So this isn't directly about Tywin, but I thought this was as good a place as any to post my realization about Jaime. I just realized that one of the assumptions I had always made about Jaime is wrong. I assumed that Jaime had spent his entire life following Cersei around like a puppy, and had joined the King's Guard in order to stay close to her and to avoid being married to someone other than her. I thought that everything was about Cersei and his fighting prowess. It turns out I'm entirely wrong. I just realized that Jaime was a King's Guard and killed the mad king before Robert became king and married Cersei. So he was never as joined at the hip with Cersei as I had assumed. Cersei marrying the king was just incredibly fortuitous for him. And here I thought he was never man enough to strike out on his own.
So I need to rethink who Jaime is a little bit. In the first episode of the series, Jaime and Cersei have a discussion while looking down at Jon Arryn's body. Jaime says that being Hand of the King would be too much work for him. Apparently being the heir to Casterly Rock was too much for him too, since joining the King's Guard means he can't inherit. I think that paired with his dyslexia, his skill with a sword pjut him on a path where nothing but his fighting prowess mattered. He wanted to spend his entire life being an elite warrior, and to hell with shouldering the responsibilities and drudgery that come with his birthright. That makes the loss of his hand all the more devastating. Thank goodness Brienne was there to smack him around a bit.
I can't wait to see how the reborn one-handed Jaime continues to evolve. It seems to me that his insistence on remaining in the King's Guard rather than reclaiming his birthright shows that he hasn't truly accepted his new situation and hasn't grown up quite as much as I had hoped. But what appears to be a serious split with Cersei will hopefully push him further in the right direction. Even if she isn't as key to his identity as I initially thought.
My memory on this is fuzzy, but I think Mad King Aerys made Jamie king's guard as a slight to Tywin, as Kingsguard cannot inherit and Aerys wanted to keep an eye on him. Hmmm, big mistake.
Ah yes, I was correct, in the DVD/Bluray history and lore extras it confirms it was Aerys that made that move:
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"Robert was never the same after he put on that crown. Some men are like swords, made for fighting. Hang them up and they go to rust.” -DN
Uuuuuu, me likey this topic. Lemme just contradict Don for a bit, close your eyes BaS, because that video is tricky.
Spoiler
That narration is Tywin's POV, and he doesn't know the real reason of Jaime joining the Kingsguard. Aerys only accepted Jaime's proposition, he didn't snatch him away. Jaime already wanted is as part of Cersei's plan to stop his marriage to Lysa, remember the night at he inn from the books?
@BaS
For me Jaime is actually a mix of what you said. Honestly, I can't tell if I'm basing this assumption on show-Jaime or book -Jaime at this point, because to me even if they act differently, somehow they're still exactly the same. His characterization in the show feels spot on. I don't think I'd say he was following Cersei like a puppy, but in a way, that would be true. His love for her is obviously sincere and very powerful, and it shaped much of who he was until now. He obviously doesn't care about power, intrigue or the Lannister name. He genuinely cares about his sister, his brother, and perhaps some of his children - I don't know, and what defined him as a person (and as a man) other than that was his ability to fight.
About him joining the KG, I don't think the initial motive matters that much - he was very young anyway, but I do think he came to identify with his position in time and respect it a great deal, ironically while everyone was mocking him for what he did to Aerys. You can see that he strives to keep his oaths, now that Brienne reminded him of what they mean and why they matter. Now, that he and Cersei are distancing themselves from each other, I think he's free to try and be that "knight in shining armour" he obviously dreamed of at some point. Then again in Westeros that only means he's headed for certain death.
Thank goodness Brienne was there to smack him around a bit.
