Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reveals his thoughts on Jaime Lannister’s ending
“It would have been wonderful if he and Brienne could have had a life together,” Coster-Waldau says of Jaime’s ending, but he never saw it happening.
As with most things about the final season of Game of Thrones, Jaime Lannister’s ultimate demise has been a topic of controversy. In the end, showrunners David Benioff and Daniel Weiss opted to take Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) back to where it all began, to his sister Cersei. The two were buried arm-in-arm under debris as the Red Keep fell. To get there, Jaime abandoned his new relationship with Brienne of Tarth.
Talking to James Hibberd for his new book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series‘, Coster-Waldau revealed what he thought of this finale. “I thought it was a great ending for that couple,” he said. “She was never going to surrender. Bronn asked Jaime in season four: ‘How would you want to end?’ ‘In the arms of the woman I love.’ So it was foreshadowed, and it’s what happened. There’s at least a moment where they do connect: ‘Just look at me, just look in my eyes, it’s just you and me…'”
Jaime did indeed say he wanted to die in the arms of the women he loved, back in season 5 when he went to Dorne with Bronn. Although I think a lot of viewers were hoping it wouldn’t be Cersei.
Jaime was one of the shows most complex characters, endlessly seesawing between different ends of the ethical spectrum. In the book, Coster-Waldau offers a final reckoning of sorts on the man he played for eight seasons.
"You wonder if he’s changed and if he’s escaped the destructive relationship. He’s so bound by this code of honor of family first, and he and Cersei have a strong bond on every level. But he has to go back. She’s all alone. He’s the last one she has. He has to try to save her. It makes sense even though you don’t want it to… It would have been wonderful if he and Brienne could have had a life together. But he says it himself as he’s leaving: ‘Have you ever walked away from a fight?’ I have to do this. The things you do for love…"
Does Coster-Waldau’s reasoning make you feel any differently about Jaime’s death, or were you already there?
Next. Game of Thrones prequel won’t be a “cover of the song you’ve heard before”. dark
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h/t Screen Rant