Part of the fun of A Song of Ice and Fire is all the little clues and repetition hidden in the narrative. George R.R. Martin consciously makes certain events “rhyme” with previous ones, and certain characters are reminiscent of those long dead. Not only is this interesting from a trivia perspective, it also allows us to guess and discover hints towards the future plot developments of the main characters.

In my opinion, the most notable character comparisons one can make within the context of ASOIAF are the following: Aegon IV/Robert Baratheon and Aemon the Dragonknight/Jaime Lannister. These characters are not identical to one another, however there are strong similarities and events and characteristics are twisted or flipped around for their modern counterparts.

Ser Aemon the Dragonknight

Joined the Kingsguard at the age of seventeen and rose to the position of Lord Commander.

Widely regarded as the most honourable knight who ever lived.

Was said to be in love with his queen sister, Naerys Targaryen, and it is heavily believed that Aegon IV’s heir Daeron II was the son of Aemon and Naerys rather than Aegon and Naerys, making him a bastard.

that Aegon IV’s heir Daeron II was the son of Aemon and Naerys rather than Aegon and Naerys, making him a bastard. Won a tournament unexpectedly disguised as the “Knight of Tears” and crowned Naerys the “Queen of Love and Beauty” (okay, this is more of a Rhaegar comparison admittedly but still fun to notice).

He served under four kings: Daeron I, Baelor I, Viserys II and Aegon IV.

Ser Jaime Lannister

Joined the Kingsguard at the age of sixteen and rose to the position of Lord Commander.

Widely regarded as the most honourless knight who ever lived, dubbed “The Kingslayer”.

Is (or was) in love with his queen sister, Cersei Lannister, and fathered the heirs Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella Baratheon with her, making them all bastards.

He has served under four kings: Aerys II, Robert I, Joffrey I and Tommen I.

King Aegon IV Targaryen

At the beginning of his reign he was strong, robust and handsome, however by the time of his death he had become weak and obese.

Had a difficult and loveless relationship with his queen Naerys Targaryen, and liked to mock her in front of her brother Aemon the Dragonknight.

Cared only for himself and his pleasures and regularly abused those around him.

Was obsessed with his carnal desires and sired several bastards.

On his death bed, he legitimized all of his bastards, who later became known as the “Great Bastards”. This is what resulted in multiple Blackfyre Rebellions which ripped the realm apart.

King Robert I Baratheon

At the beginning of his reign he was strong, robust and handsome, however by the time of his death he had become weak and obese.

Had a difficult and loveless relationship with his queen Cersei Lannister, and liked to mock her in front of her brother Jaime Lannister.

His main concern was sex and drinking rather than the governance of the realm and has sired many bastards, three of whom have played roles in the main story (Gendry, Edric Storm and Mya Stone).

Robert was a popular king, however was stubborn and abusive to his family and cared little for the governance of the realm.

On his death bed, he caused a succession crisis by naming Eddard Stark as Lord Regent of Westeros until his son Joffrey came of age. Unbeknownst to him, all of his children were in fact fathered by Jaime Lannister and he left no legitimate heir; this crisis resulted in the War of Five Kings, which plagued the country for many years and continues to do so.

As you can see, there are more than enough parallels presented to deny that it was unintentional. George has purposefully made all those characters and events mirror each other; why? It is known that he leaves subtle clues towards future plot developments in his work (his editor has said this) and he could be leaving us a trail of breadcrumbs. Perhaps he enjoys historical events mirroring each other in his own work, or maybe he got lazy and couldn’t think of different enough characters and events. Or a mixture of all three.

However, for the purpose of this article I’m going to assume the reason is the first option on the list: that they provide clues towards the future of the story. Robert died at the end of A Game of Thrones, therefore his role won’t provide any further significance to the plot (however it’s likely that the events caused by his death and his bastards will). The only character out of the four that is still alive is Jaime Lannister – a fan-favourite. He started off the series as one of the most hated and despicable characters but now has become one of the most sympathetic and interesting, extraordinarily. Let’s take a look at how Aemon the Dragonknight died.

Despite Aegon’s feelings of disrespect and hate towards Aemon and Aegon’s provocations, Aemon died honourably, defending his brother and king against two brothers of House Toyne who sought to assassinate the King in retribution for the execution of their brother, Ser Terrence Toyne.

The above passage is from the ASOIAF Wiki, and at first would seem to provide no real insight into the future of Jaime Lannister’s character arc. Since other aspects of the two knights have been flipped – their honour – it is reasonable to believe that certain elements of Jaime’s death or fate may be changed slightly too. It’s important to note that Aemon died defending his brother, whom he hated yet was still bound by honour to protect. The passage mentions Ser Terrence Toyne, who was a member of his Kingsguard until he was caught abed with one of Aegon’s mistress and the two were sentenced to death. House Toyne was a noble house of the Stormlands, now extinct. Interestingly, Simon Toyne went on to become the leader of the Kingswood Brotherhood, a gang of outlaws during the reign of the Mad King. Jaime is currently headed towards the Brotherhood Without Banners – a gang of outlaws with very similar purposes to the previous Brotherhood – although if there are any notable parallels or hints there then I haven’t figured it out yet.

No, what I’m more interested in is the fact that Terrence Toyne was sentenced to death for sleeping with one of Aegon’s mistresses and his two brothers then tried to assassinate the king. I originally wondered whether Jaime would die defending Tyrion, however even though I do think they will meet again I don’t necessarily see Jaime wanting to die defending him. Last time they saw each other, he falsely confessed to killing Joffrey and told Jaime of all the men Cersei had slept with whilst Jaime was held captive. However, the current king is his son. Different circumstances to Aemon’s death however the familial connection is kept.

When researching for this piece, I looked at the current members of the Kingsguard and their respective houses; House Trant and House Blount are both from the Stormlands, like House Toyne, however I can see no realistic scenario in which they would attempt to kill Tommen. However, there is one Kingsguard who does have two brothers and all three have taken fairly prominent roles in recent books. Pour yourselves some tea…

That pun likely fell on deaf ears, however the three characters I am talking about are Osmund, Osfryd and Osney Kettleblack. They are sons of Oswell Kettleblack, an up-jumped sellsword in service to Petyr Baelish, and naturally his sons are all reporting to him as well. Out of the three, Osmund is the only member of the Kingsguard however they are all extremely close to Queen Cersei… And by “extremely close,” I mean that they’ve all fucked her.

Let’s take a look at their fates as of the end of A Dance With Dragons.

Osmund Kettleblack : thrown into a cell by Kevan Lannister upon Cersei’s admittence that she slept with him. If he pleads guilty then he will be sent to the Night’s Watch; if he pleads not guilty then he will face Ser Robert Strong in a trial by combat.

: thrown into a cell by Kevan Lannister upon Cersei’s admittence that she slept with him. If he pleads guilty then he will be sent to the Night’s Watch; if he pleads not guilty then he will face Ser Robert Strong in a trial by combat. Osfryd Kettleblack : the same as above.

: the same as above. Osney Kettleblack: after Cersei’s plot to have him caught bedding Margaery Tyrell and subsequently sent to the Wall to assassinate Jon Snow failed miserably, he confessed to the High Sparrow that he did not sleep with Margaery however was instructed to by Cersei, who he did sleep with several times. He also confessed that he killed the previous High Septon on Cersei’s orders. This is what led to Cersei’s arrest and Osney is awaiting execution as a prisoner of the Faith.

All three brothers are facing death, however it is not out of the realm of possibility that only one of them shall die and two will escape. Now that Kevan’s dead and Cersei in chains, the Tyrells will be in control of the city as there will be no major Lannister force left. A shocking fall from where they stood just two books ago in my opinion. While they are not in the business of releasing prisoners when they please, I find it unlikely that they will care about executing sellswords who slept with a now out-of-power queen. While Osney is a prisoner of the Faith, Osmund and Osfryd are in the dungeons of King’s Landing and are more likely to be released. Therefore, out of the three brothers I find it most likely that Osney Kettleblack will die. Then again, perhaps events could mirror the past even more by having Osmund die, as he is the only Kingsguard out of the three, and Osney and Osfryd seeking vengeance.

I don’t think it necessarily matters which of the brothers die, as they’re all fairly interchangeable with one another. What matters is the implications brought about by their current situation. Even though Jaime would most likely die to protect Tommen, as his king but more importantly as his son, he is currently in the Riverlands and I don’t think he will be returning to the capital any time soon. I think his most likely next destination is Casterly Rock. We know that we will be seeing the Lannister castle in The Winds of Winter, although through whose eyes is up to debate. I have previously written about how we will first see it through Cersei’s eyes as she is smuggled away from King’s Landing by Robert Strong, but like many others I believe Jaime is the Valonquar, destined to kill Cersei.

Like with all of these articles, I spend so much time meandering and talking that I take too long to get to the point, so here we go.

The person that Jaime dies trying to save will not be Tyrion, and it will not be Tommen. It will be Cersei.

However, there will be certain key differences to make it satisfying.

Osney/Osmund/Osfmdiuskjfd or whichever brothers are left alive will be mad at whoever is responsible for the death of one of their brothers. If Osney dies then they will be mad at the Faith and might try and assassinate the High Sparrow (providing the Tyrells release them). However, as I said earlier the Kettleblack’s are primarily Littlefinger’s men, who could easily secure their release. Cersei’s continued existence creates problems for Petyr; he enjoys creating chaos, and killing Cersei would do just that, however he likely also wants to cut all Lannister ties to strengthen his relationship with the Tyrells. He also likely knows about Aegon’s landing by this point and may want to join forces with him. Again, I think Jaime’s next destination will be Casterly Rock. He may escape the Brotherhood or they send him there, it doesn’t matter.

I think Jaime’s arrival will be timed with an assassination attempt on Cersei’s life by the Kettleblacks. They may travel from King’s Landing, or perhaps Littlefinger will send Osmund to do it as he is currently with him in the Vale. It is unimportant who carries out the act, as what is important is Jaime’s death and mirroring Aemon’s death. Jaime’s natural first instinct will be to attack the Kettleblacks for attempting to hurt Cersei, either because he probably won’t be in a great frame of mind or because he wants to do the deed himself. He will then engage in a duel with the brothers and slay them, although suffering a mortal wound in the process. Cersei will be overjoyed and think he has come to her rescue, however he will quickly wrap his hands around her neck and strangle the life out of her.

Jaime and Cersei will die together, just as they came into this world together.

If you’re still here then congratulations. Many people think that Cersei’s constant echoing of the above statement is foreshadowing of their respective fates and I agree, however most people don’t fill in the details. I strongly believe that there are several other instances of historical parallels which contain hints to future plot events – we just need to find them.

I’m also a believer in the idea that Daenerys will send Tyrion to retake Casterly Rock. If George somehow manages to also time that with Jaime’s arrival and his murder of Cersei then that will be a definitely epic reunion of the Lannister siblings.

If you disagree or want to add to any of the ideas presented here then please do, as I will always welcome intelligent debate on this fantastic series.

Even if none of this is true, one thing is certain: Jaime has a very interesting future ahead of him.