Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau talks about why Jaime walked away from Cersei in the finale

Game of Thrones season 7 is over and we’ve been left with heavy hearts. Speaking of which, Jaime Lannister probably had the heaviest of hearts when he walked away from his queen/sister/lover in the season finale when he found out how she had done exactly the kind of thing Cersei does when things don’t go her way.

Shocking as the scene was, we finally saw Cersei being left completely on her own, which was long overdue given the rate she’s going these days. About Jaime’s feelings when he walked away from the Queen of the seven kingdoms, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau weighs in onHBO’s Making Game of Thronesblog.

He touched upon how Jaime felt like when he was forced to leave Cersei because of her treachery.“Cersei seems more or less willing to kill him, and he finally realizes that whatever he feels for her, it doesn’t go both ways. That whole thing of ‘We’re in this together,’ well, we’re not quite in this together — because you’re not. We’re not playing the same game.”

About why Cersei didn’t order the Mountain to kill Jaime, he said, “She still has feelings, and I think there’s also a bit of her not believing what she’s seeing. She’s stunned at what’s going on. Like she said: “No one walks away from me.” And clearly their whole lives Jaime’s been about her, what’s right for her, how can I stay close to her.”

“There’s a moment of disbelief that he’s actually walking away from her. It could also just be that her little pet weapon didn’t get the subtlety of the hand signal. He’s really thick. That’s the problem when you bring someone back from the dead: They’re very dumb. You have to be really specific with your orders.”

He then talked about where Jaime is going. “He has to get to some sort of commander—whether it be Jon Snow or someone else in charge so he can explain himself. Otherwise, Jaime could be killed by someone who thinks he’s an enemy, hence why he covered his gold hand.”

He discussed why Jaime charged at Dany during episode 4 The Spoils of War.“It’s spur of the moment,” he explained. “He sees an opening. He’s not an idiot; but even if there’s just a glimmer of possibility that this could work out, he has to take it. It would save the Lannisters. It would save his sister. He doesn’t have time to think. He takes the opportunity and he fails.”

Nikolaj then discussed how the news of Cersei’s pregnancy hits Jaime.“[The pregnancy is] a complete surprise,” he said. “I think he’s shocked, and there’s a moment where he looks at her like, ‘What the… are you kidding me?’ I think for the first time in many seasons, Cersei seems happy. There’s a glow about her and just for the briefest of moments, he allows himself to go with it. Of course, she breaks the moment by saying something really sinister.”

“There [is]no question, this is what he wanted his whole life — that he could be who he was, and be open about it. Obviously the whole sister-brother thing is so messed up, but it’s still his reality. He’s in love with this woman, and it’s been so wrong, secret and dangerous. So the idea that, ‘Maybe I could be her man openly, and we could have a child and I could be the father without having to pretend that I was just the sweet uncle, goes straight to his heart.’ He can’t help himself but think, ‘This would be amazing.’”

He then looked back over how Jaime has evolved over the years. “In many ways, he is a different man than he was before he lost his hand. I think before he would just use brute force, just knowing, ‘Hey, I’m stronger than you, so even if you don’t like this, I’m just going to do it and you’re going to have to deal with the consequences.’ He can’t do that anymore, but I think it’s made him a better commander. He has been forced to understand and use empathy”

“We saw last season at Riverrun when he managed to avoid a violent conflict just bytalking to Edmure Tully. Jaime used his own understanding that as a father there’s nothing more terrifying than the idea of your children being killed or hurt. The pain he experienced with Myrcella was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Even though it was a very brutal thing to do to Edmure, it was worth it, it actually saved the lives of thousands of people.”

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About the point where Jaime saw the truth of the matter and how imminent the threat of the White Walkers is, Nikolaj said, “That was it. That was the moment. She’s so cynical on a level that he doesn’t understand. You don’t give your word in front of the whole world and then just f**k ‘em. That’s too far. The fact is, yes there’s always been a lot of deceit, but Jaime is actually pretty straightforward when it comes to ‘walking the walk’ and all that. He’s thinking, ‘You commit to something, and you’ve just seen this thing is real, what the hell…?’ She takes it to a place that he can’t follow her to.”

We really do hope Jaime survives season 8 and we get to see if the prophecy about him killing Cersei is fulfilled. Read the entire blog post here, and tell us what you think Jaime will do now that he’s left Cersei and Winter has arrived.

 

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