Jaime and Tommen

[Lost Melnibonean]

I had this theory in mind when i decided to contemplate the relationship between Jaime and Tommen. 

Here is the first glimpse we have of Jaime’s thought about Tommen...

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Jaime turned to Tommen. Though he had Joffrey's golden curls and green eyes, the new king shared little else with his late brother. He inclined to plumpness, his face was pink and round, and he even liked to read. He is still shy of nine, this son of mine. The boy is not the man. It would be seven years before Tommen was ruling in his own right. Until then the realm would remain firmly in the hands of his lord grandfather.

Jaime IX, Storm 72

Jaime, the warrior, observes that Tommen inclines to plumpness and likes to read. Here, Jaime denies Tommen is his son in the full sense of the word, claiming that Tommen is merely his seed...

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"The Tyrells are insisting. I see no harm in it. Tommen's been lonely since Myrcella went to Dorne. He likes having Margaery and her ladies about. Let them wed."

"He is your son . . . "

"He is my seed. He's never called me Father. No more than Joffrey ever did. You warned me a thousand times never to show any undue interest in them."

 

Jaime IX, Storm 72

Here, we see that Jaime is willing to sacrifice Tommen for his love (obsession?) for Cersei...

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"You are talking madness again. Would you have us ripped apart, as Mother did that time she caught us playing? Tommen would lose the throne, Myrcella her marriage . . . I want to be your wife, we belong to each other, but it can never be, Jaime. We are brother and sister."

Jaime IX, Storm 72

Here, again, we see Jaime think of his offspring as nothing more than his seed...

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"You say Sansa killed him. Why protect her?"

Because Joff was no more to me than a squirt of seed in Cersei's cunt. And because he deserved to die. "I have made kings and unmade them. Sansa Stark is my last chance for honor." Jaime smiled thinly. "Besides, kingslayers should band together. Are you ever going to go?"

 

Jaime IX, Storm 72

And note that he believed Joffrey deserved to die. In other words, Jaime believes that killing his son, or his seed, was the right thing to do. Here is what follows that thought...

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Her big hand wrapped tight around Oathkeeper. "I will. And I will find the girl and keep her safe. For her lady mother's sake. And for yours." She bowed stiffly, whirled, and went.

Jaime sat alone at the table while the shadows crept across the room. As dusk began to settle, he lit a candle and opened the White Book to his own page. Quill and ink he found in a drawer. Beneath the last line Ser Barristan had entered, he wrote in an awkward hand that might have done credit to a six-year-old being taught his first letters by a maester:

Defeated in the Whispering Wood by the Young Wolf Robb Stark during the War of the Five Kings. Held captive at Riverrun and ransomed for a promise unfuffilled. Captured again by the Brave Companions, and maimed at the word of Vargo Hoat their captain, losing his sword hand to the blade of Zollo the Fat. Returned safely to King's Landing by Brienne, the Maid of Tarth.

When he was done, more than three-quarters of his page still remained to be filled between the gold lion on the crimson shield on top and the blank white shield at the bottom. Ser Gerold Hightower had begun his history, and Ser Barristan Selmy had continued it, but the rest Jaime Lannister would need to write for himself. He could write whatever he chose, henceforth.

Whatever he chose . . .

 

Jaime IX, Storm 72

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The remainder of Jaime’s arc will be attempting to do what is right. Here, Jaime again denies that Tommen is his son in the full sense of the word.

"Tommen is no son of mine, no more than Joffrey was." His voice was hard. "You made them Robert's too."

 

Jaime I, Feast 8

But what follows a bit later is a tender, almost fatherly moment between Jaime and Tommen...

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Red-eyed and pale, Cersei climbed the steps to kneel above their father, drawing Tommen down beside her. The boy recoiled at the sight, but his mother seized his wrist before he could pull away. "Pray," she whispered, and Tommen tried. But he was only eight and Lord Tywin was a horror. One desperate breath of air, then the king began to sob. "Stop that!" Cersei said. Tommen turned his head and doubled over, retching. His crown fell off and rolled across the marble floor. His mother pulled back in disgust, and all at once the king was running for the doors, as fast as his eight-year-old legs could carry him.

"Ser Osmund, relieve me," Jaime said sharply, as Kettleblack turned to chase the crown. He handed the man the golden sword and went after his king. In the Hall of Lamps he caught him, beneath the eyes of two dozen startled septas. "I'm sorry," Tommen wept. "I will do better on the morrow. Mother says a king must show the way, but the smell made me sick."

This will not do. Too many eager ears and watching eyes. "Best we go outside, Your Grace." Jaime led the boy out to where the air was as fresh and clean as King's Landing ever got. Two score gold cloaks had been posted around the plaza to guard the horses and the litters. He took the king off to the side, well away from everyone, and sat him down upon the marble steps. "I wasn't scared," the boy insisted. "The smell made me sick. Didn't it make you sick? How could you bear it, Uncle, ser?"

I have smelled my own hand rotting, when Vargo Hoat made me wear it for a pendant. "A man can bear most anything, if he must," Jaime told his son. I have smelled a man roasting, as King Aerys cooked him in his own armor. "The world is full of horrors, Tommen. You can fight them, or laugh at them, or look without seeing . . . go away inside."

Tommen considered that. "I . . . I used to go away inside sometimes," he confessed, "when Joffy . . ."

"Joffrey." Cersei stood over them, the wind whipping her skirts around her legs. "Your brother's name was Joffrey. He would never have shamed me so."

"I never meant to. I wasn't frightened, Mother. It was only that your lord father smelled so bad . . ."

"Do you think he smelled any sweeter to me? I have a nose too." She caught his ear and pulled him to his feet. "Lord Tyrell has a nose. Did you see him retching in the holy sept? Did you see Lady Margaery bawling like a baby?"

Jaime got to his feet. "Cersei, enough."

Her nostrils flared. "Ser? Why are you here? You swore to stand vigil over Father until the wake was done, as I recall."

"It is done. Go look at him."

"No. Seven days and seven nights, you said. Surely the Lord Commander remembers how to count to seven. Take the number of your fingers, then add two."

Others had begun to stream out onto the plaza, fleeing the noxious odors in the sept. "Cersei, keep your voice down," Jaime warned. "Lord Tyrell is approaching."

That reached her. The queen drew Tommen to her side.

 

Jaime I, Feast 8

So, at the beginning of Feast, it does appear that Jaime at least has an urge to take Tommen under his wing, but he backs down, and leaves Tommen to Cersei. But near the end of Feast, Jame thinks of Tommen and his other offspring as sins...

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"Do not think ill of the queen," Lancel pleaded. "All flesh is weak, Jaime. No harm came of our sin. No . . . no bastard."

"No. Bastards are seldom made upon the belly." He wondered what his cousin would say if he were to confess his own sins, the three treasons Cersei had named Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella.

 

Jaime IV, Feast 30

Jaime is ashamed of Tommen.

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Wine had become a part of their nightly ritual. Ser Ilyn made the perfect drinking companion. He never interrupted, never disagreed, never complained or asked for favors or told long pointless stories. All he did was drink and listen.

"I should have the tongues removed from all my friends," said Jaime as he filled their cups, "and from my kin as well. A silent Cersei would be sweet. Though I'd miss her tongue when we kissed." He drank. The wine was a deep red, sweet and heavy. It warmed him going down. "I can't remember when we first began to kiss. It was innocent at first. Until it wasn't." He finished the wine and set his cup aside. "Tyrion once told me that most whores will not kiss you. They'll fuck you blind, he said, but you'll never feel their lips on yours. Do you think my sister kisses Kettleblack?"

Ser Ilyn did not answer.

"I don't think it would be proper for me to slay mine own Sworn Brother. What I need to do is geld him and send him to the Wall. That's what they did with Lucamore the Lusty. Ser Osmund may not take kindly to the gelding, to be sure. And there are his brothers to consider. Brothers can be dangerous. After Aegon the Unworthy put Ser Terrence Toyne to death for sleeping with his mistress, Toyne's brothers did their best to kill him. Their best was not quite good enough, thanks to the Dragonknight, but it was not for want of trying. It's written down in the White Book. All of it, save what to do with Cersei."

Ser Ilyn drew a finger across his throat.

"No," said Jaime. "Tommen has lost a brother, and the man he thought of as his father. If I were to kill his mother, he would hate me for it . . . and that sweet little wife of his would find a way to turn that hatred to the benefit of Highgarden."

 

Jaime VII, Feast 44

Interestingly, Jaime suggests that he would not kill Cersei because he would not want Tommen to hate him for it. Here, we see that Jaime believes his place is with his king and “son”...

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And he had done his own part here at Riverrun without actually ever taking up arms against the Starks or Tullys. Once he found the Blackfish, he would be free to return to King's Landing, where he belonged. My place is with my king. With my son. Would Tommen want to know that? The truth could cost the boy his throne. Would you sooner have a father or a chair, lad? Jaime wished he knew the answer. He does like stamping papers with his seal. The boy might not even believe him, to be sure. Cersei would say it was a lie. My sweet sister, the deceiver. He would need to find some way to winkle Tommen from her clutches before the boy became another Joffrey. And whilst at that, he should find the lad a new small council too. If Cersei can be put aside, Ser Kevan may agree to serve as Tommen's Hand. And if not, well, the Seven Kingdoms did not lack for able men. Forley Prester would make a good choice, or Roland Crakehall. If someone other than a westerman was needed to appease the Tyrells, there was always Mathis Rowan . . . or even Petyr Baelish. Littlefinger was as amiable as he was clever, but too lowborn to threaten any of the great lords, with no swords of his own. The perfect Hand.

Jaime VII, Feast 44

So, shortly before Jaime goes off with Brienne to treat with Lady Stoneheart, Jaime realizes that his place is with his king and son, and that he must put Cersei aside, and select a new hand.

[Cersei's Nachos]

Nice collection of quotes (how is it that no one has replied to this yet?)

He seems to grow very fond of Tommen after returning to KL. Seems like he even starts resenting Cersei for 'keeping his children away from him' (not that he cared too much about it before).

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"Tommen is no son of mine, no more than Joffrey was." His voice was hard. "You made them Robert's too."

I guess he starts getting fatherly instincts after he realizes everyone he loved was 'abandoning' him (Tywin's death, Tyrion's hatred, breaking up with Cersei). Very interesting.

[Lost Melnibonean]

6 hours ago, Cersei's Nachos said:

Nice collection of quotes (how is it that no one has replied to this yet?)

He seems to grow very fond of Tommen after returning to KL. Seems like he even starts resenting Cersei for 'keeping his children away from him' (not that he cared too much about it before).

I guess he starts getting fatherly instincts after he realizes everyone he loved was 'abandoning' him (Tywin's death, Tyrion's hatred, breaking up with Cersei). Very interesting.

That's a good explanation for the change.