Jaime Lannister and the Valonqar Prophecy

Jaime Lannister has come a long way since his first appearance in Game of Thrones. He has become a sympathetic character that many have grown to like. His good traits now far outweigh his bad ones. It's strange to think that the man who pushed Bran Stark out of the tower has such a huge following now.

It would be great if people could understand character growth when talking about the characters of Jorah Mormont, Theon Greyjoy, and Sansa Stark. But that's a rant for a different day.

Anyways...one mystery of Game of Thrones is who the Valonqar is. Some people think it's Arya Stark while others go for the more obscure. In this post I'll be making a case for why Jaime Lannister is the Valonqar.

The Valonqar Prophecy

When Cersei Lannister was a young girl she sought out Maggy the Frog. The woman was well-known for her ability to see into the future. The young Lannister went with her friend to ask the woman a few questions.

One of Maggy's prophecies was this:

"Gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds," she said. "And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you."

This created a fear in Cersei that has lasted her entire life. The only reason she doesn't fear the prophecy as much now is she is pregnant with another child.

Valonqar is a word in High Valyrian. The language is infamous for being gender neutral. A good translation of Valonqar would be 'younger sibling'. As Maggy uses the pronoun 'his' we can assume that she meant 'younger brother'.

That being said...there are theories about Arya Stark being the Valonqar. In all honesty, I wouldn't mind if that turned out to be the case.
Now you might be wondering why someone else's younger sibling can be the Valonqar. Maggy's prophecy was for Cersei which means only the Lannister's siblings would be talked about. The thing is Maggy said 'THE Valonqar' and not 'Cersei's Valonqar'. This opens up the possibilities to someone not related to Cersei to be the Valonqar.

The reason Cersei Lannister hates Tyrion isn't because their mother died giving him birth. No, the reason is that she believes Tyrion to be the Valonqar. She has believed for many years that he is the one that will kill her.

So Cersei's treatment of Tyrion makes sense. She is a woman that is logical, or at least she likes to think so, and wouldn't want her killer around. She wouldn't treat him nicely because she thinks he will kill her. What if today was the day she would die by his hands?

I want to remind people that the Valonqar prophecy isn't on the show. It hasn't been mentioned and, therefore, the show doesn't have that storyline to worry about. For many this would be a disappointment and I understand why. As of right now I haven't read the books and yet I find the Valonqar Prophecy fascinating.

The show could do the Valonqar Prophecy without mentioning it beforehand. If you think about it, Cersei's end has to be dramatic. While I adore her, such a villain deserves a death that will be talked about for years to come. You know, unlike the Littlefinger disaster of a death scene.

The Little Brother

Jaime and Ceresei Lannister are twins. They were born on the same day but not the same time. So who came first?

Cersei came first with Jaime clutching her ankle. This paints a picture, right as the two were born, that there would be a great connection between them. It also shows that Cersei would hold all the power while Jaime would be the more subservient of the two.

Jaime loved Cersei much more fiercely than she could ever love him. He cared for her with all his being. He cared for her no matter what she did to him or anyone else. It wasn't until he saw what had happened to the Sept of Baelor that he started to have his doubts. But, even then, his love for his sister stopped him from taking action.

Cersei loved Jaime in her own way. It wasn't the same devoted way of her brother, but it was still a kind of love. Her version of love, though, comes with terms. Mainly that she has to be the one in control. It was because of this that she had Jaime join the Kingsguard. This due to the fact if he joined then he could never marry another. As for Cersei...well...she could have any number of suitors. This was justified in her own mind.

Jaime and Cersei ended up having three kids together. They pretended that Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella were all Robert Baratheon's children.

Kingslayer

Jaime Lannister served House Targaryen faithfully. However, his loyalty was tested once he heard the Mad King talking to his pyromancer about an insane plot. It turned out the king had no intention to keep King's Landing standing nor did he care about the people he'd sacrifice.

King Aerys' plan was to burn up King's Landing in wildfire. By doing this he believed he'd become a dragon and survive. Wildfire would also killing anyone attacking the city. As his nickname indicates, this plan had no way of working. He would kill himself and others in a vain attempt to become something more.

Jaime felt it was his duty to kill the Mad King. He remarked later in life that following all his vows is more than impossible.

No one was ever fully aware of what Jaime did that day. No one knew what he had done for the citizens of King's Landing. Instead many called him Kingslayer as an insult.

One of the few, if not the only, one who knows why Jaime killed Aeyrs is Brienne. Brienne of Tarth was ordered by Catelyn Stark to take Jaime Lannister back to King's Landing. She did so out of a sense of honor. She wanted to fulfill her oath to the woman.
During the journey Jaime and Brienne took they became closer. Where once there was distrust there was trust. There was so much trust that the Lannister finally opened up about killing the Mad King.

Leaving Cersei

At the end of Game of Thrones Season 6, Jaime Lannister knows what terrible thing Cersei has done. He had stopped King Aerys II Targaryen from using wildfire inside of King's Landing. Yet here his own sister, the woman he loved, actually succeeded where the Mad King had failed.

Some people complained that he didn't immediately leave Cersei. Some said it didn't make sense that Jaime would stay by her side after she used wildfire. I, however, disagree. The man had built up a relationship with this woman all his life and even had three kids with her. The depth of that relationship isn't something easily walked away from.

Throughout Season 7 I saw Jaime struggling with what to do. He knows he should go but his love for Cersei keeps him bond to her side. At least for awhile.

It wasn't until the end of Game of Thrones Season 7 that Jaime was able to leave Cersei's side. And why was that?

The thing that pulled him from being blinded by love was his duty. He realized that there was no saving his sister. That no matter what happened she would always fall back into madness. He found that Cersei could not put politics aside and join forces with Daenerys Targaryen for the good of Westeros. His sister, instead, chose to lie to Daenerys while sending the Golden Company after the younger queen.

Completing the Circle

Jaime Lannister being the Valonqar seems somewhat predictable. He is the younger brother of Cersei and so there isn't a big twist. Having someone like Arya Stark or Daenerys Targaryen would be a big twist.

However, Jaime being the Valonqar has thematic value to it. Value that Arya and Daenerys just don't have.

Ships I like I find interesting in some form. My ships aren't always what I want in real life. There are even some I don't want to become canon. With that being said...I am a Jaime/Cersei shipper. The relationship has always intrigued me. It isn't pure or good but there is so much to analyze in it.
Now I think some of you didn't expect me to ship Jaime/Cersei if I think Jaime will kill his sister. The thing is, I want a good story and not a happy one. Although there is some happiness to be found in sadness.

There is something beautiful and poetic in Jaime being the one to end Cersei's life. It will be a sad end to their relationship and will show how far Jaime has grown since Season 1. No longer is he held back by his sister. He is now strong enough to do what has to be done.

Plus Cersei's reaction to seeing that the valonqar is Jaime and not Tyrion will be to die for.

Jaime Lannister already has the title of Kingslayer. Him killing Cersei Lannister would be a reflection of killing the Mad King. It would be as if history repeated itself which is a theme of Game of Thrones.