Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on why Jaime did that stupid thing at the end of Game of Thrones ep 4

“You idiot. You f**king idiot,” mumbled Tyrion Lannister under his breath as his brother Jaime went charging towards a dragon. Everyone knew that was a stupid thing to do, no matter how brave. But what does Nikolaj Coster-Waldau think about it? Why did his character did what it did on the last episode of HBO’s hit fantasy drama, Game of Thrones?

In an interview to The New York Times, Nikolaj talked about the climax, how it was filmed and the intentions and motivations behind Jaime’s actions. He said Jaime knew it was risky but there is no way they are defeating her any other way. “Yeah. Jaime’s not a complete idiot. He knows that this is a long-shot. But he also knows that there is no way that they can beat this woman. They cannot beat these dragons. The only way would be to somehow kill her, and for a brief second, he sees that opening. It’s like a Hail Mary,” he said.

Nikolaj suggests the only way to beat Dany is by birthing a few dragons of our own. “But this is Jaime. He sometimes acts before he thinks. And you have to, in war situations. It would be glorious. He would save his sister, even if he’s the only one who believes she needs saving. Because you also see the horror of these weapons of mass destruction, it’s so overwhelming. The truth is, Dany could do this without the Dothraki army. They’re just there to clean up the mess. So yes, you can have Qyburn’s scorpion machine, and if you had 100 scorpions, you might be able to do something. But unless they do that, it’s going to be difficult to beat. Or they’ve got to go get their own dragon eggs and build a big fire! ,” he said.

The episode leaves the audience on a cliff hanger. Will Jaime drown in the waters, weighed down by the heaviness of his armour? Or will someone save him? He has sort of an answer for that. “It seems impossible to survive that. Luckily, he’s not wearing the Kingsguard armour, which is made of brass. But oh my God, don’t get me started on the water! We had a full day of going to the bottom, and that was not nice. I got a little sick, after. You have to go down, you have to equalize the pressure, and I’m not very good at that. It was just a tough, tough day,” he said.

On Jaime’s relationship with Tyrion, Nikolaj says the Kingslayer never doubted that his brother didn’t kill his son, Jeoffrey. “I don’t think Jaime ever thought Tyrion did, but he didn’t know that he didn’t, if that makes sense. I don’t think he believed it. But they didn’t know who did it. And it raises a question of who can he trust?” he said.

Nikolaj is one of the five top billed actors on the show. The others are Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey and Kit Harington. Episode five, Blood of the Dragon, airs on Monday. Be sure to check our review.