Jaime Lannister

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Jaime Lannister, also known as the Kingslayer, is a knight of House Lannister. He is the second son and eldest son of Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock and his wife, Lady Joanna, also of House Lannister. He is the twin brother of Queen Cersei Lannister. Raised at the age of fifteen in the Kingsguard of the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, Jaime became the youngest member in the history of the prestigious knightly order. He earned the derogatory nickname "Kingslayer" when he treacherously killed Aerys near the end of Robert's Rebellion. In A Storm of Swords, Jaime becomes a POV character. In the television adaptation Game of Thrones, Jaime is played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Pseudonyms: Regicide The Lion of Lannister The Golden Man Crippled The Young Lion Golden Hand Titles: Being Guardian of the East (formerly) Lord Commander of the Royal Guard Allegiances: House Lannister Royal Guard Culture: Western men Born: 266 AD Casterly Rock, the Westerlands Father: Lord Tywin Lannister Mother: Lady Joanna Lannister Lover: Queen Cersei Lannister Children: Unrecognized bastards: Prince Joffrey Baratheon Princess Myrcella Baratheon Prince Tommen Baratheon

APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER

As children, Jaime and his sister Cersei looked so alike that not even their father could tell them apart. Jaime grew up to be a tall, handsome man with curly hair the color of beaten gold. He has bright cat-green eyes and a smile that cuts like a knife. Jon Snow thinks to himself that Jaime is "what a king should be", and Bran Stark feels that Jaime is "more like the knights in the stories". He is muscular and extremely strong, reflecting that he could only think of a few men in the Seven Kingdoms stronger than him, and that his speed and skill can defeat them. As a knight of the Kingsguard, Jaime wears white armor and a white cape. . He occasionally wears golden armor decorated with the Lannister lion, with a golden longsword and ornate lion helmet. He killed the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen while wearing his white cape over his golden armor. Jaime alternately wears a crimson silk tunic embroidered with a golden lion, along with black boots and a black cape. He also wears crimson capes and a leather jacket. Jaime wields a golden wooden spear.Jaime is a born warrior, with little interest in politics and court intrigue. He takes few things seriously. By his own admission, Jaime only feels truly alive when he fights or makes love. He appears arrogant, amoral, and dishonorable. Because of King Aerys' death, Jaime has gained such a bad reputation among many that everything he says is usually cast in the worst possible light. To commoners, however, Jaime is esteemed as Serwyn of the Mirror Shield and Prince Aemon the Dragon Knight. Jaime is rash, stubborn and quickly angered. He is known for having little patience, and worries about the consequences of his actions only after he has committed them. A great and especially skilled warrior, Jaime inspires loyalty in his men. He is bold and does not fear death. According to Catelyn Stark, Jaime is an experienced battle commander

EARLY LIFE

Jaime was born in 266 AC, as the first-born son of Ser Tywin Lannister, the heir to Casterly Rock, and his wife, Lady Joanna.Jaime was born shortly after his twin sister Cersei, while holding her foot. King Aerys II Targaryen sent Jaime and Cersei their weight in gold as a name day gift, and ordered Lord Tywin to bring the children to court when they were old enough to travel. It is currently unknown whether this visit to King's Landing actually occurred, as the royal court came to Casterly Rock after the death of Lord Tytos Lannister in 267 CE. James and Cersei visited King's Landing in 272 CE, when their mother brought them from Casterly Rock for the Anniversary Tournament held to celebrate the tenth year of the reign of King Aerys.Jaime and Cersei were inseparable as children. They looked so similar as children that not even their father could keep them apart. Sometimes they would dress in each other's clothes and spend the whole day as each other. As children, they played together in the bowels of Casterly Rock, where their late grandfather Tytos' caged lions were kept. Jaime and Cersei dared each other to climb into the cage. Cersei and Jaime slept together in the same bed when they were very young, and even experimented sexually together at a young age. During one of these encounters, they were caught by a servant who informed her mother. Jaime's room was immediately moved to the other side of the castle, while a guard was placed near Cersei's room. The twins were told never to do anything like that again as Joanna would be forced to tell their father.

EARLY LIFE

Jaime's mother died shortly afterwards, in 273 AC, while giving birth to Jaime's younger brother, Tyrion. Although Tyrion is a malformed dwarf, and both his father and sister despise the young Lannister, Jaime has developed an affection for his son. younger brother and treated him with kindness and respect. Shortly after Joanna's death, the Princess of Dorne visited Casterly Rock with her two youngest children, Elia and Oberyn Martell. When she finally proposed an engagement between Elia and Jaime, she was refused. In 276 AC, when Jaime was ten years old, Lord Tywin organized a tourney to celebrate the birth of the young Prince Viserys Targaryen. During this tournament, Tywin suggested to King Aerys that Jaime could squire to Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, but Aerys refused and appointed other lords' sons to the position. According to Cersei, young Jaime was only interested in dogs, horses, swords and her.Jaime went to Crakehall at the age of eleven and spent four years as squire to Lord Sumner Crakehall, alongside Merrett Frey.He occasionally visited Casterly Rock during this time, and was furious when, in 278 AD, her sister Cersei was taken to King's Landing by her father. At thirteen, still a squire, Jaime won his first melee tournament. While Lord Sumner's squire, Jaime was sent to Riverrun as Lord Tywin and Lord Hoster Tully were considering betrothing Jaime to Hoster's youngest daughter, Lysa. According to Sumner, the message that Jaime was to take to Hoster could not be entrusted to a raven. He spent fifteen days in Riverrun, sitting next to Lysa at meals. Jaime ignored her, however, being more interested in the stories of Hoster's younger brother, Ser Brynden, a famous warrior who fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, and whom Jaime asked for stories about the war.

EARLY LIFE

Ser Addam Marbrand, the heir to Lord Damon Marbrand of Ashemark, is a childhood friend of Jaime. The two remain friends to this day.

ELEVATED TO KNIGHT AND ROYAL GUARD

At fifteen, Jaime participated in the campaign against the Kingswood Brotherhood, during which he saved Lord Sumner Crakehall from Big Belly Ben and crossed swords with the psychotic Smiling Knight. After the Brotherhood was defeated, Jaime was knighted for bravery demonstrated on the battlefield by Ser Arthur Dayne, a member of King Aerys II Targaryen's Kingsguard. Jaime held a vigil at a nearby sept, and the next morning Arthur cut down to Jaime's shoulder by tapping the young man's tunic with Dawn. Now a knight, Jaime was to return to Casterly Rock. He decided to stop in King's Landing en route, to visit his sister, from whom he had been separated for years. There, Cersei informed him that her father, Lord Tywin Lannister, intended to marry him to Lysa Tully, and had gone so far as to invite Lord Hoster to King's Landing to discuss the dowry. Cersei suggested that Jaime become a member of the Kingsguard, replacing the recently deceased Ser Harlan Grandison. While this would require Jaime to give up his claim to Casterly Rock and his position as Tywin's heir, it would allow him to be close to Cersei and free himself from his unwanted marriage to Lysa. After a night of passionate sex, he gave his consent to Cersei's plan. While the brothers waited for Tywin to object, Cersei claimed that he could not openly object. She promised to do the rest, and a month later, Jaime received news at Casterly Rock that he had been chosen for the Kingsguard, and should join the Kingsguard. present to the king during the great tournament at Harrenhal, where he would say his vows and don his cloak. Jaime and Cersei's plan didn't work entirely as expected. His father, furious at the king's decision, pleaded illness and resigned his position as Hand of the King. He returned to Casterly Rock, taking Cersei with him, which separated the brothers once again.

ELEVATED TO KNIGHT AND ROYAL GUARD

James was elevated to the Kingsguard by his Lord Commander, Ser Gerold Hightower, in a ceremony at Harrenhal in 281 AC, making him the youngest knight to be elevated to the order. That night, however, King Aerys soured the honor by sending him back to King's Landing to protect Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys, depriving Jaime of the chance to participate in Lord Walter Whent's tourney. It was at that moment that Jaime realized that the king had chosen him for the Kingsguard only to belittle Lord Tywin, of whom Aerys was insanely jealous, and to steal his heir. Jaime left for King's Landing immediately. When a mysterious knight appeared at the tournament, King Aerys became convinced that it was Jaime, who had defied his orders and returned secretly. However, the mysterious knight disappeared, and nothing more came of the king's suspicions. Upon being elevated to the Kingsguard, James gave up his claim to Casterly Rock. However, Tywin continued to consider him his true heir and was always angry to see Jaime dressed all in white instead of the red and gold of House Lannister.

SERVING THE ROYAL GUARD

Knighted in 281 AC, Jaime served in King Aerys II Targaryen's Kingsguard for two years. Jaime grew increasingly disillusioned, witnessing the Mad King's growing insanity and his tendency to burn men alive. In 282 AC, Jaime witnessed the executions of Brandon and Lord Rickard Stark, standing at the foot of the Iron Throne as the two Starks died. Jaime coped by "going within", focusing on thoughts of Cersei rather than the events unfolding before him. Afterwards, he was reminded by his Lord Commander, Ser Gerold Hightower, that he had sworn to protect the king, not judge him. Jaime would later advise others to "go within" as a way of coping with a harsh reality and making a terrible task bearable.

ROBERT'S REBELLION

After the deaths of Brandon and Rickard Stark, Lord Jon Arryn refused to obey Aerys II Targaryen's order to send the heads of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon, starting a war that would become known as Robert's Rebellion. After the Battle of the Bells, it became apparent to Aerys that Robert posed a serious threat to the Targaryen rule. He devised a plan with the help of his top pyromancers, which involved placing caches of wildfire throughout the city. The plan was to burn the city to the ground rather than lose it to Robert. His new Hand, Lord Qarlton Chelsted, who had been elevated to the position after the exile of the previous Hand, Lord Jon Connington, after the Battle of the Bells, eventually confronted Aerys about his plan. Unable to convince Aerys to give up his plan, Chelsted resigned his office, throwing his chain of office to the ground. For this, Aerys burned him alive. Because Aerys did not trust his newest addition to the Kingsguard, Jaime was kept close by and thus heard and saw everything. Aerys became aroused by burning people, and on the night that Chelsted was burned, Aerys visited his wife's chambers. Jaime and his sworn brother, Ser Jonothor Darry, stood guard outside Queen Rhaella's bedchamber while Aerys used her, listening to her screams. When a conflicted Jaime eventually commented to Jonothor that they had sworn to protect the queen as well, Jon replied, "but not him." Shortly afterward, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen left the Red Keep to face the rebels at the Trident. On the day the prince left, Jaime begged Rhaegar to take him along, suggesting that one of the other knights of the Kingsguard could remain at the king's side. Jaime refused the suggestion, admitting that King Aerys wanted to keep Jaime close by as a hostage against his father, Lord Tywin. Rhaegar promised an angry and disappointed Jaime that changes would be made when he returned from the battlefield, and tasked Jaime with

REGICIDE

As a rebel army led by Lord Eddard Stark raced toward King's Landing following Rhaegar's death at the Trident, Lord Tywin Lannister appeared first at the capital's gates with twelve thousand men. His main concerns were that King Aerys II Targaryen would be capable of killing Jaime out of spite, as well as that Jaime himself might do something rash. Although Lord Varys, master of the whisperers, advised Aerys not to open the gates, the king listened to Grand Maester Pycelle, who told him that his old Hand, Tywin, had come to his defense. As such, the city's gates were opened to Tywin and his army, but once inside, Tywin betrayed Aerys and began the Sack of King's Landing. As the only Kingsguard remaining in King's Landing, the defense of the Red Keep became Jaime's responsibility. Knowing he had no chance of defending the castle, he sent a messenger to the king, asking permission to make a deal with the attackers. The messenger returned with Aerys' order that Jaime should bring Lord Tywin's head, to prove he was not a traitor. The messenger also informed him that Rossart was with the king, leading Jaime to believe that Aerys was about to command the city's destruction. Jaime killed Rossart, who was dressed as a common soldier and running to a back gate. When the king in the throne room saw the blood on Jaime's sword, he demanded to know if it was Tywin's, renewing his command that Jaime must bring his father's head, otherwise Jaime would burn with all the other traitors. When Jaime replied that it was Rossart's blood, the frightened Aerys ran towards the Iron Throne. Jaime pulled him off the steps and killed his king with a single blow to the throat, thus preventing him from giving the command to burn the city to any other pyromancer.

REGICIDE

Lord Tywin's men, led by Ser Elys Westerling and Lord Roland Crakehall, burst into the throne room in time to see that Jaime had killed the king, preventing any chance of Jaime escaping and letting someone else take responsibility. to warn everyone who was still fighting that the king was dead and to spare anyone who surrendered. Lord Crakehall then asked whether a new king should be proclaimed as well, indicating that it could be Lord Tywin or Lord Robert Baratheon or that even a new Targaryen king could be proclaimed. Jaime pondered the possibility of choosing Viserys or Rhaegar's son Aegon as the new king with Tywin as his Hand, but, realizing that both boys shared the same blood as Aerys and therefore the same propensity for madness, Jaime declared to Lord Crakehall that it was all the same to him. He then sat on the Iron Throne, waiting to see who would come to claim it. He was found sitting there with his golden sword across his legs when Lord Stark entered the hall with his men to claim the throne for Robert. James handed the throne over to Eddard, proclaiming it to be an uncomfortable seat.

Over the next few days, Jaime secretly hunted down and killed the other two pyromancers involved in Aerys' wildfire plot, Belis and Garigus. Although Eddard urged Robert to take Jaime's white cloak, arguing that he should at least be required to To join the Night's Watch, Robert listened to Jon Arryn. Jaime was pardoned at the coronation of Robert I Baratheon, along with Varys and Pycelle, and continued to serve in the Kingsguard along with Ser Barristan Selmy. Jaime was present at Robert's coronation party, where Robert joked about the fact that Jaime was already being called "Kingslayer". He is known to himself, other members of the Kingsguard, and even Winterfell and Essos by the nickname. Although reviled by the kingdom for his betrayal, James considers Aerys' death to be his finest act. His true motivation for killing King Aerys remains unknown to the masses.

REIGN OF ROBET I BARATHEON

Jaime was part of the honor guard that brought Cersei to King's Landing for her wedding to Robert I Baratheon. Jaime and Cersei had sex on the morning of their wedding in 284 AC, and Jaime was unhappy when Cersei married King Robert in the Great Sept of Baelor. Jaime won the tournament held to celebrate the marriage. Jaime and Cersei continued their illicit relationship after their marriage. Cersei refused to join her new husband on his hunting trips, so she could spend time with Jaime. Jaime accompanied Robert and Cersei to Greenstone, when Robert went to visit his mother's family. Jaime nicknamed the castle "Greenshit" when he first saw it, and convinced Cersei to do the same. They spent a fortnight with the Estermonts. During one of these nights, Jaime followed Robert at Cersei's request, to confirm her suspicion that Robert was sleeping with his cousin. Jaime and Cersei slept together that night, and Cersei likes to believe that her eldest son, Joffrey, was conceived that night. Jaime and Cersei would have three children: Joffrey, born in 286 AD, Myrcella, born in 289 AD, and Tommen, born in 289 AD, born 290 AD Although believed by the kingdom to be Robert's sons, James is the father of all three and was present at at least one of the births. Although Cersei also got pregnant by Robert once, she had Jaime find a woman to cleanse her.

REIGN OF ROBET I BARATHEON

One day, Jaime and his brother Tyrion, thirteen years old at the time, while riding from Lannisport to Casterly Rock, encountered a fourteen-year-old girl named Tysha, who was being followed by bandits. While Jaime chased the men, Tyrion took the girl to an inn. The two ended up sleeping together, the first time for both of them. Tyrion fell in love and secretly married a crofter's orphaned daughter. After a fortnight, however, Lord Tywin learned of the marriage. He instructed Jaime to lie to Tyrion and claim that he had staged the entire affair, including the bandits, because he thought his brother finally needed a woman. Jaime was further ordered to tell Tyrion that Tysha was, in fact, a prostitute, for whom Jaime had paid double because she was still a maiden. Lord Tywin advised Jaime that all Tysha wanted was the Lannister gold, which made her no better than a whore, so it wouldn't even be a lie, predicting that Tyrion would thank his brother later in life. Jaime did as ordered. It is currently unknown whether Jaime is aware of the punishment Tysha received from Tywin. However, the entire experience traumatized Tyrion, making him believe that no woman could love him for who he truly was. Jaime hid the truth about Tysha from Tyrion, and later considered his role in breaking up his brother's marriage to be the only occasion on which he was cruel to Tyrion. After the Greyjoy Rebellion in 289 AC, Jaime attended the tournament at Lannisport, where he broke nine spears against Ser Jorah Mormont. Robert eventually rewarded Jorah with victory. In 296 AC, James gave Tyrion a mare for his brother's twenty-third name day. James visited Oldtown at some point in his life.

GAME OF THRONES

After the death of his adoptive father, Lord Jon Arryn, King Robert I Baratheon travels north to visit Lord Eddard Stark at Winterfell and persuade him to become Jon's successor as Hand of the King. Jaime is chosen by Robert to succeed Jon as Warden of the East, rather than Jon's son, the young Lord Robert Arryn, who would have been the traditional appointee. The king is accompanied by much of the court, including Jaime, Queen Cersei Lannister, and her brother Tyrion. While at Winterfell, Jaime and Cersei attend a feast hosted by House Stark. Jon's widow Lysa Arryn sends a coded message to her sister, Eddard's wife Catelyn, claiming that the Lannisters murdered Jon. While Robert is away hunting, Cersei and Jaime are caught having sex in the First Keep by Bran Stark. The boy is shocked and nearly falls off the building. Jaime pulls him up and throws him out of a window, intending to kill him to keep the affair a secret. Bran survives, but falls into a coma. Ned accepts Robert's invitation to be Hand, and in King's Landing he begins investigating the death of Jon Arryn. He discovers Jaime and Cersei's secret relationship by piecing together the fact that every time in history a Lannister has married a Baratheon, they have produced black-haired children. Instead, Cersei's children Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are all fair-haired. During the Hand's tourney, Jaime wears his golden armor under his white cloak. He defeats Ser Andar Royce, Lord Bryce Caron, and Ser Barristan Selmy, but is unhorsed by Sandor Clegane.

GAME OF THRONES

Meanwhile, Catelyn Stark, Lady of Winterfell, captures Jaime's brother Tyrion on suspicion of involvement in a failed assassination attempt on Bran Stark. In retaliation for Tyrion's capture, but apparently to create a revolt, Jaime breaks the Kingsguard's neutrality by leading Lannister men in an attack on Ned and his guards in the streets of King's Landing, leading to numerous deaths on both sides. Robert orders Ned and Jaime to make peace, but the Kingslayer has already fled King's Landing to join his father, Lord Tywin Lannister. Jaime begins to gather a host at Casterly Rock, and the Lannisters ignore an inquiry into his actions by Ser Edmure Tully. Robert dies after being gored in the kingswood by a boar, and the king is succeeded by Joffrey I Baratheon, who is actually Jaime's son. Jaime's army marches against the river lords, crushing Lord Vance and Lord Clement Piper in a battle on the hills below the Golden Tooth. Jaime then defeats Edmure's army in a battle beneath the walls of Riverrun, capturing the heir of House Tully. Jaime establishes three camps at Riverrun and lays siege to the castle. Meanwhile, Joffrey's small council dismisses Ser Barristan Selmy as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and appoints Jaime as his replacement. Robb Stark's northern army steals a surprise march on Jaime, intending to relieve Riverrun. Ser Brynden Tully attacks Jaime's camps to lure him north of Riverrun, and Robb ambushes the Lannister detachment in the Whispering Wood. Seeing that the battle is lost, Jaime fights bravely to try to overthrow Robb, managing to kill Daryn Hornwood, Eddard Karstark and Torrhen Karstark before he is captured.

GAME OF THRONES

Then the Stark and Tully forces are able to defeat Jaime's leaderless troops at the Battle of the Camps, and Jaime is imprisoned at Riverrun. Ser Stevron Frey proposes rescuing Jaime back to Tywin, but the suggestion is opposed by the northerners. Jaime's capture demoralizes Tywin's bannermen at the Crossroads Inn. Tyrion thinks Tywin left Jaime for dead.

THE FURY OF KINGS

While the War of the Five Kings rages around him, Jaime is kept imprisoned in a comfortable cell in the tower at Riverrun. Unbeknownst to Jaime, Cersei has taken his cousin Lancel Lannister as her lover to King's Landing. After arriving in the capital, Tyrion promises to help free Jaime in order to gain Cersei's support in his rule as Hand. Tyrion swears in open court that, as part of a peace, he would trade Sansa and Arya Stark for his brother's safe return. Ser Cleos Frey and Vylarr travel to Riverrun with Tyrion's offer. Tyrion has a secret plan to free Jaime with false envoys, however. Jaime kills Poul Pemford and Myles and wounds Delp in the rescue attempt, but he is eventually recaptured. For breaking his word not to attempt escape, Edmure has Jaime transferred to the dungeons. He is kept chained and malnourished. Distraught by the news of the supposed deaths of her sons Bran and Rickon Stark following the capture of Winterfell, Catelyn interrogates Jaime after the Battle of the Fords. He now has a scraggly beard, having not been allowed to use a razor, and his hair is dirty and matted. Jaime's power and beauty are still apparent, however, and he resembles a magnificent yellow beast. Jaime casually admits to Catelyn that he threw her son Bran out of a window.

WHITE PAPER ENTRY

Ser Jaime of House Lannister. Firstborn son of Lord Tywin and Lady Joanna of Casterly Rock. He served against the Kingswood Brotherhood as a squire to Lord Sumner Crakehall. Knighted in his 15th year by Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard, for bravery in the field. Chosen into the Kingsguard in his 15th year by King Aerys II Targaryen. During the Sack of King's Landing, he killed King Aerys II at the foot of the Iron Throne. Later known as the "Kingslayer". Forgiven for his crime by King Robert I Baratheon. He served in the honor guard that brought his sister, Lady Cersei Lannister, to King's Landing to marry King Robert. Champion in the tournament held in King's Landing on the occasion of his wedding. —James's achievements as recorded in the White Book by Gerold Hightower and Barristan Selmy