Will Jaime ever be great again?

[Keef]

I don't think he'll get anywhere near his previous skill, but I can imagine being able to take advantage of any errors/over confidence in a one on one, with the brain of the greatest sword. Maybe have a few kills by the end

[viking warrior]

There was a thread where some sword fighters discussed this, and they thought he could with enough time become as good with the left as he had been. One of them had switched hands himself.

I can't see it. Your whole brain is wired up to right handedness, and as he says, with his left he can't even lace his britches or lift a glass. I can see him getting good enough to fight off random robbers attacking him on the road, or even to be as good as an average man at arms, but not to be a great fighter again. I know you can retrain your brain but maybe not to this extent. Plus he can't hold a shield.

I think he would be better forming a fighting team with Brienne. He can distract them and she can take them out.

My grandma forced my dad (he was left-handed) to write right-handed becuase of then pens they used, now he can write equally well with both arms

[wizardface]

his best chance is to take up martial arts

[Chickren]

I think the difference in switching hands with Jaime, as opposed to learning an offhand for sport, is that he's using his left for everything now. If you look at amputees, most who put the time in are able to write as well and do most day-to-day things as well with their remaining hand eventually as they were with the dominant. Because you're forced to re-work that brain circuitry just to get along in the world. So he could get very good, in theory. But that would take lots of time and effort, which he may not have.

[Grip]

I don't think he will ever become great again, and imo I would be kinda disappointed if he somehow became an elite fighter despite the loss of his hand. Him losing his sword hand is a defining moment in his character arc, you know he has to let go of the past and really focus on a new chapter in his life. His days as arguably best the knight in Westeros are over, now he has to settle in as a commander and leader instead.

[mrunderhill]

My grandma forced my dad (he was left-handed) to write right-handed becuase of then pens they used, now he can write equally well with both arms

Same thing with my little brother. He is left handed, but he was made to use his right and became equally adept at both. In fact he even played sports with his right hand. He even became a decent enough school tennis player. Nadal is a right handed tennis player trained to play left handed and Sharapova is the opposite. Of course these changes were made very young, but this is fantasy, and this is Martin, and we have the example of Qhorin. It is possible if Martin chooses to go that direction.

As for Jaime having to go another direction since losing his hand, I am not sure that is the case. He still stayed loyal to the Kingsguard and wants to be a great knight. It forced him to make use of his other talents, but has made him turn back into the child he was before, when he wanted to become Sir Arthur Dayne.

[unSonofStannis]

No I don't think he'll ever be as good a commander as he was but he has a lot of potential to be a good battle commander.

[unSonofStannis]

No I don't think he'll ever be as good a commander as he was but he has a lot of potential to be a good battle commander.

Meant to say as good as a swordsman as he was.

[Lady Nastja]

He will never become what he once was. I think that was kind of the point of maiming his character. Before, he was the greatest sword and all that but now he is more humanized and forced to become a leader and commander. He is a better man because he lost his sword hand and I don't think Martin will reverse that and turn him into a great left handed swordsman.

I would have to agree. I see him being a military commander now, rather than a brilliant swordsman once more.

[Underzaker]

Great? Never

Good?

Well , I think the whole point of GRRM telling us about Qhorin Halfhand is to leave us with a precedent that yes Jaimie can become good again and why not?

Selmy said he is one of the best natural talented swordsmen in the past century , certainly better than Qhorin , and has shown that he truly is passionate about his fighting skills.

The question is whether he can spend the time needed to become good again.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

The question of whether or not Jaime Lannister will be great relies on the subjective view that he was great in the first place and since only Hodor can be great, Jaime never can. This is objective. It is known.

[Castellan]

The question of whether or not Jaime Lannister will be great relies on the subjective view that he was great in the first place and since only Hodor can be great, Jaime never can. This is objective. It is known.

Is Hodor superior to Baelish?

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Is Hodor superior to Baelish?

He is.

[RottenAppleFossoway]

It's entirely possible his Golden right hand is somehow reanimated by Thoros of Myr a'la Moquorro\Victarion.

Yes I realize that sounds ridiculous, but, through R'hllor magic, just about anything seems possible at this point.

If not, he'll never be as good as he was; I never thought he was as good as he thought he was anyway.

[Erkan12]

He can't. A warrior need 2 hand to become 'elite'. He can be better than average men at arms but not that good.

[Kingthlayer the captifth]

I'm torn between my love for Jaime and my love for realism.

[HarryCrackpotter]

To be reallistic, Jaime can be greater than he was.

nonsense? Not really. I can tell you from my own experience.

I have been playing kendo (japanese swordmanship) for 15 years. I practice a form of kendo called nitoryu, where you use two swords at once. Without going in too much technical details, there is a long sword and a short sword. Only strikes with the long sword are considered valid, as the other is used to make opennings.

I am left handed and practiced with the long sword in my left hand for years. 5 years ago I decided to try to swicht. It took two years of intense trainning to reach the level I was before, but eventually I got better than I was.

the catch is that in kendo people expect you to hold the long sword in the left hand ( it may seen odd, but actually makes sense when you are a kendoist). When I switched, it became a lot more difficult to my opponents to predict what I was going to do.

I think the same may happen to Jaime. He can get as good as he was once, but he will be more dangerous, since in westeros people are not used to fight against left handed swordmen.

[Scipio Africanus]

Was he really all that great in the first place? He strikes me as the kind of athlete of a x sport today who has a moment in the sun as a young talent but never really capatilizes on his talent. How many battles had he commanded since joining the KGs? How many life-death fights has he had? Compared to Ser Barristan the Bold or Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, his career pales in comparison. Which is exactly why he had so much trouble trying to think what to write about in the KGs book of his life.

Jamie is all hype IMO in the grand scale of things. Sorry but I can't put it any other way.

[Erkan12]

To be reallistic, Jaime can be greater than he was.

nonsense? Not really. I can tell you from my own experience.

I have been playing kendo (japanese swordmanship) for 15 years. I practice a form of kendo called nitoryu, where you use two swords at once. Without going in too much technical details, there is a long sword and a short sword. Only strikes with the long sword are considered valid, as the other is used to make opennings.

I am left handed and practiced with the long sword in my left hand for years. 5 years ago I decided to try to swicht. It took two years of intense trainning to reach the level I was before, but eventually I got better than I was.

the catch is that in kendo people expect you to hold the long sword in the left hand ( it may seen odd, but actually makes sense when you are a kendoist). When I switched, it became a lot more difficult to my opponents to predict what I was going to do.

I think the same may happen to Jaime. He can get as good as he was once, but he will be more dangerous, since in westeros people are not used to fight against left handed swordmen.

This is not about the one sword style or something, this is about a cripple man and not a cripple man. When you lost one arm, you lost your body balance, balance is very important (maybe most important for syrio forel) in fights.

[Alistair's Pantaloons]

To be reallistic, Jaime can be greater than he was.

nonsense? Not really. I can tell you from my own experience.

I have been playing kendo (japanese swordmanship) for 15 years. I practice a form of kendo called nitoryu, where you use two swords at once. Without going in too much technical details, there is a long sword and a short sword. Only strikes with the long sword are considered valid, as the other is used to make opennings.

I am left handed and practiced with the long sword in my left hand for years. 5 years ago I decided to try to swicht. It took two years of intense trainning to reach the level I was before, but eventually I got better than I was.

the catch is that in kendo people expect you to hold the long sword in the left hand ( it may seen odd, but actually makes sense when you are a kendoist). When I switched, it became a lot more difficult to my opponents to predict what I was going to do.

I think the same may happen to Jaime. He can get as good as he was once, but he will be more dangerous, since in westeros people are not used to fight against left handed swordmen.

Illuminating post and a fresh perspective. Well done!