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JaimeNeedsToDie.jpg

Jaime Lannister Definitely Needs To Be Killed Off

By Emily Cutler | Game of Thrones | August 8, 2017 |

By Emily Cutler | Game of Thrones | August 8, 2017 |


Spoilers

Yeah, I said it. Jaime needs to die. He should have been killed on Sunday, and the fact that he most definitely isn’t dead is a sign that it may already be too late. So maybe this is less “Needs To Be Killed Off,” and more “The Fact That Benioff And Weiss Can’t Pull The Fucking Trigger On What Needs To Be Done Might Signal The Inevitable Downfall Of This Show.”

And I hear you in the back “But it’s Jaime! We love Jaime!” Do you though? Or do you love the man Jaime was before the writers made him a shell of his former self? I don’t mean that losing his hand, and therefore manhood, has made Jaime less interesting. I mean that having Jaime do dick all and shit for three seasons has made him less of a man. Think about it: when was the last time Jaime did something important of his own volition? Did you say rape his sister? You said rape his sister, didn’t you?

He’s basically been at the mercy of his sister’s or the show’s whims since The Great Brienne And Jaime Goodwill Tour of Season Three. Do you even remember the last time he did something to advance the plot? And I’ll remind you that pushing Bran out the window doesn’t count since everyone assumed Bran fell. So a few years before the show started, Jaime slayed the Mad King, and has been coasting ever since.

All of which would be fine if they were developing his character. Jaime couldn’t do shit while he was Brienne’s prisoner, but we learned more about him, and liked him more, than we have in any of the other seasons. As of right now, his entire character arc is “loves his sister” (and, be tee dubs, are they ever going to talk about how Cersei inadvertently killed their last living child? Like Myrcella’s death was so unimaginably painful that Cersei has to torture-murder Ellaria, but Tommen’s death is all “Eh, shit happens”? What’s up, Tommen’s parents?).

All of which again would be fine if the show itself hadn’t lost its way. You don’t kill off characters because they’re boring. But if you’re Game of Thrones, you sure as shit kill off characters when they’re one-handed soldiers acting like reckless assholes in the middle of a dragon-fueled massacre. This is the show that beheaded Ned Stark, collapsed Oberyn Martell, and eviscerated Rob and Talisa. And she had a baby inside her. This is not a show that sweeps in to save its (anti)hero at the last second, because that’s not how shit happens in real life. And real life is a shitton scarier than any dragons.

Of course, it seems blatantly clear at this point that Jaime didn’t really die. We didn’t see him die, and there was no big emotional send off this episode so something will save him next week. And definitely the show can’t kill him this season lest they encounter the dreaded Glenn Situation. So as of right now? Fuck if I know. The big problem for everyone is I’m not sure the people in charge do either.