Thoughts On Jaime/Brienne

Published May 6, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

Great episode this morning as always. This is my first time writing you.

I’ll get straight to the point as I’m sure you’ll be getting a lot of these today.

Jaime’s character is so relatable for most viewers/readers because, more than any other character on the show, his arc reveals a realistic, casual path to redemption away from the fantastic and epic. He’s not purposely questing for it, he’s simply growing as a man and a human along the way and in that process the veil is getting lifted a little bit at a time as to the monster he once was. It speaks to so many people in the world who have struggled with their own inner demons, never really facing them head on yet knowing they are there all the same, until they reach a breaking point. All his life he’s been chin-deep in a family who, from the outside looking in, are the worst of us. It’s so easy to see from the outside looking in. But from his perspective on the Lannister perch, it isn’t until he can get away from all the noise and feedback loops that his family creates (and the loss of his hand that forces the issue) that he’s able to see who he has become and what he’s allowed himself to be party to in the name of “normalcy” (again, from the Lannister perspective).

When he’s sitting in front of the fire in that scene and he glances back at Brienne before leaving, it was clear to me that he saw in her everything he could have been, everything he should have been as not just a knight, but as a basic human being. In Brienne, all he would ever see is a mirror of his failures, and her presence and purity of character turns the volume knob on those memories on full-blast. He realizes that he’s been party to too much suffering in his life; that there can be no fairytale ending in store for him; that the better he becomes as a person, the less he can forgive himself for the things he’s done. This realization along with the news of Cersei’s most recent actions (as her growth as a character continues to spiral out of control in the opposite direction) has taken him off the path of redemption and landed him on the path to self-destruction. His harsh way of dealing with Brienne had a purpose. He didn’t want her to follow him into the abyss, and he had to sever their tie sufficiently to keep her away from the carnage that is coming. He knows he is the only one left who can get close to Cersei, and there’s no chance of Brienne surviving that journey behind him as he gets closer and closer to the heart of evil in his twin sister.

The great tragedy of it is that despite how close he came to finding a “new life” on the “right path,” he’s not getting out of this alive, and he really doesn’t want to though he may feel like a fool for believing for a moment he could have. He’s coming for Cersei with a clear mind and nothing left to lose, and like a proper twin, he will end with her.

Sorry if a lot of this is “well, duh.” Just still feeling a lot from last night’s episode and his character arc has always been the most meaningful to me. Carry on with the good work, fellas. I’ve really enjoyed your commentary and I’m sad that the whole thing is soon coming to a close.

—
Best,
-Sage L. Weatherford

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