Is there any reason why Jaime said he never cared much about innocent (or otherwise) lives? Like... I get the bad writing claim. But this is so, so, so awful, soooo obviously OOC, and has absolutely no lead-up. He was going to single-handedly charge Dany (while she was on Drogon) because... She was burning food? And people were terrified and he saw Aerys 2.0 in her. They were soldiers, yes (but he cared about their lives!! They were his men, they might not have been non-combatants or innocents, but he still tried to save their lives!) But also the FOOD would have helped feed King's Landing. Something Cersei doesn't care about (as we can tell from how she immediately spirited the money away. The food was burned, but all the Tyrell gold made it to King's Landing) but imo Jaime does. He cares about these people. He killed the King he had sworn to protect because he was going to explode the whole place. Cersei wasn't in King's Landing at the time - even way back before any character development, he was saving innocent lives and Cersei didn't factor into it. Charging Dany/Drogon during the loot train battle? That was him trying to save lives (that were not Cersei).
And even further into season 7/eps 1-3 of season 8, he develops even more!! Brienne of "Fuck Loyalty" Tarth reminds him of the millions of people in westeros that will join the army of the dead, and when Cersei immediately breaks her promise to join forces, he just walks out of there (yes! Here he is saving other's lives [which isn't new for him] but he's now doing it in direct opposition to Cersei's desires.)
Before, most of the people he saved didn't effect Cersei. Cersei didn't really have a vested interest in the population of KL and whether they survived Aerys (and she never does lol), but he cared enough to save them. And he would do bad things for Cersei back then - pre-series Jaime cared about Cersei first, and innocent lives second. U just need to look at the whole pushing-little-boys-out-of-windows thing to know he used to do terrible things for Cersei.
And at the end of season 7, he's doing good things in spite of Cersei. He goes on a journey where his priorities shift. He's moving past this toxic relationship. He chooses being good (ie Brienne), and his entire arc sets that up. He fights (Jaime, who used to be one of the best swordsman in Westeros but is now a CRIPPLE without his swordhand) by the side of Brienne for the living. In direct opposition to Cersei's stated goals/desires.
In that scene where Dany is putting him on trial (im paraphrasing because I'm literally just typing this as it comes to me) he says he did terrible things for his family (for Cersei), but now he's here to fight for the living. For other, non-Lannister, non-Cersei people.
And that perfectly summarizes his arc. And that is why I'm so confused about his line where he "doesn't care much about innocent lives"
It's so obviously not true for him. And what was the point of that line, then? Why did the writers put it there? His entire life story is pretty much about two things: Cersei, and innocent people. And as the story progresses, he begins to move past their relationship, where it's holding him back.
So why tf does he say this? To Tyrion, no less? Who just was telling Jaime about how he's the only one that treated him like a person (see: JAIME CARES ABOUT INNOCENTS). And then Jaime says he doesn't care about them? And is going back to Cersei? Who literally sent Bronn to kill him? Who nearly ordered the Mountain to kill him when he ditched her at the end of season 7? Who basically said "fuck everyone idc if they all are killed by ice zombies"
Like... Wtf dude. Idk what happened. Maybe it's a faceless man. Maybe Bran is possessing him?? But Jaime Lannister is the KINGSLAYER, hater of all tyrannical megalomaniacs and elemental forces threatening life as we know it. And he goes into the red keep to save Cersei's life? Or die with her? How does that help the innocent when Dany is literally raining fire on the entire civilian population of King's Landing?
This is more than bad writing or being OOC, I swear. It's not possible to be this OOC on accident, not when there are probably dozens of people who see and comment on the scripts as they're in development. And I want to know why.
MAJOR TINFOIL AHEAD (I'm v sleep deprived so this is gonna make no sense. And as a theory it's... V out there. But it's what I've been thinking about all day)
(((my pet theory: Bran is actually the big bad of the season. He's the one who told Sam to tell Jon his parentage, which spikes Dany's paranoia. He's the one who tells Sansa and Arya Jon's true name. And he does it off-screen? Why? And does it have anything to do with why Sansa later tells Tyrion? Who then tells Varys who goes on to try to get Jon crowned? Why did the Night King mark Bran? He's the memory of the world, yes, but he's also ~kind of~ a person. And people have flaws. Remember that stuff in season 1 or 2, about the nature of power, where Varys and Littlefinger talk about a king, a rich man, a priest, and a sellsword. Where Littlefinger and Cersei square up "power is power" "knowledge is power." Being the 3 eyed Raven is unlimited knowledge. And with knowledge comes power. Maybe the Night King isn't an enemy to the living, but an enemy to the three-eyed raven. And with the NK out of the way, Bran is going for world domination or something. And so he starts with starting Dany's descent into madness (or whatever u want to call it) via the knowledge of Jon's parentage. And somehow, Jaime plays a key role??? He's gotta get him out of the way, so he sends him back to Cersei (who is probs gonna die because Dany). And the major OOC-ness is the writers dropping hints.))))
Anyways the tinfoil is over. I just need Jaime's arc to make sense. His actions and words at the end of 4/in 5 make no sense. There's gotta be something to this. It's not even a regression, it's straight up a betrayal of everything Jaime has ever stood for in regards to protecting the innocent. And he's lying to Tyrion. We, as the audience, know why he's the Kingslayer. And I'm gonna point out (again) that he was the Kingslayer even before any character development happened.
Jaime has always cared about innocents (even if sometimes he betrayed his own internal moral compass for Cersei). It's a flat out lie to say he doesn't. And post character development, I think it's pretty easy to say that innocent lives definitely rank higher than Cersei now.
