Game of Thrones: Is Jaime Lannister a hero or villain?

He started off the series as the bad guy who pushed a small child out of a window. But is Jaime Lannister finally redeemed?

When those credits roll today and the camera pans over that nifty 3D map of Westeros and Essos, one of the big questions will be, what’s next for Jaime?

The Game of Thrones character who started off the series pushing a small child out of a window could end up bowing out in noblest of circumstances. It’s one of the biggest plot points of the final season — will Jaime end up a hero or a villain?

For viewers, Jaime’s redemption arc, from would-be child murderer to finally leaving his sister/lover Cersei to fight for the bigger cause has been a long time coming.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau doesn’t quite see it that way — he “disagrees a bit” that it’s a redemption arc at all.

“I think he’s changed. But what you didn’t know about him in the beginning, when you only saw his actions, is any understanding of why he did what he did,” the Danish actor told news.com.au.

“Then you later find out that he’s known as the Kingslayer but in reality he actually saved a million people, which was a pretty cool thing.

“Yes, he pushed a kid out of a window but there was a reason behind it!”

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Jaime has been defined by his relationship with his sister and lover, Cersei

That reason, of course, was to keep secret Jaime’s incestuous relationship with his twin sister Cersei, a bond that has defined his character for better or worse his entire life.

Over seven previous seasons, we’ve seen that when Jaime is around Cersei, he’ll do anything for her. His moral compass is led by her wants, desires and needs — and that involves pushing Bran Stark to his potential death.

That bond, which started to fracture when Jaime clandestinely met with Tyrion without Cersei’s knowledge, was finally severed, though perhaps not for good, when he left her at the end of season seven to join the fight against the White Walkers.

But it’s hard to say whether Jaime’s action in that moment was motivated by his yearning to do good, or driven by hurt feelings after Cersei’s betrayal when she failed to clue him in on her true intentions with Euron Greyjoy.

Probably a combination of both.

“It’s a very complex relationship,” Coster-Waldau said. “They’ve been together their whole lives, romantically since they were teenagers. And they’ve lost three children and now she’s pregnant with what would probably be their last child.

“So they have this choice to make. There is a threat to her, to them, and to the whole world. So he leaves her, and he says ‘no’ to her for the first time.”

For many fans, Jaime leaving Cersei is the first step towards what they see may be their predestined fates — that he, as Kingslayer, will have to kill his sister as she descends further into madness.

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Jaime has been changed by his relationship with Brienne

Jaime’s journey has been leading to that moment, and that’s in no small part due to the influence of Brienne of Tarth.

Thrown together by happenstance in season two, Jaime and Brienne could not have been more different.

He was a celebrated but feared knight with a slippery moral code. She was a capable fighter discriminated again because of her gender and she believed firmly in doing the right thing. They were also fighting on different sides of the same war.

A defining moment for Jaime was when he lost his hand trying to protect Brienne from rapists.

Gwendoline Christie, who plays Brienne, said: “I think that she has shaped and moulded him, through non-active means, just from being around him, into a much more likeable character and man.”

Even Coster-Waldau admitted that Jaime has been changed by Brienne.

“I think they’ve had a huge impact on each other, though for a long time they’ve resisted acknowledging that. I think if you look at these six years together, they’ve both changed for the better.”

Does that mean Jaime is redeemed? We’ll soon see.

Game of Thrones returns for its final season today at 11am AEST on Foxtel and Foxtel Now

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