Why did Jamie kill Aerys?

[Spastic Plastic]

No, the "prophet" of the family was Rhaegar.

Aerys was just an insane old man who was like that because of 200 years of inbreeding.

[King Bronn l]

No, the "prophet" of the family was Rhaegar.

Aerys was just an insane old man who was like that because of 200 years of inbreeding.

See thats the thing. I didn't see Rhaegar as a "prophet". I see him as a studious individual who was fascinated by prophecy, and worked hard to decipher it. But I don't see him as a prophet per se. Plus since many historical "prophets" are nutty, I think it just fits Aery's. And it would be ironic if Aery's was the one who saw the future.

[Alexia]

But Arys Oakheart was a pussy. It even says in AFFC that he punched Sansa more times than he could count, while feeling sorry for himself for being in that situation. I don't think Jaime would have hit Sansa, both because he's had enough of that behavior during Aerys' reign, and because he won't take petty orders from a squirt in Cersei's cunt.

Pretty much everything Arys Oakheart does is pathetic, even the way he died.

Yeah, and Arys and Sandor were the only two members of the KG who appeared to be at all disturbed by Joffrey's order. I don't think Jaime would have done it...but I'm not willing to fully commit myself to believing that he wouldn't. He let King Robert punch him, for one...

Plus, Jaime himself is pretty pathetic.

[Mad Monkey]

Joffrey ordered him to beat her and he stood frozen for a moment before Dontos saved him. Then he tried to get Joffrey to stop.

Jaime? Didn't Jaime only arrive at King's Landing after Joffrey was dead?

[Alexia]

Jaime? Didn't Jaime only arrive at King's Landing after Joffrey was dead?

LOL. MM, I thought the comment I responded to was referring to Sandor, although now that I reread its a bit unclear.

[Mad Monkey]

LOL. MM, I thought the comment I responded to was referring to Sandor, although now that I reread its a bit unclear.

My English, it is not so good. I should probably switch to High Valyrian.

[4rcane]

I never understood Ned's reaction. They were having a bloody rebellion. And he gets pissed cause Jaime (the hero who killed the mad, evil king) is slacking on the throne?

Instead of being pissed right off the bat he should've gone: "Wooo, you killed the bastard! Awesome job! Chill out a bit on the throne, King Bob will be here soon enough."

But nooo... Jaime's the kingslayer, the mean oathbreaker. Well, guess what? All the guys starting the rebellion broke their oaths of allegiance to the king.

Jaime saved hundreds of thousand of civilians and took no credit for it. Instead took the scorn and hate for his most heroic act. He's an anti-hero

[4rcane]

Can anyone argue that Aerys didn't deserve killing? He was, in the end, a horrid king. Jamie did the right thing by opening his throat. Was it honorable? No. The bottom line is that he swore an oath to king and kingsguard and betrayed them. He had justification, but an oath is an oath. His is and will always remain the Kingslayer. I love him anyway.

"So many vows...they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the gods. Obey the laws. It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or the other.”

He merely kept the oath that he thought was most important. By obeying the king, he broke the protect the innocent and defend the weak oath

[maria underfoot]

I never understood Ned's reaction. They were having a bloody rebellion. And he gets pissed cause Jaime (the hero who killed the mad, evil king) is slacking on the throne?

Instead of being pissed right off the bat he should've gone: "Wooo, you killed the bastard! Awesome job! Chill out a bit on the throne, King Bob will be here soon enough."

But nooo... Jaime's the kingslayer, the mean oathbreaker. Well, guess what? All the guys starting the rebellion broke their oaths of allegiance to the king.

I know!! I mean the all-so-honorable Ned, Jon Arryn and Robert started a civil war, killed the gallant prince everyone loved (Rhaegar), but no they're heroes, not oath breakers. Jaime had been knighted out of spite, had seen atrocities committed by Aeys (for the love of god, he witnessed a man roasted in his armor, while his son strangled himself trying to save him, he saw Aerys' wife abused) and knew that the king would murder thousands of innocents. But no, he is a traitor, a turncloak, a dishonorable, detestable man. Who saved everyone's ass, it would seem.

What's the point in keeping an oath, when that would mean that a lot of people would die? He did the right thing.

[mediocre cheese]

I know!! I mean the all-so-honorable Ned, Jon Arryn and Robert started a civil war, killed the gallant prince everyone loved (Rhaegar), but no they're heroes, not oath breakers. Jaime had been knighted out of spite, had seen atrocities committed by Aeys (for the love of god, he witnessed a man roasted in his armor, while his son strangled himself trying to save him, he saw Aerys' wife abused) and knew that the king would murder thousands of innocents. But no, he is a traitor, a turncloak, a dishonorable, detestable man. Who saved everyone's ass, it would seem.

Ned (and Robert) fought when fighting had risks. Jaime could have stabbed aerys when rickard got roasted, or when chelsted got burned, at which point aerys still had power. Jaime waited until Aerys was alone and friendless, when his father had already seized control of the city. I thought show Ned had a great response to Jaime, "you served aerys well when serving him was safe". And then Jaime killed him when killing was safe.

[alienarea]

Maybe it went like this:

Jaime enters throne room at KL, sword in hand.

Jaime: "Aerys, you are under arrest."

Aerys: "I am your father."

Jaime: "Noooooo."

/slash/

That is why he sits on throne when Ned enters. He is next in line after Rhaegar has been killed by Robert.

[JonHo]

Or he went all Tyra on him:

Be quiet Aerys! Be quiet! Stop it!"

"I have never in my life yelled at a king like this. When my mother yells like this it's because she loves me. I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you! How dare you! Learn something from this! [When] you go to bed at night, you lay there and you take responsibility for yourself -- because nobody's going to take responsibility for you. You['re] rolling your eyes and you act like it's because you've heard it all before -- you've heard it all before -- you don't know where the hell I come from, You have no idea what I've been through, but I'm not a victim; I grow from it and I learn. Take responsibility for yourself!" yelled an emotional Jaime.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Ned (and Robert) fought when fighting had risks. Jaime could have stabbed aerys when rickard got roasted, or when chelsted got burned, at which point aerys still had power. Jaime waited until Aerys was alone and friendless, when his father had already seized control of the city. I thought show Ned had a great response to Jaime, "you served aerys well when serving him was safe". And then Jaime killed him when killing was safe.

Exactly.

Or, to quote the show,

"You served him well, when serving was safe."

[FanTasy]

Exactly.

Or, to quote the show,

"You served him well, when serving was safe."

I agree. Jaime is one of the characters which GRRM can describe so appealing that you tend to forget the black parts and see them as grey.Jaime says somewhere that there is nobody like him. To a certain degree he will protect people he likes or loves, but even then only if it suits him. He will kill ruthlessly if he finds people not worthwhile or if killing them suits hem.Remember when he confronted Ned after Catelyn kidnapped Tyrion? He ordered his men to kill Ned's men, just like that. Not in self-defence, as a message, as a warning that you don't touch a Lannister.And of course he pushed Bran knowingly out of the window, meaning him to die. Because it suited him and his interest in keeping the affair with his sister a secret.I don't believe he killed Aerys because he thought Aerys was a bad king. It suited him (Jaime) to make this choice, before he had to be true to his vow and defend Aerys against the troops of his father.Yes, to me he is grey, but he is not a safe person to be around. The most worrying part of Jaime's character I find that he does not kill out of rage or passion. He takes time to think about it - and then kills if it suits him.

[Bastard Walder]

Because Aerys was a jerk and threatened to kill Jaime's father.

Also he was FUCKING INSANE.

[LordBloodraven]

Something that irks me with Jaime and his rationale about killing Aerys is that he was sitting in the iron chair, the dead king at his feet while Elia and her children were being killed. Anyone who enters the throne room at that moment is likely to call him for an asshole. After that, he'll wonder why Ned and the others despised him.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

Something that irks me with Jaime and his rationale about killing Aerys is that he was sitting in the iron chair, the dead king at his feet while Elia and her children were being killed. Anyone who enters the throne room at that moment is likely to call him for an asshole. After that, he'll wonder why Ned and the others despised him.

Well I'm not sure how anyone can assume that Jaime knew anything about Elia and her kids. As far as I know he sat on that throne, alone, with Aerys body until Ned rode in - where would the opportunity for him to know come?

It does seem that's what Ned assumes, though. That all the Lannisters were complicit in Elia and the children's deaths. But Ned is pretty prejudiced against the Lannisters (not that I blame him particularly, Tywin was a piece of work).

Mostly, what I think Ned reacts to is the fact that both Jaime and Tywin waited and did nothing while thousands died, then quickly claimed their glory at the last second. It's opportunism to him, which is dishonorable. Of course we know that Jaime didn't really give a crap about opportunism or politics, and really seems to have killed Aerys because he felt he had no choice. To Ned it looks quite fairly like a powergrab.

[zalim]

simple

he was a pathetic, dumb, honourless man and oath breaker who didnt give a damn about honour or oaths or vows and only thought about

doing his own sister.

Plus maybe he hated Aerys for his guts or something. We know one thing for sure, after all the humiliation he suffered and names he got like kingslayer or oathbreaker,

he learned nothing.

He once told cerser he would kill King Robert for her as well.

[LordBloodraven]

Well I'm not sure how anyone can assume that Jaime knew anything about Elia and her kids. As far as I know he sat on that throne, alone, with Aerys body until Ned rode in - where would the opportunity for him to know come?

It does seem that's what Ned assumes, though. That all the Lannisters were complicit in Elia and the children's deaths. But Ned is pretty prejudiced against the Lannisters (not that I blame him particularly, Tywin was a piece of work).

Mostly, what I think Ned reacts to is the fact that both Jaime and Tywin waited and did nothing while thousands died, then quickly claimed their glory at the last second. It's opportunism to him, which is dishonorable. Of course we know that Jaime didn't really give a crap about opportunism or politics, and really seems to have killed Aerys because he felt he had no choice. To Ned it looks quite fairly like a powergrab.

That's exactly what I meant. Ned must have told himself that he's complicit with his father's actions. Jaime just sat there with his bloody sword, but people who saw him at that moment couldn't infer that he didn't know about Elia.

[Sunni]

Well I'm not sure how anyone can assume that Jaime knew anything about Elia and her kids. As far as I know he sat on that throne, alone, with Aerys body until Ned rode in - where would the opportunity for him to know come?

It does seem that's what Ned assumes, though. That all the Lannisters were complicit in Elia and the children's deaths. But Ned is pretty prejudiced against the Lannisters (not that I blame him particularly, Tywin was a piece of work).

Mostly, what I think Ned reacts to is the fact that both Jaime and Tywin waited and did nothing while thousands died, then quickly claimed their glory at the last second. It's opportunism to him, which is dishonorable. Of course we know that Jaime didn't really give a crap about opportunism or politics, and really seems to have killed Aerys because he felt he had no choice. To Ned it looks quite fairly like a powergrab.

I find it interesting that in all Cersei's lust for power she never sits the Iron Throne. It's only for the King and the Hand. Cersei, as Queen Regent, sits below the throne in a wooden seat with red cushions. Ned was shocked that Jaimie sat on the Throne, not just that he killed Aerys and broke his oath.