Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who starred as Jaime on Game of Thrones, has explained and defended certain decisions made by Jaime in the final season.
The final ever season of Game of Thrones certainly came with a lot of talking points, something the show has never failed to provide. Jaime’s arc in the final episodes has also caused much debate, with the villain turned hero deciding to return to his sister Cersei – opting to die with her after rescue failed.
Why did Jaime make these decisions? Why didn’t he stay with Brienne? Well, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said the following to HBO: “Bronn appears and Jaime realizes he was sent there by Cersei to kill him and Tyrion — it’s this strange reality check. Cersei has a way of making sure you don’t forget about her. That act is such an extreme thing. I don’t think Jaime believes Bronn is going to kill them; because Bronn is a businessman.
“Then Sansa says, ‘I always wanted to be there when they execute your sister,’. He knows that Cersei’s provoked Daenerys so much, and she’s underestimated her enemy — usually Cersei’s the one people underestimate. His whole life has been about trying to protect Cersei, and trying to be close to her. He loves her — it’s unconditional love, it’s so ingrained in him. Jaime and Bronn were together when the Lannister army was attacked by the dragons — they saw first hand what Dany can do. If you go against dragons you are going to die.
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“In a different world, Jaime would’ve stayed with Brienne. What he has with Brienne is something different — it’s a very pure, innocent love. There is a part of him that wishes he could not be who he is. It’s one of those things we do in Game of Thrones. You have this idea of what you want these characters to do — it’s supposed to end well for these two, they’ve been through so much together — but that’s not how it goes. The most extreme of all these scenes is a couple seasons back, when Myrcella tells Jaime she knows he’s her father and she’s glad he is. He has this moment of happiness, and then the second after she dies in his arms.
“Bronn asks him, ‘How do you want to go?’ Jaime says: ‘In the arms of the woman I love.’ That is where he dies. The whole world is falling down around them; it’s a poetic thing.”
These comments certainly make a lot of sense. Game of Thrones has never been about giving fans what it wants, never about characters living happily ever after. So in this sense, the show ended the way it always operated.
