The collective heart of Game of Thrones fandom broke when Jaime Lannister decided to end his brief romance with Brienne and returned to Cersei’s side. Many fans felt this move was illogical and ruined Jaime’s redemption arc. However, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime, disagrees, as he revealed in a recent interview. Read on!
In an interview with HBO’s official Game of Thrones blog, Nikolaj pinpointed the exact moments in Season 8 episode 4 that led to Jaime’s final decision. Arrogant, selfish, murderous — Jaime Lannister started as an out-and-out villainous character in Game of Thrones. However, we saw his character go through a sea-change after he meets Brienne of Tarth. Not only he becomes a better man but he also finds genuine respect and love in her companionship. When Jaime and Brienne consummated their relationship in episode 4 ‘The Last of the Starks’, it seemed he finally had a chance at a normal life again.
But just a few scenes later Jaime is sneaking out in the night to get back to Cersei, and even Brienne’s tears and pleas couldn’t stop him. What happened? Coster-Waldau picks out two moments — Bronn’s arrival, and a comment made by Sansa Stark after she learns Daenerys’ dragon has been killed. Let’s hear it from himself:
“Bronn appears and Jaime realizes he was sent there by Cersei to kill him and Tyrion — it’s this strange reality check. Cersei has a way of making sure you don’t forget about her.”
After this forced remembrance, comes the realization that Cersei might have provoked Daenerys too far with Rhaegal’s death. He has already experienced what happens when a dragon comes to battle and knows that by underestimating Daenerys, Cersei is making a fatal mistake. Jaime’s life-long protective instincts kick in and he decides to return to Cersei. In Coster-Waldau’s words:
“[Jaime’s] staying in Winterfell is unrealistic. Cersei is the most important person in his life, whether he wants her to be or not. The idea that he was going to just let her die alone, is too horrible for him.”
Brienne’s “pure and innocent” love thus loses out before the almost inevitable loyalty Jaime feels toward Cersei, despite all her faults. Coster-Waldau observes:
“In a different world, Jaime would’ve stayed with Brienne … There is a part of him that wishes he could not be who he is … it’s supposed to end well for these two, they’ve been through so much together — but that’s not how it goes.”
This is Game of Thrones, after all, where the unexpected is the norm. Coster-Waldau puts it succinctly when he recalls Ramsay Bolton’s famous line: “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.”
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Humility is a virtue possessed by few. Even though Game of Thrones reached great heights, the show’s cast was always humble to their roots. They have won the admiration and respect of fans all over the world due to their down-to-earth nature. For example, Jason Momoa reached out to a young Aquaman fan battling cancer last year. Kristian Nairn (Hodor) talked to Digital Spy about the show’s success and praised his co-stars.
He said, “It didn’t happen overnight, and I think for us that was a good thing. I mean it was always immensely popular, I just think as the seasons went on it moved from a really amazing TV show into a kind of phenomenon. It sort of turned into that thing that everyone talks about, people say over the watercooler at work. “
“It’s crazy, because every TV show you watch these days, every single TV show or movie, they all reference Game of Thrones. It always blows me away. I watch a show I love and there’s a reference to Hodor, there’s a reference to Khaleesi. It’s become such a huge part of the public psyche. I don’t think we ever dreamed before season one was out that that would happen. It still happens!”
“It kind of grew, it really doubled per season. But we grew into it, which made it kind of easy. The cast was really down to Earth. I can say hand on heart we’re all really down to Earth. I think that’s a really nice thing. Just the whole Hollywood thing, we’re all kind of aware of that… Game of Thrones is so brutal and real. It’s important to keep it real.”
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Game of Thrones was an enchanting journey that lasted for nearly a decade. Some of the show’s cast was very young when the show began. They sort of grew up with the show, like Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner and Isaac Hempstead-Wright. Stardom can be a bit scary when you are young. Especially for someone as studious as Isaac Hempstead-Wright. He revealed about his nervousness in an interview with Digital Spy.
Isaac (Bran) said, “It was actually a little bit intimidating. I remember seeing the show go interstellar. Especially when you’re separate from it a bit [Bran was off-screen during season five], you really just see how huge it is when you’re not in the midst of the whole thing.”
“I really think season five was when it had its meteoric rise. So coming back into season six – and I hadn’t acted for a year; I’d been doing my GCSEs – coming back in was kind of like, ‘Argh! I’ve forgotten how to act!’”
He continued, “I think also there had been a lot of bonds forged in that season, and a lot of people had grown up. I’d kind of grown-up, but I had that key year of being 15, 16 away from it. So it was a weird one to come back to. But after a couple of days, it was business as usual.”
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Game of Thrones ended more than one and a half years ago. It was a beautiful journey for both the fans and the crew that lasted for a decade. The fantastical series still holds the record for the most number of Emmy Awards won. On the occasion of New Year, the cast of the show came together for an interview with Digital Spy. They shared their experience while shooting for the fantasy epic. Gwendoline Christie (Brienne) and Kristian Nairn (Hodor) talked about how they were cast for their roles.
Gwendoline recalled, “I immediately rang my agent and said, ‘I want to do this’. My agent said, ‘What are you talking about? I’d never ever put you up for this. She’s ugly, her nose is broken, her teeth are broken and you’ll need to use a sword’.”
Nairn remembered, “I was a first-time actor. I was glad I didn’t know anything about the show at the time. Because if I had I would’ve realised what a huge audition I was going for. I had no idea what Game of Thrones was. I had auditioned for a part in another movie called Hot Fuzz, and I didn’t get the part. It was the casting director Nina Gold who remembered me – she called me in for this audition. I didn’t know it at the time, but when you’re called for an audition, that’s really in your favour.”
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