It only took a few episodes for Game of Thrones fans to fall in love with Bronn, the snarky, swashbuckling sellsword played by Jerome Flynn. Bronn first appears in Season 1, Episode 4, "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things," meeting Tyrion Lannister on his travels. Then, after Tyrion's capture at the hands of Catelyn Stark, Bronn follows them to the Vale, where he fights for Tyrion in a trial by combat, earning the Imp's trust, and more importantly, his coin. From then on, Tyrion and Bronn develop one of the funniest dynamics throughout the early seasons of Game of Thrones.
Bronn remains Tyrion's ally in King's Landing throughout Seasons 2, 3, and 4, acting as the muscle to Tyrion's brains. However, after Tyrion's arrest for the murder of King Joffrey, he and Bronn part ways. Tyrion asks if Bronn will fight for him in a trial by combat against Ser Gregor Clegane, aka the Mountain, one of the fiercest fighters in all of Westeros, and Bronn declines, saying he values Tyrion's friendship, but he values his life more.
In George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, this is the last readers have seen of Bronn to date. Though Queen Cersei discusses him somewhat in her chapters, Bronn has remained off page since A Storm of Swords, seemingly marking the end of his story in the books.
However, Bronn returns in season 5, because he adopted a new role in season 4. After Tyrion's brother Jaime loses his hand, hindering his legendary sword fighting abilities, Tyrion enlists Bronn to tutor Jaime and help him regain his combat prowess. Here, Bronn establishes another iconic dynamic with a Lannister sibling, and goes on to accompany Jaime on his adventures to Dorne in Season 5, Riverrun in Season 6, and the Goldroad in Season 7.
Jaime trains with a different character in the books
As Jaime's literal right hand man, Bronn fills the role initially played by a different character in the books: Ser Ilyn Payne. Ser Ilyn is primarily remembered by Game of Thrones fans as the man who chopped off Ned Stark's head back in Season 1. The mute executioner is an intimidating force throughout the first season, terrifying Sansa when they first cross paths. However, the character disappears from the series relatively early on, with season 2, Episode 9, "Blackwater," marking his last appearance. Arya even stops mentioning him when reciting her kill list.
Ser Ilyn's removal from Game of Thrones was due to the fact that his actor, Wilko Johnson, was diagnosed with cancer. Johnson's health problems forced him to retire from acting, and sadly, he passed away in 2022.
The real life tragedy of Johnson's illness led to a huge change in the series. Rather than recast Ser Ilyn, Bronn took over his role as Jaime's teacher. Bronn and Ser Ilyn are entirely different characters, leading to major tweaks to Jaime's on-screen storyline.
In the books, Jaime trains with Ser Ilyn due to the headsman's inability to speak. Jaime is worried about his reputation, so he hires someone whose silence would be guaranteed. As such, during Jaime's training scenes on page, the conversation is very one sided. Jaime spends much of his training sessions monologuing internally, while also working on interpreting what Ser Ilyn is trying to say. He eventually figures out that a certain clicking noise Payne makes is laughter, an important stepping stone for their communication.
On the other hand, Bronn proves to be quite the talker. He never shuts up during his training sessions with Jaime, and the two develop a rapport and relationship built on mutual understanding. Jaime pays Bronn extra for his discretion, a secrecy guaranteed with Ser Ilyn, but the two end up developing a fun dynamic, a major standout from the show's otherwise lackluster Dorne storyline.
Giving Jaime someone to talk to on screen helps the character express himself in the medium of television. As a point-of-view character in the books, it's easy to understand Jaime's thought process on the page. However, on the screen, dialogue is the easiest way to communicate what a character is thinking. Had Jaime trained with Ser Ilyn on the show, he would either have been speaking to someone who couldn't respond, which would have been hard to sell on screen, or the scenes would have been silent, closing off Jaime's perspective and making for a less exciting on screen dynamic than his time with Ser Bronn the chatterbox.
For more from the world of Westeros, make sure to catch A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the next adaptation of George R.R. Martin's work, when it airs on HBO Max on January 18, 2026.