Would Jaime haved killed Arya?

[the trees have eyes]

This is a very good question.

By the time Jaime recounts that story to Payne his character has moved so far from AGOT that I count him as one of the good guys. Look how he behaves at Harrenhal, Riverrun and Raventree Hall; this man is about justice, about avoiding unnecessary bloodshed - in short the knight he always wanted to be.

It isn't all about Cersei either. He has has to reinvent himself since losing his swordhand, to question who he is and what his purpose should be now he can't just cut down people who oppose him without a second thought. He lost the most fundamental part of himself and during this period of soul-searching and self-reflection he redefined himself. Bear in mind that his first action on reaching Kings Landing was to screw Cersei on the altar of the sept where she had been preying for their dead son! But gradually he saw her with clearer eyes than before and their estrangement followed.

But he makes it clear to Payne that he would have been prepared to harm Arya back then. Killing her and burying her in an unmarked grave is one possibility. Chopping her hand off (the Targaryen punishment for striking one of the royal blood seems to be what Cersei had in mind) and returning her to Ned is another but far harder to contemplate - neither Ned nor even Robert would have let that go. Returning her unharmed doesn't fit what he is telling us or what his character was back then: he cared not a whit for throwing Bran out of a window, nor would he for riding Arya down. I think he would have killed her.

[Lady Hodor]

@ The trees have eyes

I completely agree. Jaime's character has developed so much, maybe the most out of all the people.

As for what he would have done, I think he would have done it, with Cersei in mind and none of his own thoughts.

And then Robert would have challenged him, a challenge Jaime would have eagerly accepted.

...Don't know how that would end up... Likely war. Everything ends in war in Westeros.

[MyrddinDE]

Pretty sure he would have, it wasn't until his imprisonment and "escape" that he changed. Love the "new" Jaimie!

[Darth Visenya]

I think he would have yes.

[Melpomene]

Neat catch.

Yeah, definitely suspect that he would have done something serious - and it shows how aware he is of that. In addition to his other characteristics, he was much more spontanious at the time, versus now after his growth where he actually does alot more thinking before acting.

Considering the past, he had already attempted to kill Bran and later killed Ned's men. That is a lot under the Stark house already, so he might of thought with a "One more won't make a difference" mentality :dunno:

He likely would have killed or at least harmed her in some serious way and lie about it, like insist it was caused by by someone else or she had an accident. Since she was a known tomboy, it could be said that she acted too reckless, or since Jaime is a "fancy" and "honourable" KG member, he can say that he tried to save her from a bad person but was too late.

[Lady of Long Lake]

Yes, I think he would have killed her:(

But he's evolving into a decent human and he wouldn't do it now. He's a work in progress.

[Winterfell is Burning]

He might have hesitated. Even if he's willing to do anything for Cersei, throwing Bran was an impulsive move, while with Arya he would have to think more about it, and there would be no necessity for him to do it.

Plus, if Arya is killed, even if he's not caught, the war would probably start on that very day. it would be impossible to have two attempts at the lives of Stark children seem like a coincidence, specially when news that Bran suffered a 2nd assassination attempt.

[jarl the climber]

My 2 cents is that he wolud have if he had found her on the other hand how was he going to do it by screwing Cersei in her chambers while Robert is passed out on the carpet? He also mentions that he would have killed Robert if he woken from his drunken stupor. I guess we will never know, Nymeria was with Arya til Jory found her so she would not have been helpless.

[The Frosted King]

If Jaime found her it'd likely be with lannister men at arms with him.

They'd likely appeal to a peaceable return to camp, since they can see that taking the hand of a paramount lords daughter over a scuffle with a twig is not going to end well for anybody(least of all lowborn swords).

If Jaime did maim/murder her, he'd be disgusting as a character.

Its one thing to attempt to kill a child to protect a loved one.

Its another kettle of fish to ride down and gut/maim a little girl on the say so of an irrational woman.

Hence why George doesn't do it, but later allows us to see how far he's come supposedly since that time.

[Nausicaä]

I think you guys are overestimating Cersei's hold over Jaime at the time. Yes, she made most of the decisions in life for him, but he was by no means a robot. For one, he didn't comform his opinions on things to what she said: He wanted to end the secrecy of their relationship, she repeatedly told him no, but he voiced them from time to time.

Killing Arya would be completely idiotic, so say the least, from anyone's point of view but Cersei. Arya's the daughter of the lord of Winterfell, the Warden of the North and the freaking Hand of the King. A cruel and stupid man would return with her corpse just because Cersei, and no one else, said so. Jaime was neither of these, and he wouldn't get his knickers in a twist over Joffrey bleeding a little. Robert has done worse things to him, and I'd be surprised if Jaime held grudges over that, given that he didn't love Joffrey.

Eh, I believe Jaime would have tried to hurt Arya and I know that he wasn't a robot and his decision would have been his, not Cersei's. He was idiotic (hello? the Winterfell encounter? the encounter that night and the following hunt? "let's declare our incest proudly" plan?) and even though he didn't enjoy hurting others, doing cruel things wasn't anything new to him either. He may not have loved Joffrey, but Cersei was the most important thing to him. He offered to kill Robert, in the Crownlands, on a royal visit, just because he was cheating on Cersei and hurting her pride. I don't for a moment believe that he wasn't ready to kill him when he hurt Joffrey and didn't offer then or that he wouldn't have been itching to do something mind-blowingly stupid if he found out about all the bruises that Cersei hid from him.

That's why he's horrified and Ilyn laughs at him. They both realize that Jaime would have done something.

[Helgar]

Cersei wanted Arya either maimed or dead, and Jaime seemed more than eager to comply. Today-Jaime, I'm not so sure, but before he lost his hand he was very much a madman.

[Le Cygne]

I don't think he wanted to find her, and if he had, I don't think he'd have done anything worse than bring her back.

[moonsblood]

I think killing her would have been way more trouble than it would have been worth, having her whipped or taking a hand, I would not put that past him.

[Lady Hodor]

@Spiritguides

Taking a hand? Seven hells, how painfully ironic of him ey? :P

I'm sure Ned would take both his hands in response though, Arya is his (perhaps favourite) daughter.

If he were to do nothing in response to Jaime attacking her for seemingly no reason, seeing as he can't really say why, Ned would be ridaculed worst than Doran Martell. And Ned is not as placid as Doran anyhow, I reckon if Jaime did hurt Arya Ned wouldn't just sit about, it'd be a Stark V Lannister battle once again. That is presuming Jaime would do it, which I reckon he woud at the time, being so consumed by Cersei and her wants.

[Mark Antony]

i think he would've taken a hand but i doubt he would of killed her.

[LordBloodraven]

He would have killed her, that's why afterwards he's relieved that Jory and the others founded her before him

[Gurkhal]

I don't think he would've killed her but he no doubt would've cut off her hand.

[PrinceHenryris]

He might have tried, but Nymeria was stil in the picture, so who knows what would have happened if Jaime was alone?

[Ice Turtle]

He would have tried of that I have no doubt. What interests me more is:

Would he be able to do it? We have it from his POV that it was lucky that Ned's men found Arya first, but I'm not sure it was luck. Arya had Nymeria with her and only Ned's men knew they weren't cashing some pampered little lady but Arya.

What would be consequences if Jaime killed or maimed her? If he killed her he probably would try to make it look like accident, Ned may or may not be forced to accept that, but maiming? That would be political nightmare, if Robert didn't punish Jaime he would lose Ned and Hoster Tully, if he did, he would lose Tywin.

Anyway does anyone know if she would lost right or left hand? Is there some precedented?

[jlk7e]

I see that passage as Jaime being uncertain what he would have done. The fact that maiming is specifically mentioned suggests that killing wasn't 100% on the menu.

But, seriously, Cersei is an idiot. What does she think killing Arya would accomplish? She's not the butcher's boy or a direwolf - there would be consequences.