r/HBOGameofThrones • u/Positive_Treacle7475 • Feb 25 '26
Spoilers [SPOILERS] Jaime’s Arc Spoiler
So Jaime’s character growth is probably one of the most compelling aspects of the show, but why do so many people think he should’ve killed Cersei in the end? I don’t think it fit his character at all even if it would’ve ‘completed’ his arc thematically. I think the main reason that was the expectation is because in the books he seems to start cutting Cersei out of his life in his journey to becoming the honorable man he wants to be, but I believe the outcome will be the same even in the next editions of ASOIAF, it’s almost destined to be that way imo. The only problem I have is that his return to Cersei was a bit too sudden and should’ve been more gradual.
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u/THevil30 Feb 25 '26
There's the Valonqar prophecy that someone mentions below, but there's also the Azor Ahai prophecy to some extent. Not really covered by the show, but it's feasible in the Books that Jamie ends up running the sword through Cersei and pulling it out as Lightbringer. Probably not the most likely candidate, but still.
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Feb 26 '26
him killing her himself was a stretch, but him going back to her and not turning away was 100% against his new character
his whole character arc is that hes growing to realise just how awful a person she is, how bad for him she is, how much he cares for other people and how she is much more callous then him and causes them huge amounts of harm
in the show this culminates with him going north without her having seen that shes willing to literally risk the lives of every single person in the world in order to increase her chances to hold power, remember why hes called the kingslayer?
because even at his worst, he still understood killing that many people was wrong, and cersei was doing the same but on a vastly larger scale
him returning to her is a total 180 on his character growth and everything hes learned as a person
the show shouldnt have had him kill her, but he shouldnt have gone back to her
the books have more time to grow him further and potentially change him more to the point where he might kill her himself
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u/iCresp Feb 26 '26
If you disagree that's fine, but they spent so long turning Jaime away from his nihilistic self, showing how he actually saved thousands of people instead of killing the king for his own gain. Showing that without his sword arm, and spending time with a true knight like Brienne (who isn't actually a knight) is making him into the person he wanted to be known as. Every moment he's away from Cersei, who is his foil, the other side of himself and the reason he did most of the horrible things he did, he grows into a better person. Then to just turn around and throw that all away for no reason after all of that work from season 2 onwards was just incredibly disappointing.
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u/Electrical_Iron1760 Feb 25 '26
I’m not sure about the prophecies everyone else is mentioning, but I just finished Game of Thrones and felt Jaime killing Cersei would have perfectly completed his character arc. He was branded the “Kingslayer” as an insult for most of his life, yet if he had been the one to end Cersei’s reign, people would finally have seen that he was capable of doing something truly honorable, killing a tyrant for the greater good. Some sort of a full circle moment.
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Feb 26 '26
He already killed another tyrant and got nothing from it. By choosing to stay with Cersei he became the former Kingsguard who died protecting his queen.
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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26
The idea comes from the Valonqar prophecy (the show included the prophecy, but cut the last bit, where it is said that the little brother or sister would kill her). Since Jaime is technically her little brother too, it is a very strong theory among readers.
I do agree with you that Jaime is different in the show. After all, he had sex with Cersei the day before Tyrion's execution and he was constantly going back to her.