155 ASOS 12 Jaime II Kingsguard & Kingslayer

Glad to be on his way back to Cersei, Jaime still vies to provoke Brienne so he can kill her and escape. Spying an inn, he thinks there might be people there, hears a horse and imagines riding away. But the horse Brienne buys for him is no escape vehicle. Though Jaime's grudgingly impressed she's smart enough to see through the trap set by the non-innkeep, Brienne doesn't fall for Jaime's trap, either, and leaves him to mull over the question of why he joined the kingsguard if not to uphold knightly values. Jaime recalls he did it for love: for Cersei. He goes to sleep thinking of the day he killed Aerys and how Ned Stark judged him for it.

The chapter's major reveal is subtle and may go unnoticed. It is that Aerys asked Cersei to convince Jaime to join the kingsguard as a trick to take him hostage. Aerys will proceed to abuse Jaime as a proxy for Tywin. This abuse and his abuse of others, especially the trial of the Starks, figures in Jaime's decision to assassinate Aerys. While the full story of Jaime's situation and thought process will unfold over many chapters, this one includes his first telling, through memory, of the day Jaime killed Aerys.

Perhaps the most important chapter construction is that Jaime still does not understand much: that Cersei operated on Aerys's behalf, that she did not and does not wish they might be wed, that he understood the trial of the Starks to be a threat to him and his father, having already seen one Hand burn.

Jaime Still Wants to Kill Brienne

Jaime is slowly winning Brienne's trust by showing her respect. He has learned to call Brienne by name when he wants her to heed his guidance. She listens more than she used to, as well. However, despite his near capture by Ryger in his last choral chapter, Jaime's eyes are peeled for opportunities to escape by encountering strangers. He's the first one to spy the inn and describes it aloud as deserted, with no smoke from the chimney and no lights in the windows. But when Brienne hesitates, saying there might be people there, he pretends it's that she's afraid of corpses, a provocative insult given her intention to bury the hanged women in Jaime I. This reminds that Jaime's last chapter ended with him resuming his campaign to provoke Brienne. It's as if he's ignoring having realized she proved a more capable guardian of his freedom than he did. But with a more total freedom almost in reach, Jaime continues to aim to provoke Brienne into making a mistake so he can kill her. When he does succeed at provoking her, he prepares to stab her with her own dagger, tensing his leg under him to spring.

The Honest Non-Innkeep Would Send Them into a Trap

A variety of cues warn that the non-innkeep may not be trustworthy, even before Brienne and Jaime individually decide not to trust him. Ironically, a central one—Cleos's wondering where the wife is, if he has one—seems to be a lie but later turns out to be true.

That the man ask answers Jaime's pointed question about whether he killed the former innkeep and his women with “Would I tell you if I did?” suggests he can't just say “No.” It doesn't mean he killed them, only that times have gotten so bad that it shows honesty to answer with a recognition of universal mistrust. This even reflects Jaime's own sour conscience.

The way the boy tells the non-innkeep Brienne has more silver suggests the man has taught the boy how to tell. A useful skill for the door guard of an inn...or for a thief. The theme of broken men, even of a broken region is introduced through the hard times brought upon the riverlands by war. When common people resorting to preying on travelers, their sons must learn the ways of outlaws instead of the ways of tradesmen and farmers. Jaime warns the boy “the crossbow is a coward's weapon.” However, this boy has no interest in becoming a warrior. He just needs to defend the door against strangers, which is more important than welcoming guests. The crossbow is a better choice than Jaime's recommendations of spear and maul because it can be wielded without much training and is deadly.

Brienne is suspicious of the the non-innkeep's advice to stay off the river and of the amount of interest the he takes in their route. Jaime knows the non-innkeep's purpose was always to the sell them the horses, and abets him because it's way to get his leg irons cut apart and a horse is a potential escape.

Brienne and the “s” word

Jaime thinks Brienne reminds him of Tyrion, but he mistakes her for being more like Cesei than she is. Where Cersei claims to wish she'd been born male, Jaime only assumes the same of Brienne.

“The wench does hate being reminded that she's a wench,” he notes, when Brienne gives the non-innkeep a dark look for seeing their group as one armed man, a man in chains, and a woman. However, as we will learn, Brienne's issue is not with her gender but being underestimated as a sword. Bizarrely, Brienne thinks herself capable of protecting Jaime when, however great a sword, she is but one. When he asks her if she has any siblings and Brienne answers “No. I was my father's only s-- child” Jaime assumes she meant to say “son” and ribs her.

“You make a queer sort of daughter, to be sure.”

Wordless, she turned away from him, her knuckles tight on her sword hilt. What a wretched creature this one is. She reminded him of Tyrion in some queer way, though at first blush two people could scarcely be any more dissimilar.” 155

Through her own chapters in A Feast for Crows, we'll understand that Brienne feels deep shame, judging herself to have failed her father as a daughter because of her broken engagements. She donned armor and left to serve Renly in hopes of dying for a noble cause. The word Brienne wouldn't say was “surviving.” Her elder brother, two younger sisters and mother all died in a string of yearly deaths that kept her father in a state of deep and increasing grief. Emulating Tarth's The Perfect Knight, Galladon of Morn, after whom her brother was named, Brienne knows trying to be a son to her father, having failed as a daughter, is only being met with derision and disgust. This is why she reminds Jaime of Tyrion.

Why Jaime Married His Sword

Brienne confronts Jaime with the same question Catelyn Stark did in the dungeon of Riverrrun: “Why don the white cloak if you meant to betray all it stood for?”

Jaime told Catelyn “I was the youngest man ever to wear the white cloak.” She replied he was also the youngest to betray it. Again, Jaime says “I was a boy. Fifteen. It was a great honor for one so young.”

Like Catelyn did, Brienne says “That is no answer.” Jaime thinks she would not like the truth which was that he had joined for love, to be with Cersei.

When Cersei took Jaime aside to warn him he must act with urgency or be married to Lysa Tully, Cersei made it seem she begged Jaime to marry her, instead. It's likely Jaime never imagined marrying Cersei, especially since he assumed she'd been brought to court meant for Viserys or Rhaegar, should Elia die in childbed. Tywin had been refusing offers for her hand.

Jaime had likely never considered the kingsguard, either, knowing his designated future was to rule as Lord of Casterly Rock. Though he protests that Tywin would never consent, Jaime does seem to prefer a future as a lord to one as kingsguard. So, Cersei seduced Jaime, making it seem that by marrying his sword he married her though in fact he gave up the prospect of marriage, entirely.

But It was Aerys's plan. He'd recruited Cersei to convince Jaime

Cersei assures Jaime: “The king won't ask him. And once it's done, Father can't object, not openly.” 156

How did Cersei know Aerys wouldn't ask Tywin's consent unless he told her. After seducing Jaime into giving consent, “Cersei promised to do the rest.” But what could she do as a young girl at court that would result in the appointing of kingsguard? The reveal comes when “Father had never been more furious. He could not object openly—Cersei had judged that correctly—but he resigned the Handship on some thin pretext and returned to Casterly Rock, taking his daughter with him.” 157 Tywin saw Aerys's hand in Jaime's invitation to the kingsguard and felt the cut deeply. Though Jaime seems not to realize it himself, yet, Cersei did not want to marry him and her motive in convincing him to join the kingsguard was either to defy Tywin or please Aerys.

Why Jaime Killed Aerys Pt 1

Here we see Jaime's assassination of Aerys as unneccessary. Had Jaime but waited a minute, Lord Crakehall, Ser Elys Westerling and their knights would have seized Aerys. The depiction of Aerys as scrambling for the throne “squealing like a pig and selling of a privy” do not explain why Jaime slashed his throat.

The idea that Jaime intended to save King's Landing from being burning is not truly introduced here. It can be partially inferred from Aerys's words, but Jaime's true motive is blurred. It seems, here, that Jaime may have worn his gold armor and killed Aerys with his gold sword as signs of loyalty to his father, Tywin. Aerys commanded Jaime to bring his own father's head: “you'll bring me his head, or you'll burn with all the rest. All the traitors. Rossart says they are inside the walls! He's gone to make them a warm welcome.” 158 Except Jaime had already killed Rossart. That Jaime thinks more of Rossart helps establish, later, that Jaime's motive was to prevent the lighting of a fuse. Yet, his killing of Aerys seems an almost separate act, done afterward and unexplained. A faint association with Aerys's burning of the Starks adds to the implication Jaime's motive was rooted in loyalty to family. Jaime thinks Lord Crakehall “had not seemed surprised to find Aerys slain; Jaime had been Lord Tywin's son long before he had been named to the Kingsguard.” 159

Maiden's Judgments

“She would gladly hack me to pieces, but for her precious vow, he reflected.”

Jaime thinks Brienne's primary reason for self-restraint is her vow, but he's wrong; it's her values. Jaime bristles at the name Kingslayer, thinking it always comes back to Aerys, but when Brienne says he's harmed “those you were sworn to protect. The weak, the innocent...”158 she means Bran. Brienne holds knightly values and would even if not a sword. It's Jaime's treacherous and self serving approach to knighthood, Brienne's judges.

“You had no right to judge me either, Stark.” 160

In 129 Catelyn, we learned Jaime actually does feel guilty about killing Aerys. Link to

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(We see that in the way he pairs it with guilt about lying to Tyrion about Tysha. Tyrion was probably crushed when Jaime told him Tysha was a whore he'd bought to make a man of him. It's probably among the things Jaime feels most guilt about. It's also not the reason Tyrion loves him. Jaime is lying to himself. He doesn't agree to be reviled the same way he judged the White Bull for judging him for knowing he was wrong to stand idly by while his king committed atrocities.

Similarly, Jaime thinks he's being shamed when forgiven by Robert.

“At Robert's coronation, I was made to kneel at the royal feet beside Grand Maester Pycelle and Varys the eunuch, so that he might forgive us our crimes before he took us into his service.” ACOK 798

Jaime misinterprets this. He was included for being kingsguard. The crime he, Pycelle and Varys all committed was serving Aerys. That he's wrong about this suggests Jaime may also be wrong about the White Bull's motivations in taking him aside. Jaime thinks Hightower means to shame him, seeing judgment on Jaime's face and chastizing him. White Bull may have only meant to remind Jaime he did not have to judge, that being kingsguard spared him that complication.

“As for your Ned, he should have kissed the hand that slew Aerys, but he preferred to scorn the arse he found sitting on Robert's throne.” ACOK 798

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The reason Jaime refuses to confront and resolve his guilty conscience is that he has developed a superiority complex around his assassination of Aerys that keeps him thinking men less moral than himself wouldn't understand. When he says to Catelyn "There are no men like me," he means men of conscience. In Jaime I, we saw that Jaime thinks someone like Ned or Brienne, concerned with honor, turn a blind eye to the atrocities they, themselves, must commit on the battlefield and elsewhere. Jaime thinks of himself as being honest with himself, even if others call that monstrous. They are monsters, too. Less effective monsters because less honest about it. Jaime uses this to justify remaining treacherous, but his argument falls apart as his better nature gets the better of him.

Jaime is right that men don't hear him. Catelyn and Brienne ask the same question of why he took knightly vows? His answer is the same: he was taken advantage of when young. Not hearing him or being open to the full story, each declares that to be no answer and no excuse. Jaime reminding Brienne she's an accused kingslayer, too. Though he never takes her membership in Renly's Rainbow Guard seriously, Jaime and Brienne are both kingsguard reviled as kingslayers. This mirroring will increase in future chapters. Then, Brienne will hear Jaime's story.

Jaime does have values. His impulse to warn archers they've chosen the coward's road demonstrates that Jaime values a direct and honest approach. His issue with archers is that—perhaps like those who judge without hearing—cast asperion from afar, where Jaime would discuss in person, with swords.

How to Defend the Throne?

When Ned saw Jaime sitting the throne over the body of the king he'd sworn to protect, he assumed Jaime was treacherous as Tywin who had pretended friendship to trick Aerys into opening the gates, then sacked the city. However, Jaime acted independently from Tywin. His motive in wearing his golden armor was to indicate that he was Lannister and, though it's not yet hinted, he was a hostage because a Lannister and his investment into the kingsguard was a nasty trick to take him hostage.

When Lord Crakehall asks Jaime if he would name a new king, Jaime considers naming a Targaryen just to make the wolves howl and Robert choke with rage.

“For a moment he was tempted, until he glanced down again at the body on the floor, in its spreading pool of blood. His blood is in both of them, he thought. “Proclaim who you bloody well like,” he told Crakehall. Then he climbed the Iron Throne and seated himself with his sword across his knees, to see who would come to claim the kingdom.”159-160

It is to defend the throne that Jaime ascends to sit it, not realizing how bad it will look, especially in light of his father's treachery.

Constructions

Setup for us to meet the Kingsmen in the next Arya chapter via the non-innkeep's warnings that the lightning lord has been seen in these parts.

Setup for Jaime's confession of Brienne and the reveal of Jaime's full motive for killing Aerys

Setup for Jaime to realize about Cersei

References

AGOT Prologue: When Brienne is dubious about visiting the Inn of the Kneeling Man, Jaime says “Frightened of a few corpses, wench?” 146 reminiscent of Waymar asking Gared if the dead frighten him.

In the nearby Arya chapters, her trio must make a hard pace through the riverlands because hunted, too.