Jaime Lannister took the white cloak of the Kingsguard as a young man of considerable skill and even more considerable arrogance, and spent the better part of two decades known throughout the Seven Kingdoms for a single act performed at the war's very end: cutting down the king he had sworn to protect. The realm decided, without asking his reasons, that a Kingslayer's oath meant nothing, and Jaime — proud, and perhaps unwilling to explain himself to men who had not been in that throne room — let the reputation stand rather than defend it. Held captive in the war that follows his father's schemes, Jaime endures a captivity that costs him dearly and finds the world newly willing to judge him on things other than a sword arm. A maester who has heard both the rumor and the fuller account finds the Kingslayer considerably harder to condemn than his epithet suggests.
Jaime Lannister
the Kingslayer
- Life
- no fixed AC year given; twin to Cersei Lannister
- House
- Lannister
- Titles
- Ser · Lord Commander of the Kingsguard
- Allegiance
- House Lannister
- Seat
- None (heir to Casterly Rock, forfeited on joining the Kingsguard)
- Culture
- Westerlands
- Religion
- The Faith of the Seven, nominally
- Weapon
- A golden hand prosthetic; relearned swordsmanship left-handed after losing his right
- Notable for
- Killing King Aerys II Targaryen during the Sack of King's Landing, earning the name Kingslayer
Alive, commanding at the head of a Lannister host in the riverlands.
Appearances
In the novels
- A Game of Thrones
- A Clash of Kings
- A Storm of SwordsPOV
- A Feast for CrowsPOV
On screen
HBO's Game of Thrones — Seasons 1–8
Perspective
Jaime's own chapters, starting only in the third book, reveal the private reasoning behind an act the entire realm has spent years condemning him for sight unseen.
Key events
- before AGOTBorn at Casterly Rock, twin to Cersei Lannister.
- before AGOTJoins the Kingsguard as a young man renowned for his skill with a sword.
- 283 ACKills King Aerys II Targaryen during the Sack of King's Landing, earning the name Kingslayer.
- 298 ACTaken captive by Robb Stark's bannermen after the Battle of the Whispering Wood.
- 299 ACLoses his right hand while a captive, forced to relearn swordsmanship with his left.
- 299 ACEscorted back toward King's Landing by Brienne of Tarth, forming an unlikely bond.
- 300 ACEstranged from Cersei after burning her unanswered plea for help.
- 300 ACAccepts Riverrun's surrender before riding on alone into the riverlands.
Reading the character
Jaime's POV chapters perform one of the series' most deliberate reader reversals: an epithet the reader has accepted at face value for two books turns out to conceal a genuinely honorable, if long unexplained, reason for the act that earned it. The books use that reveal to ask how much of anyone's reputation is the truth versus a story other people found convenient to believe.
His captivity reinforces the same theme from another angle: forced by what he endures there to reckon with a self no longer defined by effortless mastery, Jaime is forced to build a sense of worth around something other than skill with a sword, and his slow, incomplete reckoning with honor, family loyalty, and Cersei's hold on him is one of the more subtle character evolutions in the published books.
The arc of Jaime Lannister
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
In the timeline
Theories about Jaime Lannister
Explore further
House
Battles fought
Is Jaime Lannister alive?
Yes, alive as of A Feast for Crows, riding on campaign in the riverlands — where that road leads the chronicle keeps veiled.
Who is Jaime Lannister?
Tywin Lannister's eldest son and a Kingsguard knight notorious across the Seven Kingdoms as the Kingslayer, for reasons the realm never bothered to ask him about.