Since the GoT finale...
Things that have been on my mind….
- I’m not really sure why people are so surprised that it took Jaime all this time to finally leave Cersei. He’s spent his entire life loving her - as a sister, as a romantic/sexual partner. She’s been the world to him. You don’t just…you can’t just turn those feelings off. It’s not a fucking light switch. And toxic relationships can be hard to get out of. First you have to recognize it’s toxic. Then you have to accept that it’s toxic and that you can’t fix it. That’s a process, and it’s not always a linear one. Not to mention that Cersei is manipulative as hell - she knew how to get Jaime to stay (like with waiting for a good moment to tell him she’s pregnant; she knows how much family means to him.) I think he’s had the understanding that things were beyond repair for a some time now, but it’s finding the strength to walk away, it’s clawing out of denial, it’s getting through that first stage of grief…it takes a fuckton of time.
- And aside from just that, there’s another layer to this. Mainly this: Jaime didn’t really have anywhere else to go. I mean, ok, maybe, he could have walked away completely. Gone to the Rock, taken the Lanniester troops with him… But, two things:
- First, at this point the Lannisters aren’t powerful alone and Jaime doesn’t have the political skill or desire to pull the kind of feat he would need to pull to get enough allies behind him for the House to survive without being linked to (the power of) the Crown. And Jaime cares about family and the Lannister name. Not in the psychotic, obsessive way Cersei does but it means a lot to him. (Hell, it even means something to Tyrion.) Separating from the Crown would have been disastrous for both.
- The second thing, and probably more likely here, is that Jaime hadn’t quite built up the resolve to walk away from Cersei before Daenerys and her dragons happened. And once they did? I mean, look, he can see Cersei’s is crazy or at least getting there. But he was clearly having some traumatic flashbacks of the Mad King when Daenerys was burning his army. So…he’s got a choice between two mad queens. Except one is also his sister and (up until now, anyway) the love of his life (and then the mother of his future child) and the other is a ~foreign queen~ and a stranger and woman who clearly (or at least likely) wants the destruction of his entire family. Like, can you really blame him for holding on to Cersei in those circumstances?
- But then in the last episode the stakes change. Suddenly, it’s not just Cersei vs. Daenerys, it’s not just House Lannister at stake, or even his own life. It’s the life of all of Westeros. A battle of life and death. Once the stakes are existential, Jaime has a reason to walk away, a reason he can live with under all circumstances and outcomes.
- I understand why Jon feels the way he does re: Theon and Theon taking Winterfell, but I’m a kinda annoyed that it seems like we’re supposed to agree with him. Because, like…no? Theon is a Greyjoy, was always a Greyjoy. Ned may treated him well, but Theon was still the Stark’s hostage and I doubt that he wouldn’t have been executed if the Greyjoys had stepped out of line. And I doubt this fact was lost on even a pretty young Theon, not to mention a teenage/adult Theon. He didn’t owe the Starks shit re: personal loyalty. (Bannerman-wise is a different story maybe, but that’s not why Jon’s pissed. He’s making it more personal, and that’s where it goes off the rails.) Also, who was more of a father to Theon, Ned or his real father, isn’t the only consideration. Like, Theon’s siblings (like Yara) are also his family. They count. He’s a Greyjoy.
- And on the note of Theon - boy kicked ASS. Finally <3 (You’re doing great, love!)
- I’m totally side-eying all the people who were just appalled at the very idea of Jaime/Cersei ~because incest and are now cheering their heads off for Jon/Daenerys. Like…so, can you stand incest or not? What’s the truth?
- When the fuck are Tyrino and Jaime getting their hug? I They better get my their hug before this show ends, I s2g.