#they are just vague descriptions used to justify someone’s expected engame of the character

[ilynpilled]

I do not know if I like the label “identity arc” either when it concerns Jaime. Or at least how a lot of people define it in context of his arc, and how it is used in the whole ‘redemption’ discourse. One of the most integral aspects of Jaime’s story is the fact that he is so viscerally aware of certain aspects of who he is deep down. All of his chapters are labelled with his name. It is never Kingslayer or GHTJ. “Jaime. My name’s Jaime” is as clear of a declaration as one could get. Even if he does some self deluding, even if he represses his subconscious, his facade of cynicism enabling his behavior so he does not crumble under the weight of his self-concept, and even if he often plays into a fabricated persona. He is aware of who and what he is, specifically what he turned into. That is the problem. He knows who he is/was, and he hates it. Not just because how it is perceived by other people, but also because of how he perceives himself. I never understood this opinion that he has no guilt, there are so many instances of shame and self-hatred, and he is faced with a lot of his guilt in dreams (the subconscious communicating with the conscious). Not to mention his passive suicidal ideation. His arc is about redefining and transforming Jaime, and finally confronting Jaime, not necessarily about just realizing what Jaime was at his lowest. He knows he is a boy that dreamed of becoming Arthur Dayne but turned into the Smiling Knight instead. His arc did not end with him discovering this. It becomes an arc about the weighting of his values. It is about making choices and agency. The exploration of identity and redemption work hand in hand they are not diametrically opposing concepts at all here. He is who he is, and that means he is the one that can make choices to change. “…but the rest Jaime Lannister would need to write for himself. He could write whatever he chose, henceforth. Whatever he chose . . .”