Jaime Lannister saw the kingsguards of old through rose color perceptive. The kingsguards under King Aerys the Second were better fighters, but better men is highly doubtful. Jaime believed the actions of beating a little girl like Boros Blount and the others did to Sansa would have never occurred with the honorable kingsguard of old. I wouldn’t bet on that being true.
Sure, Arthur Dayne had shown concern for the smallfolk once, but sadly people change. It’s known Jonothor Darry told Jaime to ignore the queen’s screams. He claimed that went against their oath. In truth, it didn’t. In Dance of the Dragons, the kingsguards interfere to break up a quarrel between royal family members. Aemon the Dragonknight fought in a tourney against the king’s wishes, yet he was lauded for it. They made an oath to obey the king and keep his secrets. Nowhere is there anything that states they can’t prevent the king from causing harm to his queen. Actually, real life queens such as Queen Charlotte lived separately from King George when he became mad and abusive. There is a fallacy when it comes to kings being able to do anything (if this were true, Aegon the 4 would have gotten rid of his son Daeron and his wife). Yes, some have broken the rules, but they still have nobles backing them. No noble would have backed a king torturing his wife.
Also please consider this, is a noble greater than a royal? No. If the king got away with hurting his wife by the kingsguards, would they really have disobeyed him for a mere noble girl? No. Then again, they didn’t stop him when King Aerys 2 unjustly had Rickard Stark killed. More likely, it wasn’t their oath which prevented them from action, it was simply easier to abdicate. Think about Ser Barristan. Which is easier to be silent about Aerys’ atrocities or admit that he stood by like a coward and did nothing?
As readers, we are in the dark about how many kingsguards or even if the crown prince knew about the king abusing his queen. This is known. Once you start allowing a bad thing to go on, it becomes easier to allow more bad things to occur. The king might have been mad, but they allowed their white cloaks to turn red.
Imagine what would have happened if they didn’t allow this to occur. Robert’s war might have never happened. The two Starks would have never been horribly murdered. Viserys and Daenaerys lives would have been better. Oddly enough, Jaime would have been a better man for it. He had been unknowingly influenced by it since he admired the kingsguard. As he stood by and did nothing to help the queen, he also stood by and did nothing to help Tyrion’s wife. Jaime was the favored son and a skilled fighter. Perhaps, he wouldn’t have lied and stood by as his father exacted a hideous punishment if he never learnt the so-called honorable behavior of the old kingsguards.
