Jaime Lannister On Why Breaking Up (With Your Sister) Is Hard To Do

With Jaime and Bronn heading to Dorne this week on a mission to “save”* Myrcella, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau sat down with Vulture to talk about Jaime’s loyalty to his family. With Cersei’s husband dead, no real threat of remarriage on the horizon, and Tywin gone, there’s a level where Jaime, for the first time, is free (at least a little) to acknowledge his children. It may be too late for Joffrey, since he’s dead, but if you think about it, Joffrey probably would have had the worst reaction to the news, and might even have had his parents put to death for it, so perhaps it was better that he never got official confirmation. But when it comes to Myrcella and Tommen, Jaime finally feels like he can do right buy them.

*(I put “save” in scare quotes, as there is no evidence at this point that Myrcella particularly wants saving. She looked rather happy from afar in episode two, but then again, as Dany notes, everyone looks happy from afar.)

Mild spoilers for last night’s episode below….

When asked about what motivated him to step up where Myrcella is concerned, Coster-Waldau points out this was the first time Jaime ever laid any sort of claim on his children with Cersei.

It’s all about him claiming responsibility. Tywin once told him, “I want you to become the man you were meant to be.” He’s clearly not the man Tywin wanted him to be, but this is the man he is. Part of that includes taking responsibility for your actions, because the fact is, he’s the father of these three children… Two now.

When it comes to the relationship between the Lannisters, he points out how twisted they were from the beginning—let’s not forget that Tywin hated Tyrion so much that he considered not throwing him into the sea as an infant a favor. “And despite this, Jaime will do anything for his family,” Coster-Waldau said, “which is why he is beyond devastated that Tyrion killed Tywin. And Jaime loved Tyrion. But this just goes against everything that he holds dear. The fundamental value in their life is, you know, the things you do for love.

As for why he’s still talking about Cersei as “the woman I love,” despite her rejection of him, her laughing at him, and her cheating on him with Lancel all those seasons back, he compares it to Brienne, and how the two of them are alike.

 But it’s like this weird stubborn side he shares with Brienne. You know how Catelyn Stark asked her to look after her kids? Well, the kids clearly don’t want her help. And yet she keeps going after them, without really reflecting, Is this necessary? So for Jaime, it’s great that you love your sister, and you have these kids, but clearly, she doesn’t seem to be that into you anymore. Could you maybe reconsider that decision? But no, he doesn’t. He’s very stubborn. But for his sake, I hope that one day, he’ll realize that you can split up with your sister.

When asked about female primogeniture, and whether or not Myrcella should be queen in King’s landing, like she could be in Dorne, Coster-Waldau points out there’s a much older woman in King’s Landing he’d have to support first…

I think we should make Cersei the queen. I mean, she’s crazy, but she knows what she’s doing. Anyone who wants to be king or queen, they’re a little crazy. I would tell Cersei: form alliances as much as she can, and maybe check out the crazy woman across the Narrow Sea? Because if the reports of those dragons are true, those are weapons of mass destruction!

I’m not sure I’d want to see Dany and Cersei team up. Mostly because I wouldn’t want to watch Cersei attempt to undermine Dany and steal her dragons. The Queen of Meereen has enough problems right now.

• Published on 05/04/2015 at 9:30 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:05 PM CDT