All 9 Lannisters in Game of Thrones, ranked from worst to best

2. Jaime Lannister

Despite all of his bad choices, I have such a soft spot for Jaime Lannister. His character development throughout the series is so great, and his moral ambiguity keeps us on our toes. Unpredictable and full of charm, Jaime is a character you can’t help but root for even though you know he’s capable of terrible things.

While Jaime starts off as an arrogant and ruthless character who seems to only care about himself and his sister-lover Cersei, as the series progresses and we start to peel back his layers, we learn he’s much more complex.

Jaime’s known for his “Kingslayer” reputation, but one of the best scenes of the whole show is when he reveals to Brienne of Tarth the real reason he had to kill King Aerys II Targaryen: to save innocent lives. This moment is a major turning point for him, and he becomes more and more of an empathetic character from here. His willingness to be vulnerable with various people in his life makes him stand out; while his actions might not always be relatable, his feelings definitely are.

Jaime displays acts of loyalty, bravery, and selflessness throughout Game of Thrones, and similar to his brother Tyrion, he has a great personality. He’s very funny and can even be sweet at times. If you have Jaime in your corner, you know you can count on him (unless you plan to blow up a whole city, anyway).

Of course, I’m not erasing all the bad things Jaime has done. Pushing Bran Stark out of the tower for catching him getting intimate with his twin sister is pretty damn twisted, and that happens in the first episode! The show also makes this weirdly unnecessary change from the book in having Jaime sexually assault Cersei in season 4, which…I hate it. Because he’s a fictional character, I’m choosing to just remember the book scene for that moment.

Considering all of this, Jaime isn’t half bad for a Lannister.