[BOOK SPOILERS] Which 3 men did Jamie mean?

[StannisandDaeny]

Just sayin' in case you're interested in who he meant to know who the best fighters are, there's probably a much larger number than 3 fighters who could *potentially* defeat Jaime. This doesn't mean they're better, but they would stand a chance and give him a fight and thus would be worth considering. It's also very likely Jaime hasn't heard of more than half of them yet, especially not those from the Iron Islands or the Night's Watch.

KL: Barristan Selmy, Balon Swann, Bronn

Cleganes: Gregor, Sandor (obviously, what he says is he thinks they are better than him in terms of pure strength but he thinks he's faster, not that he's certain to beat them. Any man to say that would be a fool)

Highgarden: Garlan Tyrell, Loras Tyrell, Randyll Tarly

Iron Islands: Andrik the Unsmiling, Harras Harlaw, Black Lorren, Victarion Greyjoy

Eyrie: Lyn Corbray, Bronze Yon Royce

North: Greatjon Umber

Dorne: Red Viper (I don't care what anyone says... he was impressive against the Mountain), Areoh Hotah

East: Ser Jorah

Night's Watch: Donall Noye, Qhorin Halfhand, Yoren

Other: Thoros Of Myr... He did win the melee.

[Ser Dermett Corbray]

Too bad Jamie's about to go from top 5 to top 200,000.

Hah, he might go all "woe is me" post-amputation but I reckon he could still kill most men with his bare hand or with a knife.

[greensleeves]

In the books, Jaime says he can beat either Clegane brother.

Next.

He does clearly say in the books that he's too fast for the Cleganes, so I'm searching for other options.

Cleganes: Gregor, Sandor (obviously, what he says is he thinks they are better than him in terms of pure strength but he thinks he's faster, not that he's certain to beat them. Any man to say that would be a fool)

Where in the books is this?

[StannisandDaeny]

Storm Of Swords, one of his early chapters with Brienne, I think. He's thinking of people who have more strength than he does, then concludes he can still beat them all 'cos he thinks he's faster. That he thinks so doesn't mean it's true as some people are concluding.

[CrypticWeirwood]

Where in the books is this?

She is stronger than I am.

The realization chilled him. Robert had been stronger than him, to be sure. The White Bull Gerold Hightower as well, in his heyday, and Ser Arthur Dayne. Amongst the living, Greatjon Umber was stronger, Strongboar of Crakehall most likely, both Cleganes for a certainty. The Mountain’s strength was like nothing human. It did not matter.

With speed and skill, Jaime could beat them all.

But this was a

woman

. A huge cow of a woman, to be sure, but even so. . . by rights, she should be the one wearing down.

[Tyrion Blackfyre]

One has to be Cersei, I mean she's one of the only people to best Jaime's sword

tyrionsmirk.jpg

[Eggplant Wizard]

Who were they? The Mountain, the Hound and Barristan. No question. Definitely not the Viper or Loras, Jaime doesn't respect Loras and wouldn't talk him up. Depending on how far they go from the books, Loras isn't the best swordsman in his family. Anyway, Jaime would beat them all. I'm pretty sure there's a quote in the book that says Jaime with his "speed and skill" could defeat the Mountain and the Hound and Barristan is over the hill while Jaime is in his prime. (although he's currently underfed/out of shape from being tied up)

Anyway, I took it as show Jaime saying there are maybe three people who could give him a run for his money, but who he'd ultimately defeat, even though this Jaime is less impressive than book Jaime - we haven't actually seen his escape, they cut out a lot of the whispers about how good he is and so on, plus he wasn't exactly crushing Ned in season 1 .

[Eggplant Wizard]

She is stronger than I am.

The realization chilled him. Robert had been stronger than him, to be sure. The White Bull Gerold Hightower as well, in his heyday, and Ser Arthur Dayne. Amongst the living, Greatjon Umber was stronger, Strongboar of Crakehall most likely, both Cleganes for a certainty. The Mountain’s strength was like nothing human. It did not matter.

With speed and skill, Jaime could beat them all.

But this was a

woman

. A huge cow of a woman, to be sure, but even so. . . by rights, she should be the one wearing down.

Remember, Brienne painted a different picture of this and put it into perspective. First, she was getting tired herself. That is despite the fact that Jaime's hands were bound, he was malnourished, was literally bound and tied so he could not move for several months and so on. And yet he took her best. So they both came away impressed, but remember, she was equally as impressed as him and acknowledged his handicaps.

[CrypticWeirwood]

verba deleta sunt

[DurararaFTW]

Yes. Jaime says he could beat them all. He does not say would beat them all, he says he has perfectly good chances against them, not that it is ironclad that he would absolutely succeed in any fair fight.

[cromagnificent]

This may be pure wildcard(no pun intended) but what about Jaime's friend/bannerman Addam Marbrand? Don't we get the impression in the books Jaime has a certain respect/confidence for this guy's ability?

[StannisandDaeny]

Exactly. It's just his opinion, after all. I'm pretty sure there's men in the 7 Kingdoms who think they could take on the Kingslayer as well, and some may be right, while others are not.

As for Ser Addam, he is a confident knight (wants to fight Robb, wants to lead the attack on Riverrun) and has a good reputation as a swordsman, but the only real action-fact he has going for him is beating one-handed Jaime in a sparring match so we can't be sure how he weighs up against other top fighters. He's a veteran of Tywin's campaigns though so I'd say chances are his reputation is well-founded.

[Sword of the Morning Wood]

plus he wasn't exactly crushing Ned in season 1 .

I got the impression, purely from the show that Jamie was a much better swordsman than Ned. Whatever people's assumptions about Ned, at the very least he's a skilled, experienced fighter, who's in good physical condition and would be very cautious in a fight like that. It would be unlikely that someone like that would be "crushed" easily by anyone in single combat.

That fight for Ned was a serious, deadly confrontation, requiring all his concentration, whilst to look at Jamie, he treated it as a game, that he thought he could win at any moment. Besides, it's not even certain he would have killed Ned in that fight even if he bested him himself.

[Ser Loudmouth]

The two Cleganes for sure, and the third one is either Barristan or Loras Tyrell (in the books it would be Garlan instead of Loras, but I don't know if he exists in the show)

[Ser Loudmouth]

She is stronger than I am.

The realization chilled him. Robert had been stronger than him, to be sure. The White Bull Gerold Hightower as well, in his heyday, and Ser Arthur Dayne. Amongst the living, Greatjon Umber was stronger, Strongboar of Crakehall most likely, both Cleganes for a certainty. The Mountain’s strength was like nothing human. It did not matter.

With speed and skill, Jaime could beat them all.

But this was a

woman

. A huge cow of a woman, to be sure, but even so. . . by rights, she should be the one wearing down.

On a second thought, after reading this list I realise that the Clegane brothers and Greatjon Umber are the only 3 people who were both introduced in the show and still alive. So I suppose Jaime is thinking about them.

[Mulled Wino]

On a second thought, after reading this list I realise that the Clegane brothers and Greatjon Umber are the only 3 people who were both introduced in the show and still alive. So I suppose Jaime is thinking about them.

Strongboar's still around too.

[Silverx2]

Absolutely correct. Loras is a tourney knight. The mountain was making short work of him in a real fight. .

Last time i checked a real fight wasn't pulling someone off their horse while they were addressing the king, and then assaulting that person with a 2 handed sword while the opponent had only a jousting shield to protect them self.

More telling is that Loras is still alive after getting blind sided by the mountain, without have a weapon to defend himself.

[Greywolf2375]

plus he wasn't exactly crushing Ned in season 1 .

I believe that is more on the improving Neds ability than reducing Jaime's to make Ned out to be better than he had been described in the books.

[Greywolf2375]

On a second thought, after reading this list I realise that the Clegane brothers and Greatjon Umber are the only 3 people who were both introduced in the show and still alive. So I suppose Jaime is thinking about them.

We've been told nothing that would make Umber out to be anything more than strong wherease with Selmy we have been given multiple instances of his abilities and Jaime's respect for him.

[Died a Hero]

plus he wasn't exactly crushing Ned in season 1 .

The writers of season one said at first Jaime was trying to take Ned alive in this contest, but when he realized Ned was fighting for his life, Jamie started fighting for real. If you remember, Jamie was smiling and taunting him, but when they had a test of strength and Ned didn't wilt, Jamie shrugged him off and took a more serious stance. Then Ned got a spear through the leg for the effort. (Which I thought was way cooler than having a horse break it.)