'Game of Thrones' Director Reveals the Reason Jaime Left Brienne Last Week

The episode saw Jaime and Brienne of Tarth finally consummate their unspoken love for each other, one which unlike his relationship with Cersei is built on years of hard-earned trust and respect. Which made it all the harder to watch as he then abandoned Brienne in the middle of the night to return to his "hateful" sister, where he thinks he belongs.

David Nutter, the director of the episode, has some thoughts on the twisted connection between Jaime and Cersei, and what really prompted the disgraced knight to head south, barely two days after arriving in Winterfell and being reunited with Brienne.

I think [its] this magnet. Hes always running back to Cersei ... and he cant help himself. Too powerful for him to try to control, Nutter said in a recent interview with HuffPost . "And he needs to get back to her. I think its the kind of thing where hes realizing who he is and what hes made of."

This explanation seems to imply that Jaime's toxic love for Cersei will undermine the last eight years' worth of character development, and it would certainly be in keeping with the themes of the show for a redeemed man to be ultimately undone by his darker impulses. But it's also possible that Nutter's claims are all a red herring.

All Cersei's life, she has lived with a prophecy that her younger brother will kill her. She focused this fear on Tyrion, but her twin Jaime was born second, meaning he is also technically her younger brother. If Jaime is returning to King's Landing to end Cersei's life, adding "Queenslayer" to his existing title of "Kingslayer", it would be a fitting end to his arc - and provide a satisfying explanation for why he had to leave Brienne so soon after they finally got together. But maybe that's too obvious and optimistic a prediction for a show which consistently subverts tropes and kills off popular characters. I guess we'll find out tonight.