Very true. More than that, Jaime looks down at Ned Stark. From birth, he was taught that his family was simply better than those peasant lords in the North. He considers Ned to be stupidly rigid. Why should he have to explain himself and seek approval from his rightful vassal? He’s Jaime Fucking Lannister.
Yes, Jaime is a peculiar mix of self-loathing and arrogance - with very good reason for both.
Robert and Eddard would have been in no doubt that they were committing treason - but both felt it had to be done, as the Mad King’s reign had grown too awful and he was personally threatening both them and their families.
Did he? I thought Aegon assigned him to the Kingsguard just to piss Tywin off.
Edit: Or maybe it was to stay close to Ceresi.
It was (the Mad) King Aerys, not Aegon, wasn’t it? Naming Jaime to the Kingsguard suited the King, since that meant he couldn’t inherit from his dad when the time came. It also made Tywin gnash his teeth, which pleased the King. The assignment suited Jaime, too, who wanted to (a) get out from under his father’s thumb and (b) have the chance to win honor and glory as a great knight.
More regular bedtime access to Cersei wasn’t until later, when Robert married her and brought her to King’s Landing as his Queen.
Aerys, Aegon, Aemon…how am I supposed to keep these guys straight??
And gals. Would this help?: A Game of Thrones NWN2 PW - A Neverwinter Nights 2 Persistent World