The finale of Game of Thrones left many fans disappointed, particularly with the treatment of Jaime Lannister. Despite a remarkable character development throughout eight seasons, the series failed to give this complex character a fitting conclusion. The article examines how Jaime's journey from an arrogant knight to a more nuanced figure was ultimately undermined in the final episode.
Just as the great wheel of leadership spins on Game of Thrones, HBO’s critically acclaimed fantasy series was seemingly destined to fall. A series could not fly so close to the sun without getting burned, and the infamous finale of the show proved that.
Everyone had qualms about one storyline or another during the Game of Thrones finale, but the most painful disappointment belonged to Jaime Lannister. Portrayed effortlessly by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau for eight seasons, Jaime was the one that fans loved to hate. The twin brother of Queen Cersei , who ended the first episode of the series by pushing a child out of a tower window, the knight of the Kingsguard was arrogant, entitled, and a little too fond of incest.
This encouraged fans to rally against him, but the following seasons showed the character in storylines that housed some of the best character development on television. Regrettably, the best Game of Thrones character was not given the ending he deserved when the series concluded.
‘Game of Thrones’ Destroyed Jaime’s Character Development in the Final Episode Jaime Lannister easily could have been a one-note villain in the same way his sister is portrayed in the series, but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau successfully translated the character from book to screen in a powerful tour de force. At the start, Cersei’s twin would have done anything for House Lannister and even went so far as to get caught to remain faithful to his family.
This changes as Jaime meets Brienne of Tarth and the two travel to King’s Landing together. COLLIDER Collider · Quiz Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention?
Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie. 🐺Stark 🦁Lannister 🐉Targaryen 🦌Baratheon 🌹Tyrell FIND YOUR HOUSE → QUESTION 1 / 8HONOUR 01 Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.
ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly. BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power.
CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me. DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring. ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 8STRENGTH 02 What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours? AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold.
BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment. CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable. DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight. ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 8LOYALTY 03 Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything. AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything.
BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me. CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me. DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth fighting beside. EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 8ENEMIES 04 How do you deal with your enemies? A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could. AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted. BThoroughly — I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same enemy twice.
CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays. DHead-on — I'd rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors. EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 8RULE 05 What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly. AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear.
BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs. CA transformative one — someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible. DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse.
EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 8LOSS 06 You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.
AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do. BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely.
CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next. DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house.
EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready — on our terms, not theirs. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 8WORDS 07 Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.
AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect. BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency.
CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born. DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don't stop until it's done.
EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 8THE THRONE 08 The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character. AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having.
BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself. CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood.
DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked. EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign. REVEAL MY HOUSE → The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is… Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own.
Bend the knee — or don't. That's very much up to you. Winterfell · The North 🐺 House Stark Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.
Casterly Rock · The Westerlands 🦁 House Lannister You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology. Dragonstone · The Iron Throne 🐉 House Targaryen You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.
Storm's End · The Stormlands 🦌 House Baratheon You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them. Highgarden · The Reach 🌹 House Tyrell You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Brienne learns the truth behind his greatest shame and that the character always had the potential for goodness. He just had the bad luck of being born to Tywin Lannister , who had stamped out any potential for empathy. In turn, Jaime learns to think outside himself and becomes one of the most complex characters in the series. Season 3 marks Jaime’s greatest turn, and for the rest of the series, he never looks back.
He turns away from Cersei and rides to Winterfell to pledge himself to the North’s cause. For some reason, this is completely overturned in the final episode when Jaime decides to return to his abusive twin sister. They perish together in the fall of King’s Landing under a pile of rubble. This is a shocking end for a character who had spent most of the series developing into an interesting person of worth.
For no apparent reason, Jaime changes his mind completely and dies with someone who never really loved him. This devastating plot turn makes no sense for Jaime’s character and is also extremely disrespectful to the fans who had followed him for so long. The characters of Game of Thrones go through significant changes throughout the series, but Jaime was one of the most satisfying.
His character assassination was a move that disappointed television fans but was even more baffling for readers of the book. Jaime’s Character In the Book Was Going in a Vastly Different Direction Close Viewers should have seen the writing on the wall for Jaime after Season 4 aired. Even though Jaime’s character development had only just begun, there was one scene that was a hint of the disappointment that was on the horizon.
In a rare flashback for the series, Game of Thrones shows a young Cersei going to a fortune-teller, as she does in the books. Maggy the Frog recites the famous prophecy that Cersei will become queen, but for her children, “gold shall be their crown and gold their shrouds. ” The series left out arguably the most significant part, which has to do with Cersei’s death and her dark backstory from the books.
Maggy foretells that “when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you. ” The Volanqar prophecy is missing from the series, which ultimately leads Jaime’s character arc astray. Even though George R.R. Martin has yet to finish the books, the prophecy likely refers to Jaime killing Cersei at the end of all things.
In High Valyrian, “valonqar” means “little brother,” which leads Cersei to believe that Tyrion will be her undoing. She doesn’t for one moment consider that Jaime – who was canonically born after his twin sister – could be the culprit. This is where the books seem to be leading. Unlike in the television series, the books show Jaime leaning further and further away from his former lover.
The last readers see of them, Cersei has been arrested for fornication and begs Jaime in a letter to save her. Jaime, who has undergone a lot of growth in the four books that he’s in, throws her letter in the fire. It seems pretty likely that Jaime is meant to turn away from Cersei completely, which should have been the tactic that the show took.
Sadly, viewers had to watch Jaime waste years of character development in a moment that strangely romanticizes his toxic relationship with his twin sister. There was a time when Jaime was the best character on the series, and one moment cemented his ending as one of the worst on the show. Game Of Thrones Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Action Adventure Fantasy Release Date 2011 - 2019-00-00 Showrunner David Benioff, D.B. Weiss Directors David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B.
Weiss, David Benioff Writers D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, David Benioff Franchise Game of Thrones 10 Images Close Cast See All Creator David Benioff, D.B. Weiss Powered by Expand Collapse
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