He did it! Jaime Lannister finally slept with a woman he’s not related to on “Game of Thrones.” And it was great — until suddenly it wasn’t.

Spoilers below for Season 8 Episode 4.

Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Brienne (Gwendoline Christine) have been the show’s longest-running “will they or won’t they” couple. Over the course of seven seasons (since they met in Season 2), they’ve progressed from enemies to friends to ambiguous love interests who are each too psychologically damaged to admit they’re in love, until now. The two knights finally consummate their relationship in this episode. It’s a great moment … until it ends badly when Jaime leaves and Brienne is distraught.

WTF? Is this suddenly “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”? Jaime’s had the show’s best redemption arc. Did having sex with Brienne make him lose his soul?

Yes and no. It certainly seems out of character for the guy who famously said “the things I do for love” to, um, abandon the woman he loves.

But there are two possibilities here. The shift in Jaime comes when he hears that one of the dragons has been shot. So Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is weakened, and maybe can’t be counted on to take out Cersei herself. His face falls when he hears that news, and he seems deep in thought. He then lashes out at Brienne when she asks him to stay by appealing to his nature as a “good man.” He goes on a rant about the terrible things he’s done, all for his twin and ex-lover, Cersei (Lena Headey).

So one possibility is that he has a deeper plan to take Cersei out, since clearly nobody else can be trusted with the job. But since he thinks it’s a suicide mission, he wants to turn Brienne against him. It echoes his brother Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) in Season 4, when he tried to send his lover Shae (Sibel Kikelli) away from King’s Landing in order to save her life. He ended up being cruel to her in his breakup speech, so that he could be sure she’d really leave (and then she still didn’t).

Scenes from Episode 4 of "Game of Thrones" Season 8: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister and Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tart HBO/Helen Sloan Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth, Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister HBO/Helen Sloan HBO/Helen Sloan Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen HBo Rory McCann as Sandor "The Hound" Clegane and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark HBO/Helen Sloan Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen HBO Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy HBO/Helen Sloan Kristofer Hivju as Tormund, Kit Harington as Jon Snow, and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen HBO/Helen Sloan Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen HBO/Helen Sloan Rory McCann as Sandor "The Hound" Clegane and Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark HBO/Helen Sloan Maisie Williams as Arya Stark and Joe Dempsie as Gendry HBO/Helen Sloan Kit Harington as Jon Snow and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen HBO/Helen Sloan Kit Harington as Jon Snow, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark, Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, and Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark. HBO/Helen Sloan Kristofer Hivju as Tormund, John Bradley as Samwell Tarly, and Hannah Murray as Gilly HBO/Helen Sloan Kristofer Hivju as Tormund, John Bradley as Samwell Tarly, and Hannah Murray as Gilly HBO/Helen Sloan HBO/Helen Sloan Pilou Asbæk as Euron Greyjoy, Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, and Anton Lesser as Qyburn HBO/Helen Sloan Nathalie Emmanuel as Missande HBO/Helen Sloan Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister HBO/Helen Sloan Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as The Mountain, and Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister HBO/Helen Sloan Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as The Mountain and Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei HBO/Helen Sloan Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm HBO/Helen Sloan Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen Ad Up Next Close The sad Mets reality that keeps getting worse MILWAUKEE — Such is life with the Mets nowadays —... 23 View Slideshow Back Continue Share this: Facebook

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So it’s possible Jaime is pulling a Tyrion and not being truthful on purpose. Otherwise maybe she’d want to come with him, and she’d be in danger.

It’s also possible that his redemption journey hasn’t been a straight line. He still has a healthy dose of self-loathing from living with years of internalized shame as the Kingslayer, being misunderstood and judged the most harshly for his best and bravest action. It’s within reason that his self-loathing is now manifesting in a tragically misguided way. He does love Brienne — and so leaving her is a thing that he’s doing for love.

As Jaime once said, you don’t get to choose whom you love. But as he’s shown time and time again with his actions, you do get to choose how you act and what you do about it. And as much as we love Jaime, as much as he’s a man of honor, he doesn’t always act in the best way. That’s completely on brand for this tragic man.

While it might be disappointing to internet shippers, as Ramsey Bolton (Iwan Rheon) once said, “if you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.” Happily ever afters are rare indeed on “Game of Thrones.” Still, don’t let it diminish the beauty of Jaime and Brienne’s journey over the past seven seasons.

“Game of Thrones” Season 8 airs Sunday nights on HBO.