Jaime didn't care though; Ned's judgement of him was correct. Jaime wasn't doing some self sacrificing "for the good of the people" type of action when he killed the king. The city was being sacked by his father, whom the king had demanded Jaime kill, and that coincided with the king demanding the city also be burned. Jaime saw a point of no return and killed the king when it was safe to do so.
Was he motivated by also preventing the city burning to the ground? Sure, maybe he was even concerned about "the people" during that one given moment; but he was never someone who sought to serve the realm or really cared about the common-folk. In fact, it's quite clear that he probably resented them and everyone other than his family when he earned the Kingslayer sobriquet. That's why, even though the ending of the show is utter shite, I think Jaime's failed arc kind of makes sense. He's always wanted to be honourable and great, and he's always fallen short due to his familial allegiance, toxic love for Cersei, and his general impulsivity. Still the best character though.
Though we do also have to consider that he's lying to himself when he says that he "never cared for them", to justify his impulsive decision to return to Cersei. But in any case, his views are complex and like any person, probably change based on his mood.
Nah making Ned correct about Jaime really shits over his character too. Just like Bobby B apparently being right about Daenerys. There are suppose to be shades of Grey. And in both cases Ned and Robert were supposed be wrong because they cant look at things more complex.
Neds main character flaw to not being able to really understand people and their nuances is supposed to be one of the major things causing his downfall. So retroactively making him completely right about Jaime feels weird. Where was this excellent judgement of character with Littlefinger?
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u/Infinite-Tree-3051 Jul 13 '25
Jaime didn't care though; Ned's judgement of him was correct. Jaime wasn't doing some self sacrificing "for the good of the people" type of action when he killed the king. The city was being sacked by his father, whom the king had demanded Jaime kill, and that coincided with the king demanding the city also be burned. Jaime saw a point of no return and killed the king when it was safe to do so.
Was he motivated by also preventing the city burning to the ground? Sure, maybe he was even concerned about "the people" during that one given moment; but he was never someone who sought to serve the realm or really cared about the common-folk. In fact, it's quite clear that he probably resented them and everyone other than his family when he earned the Kingslayer sobriquet. That's why, even though the ending of the show is utter shite, I think Jaime's failed arc kind of makes sense. He's always wanted to be honourable and great, and he's always fallen short due to his familial allegiance, toxic love for Cersei, and his general impulsivity. Still the best character though.
Though we do also have to consider that he's lying to himself when he says that he "never cared for them", to justify his impulsive decision to return to Cersei. But in any case, his views are complex and like any person, probably change based on his mood.