Skip to main content

game of thrones - Why did Tywin Lannister allow Jaime to join the Kingsguard?


I can't imagine Tywin allowing his son Jaime to join the Kingsguard. Wouldn't he insist that Jaime stay at Casterly Rock, marry, have children, and carry on the family name? He certainly did not want Tyrion to become lord of Casterly Rock.



Answer



In The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros, it is noted that King Aerys and Tywin were close friends as boys, along with Steffon Baratheon. Being such good friends and a close confidant of Aerys, Tywin became the youngest Hand in the Seven Kingdoms at the age of 20. Through the years, as we are well aware, Aerys became paranoid and delusional, believing that his own son Rhaegar and close friends, most notably Tywin, were plotting against him. There are several reasons why Aerys believed this.



  1. His wife Rhaella, although giving him an heir in Rhaegar, had countless miscarriages and still births, until the later births of Viserys and Daenerys, while Tywin's wife Joanna bore him two healthy twins, Jaime and Cersei.

  2. After being kidnapped and held captive at Duskendale by Lord Denys Darlyn, who wanted more autonomy, Aerys believed that Tywin and Rhaegar had deliberately held back in freeing him, hoping he would be killed so Rhaegar could ascend the Iron Throne.

  3. Aerys was inherently jealous of Tywin. He hated how Tywin seemingly had everything that he didn't and at every opportunity sought to undermine and belittle him.



  4. The greatest insult to Tywin came in 281 AC when Aerys appointed Jaime to the Kingsguard. As stated in The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros, p121



    Ser Jaime was also Lord Tywin's heir, however, and carried all his hopes for the perpetuation of House Lannister, as his lordship's other son was a the malformed dwarf, Tyrion. Moreover, the Hand had been in the midst of negotiating an advantageous marriage pact for Ser Jaime when the King informed him of his choice. At a stroke, King Aerys had deprived Lord Tywin of his chosen heir and made him look foolish and false.





Tywin couldn't refuse his king appointing Jaime, as this insult possibly would have cost not only him his life but caused the complete downfall of House Lannister, which is what happened to House Darklyn. All Tywin could do was resign from his post as Hand and retire to Casterly Rock, which Aerys allowed him to do.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

Could one of Voldemort's Death Eaters have killed or harmed Harry at Privet Drive?

In Order of the Phoenix , Dumbledore explains to Harry the protection that the Dursleys' home provides: While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years. Dumbledore says that he cannot be "touched or harmed by Voldemort". Does this mean that he could have sent a Death Eater to just bust down the door and kill Harry, assuming that Voldemort would allow them to? And even if he didn't want them to kill him, could they have harmed him in some other way (e.g. the Cruciatus Curse)? Answer No. Harry was protect...
Post a Comment
Read more