Game of Thrones: Will season seven be defining for Jaime Lannister?
The sixth season of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ has finally come to an explosive end, so naturally everyone’s going to be thinking about the future: specifically, what the hell’s going to happen in Westeros in season seven.
***Warning: Season 6, episode 10 spoilers ahead***
Things in King’s Landing are, shall we say, a little unstable. With Cersei having appointed herself as the successor (although we’re not sure quite how she’s next in line?) to the Iron Throne after Tommen’s death, the city’s in literal ruins after she blew up the Great Sept - killing Margaery Tyrell, her brother Loras, father Mace, as well High Sparrow and his entire following.
With Cersei having assumed power it feels like season seven’s going to see things kick off when Daenerys Targaryen roles into town. It brings into question a number of things, such as who will emerge the victor in the great war for Westeros? Will Jon Snow and co. team up with Dany in pursuit of some sort of peace within a ruled Seven Kingdoms? And just how will the impending battle with the White Walkers play out?
While speaking to the New York Times, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau shared his thoughts on the future of his character, Jaime Lannister, and how the events of the season six finale will spill into the next.
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“He once said, ‘The things I do for love,’ and it was all about protecting his sister and also the kids,” the Danish actor discusses, having returned to King’s Landing to find sister/lover Cersei has fire bombed the city. “Now they’re all gone,” he says, implying that not only has he failed as a father, but was powerless to stop the new Queen from committing the horrific act he once killed Aerys II Targaryen from doing many years ago.
Coster-Waldau addresses said elephant in the room with how Jaime might respond to his sister’s act of evil. His expression in one of the finale’s latter scenes suggests he’s horrified.
“We won’t find out until next season how Jaime reacts to that,” said the actor. “The cruel irony is he killed the Mad King in order to save King’s Landing and he comes back to find out his sister pulled the trigger instead.”
Speaking about how his character’s developed (or even regressed during moments) of season six, the actor notes the misfortune that follows Jaime Lannister around:
“It was a season of dramatic change again for him. He was sacked from the job he thought he couldn’t get sacked from — he’s no longer a Kingsguard. He’s back to just being Jaime Lannister; that’s the massive change. Coming back with a dead child was horrific. Leaving King’s Landing the season before, at least they were in control. Coming back he’s faced with this crazy religious uprising and the High Sparrow, and he’s not really equipped to deal with someone like that. Unfortunately Cersei then found a way. Every time he leaves King’s Landing something horrible happens.”
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In that final episode 10 scene he shares with Cersei, even though the pair don’t speak, their body language speaks volumes.
“I think basically he’s in shock. So many things are going through his head — you look down and you see your sister telling the rest of the world to go to hell. The woman you love has turned into this seemingly mad woman.”
Interestingly, he addresses how their relationship is now at breaking point. On one hand this could bring them together (as unlikely as that sounds), but on the other it could tip him over the edge and prompt him into living up to his Kingslayer name - or in this case, Queenslayer.
“I don’t know how far he has to be pushed. If he can forgive her for this, I think he can forgive her for everything. She was responsible for genocide, she forced their last child to commit suicide. On a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being this is the moment when you have to leave, I think we are at 99.9. But it’s “Game of Thrones,” so you never know.”
It’s anyone’s guess what will happen in ‘Game of Thrones’ season seven, other than an almighty strategical and likely physical battle between Cersei’s army and Dany’s. There’s plenty of speculation over Cersei’s future and whether Jaime himself will kill her off as per a theorised prophecy, but at the moment it’s all speculation and, as Nikolaj says, you never do know when it comes to the show.
What do you think will happen in season seven between Jaime and Cersei? Share your thoughts in the comments below…
Mike P Williams is a freelance TV, film and entertainment writer, with an obsession for all things Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park and Pixar. Over the years he’s written for the likes of MTV, Total Film, BuzzFeed, and Yahoo Movies UK.
Picture credit: HBO
