and only made things worse instead of better.
He Can Be A Coward With Cersei
Cersei Lannister is the type of woman who always gets what she wants, no matter at what cost or whose expense. The main person who she turns to in these situations is her brother, and lover, Jaime.
He does her bidding on several different occasions and rarely says no to her. Even in moments where his morals seem to kick in and he weighs whether what she is requesting is right or if it’s actually wrong, he still ends up doing as she says.
The only occasion where he stuck up for himself and said no to her was at the end of season 7 when he left King’s Landing and Cersei behind to fight the White Walkers, as he said he would. But it took him a long time to get the courage to stand up to his twin.
Jaime Doesn’t Stick Up For Tyrion In Front Of Others
It is more than obvious that most of the time, Jaime has had a soft spot for his brother, Tyrion. Tyrion has always been the outcast of the family and looked at as a “mistake”, but more often than not, his brother, Jaime, feels sorry for him.
He even helped him flee after Joffrey was poisoned and let him escape before facing Cersei’s wrath.
But, in general, Jaime doesn’t really stick up for his brother publicly. He only does so in private, with Tyrion directly. It’s a shame because, under different circumstances, the two could be close. But Jaime’s loyalty has always stayed with Cersei, who absolutely hates Tyrion and everything he stands for.
Well… He Lost His Hand
This was a major plot point in season 3 of Game of Thrones. Jaime loses his hand by a sell-sword of Roose Bolton. The man’s name was Locke, and knowing that he couldn’t take Jaime’s life due to his status, he hit him where he knew it’d hurt. Both literally and figuratively.
He cut off Jaime’s fighting hand. This essentially made the best swordsmen in the seven kingdoms utterly useless in battle. At least, at first.
The thing about it is after the initial shock wore off for audiences and we became accustomed to the one-handed Lannister in the Kingsguard, no one seemed to notice it anymore. But the truth of the matter is, it’s a big change for a man who had it all and should still affect him each and every day.
He Tried To Challenge Robb Stark To A Duel While Knowing Robb Had No Chance
Before Jaime has his hand cut off, he was the best swordsmen in all the land, quite literally. So when he challenged Robb Stark, who was just a young man at the time, to a sword fight, he knew Robb would ultimately not make it out alive.
This was an incredibly unfair challenge to make to a young Robb and shows that at this point in time, Jaime was not very honorable. Especially because the Lannisters were the aggressors with the Starks being the defenders in this battle. Fighting fair should be at the top of his priorities, but during this time, it clearly was not.
Jaime Attacked Ned Stark
Before Ned Stark’s untimely end in season 1, he was the Hand of King Robert Baratheon. But after they had a disagreement about assassinating Daenerys, Ned resigned as the Hand of the King. At the same time, he was aware that his wife had taken Tyrion against his will.
When Jaime finds out about this, he attacks Ned with his fellow Knights. And even though Jaime didn’t end up ending Ned’s life himself, this was one of the first events to lead to Ned’s early demise.
He Isn’t With Brienne
The biggest turning point for Jaime Lannister as a character was when he met Brienne of Tarth in season 2. At first, they were adversaries, but over time developed a friendship that was wonderful to watch unfold. Especially when Jaime was the one to save Brienne from being brutally harmed by Bolton soldiers when the two were taken.
The sad thing is, over the course of the past seven seasons, they have only remained friends when their chemistry is undeniable. Plus, Brienne undoubtedly made Jaime a better man and would continue to do so. Instead, he chose to stay with Cersei. We can only hope he makes a better choice when it comes to Brienne in season 8.
He Ended The Life Of His Own Cousin
When Jaime was taken and put in a cage with a fellow prisoner, he had formed a plan to end his fellow prisoner in an attempt to distract the guards and make his escape. This means he actually ended the life of a fellow Lannister - his own cousin - Alton Lannister, in a brutally ruthless way.
Granted, this was a cousin he hadn’t ever bonded with or really even known. And this was also a very desperate attempt for his freedom. But regardless of his desperation, this is a hard thing to overcome personally. At least, it should be. But he accepted what he had done faster than most would and moved on. We realize it was a tough year for Jaime, but that was brutal even for him.
Jamie And Cersei Were Romantic Next To Joffrey’s Casket
When King Joffrey met his inevitable but intense end, he had a funeral. After, Cersei was beside his casket, mourning the loss of her and Jaime’s son. Jaime shows up, and after a conversation where Cersei asks Jaime to end Tyrion’s life, they get too close.
There are two problems with it, though, aside from the obvious. One is that Jaime was seemingly forcing the situation. There has been some controversy surrounding the scene because of this. But furthermore, it is occurring at a highly inappropriate time.
Even though we all hated Joffrey, it’s still incredibly gross to be engaged in extracurricular activities such as these here.
Jaime Tried To End Khaleesi’s Life
In the season 7 episode of GoT titled, “Spoils of War”, we see Jaime try to earn his title of Kingslayer once again when he charges at Daenerys Targaryen with a spear as she tries to help her dragon, Drogon.
Of course, we all knew it was unlikely that he would succeed in this endeavor, but it was still a completely surprising moment to watch unfold. He barely made it out alive after all was said and done. But it was particularly surprising because he was always very self-loathing for his Kingslayer title, yet he almost repeated history by ending Daenerys’ life.
He Threatened Edmure’s Son With A Catapult
When Jaime was sent to take Riverrun, he came in with guns blazing. He had planned to do whatever it takes to get back to Cersei, including making volatile threats to Edmure and his family, including his offspring.
He told him, “I’ll send for your baby boy. And I’ll launch him into Riverrun with a catapult. Because you don’t matter to me, Lord Edmure. Your son doesn’t matter to me. The people in the castle don’t matter to me. Only Cersei.”
It was a powerful and disturbing scene. It showed the lengths Jaime will go to just to please Cersei and that all rational thought leaves his brain when it comes to her.
He Fathered Joffrey
King Joffrey was by far one of the evilest and ruthless characters on Game Of Thrones. He was a spoiled, entitled, brat who also had a penchant for hurting anything he wanted to. He actually enjoyed seeing people suffer, whether it be emotionally or physically.
If Jaime had never gotten involved with his sister, Cersei - which is already all kinds of wrong - then they, in turn, never would have had children together, particularly not Joffrey.
Joffrey alone set off so many events that ended in tragedy for many people. But Jaime just could not resist his twin sister’s charms, evidently.
Jaime Can Be Ruthless
There are several examples of this. As we mentioned, he did threaten a baby with a catapult, after all. But it seems when it comes to those he loves, especially Cersei, he will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, or what she wants.
He has harmed several people, or kept quiet about his sister’s own actions, in the name of “love”. But in actuality, he has done several things that were less than honorable because he was blinded by his love for his twin.
His ruthlessness can be downright upsetting when it comes down to it and is definitely one of our least favorite traits of his.
He Helped Wage War Against Robb Stark
Ser Jaime Lannister himself decided to lay siege to Riverrun towards the beginning of what is known as the War of the Five Kings. Riverrun was ruled by Hoster Tully, Robb Stark’s maternal grandfather.
So when word was received by Robb that the Lannister army was attempting to take over Riverrun, he went to defend the land as King of the North.
This jumpstarted several events in the war between the Lannisters and the Starks. Jaime was at the helm of this army, and after many things occurred between the two forces, Robb eventually was led to his end at the Red Wedding, along with his wife, unborn child, and mother.
He Watched Cersei Become Queen Knowing She Blew Up The Sept of Baelor
Cersei did one of the meanest things she had ever done in the season six finale: she blew up the Great Sept Of Baelor with several citizens of King’s Landing inside.
She did this with the wildfire that was underneath, left there by the Mad King. When Jaime returned to the city, he saw the Sept up in smoke, and immediately put two and two together that it was Cersei’s doing.
She had no intention of attending her trial, and once everyone who was in her way was gone, she got what she wanted. But then her son, King Tommen, ended his own life, too. This made Cersei the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Jaime may have been furious, but he certainly didn’t do anything to stop her.
Jaime Stayed By Cersei’s Side After Tommen’s End
You would think that after each of their children had met their fates - because of a decision Cersei had made against her enemies, mind you - that Jaime would want absolutely nothing to do with her.
But even after Tommen ended his life after witnessing his wife and everyone else in the Great Sept of Baelor meet their end because of his own mother, Jaime still stayed by her side. He even respected her wishes to not talk about their son.
It makes absolutely no sense that his anger wouldn’t have boiled over with his sister at this point, but his loyalty outweighed his fury, apparently.
