Jaime Lannister claims 3 men could beat him...which three?

[Victarion Chainbreaker]

Drogo would have destroyed him.

Remember the champion pit fighter Barristan easily dispatched at the end of ADWD? Kept hacking away at Barry's armor and couldn't understand why Barry wasn't dying.

[raegal_targaryen]

bad steel or valyrian armor hehe....or the guy was really weak....who knows

[Rickeen Baratheon]

I think maybe Victarion would stand a chance, to be fair. He seems a total badass.

[Ramsay B.]

Which had nothing to with his sword prowess.

"Jaime is one of the greatest swordsman in the history of Westeros." -GRRM

[Godfrey]

Personal opinions.

Barristan Selmy

Oberyn Martell. Jaime mentioned this before oberyn's death.

Daemon Sand was regarded as one of Dorne's best knights, aswell, though Jaime wouldn't of known of him at all.

Garlan Tyrell

[The Silver Otter]

"Jaime is one of the greatest swordsman in the history of Westeros." -GRRM

Exactly. Somehow people aren't realizing that The George considers Jaimie to be one of the top swordsmen ever in fiction.

Edited to add link.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/GraphicCity/news/?a=69724

[Thendel]

In the show, I bet Jaime is thinking about the brothers Clegane and Loras (who seems to have taken over Garlan's role).

The quote from ASoS doesn't really say much, other than two-handed Jaime being an arrogant asshole. Realistically, I think the brothers Clegane, Oberyn, Garlan and Victarion would be his top contenders.

[Tywin Manderly]

Ser Arthur Dayne

Prince Oberyn Martell

Ser Barristan Selmy

[Free Northman]

The Show quote is meaningless, because the Show is based on incomplete understanding of the characters. Only Martin understands all, and his thoughts are only fully reflected in the books, down to the indirect meaning of every single phrase.

Jaime listed the men who were STRONGER than him. And of course, only those that he knew personally. There are no doubt thousands of other men who are stronger than him. No doubt a dozen that we have actually met in the series. To name a few:

Strong Belwas

Victarrion

Andrik the Unsmiling

Hodor

The Smalljon Umber

Left and Right

Small Paul

Grenn

Drogo

Jaime is not particularly big or particularly muscular. There will be many, many men stronger than him. All of that has nothing to do with his swordsmanship compared to all of these men.

In terms of swordsmanship he is one of the top swordsman of all time. That doesn't mean he is the best of the current age, however. Because Arthur Dayne and Barristan Selmy are no doubt also among the best swordsmen in the history of Westeros.

What I find interesting is that Arthur Dayne is both a swordsman of unmatched skill, AND listed by Jaime himself as STRONGER than Jaime. So he might indeed be the perfect example of both strength and skill residing in one person.

[aceluby]

Jaime says he could beat Robert, Hightower, Dayne, Greatjon, Strongboar, and both Cleganes while fighting Brienne...

I can't think of 3 others that could beat him... Selmy, Ned, & Loras are the only ones not on this list and I don't think Jaime would think any of them are better than him except 'maybe' Selmy, though he never witnessed him in his heyday, so I doubt even he is on the list.

[Señor de la Tormenta]

Jaime says he could beat Robert, Hightower, Dayne, Greatjon, Strongboar, and both Cleganes while fighting Brienne...

I can't think of 3 others that could beat him... Selmy, Ned, & Loras are the only ones not on this list and I don't think Jaime would think any of them are better than him except 'maybe' Selmy, though he never witnessed him in his heyday, so I doubt even he is on the list.

Loras who has qn egp bigger than planetos admits Garlan is a better swordman than him.

[Victarion Chainbreaker]

I think maybe Victarion would stand a chance, to be fair. He seems a total badass.

At sea, on a rolling ship, where Victarion is the only mother*cker crazy enough to fight in full plate armor, he'd have a good chance against Jaime. But as much as I love Vic, he is never portrayed as especially skilled.

Fearless? Absolutely. Strong? F*ck yeah. A threshold for pain that goes through the roof? Of course. The best raider in the Iron Islands? There can be no doubt.

But I fear that if he met Jaime on dry land where Jaime could also wear full plate armor, then Vic would meet his match. Catching your opponent's sword with your hand may be the height of badassery, but it's simply not very good technique. I'm afraid Jaime would be too fast and Vic would depend too much on his strength.

That being said, one-handed Jaime would fall to Vic in a matter of seconds.

[Sordelor]

I doubt D&D cared about that, I excelly keep thinkyng game of thrones is just a funny parody of ASoIaF.

[jordanmp16]

i dont remember jaime ever saying it, which episode was it?

[DavosSeaworthy]

Well, currently any trained knight or experienced fighter would cut him to pieces in a matter of moments, since he is terrible with his left hand. Pre one handed man status, there are several who could probably beat him in combat, Great Jon, Gregor, Sandor, Loras, Selmy, Garland, Oberyn, Areo, Victorian, Strongboar, Bronze Royce, and probably a couple others. Jamie does have an overrated view of himself in my opinion, since he never really fought anyone of ledgendary status outside of tournaments. Dayne had the Smiling Knight, Selmy had Toyne and Maelys. Is Jamie better than all the guys on the list, possibly, is he so much better that none of them could beat him in single combat? Probably not, I just think Jamie gives himself too much credit and not enough credit to others, hence why Wispering Wood happened, a cautious leader would have planned for that situation, regardless of what scouts were saying.

[JonathanTheBold]

My guess he means

Ser Arthur Dayne

Ser Gerold Hightower

Ser Barristan Selmy

No he's talking about men that are alive so Arthur and Gerold don't count

[JonathanTheBold]

Well, currently any trained knight or experienced fighter would cut him to pieces in a matter of moments, since he is terrible with his left hand. Pre one handed man status, there are several who could probably beat him in combat, Great Jon, Gregor, Sandor, Loras, Selmy, Garland, Oberyn, Areo, Victorian, Strongboar, Bronze Royce, and probably a couple others. Jamie does have an overrated view of himself in my opinion, since he never really fought anyone of ledgendary status outside of tournaments. Dayne had the Smiling Knight, Selmy had Toyne and Maelys. Is Jamie better than all the guys on the list, possibly, is he so much better that none of them could beat him in single combat? Probably not, I just think Jamie gives himself too much credit and not enough credit to others, hence why Wispering Wood happened, a cautious leader would have planned for that situation, regardless of what scouts were saying.

I disagree Briene says he's the best fighter she's seen and she fought Loras so he has to be very good

[Jô Maltese]

Well despite this quote. You still have to understand two things about it.

1. Its from Jaime's POV and its only his opinion that he can beat them all.

2. Even besides that, it says he can beat them all. Not that he was a superior warrior whom none stood a chance against.

I had understood, thank you :cool4:. But, I repeat it, I think Jaime relates his can beat only to the living ones, not the dead ones. And he does not think in terms of swordsmanship, but one to one fight with an open choice of weapons and no rules other than win or die (when you play the Game of Thrones...), which is somewhat different.Therefore Robert Baratheon, Gerold Hightower (in his prime) and most of all Arthur Dayne remain the better ones in his assessment.

In the show, I bet Jaime is thinking about the brothers Clegane and Loras (who seems to have taken over Garlan's role).

The quote from ASoS doesn't really say much, other than two-handed Jaime being an arrogant asshole. Realistically, I think the brothers Clegane, Oberyn, Garlan and Victarion would be his top contenders.

As RandSedal tried to explain me (...), Jaime is NOT an arrogant asshole, but a true gifted and experienced swordsman who knows exactly his strengths (speed, agility, technique) and weaknesses (maybe: pure strength, endurance, toughness...) - as well as his potential opponents'. His arrogance is in fact a sort of realistic awareness of his genius (yes he is a sword genius, this is the one thing everybody in the 7K agrees on about him) and he balances this with his realistic assessment of overall fighting abilities: a combination of strength, toughness, skill, speed, intelligence, awareness, reaction time, experience etc. So when he says he can beat the most renowned fighters, yes he can, but this is intimately linked to the very fact that he knows how they can beat him.

Jaime says he could beat Robert, Hightower, Dayne, Greatjon, Strongboar, and both Cleganes while fighting Brienne...

I can't think of 3 others that could beat him... Selmy, Ned, & Loras are the only ones not on this list and I don't think Jaime would think any of them are better than him except 'maybe' Selmy, though he never witnessed him in his heyday, so I doubt even he is on the list.

No, Jaime does not say this at all, see above. Agreed on Selmy though, as neither Jaime or Selmy think Selmy is better this case is done and dusted: Jaime is better, period.

Now my own reading of relative Fighting / Killing in single combat (and not sword play or tournament) ability for LIVING warriors and at the time of the novel (forget Barristan then) points at the following characters:

- Jaime, before his hand loss, and I believe again soon (like Qorin Halfhand)

- The Greatjon and Strongboar because Jaime cites them

- Victarion

- Areo Hotah, whom nobody ever cites?

- Brienne, yes, Brienne

- ... Let's not forget Jon Snow (not in aGoT but in aDwD or very soon) who is showing more and more great sword skills, speed, reaction, toughness - let down by his pure strength but this is compensated for by a sort of berserk ability.

- ... And I think they are all topped by Sandor Clegane (granted, before aFfC but I believe he will get back to his best form eventually): he is the one who has no weakness: strength, toughness, skill, speed, awareness, reaction time, experience apart from intelligence maybe.

EDITED: Grammar and spelling.

[Sordelor]

Jaime says he could beat Robert, Hightower, Dayne, Greatjon, Strongboar, and both Cleganes while fighting Brienne...

I can't think of 3 others that could beat him... Selmy, Ned, & Loras are the only ones not on this list and I don't think Jaime would think any of them are better than him except 'maybe' Selmy, though he never witnessed him in his heyday, so I doubt even he is on the list.

Garlan is a better swordsman than Loras and Ned sucks in fighting.

[Barristan the G.O.A.T]

Well, there is a difference between the amount of people Jaime thinks that could beat him and the people who would really beat his overrated ass. He is all talks and absolutely zero acomplishments.

When you are knighted by Arthur Dayne himself at 15 and when the Barristan Selmy says you're the best natural swordsman he has ever seen, you must have a considerable amount of talent.