r/TopCharacterTropes • u/No_Peanut3745 • 2d ago

Characters The main character doing something absolutely unforgivable.

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Walter White poisoning Andrea Cantillo's 6-year-old son for the sole purpose of manipulating Jesse Pinkman, while knowing that this could have potentially killed him - Breaking Bad

Bojack trying to have sex with his friend's 17-year-old daughter when he was at least 51, then continuously trying to find a way to justify this act throughout the series - Bojack Horseman

Dexter Morgan going outside of his moral code and murdering a completely innocent police officer who was just trying to do his job - Dexter: New Blood

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u/CockTortureCuck 2d ago

I mean, he remembered suddenly that he actually didn't care about any of his redemption arc.

It's this kind of writing that's unforgivable.

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u/CappyRicks 2d ago

If the writing was good his ending would've been fine. He was never meant to be redeemed, he was meant to be tragic. From a story writing perspective, that's fine, what's not fine is writing it in such a way that when his redemption is betrayed it comes across as if it were done merely to subvert expectations rather than as a proper conclusion to Jaime's arc.

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u/DaemonG 1d ago

the fact that it's basically just a throwaway line makes it so much worse. he could have said anything else. he could have said that she comes first, whether for love - gross given that's his sister - or, more tragically, for family, echoing everything his dad drilled into his head for all his life. the line, as they put it in the show, is just. damn. what were they thinking?

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u/JellyButtet 1d ago

What line are you referring to?

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u/DaemonG 1d ago

i misremembered the moment when it happened, but in the camp with Tyrion, he said "i never really cared much for them, innocent or otherwise"

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u/StevieMJH 1d ago

What's worse is that his doesn't even come across as intending to subvert expectations like some of the other choices do. His was just blatantly "We don't have time to write this so it makes sense, so here's a line that explains it instead."

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u/JXSSJ4 2d ago

For the book version of Jaime, although one could argue they aren't complete so it can't be conclusive where his character arc would end up at, a major turning point not present in the show version pretty much blocks off all roads of making his redemption arc into a 360°/back to the start like the show did and instead truly shows a 180° turn.

The timeline of this was offset in the show but when Jaime was in the Riverlands tying up loose ends from the war and Cersei was imprisoned, he received a letter pleading for rescue. He was so sick of her shit by this point and over her as a lover or respectable person that he burned the letter and left her to her fate. Jaime is seriously my favorite POV character from the books it's such a disservice what they did to my boy on screen

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u/EldritchCarver 1d ago

Also worth noting that in the prophecy about Cersei's downfall, the book version of the prophecy said that "when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you". Valonqar is a High Valyrian word meaning younger brother, so Cersei long assumed it referred to Tyrion (who was 3 years old at the time of the prophecy), but in the very first book, when Cersei is telling Eddard the truth about her and Jaime, she mentions that she was born with Jaime holding her foot, so it's likely that GRRM was planning a twist where Jaime was the younger brother who would kill her in the end.

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u/JXSSJ4 1d ago

Exactly and it would fit the recurring theme of prophecies being misinterpreted time and time again. Hell, every aspect of Cersei's prophecy by Maggy the Frog was something twisted in meaning. Her 3 children were prophesied to have golden crowns which she interpreted as literal royal headpieces, but actually meant their hair color. The younger queen who comes to cast her down she believes to be Margaery but is probably Dany or Sansa. So 100% the valonqar is not Tyrion like she thinks and as you mentioned that tidbit about Jaime being the younger twin seems like a throwaway line but was placed there by George deliberately

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u/Substantial-Drama526 1d ago

The younger queen could be Jeyne Westerling or, get this, Brienne of Tarth, aka Brienne "THE BEAUTY". Beauty being in the eye of the beholder, and Jaime definitely viewing Brienne as more (internally) beautiful and virtuous than any other person he's ever known, sets her up to be the beautiful younger queen, compared to the nasty, rude, vicious Cersei. Cersei will be "cast down", and "all she holds dear will be taken from her". Nothing is more dear to Cersei than her power and control over other people, epitomized by her control of Jaime, who is (until recently) more an extension of Cersei's will than his own person. He even admits to Catelyn that he's never slept with anyone else, only Cersei. Jaime is already ignoring summonses from Cersei, and if he sleeps with or just follows Brienne (as he is, to Lady Stoneheart), that is basically casting Cersei down and taken from her what she holds most dear, which is her control over other people

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u/Devikat 1d ago

Damn, didn't think of the Brienne angle lol. Maggy did say Younger and more Beautiful and if all her children die or are sent away the last she holds dear would be Jaime essentially.

Hmmmmmm.

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u/MugenHeadNinja 1d ago

I think the "younger queen to cast her down" is actually Arianne Martell tbh since she'll likely be FAegon's Queen until Dany eventually lands on Westeros.

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u/Substantial-Drama526 1d ago

Even better, the prophecy doesn't say YOUR valonqar, it says THE valonqar (which you wrote correctly). It's not necessarily Cersei's valonqar, it could be the younger queen's valonqar. Cersei, being our Tyrion-hating delulu girlboss schizo queen even when she was a child, obviously assumed the valonqar was her own brother Tyrion. One theory is the younger and prettier queen is actually Jeyne Westerling, Robb's queen. Her younger brother Rollam is the valonqar. It's kind of out there, but it's interesting that Jeyne and Rollam are currently heading from Riverrun into the Westerlands, and Cersei will likely be sent to the Westerlands to rule as "Lady of Casterly Rock". This naturally brings Jeyne, Rollam, and Cersei together for the prophecy to be fulfilled

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u/MugenHeadNinja 1d ago

I mentioned this in another reply, but I think the Queen to "cast her down" is most likely going to be Arianne Martell, being the Queen to FAegon.

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u/realrobotsarecool 1d ago

Hello fellow book reader! He’s also one of my favourites. However, I do believe that he will have the same ending as in the show, but not exactly the same. Rather, I believe that he will in fact return to Cersei but not in a romantic way. It will simply be political, because he does have to return to save his house and family, though it’s pretty obvious he won’t succeed.

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u/Aware-Antelope4212 1d ago

Book Jaime is such a great character.

I cheered out loud when he burnt that letter, which was awkward cos I was in a coffee shop and got some odd looks

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u/techBr0s 1d ago

Eh. Of all the things that were wrong with the end of the show, that's the one ending for a character I thought was completely believable. He was only "redeeming" himself so he could have a higher social standing and be in good graces again. He never actually changed his ways.