Did Jamie Lannister Save or Condemn King’s Landing? (Spoilers!)

[Stuart Suffel]

Jamie “The Kingslayer” Lannister killed King Aerys II Targaryen, commonly called "the Mad King", or Dragon King (by my kid brother), which put Robert Baratheon onto the Iron Throne (made him king).

So, question. Did JL save or condemn King’s Landing (specifically King's Landing) by his act of killing the mad king?



Yes, I'm taking time out from work for a bit . So what?

 

[BAYLOR]

Given what a dangerous unpredictable mad monster Aerys II was , Jamie saved alot of lives including those of his family ,his own life and he did ti to avenge what was done to the Starks. Jamie knew that no one was really safe as long as Mad Aerys lived and , had he not killed him, he would gone Caligula on the whole Seven Kingdoms casing massive bloodshed and a far more devastating Civil War which would have resulted in the destruction all the Kingdoms.

 

[Stuart Suffel]

So, I'm saying "King's Landing" specifically.

 

[BAYLOR]

So, I'm saying "King's Landing" specifically.

Opps, sorry .

 

[Judderman]

Jaime's actions effectively stopped the city from being burnt by wildfire. So he certainly saved it at that time.

 

[The Big Peat]

Saved it. The chain of events leading to destruction is too long to lay at Jaime's door.

 

[Pyan]

I've amended the title of this thread slightly - please bear in mind that there are always new people coming to this series for the first time!

 

[Koopa]

Probably saved it, last i checked KL is still standing today. But his actions weren't as nobly motivated as some ppl would have you believe. There was a lot of self preservation, family motive, loathing for the mad king and anger for his own current situation mixed in. He saved many lives, and i'm not saying saving lives was not part of his motivation. But it was just one of his motivations. In all things Jaime is a very (dark) grey character. He is definitely not one of the good guys, but even bad people can do (somewhat) good things.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Jaime stood by his king the whole way through until the final moment. Presumably he had, in the past, stood by on numerous occasions when the Mad King had committed atrocities. But in that instant he knew that if Aerys lived he would destroy Kings Landing, Jaime, everyone and everything. At that moment he did the only thing he could to prevent that from happening.

Or did he?

Interestingly (from memory) it is only Jaime who claims that Aerys was about to destroy Kings Landing with wildfire. Why would someone who had just saved the population be so hated and named 'Kingslayer'? Was it just because he was a Lannister? Or was this perhaps a situation like with Caligula where it was the nobility and establishment, and not the people, who felt threatened? And that Jaime finally snapped and murdered the man he had sworn to protect with his life?

 

[Koopa]

It's all a bit hazy, but i think it was at least hinted at that the pyromancers had been contacted by the king. In any case, The 7 Kingdoms was a feudal place where the values were a bit different from my own. There was my emphasis on the divine right of kings and of the importance of being of noble blood. It's not surprsising people whom hold such a worldview would call him the Kingslayer instead of the savior of KL. Especially since there was tension between house Lannister and house Targaryen. Tywin exiling himself after being more than a bit slighted by the king and probably wanting revenge on the king for taking what he deemed as his heir future away. As a result of the animosity that had grown between the 2 houses, house Lannister kept itself out of the war and then picked the winning side. Taking KL by pretending to come to the king's aide. Jaime killed the king if i recall correct in the midst of Lannister forces taking KL. Saving the people of KL was just factor in Jaime his decision imo. And ùaybe not even the most important. Jaime wanted to join Rhaegar. Rhaegar was now dead. He was still stuck guarding a weak mad king who was committing atrocities daily. His father and family had just decided to move against the king. And now the king was also going to blow up the whole of KL. Including himself and the part of his own family now within KL.

I'm sure given the world view of westeros + animosity of between the houses + animosity between house lannister and some other great houses for coming late to the game and cowardly helping to win the war + the people of KL having been ruled for hundreds of years by house Targaryen and loving Rhaegar and possible his kids. It's easy to see why Jaime Lannister killing of the mad king was not viewed as a positive reflection on his character.

 

[Young stormlord]

Jaime had saved the King's Landing from burning by wildfire, but didn't save it from rape and pillage by Lannister soldiers, which is a thing that the city had never forgiven the Lannisters. We know that from two unlikely suspects: Tyrion and Cersei, who both spoke with pyromancers. In their chapters we are told that

1) There was a cache of wildfire (200 jars) found a few years (288 AC) after Robert's rebellion (282-283AC ) under The Sept of Baelor, causing the current First Septon to freak out and pyromancers to have to move the wilfire under the cloak of night. Keep in mind that Sept of Baelor is in the middle of the city, an emergency shelter that can temporarily house thousands and is more likely for women and children from the whole town to go there to pray to Maiden for mercy in the middle of battle.

2) Another cache was found in a locked cellar under Dragon Pit (300 jars), next year 299 after the cache found under the Sept. Dragon Pit is on the different hill, surrounded by slums, shops, warehouses, alehouses and whorehouses. All the cellars and storage in and around it is heavily used. So the chance that it was the older and forgotten cache before the rebellion is practically zero.

3) Three elder (top management) pyromancers (Rossart, Garigus and Belis, who all knew the plan) are known to have gone missing and been killed during the Sack of King's Landing and a couple days later. In his chapter, Jaime confirms he tracked and killed them. Keep in mind that pyromancers (and especially elder pyromancers) dress in very rich and distinctive clothes and are usually unarmed. They are more likely to be captured than killed during the battle, because they are literally worth their weight in gold because of their knowledge how to make wildfire.

4) Wildfire is expensive, each jar worth a dozen gold coins and extremely volatile. You don't just lose 500 jars of it. One jar is enough to burn a huge ship. 200 would be enough to burn a quarter or a fifth of a city.

More details here: https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Wildfire_plot Apparently, there was a cache under every city gate as well. Which meant that once the fire started (almost a certainty during siege, because the invaders are likely to try to burn the gates. Thanks Pycelle, you are our savior for telling Aerys to let Tywin in!) there would have been no escape from the burning city.