Writer - Slave to my imagination

In Jaime IX he mentions the stableboy killed by Gregor during the duel, in a way that could make him a witness in it:

A few of the horses still shied away from the dark splotch on the hard-packed ground where the earth had drunk the life's blood of the stableboy Gregor Clegane had killed so clumsily. The sight of it made Jaime angry all over again. He had told his Kingsguard to keep the crowd out of the way, but that oaf Ser Boros had let himself be distracted by the duel. The fool boy himself shared some of the blame, to be sure; the dead Dornishman as well. And Clegane most of all. The blow that took the boy's arm off had been mischance, but that second cut . . .

And this is how it happens from Tyrion's POV:

The stable was behind him. Spectators screamed and shoved at each other to get out of the way. One stumbled into Oberyn's back. Ser Gregor hacked down with all his savage strength. The Red Viper threw himself sideways, rolling. The luckless stableboy behind him was not so quick. As his arm rose to protect his face, Gregor's sword took it off between elbow and shoulder. "Shut UP!" the Mountain howled at the stableboy's scream, and this time he swung the blade sideways, sending the top half of the lad's head across the yard in a spray of blood and brains. Hundreds of spectators suddenly seemed to lose all interest in the guilt or innocence of Tyrion Lannister, judging by the way they pushed and shoved at each other to escape the yard.

because most readers these days go into this plot point spoiled (thanks to the show), perhaps it's possible to miss that jaime freeing tyrion is a true surprise in the books. it's one of grrm's little gotchas. and in order to pull it off, he can't let jaime think about what he's going to do, but the evidence is all there in retrospect

from the moment he arrives back in king's landing, jaime downplays his loyalty to tyrion. he mildly probes tywin and cersei to see what he can glean about the situation but then drops it

later, he refuses to kill tyrion when cersei asks, but otherwise, he keeps mostly quiet about tyrion other than a bit of verbal defense, if pressed. because he doesn't want anyone to know that he will not let tyrion die

when you read asos again, knowing what will happen, you can see how grrm laid the seeds for tyrion's rescue in jaime's chapters. the best way to parse jaime's last two chapters in asos is to look at them as jaime putting his affairs in order before he embarks on an extremely risky mission that is likely to get him killed as a traitor

jaime tries to sort out the kingsguard, clearly setting up loras to be his successor. then he makes sure brienne is free of any legal entanglement from the renly mess and sends her away because he knows she could be tied to him and his shenanigans if he gets caught, and he wants her well clear of it all.

jaime's scheme to free tyrion is a new flavor of heroics for him. he has to think, and plan ahead. he can't just run in and chop people up. i mean lmao, jaime takes on varys! varys! varys who survived aerys and moved right into robert's employ, varys who can survive anything. jaime strongarms him into this in a way that forces him to leave town

"She wants her son alive, or the men who killed him dead," said the big man. "She wants to feed the crows, like they did at the Red Wedding. Freys and Boltons, aye. We'll give her those, as many as she likes. All she asks from you is Jaime Lannister."

the Brotherhood Without Banners, Lady Stoneheart and Brienne of Tarth based on "The Accolade" by Edmund Blair Leighton (1901)

Sailor: Tarth. The Sapphire Isle.

Brienne associates home with safety and beauty

the simple mind: red

the advanced mind: white