The Kingsguard - Jaime Lannister

The Kingsguard -Jaime Lannister
Histories & Lore
Season 4
Short 11
Short information
Release date	February 17, 2015
Run time	4 minutes
Narrated by	Jaime Lannister
Written by	Dave Hill
Chronological information
← Previous	"The Nations of the North"
Next →	"The Kingsguard - Bronn"

"The Kingsguard - Jaime Lannister" is the eleventh short of the fourth season of Histories & Lore. It is the seventieth short of the series overall. It was released on February 17, 2015 in Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season. It was narrated by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister and written by Dave Hill.

Premise

Jaime Lannister details the heroes and storied triumphs of the Kingsguard, believed to be the most honorable knights in the realm.

Narration

Jaime Lannister: All boys dream of becoming knights. The boys with talent dream of becoming Kingsguard. The boys without talent, well, I wouldn't know.

I remember the day the Lord Commander wrote my name down in the White Book, the official record of the Kingsguard. At sixteen, the youngest member ever to join, knighted by Ser Arthur and Ser Barristan for valor against the Kingswood Brotherhood.

An outlaw had decided to try his luck against a lowly squire. He was not using his head, so I took it off him. Shortly afterwards, King Aerys the Second, who hadn't yet earned the title of the Mad King, took me into his service.

If I have ever been happy, it was that day.

For centuries, the Kingsguard have been the glory of the realm. Aegon the Conqueror had established the order as his personal guardians after uniting Westeros with fire and blood. He knew that some of his subjects wouldn't take to conquest, and his dragons were no use against knives in the dark.

No doubt surrounding himself with the greatest knights in Westeros made his rule more palatable and less foreign as well.

Everyone in his kingdoms soon knew the names and some of the songs of the Kingsguard. I certainly did from earliest days.

Lord Commander Gerold Hightower, the White Bull; Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning; Barristan Selmy, the Bold; Prince Lewyn Martell; Oswell Whent; Jonothor Darry. And, soon enough, the boy prodigy. Me.

We protected the king and his family. We killed his enemies and led his armies. We gave him counsel when asked and kept his secrets when not. We swore to hold no lands, take no wives, and father no children. Like the Night's Watch, except with a real job to do.

Was I awed to see my name inscribed in the same book as my heroes? Of course not. I was sixteen and brilliant. I knew I belonged there.

Beside the name of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who wielded the Valyrian sword Dark Sister. He died defending King Aegon the Unworthy from assassins, though the king had insulted Aemon throughout his reign and had well earned his fate because Prince Aemon had sworn our oath.

Beside the name of Ser Gwayne Corbray, who dueled the Targaryen bastard Daemon Blackfyre for an hour during the Battle of Redgrass Field though outmatched and grievously wounded, because Ser Gwayne had sworn our oath.

Beside the name of Ser Duncan the Tall, who, as a hedge knight, broke several of Prince Aerion Targaryen's teeth while defending a Dornish woman. He later rose to Lord Commander and burned beside his King at Summerhall, because Ser Duncan had sworn our oath.

And now, below the name of Jaime Lannister. You know how it reads. What I did, even though I had sworn our oath. That was years, and a hand ago.

When I joined the Kingsguard, I fought beside legends in the flesh. Their kind is dust now. And the men who have taken their place?

Mud. Ser Boros Blount, the Fat. Ser Meryn Trant, the Forgettable. Sandor Clegane, the Dog Who Tucked Tail and Ran. Like mud, their names have soiled the White Book, almost as much as mine.

Appearances

Individuals

• Ser Jaime Lannister
• Ser Arthur Dayne
• Ser Barristan Selmy, the "Bold"
• King Aerys II Targaryen, the "Mad King"
• King Aegon I Targaryen, the "Conqueror" (mentioned)
• Ser Gerold Hightower, the "White Bull"
• Prince Lewyn Martell
• Ser Oswell Whent
• Ser Jonothor Darry
• Prince Aemon Targaryen, the "Dragonknight"
• King Aegon IV Targaryen, the "Unworthy"
• Ser Gwayne Corbray
• Daemon Blackfyre
• Ser Duncan the Tall
• Prince Aerion Targaryen
• Tanselle (mentioned indirectly)
• Prince Aegon Targaryen (unnamed)
• Ser Boros Blount (mentioned)
• Ser Meryn Trant (mentioned)
• Sandor Clegane (mentioned)

Houses

• House Targaryen

Institutions

• Kingsguard
• Kingswood Brotherhood

Locations

• Westeros
  • King's Landing
    • Red Keep
    • White Sword Tower
  • Summerhall (mentioned)

Events

• Aegon's Conquest (mentioned)
• Battle of Redgrass Field
• Fire of Summerhall (mentioned)

Titles

• Lord Commander of the Kingsguard
• King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men
• Sword of the Morning

Miscellaneous

• Book of Brothers
• Dragon (mentioned)
• Valyrian steel
• Dark Sister

Cast

• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister

Behind the scenes

• This is the first of two shorts on the Kingsguard.
• Jaime says here that he was inducted into the Kingsguard when he was sixteen years old. In the novels and also according to "Robert's Rebellion - Jaime Lannister" and to Arthur Dayne's entry in the Book of Brothers ("The Iron Throne"), Jaime was fifteen when he was named to the Kingsguard. The TV series has been inconsistent with the ages of several of the Lannisters: in Season 2's episode "The Prince of Winterfell" Tyrion stated that Jaime was seventeen when he was knighted; Tyrion has also stated that Cersei was nineteen years old when the rebellion ended (two years later), and as Jaime's twin she would be the same age. According to Jaime's entry in the Book of Brothers, as seen in Season 4's episode "Two Swords" and read aloud by Brienne in "Oathkeeper", however, he was sixteen when he was named to the Kingsguard. Thus the TV continuity keeps vacillating over whether Jaime was fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen when he joined the Kingsguard.
• Ser Duncan the Tall is shown riding alongside the boy Egg, who will later grown up to become King Aegon V Targaryen. However, Duncan is shown wearing Kingsguard armor, despite the fact that he did not join the Kingsguard until Aegon rose to the throne at the age of thirty-three. A possible explanation is that it may be an in-universe interpretation of the artist.

In the books

• The short is adapted from the following chapter of A Storm of Swords:
  • Chapter 67, Jaime VIII: Jaime Lannister muses about former members of the Kingsguard, among them Barristan Selmy, Gerold Hightower, Arthur Dayne, Aemon the Dragonknight, Duncan the Tall; he recalls the battle against the Kingswood Brotherhood; when comparing the current members of the Kingsguard to those who served under the Mad King, he is filled with disdain.