Her Watch Has Ended: Cersei Lannister
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister.
Game of Thrones has entered its final season and that means it’s time to take stock of the show as a whole. But rather than do a set of episode reviews, we decided to take a little inspiration from the books for our post-mortem. George R.R. Martin’s still unfinished series features chapters based on the point of view of its characters, so each of these posts will review their individual journeys in the show as they come to their end, whether peacefully or violently - this is Thrones, after all.
We’ll ask the same set of questions for each character, reflect on where they came from, where the events of the series took them, and where we leave them. How effective was the show’s approach to the character, and is their ending satisfying? What purpose did each character serve throughout the series?
If it isn’t already obvious, this is MEGA-SPOILER territory, so beware if you’re not fully caught up on the show.
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Cersei Lannister
Where Did She Come From?
When she first meet Cersei, she’s the queen of Westeros by marriage to Robert Baratheon. She loved Robert at first, but Robert was in love with Lyanna Stark, and after miscarrying their first baby, her resentment toward Robert grew. Deeply unhappy, she turned to her twin brother, Jaime, her lover and the biological father to Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella, all of whom shared the trademark blonde Lannister hair. Since the very beginning of the show, she’s been depicted as a politically cunning and ruthless ruler, who would burn the entire world to protect her family.
Where Did The Show Take Her?
Other than a trip to the North at the beginning of the show, Cersei remained in King’s Landing for the entire run. In fact, Cersei’s presence at King’s Landing set the tone for the whole location; whenever the show transitions to the Red Keep, we know something bad is going to happen. Cersei’s had a few ups and downs over the course of the series, her lowest point (other than the murders of Joffrey and Myrcella, and the suicide of Tommen) is when she’s held captive by the Faith Militant and paraded naked through the streets in a walk of atonement. She gets her revenge in spectacular fashion by blowing up the Great Sept of Baelor, and by the time the Season 8 arrives, she’s been reigning on her own for some time.
Where Does Her Story End?
Fittingly, at the Red Keep, the place she wanted to keep for her family and refused to let go at any cost. Going into the fifth episode, there’s some suggestions that Cersei may have a backup plan to destroy Daenerys’ forces if they’re able to get into the city. But once Drogon destroys the Iron Fleet and the scorpion crossbows on the fortress walls, Cersei runs out of options. She begins to flee the castle, only to run into Jaime one last time and embraces him before the debris crushes them both. It is only in her last moments does the show really humanize Cersei, who had faced numerous perilous moments before. Remember, she was just seconds away from poisoning her son Tommen before Tywin saves her from Stannis’ forces.
Does The Character Redeem Herself?
One of the true villains on the show, there is no redemption to be had for Cersei. While her motivations have always remained consistent – always for House Lannister and always for her children – the events of the show only strengthen and embolden Cersei’s belief that the Iron Throne belonged to their house. She’s probably the character that almost all viewers unite in hating, so we were all cheering on her demise. The only question would be how she’d shuffle off the mortal coil; for some, being crushed to death simply wasn’t painful enough.
Is Cersei’s Ending Satisfying?
Remember, when Cersei asks Maggy the Frog, a fortune teller from Lannisport, if she would have children with the king, Maggy responds:
“Oh, aye. Six-and-ten for him, and three for you. Gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds, she said. And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”
Valonqar is High Valyrian for “little brother” and it was one of the many fan theories that Cersei would die at the hands of either Jaime or Tyrion. Tyrion was the obvious choice, naturally, but considering Jaime’s arc from kingslayer to honourable knight, it would’ve made more dramatic sense for Jaime to kill her.
Except in the final season Cersei died after being crushed by the Red Keep, though it’s important to note that Jaime’s hands were on Cersei’s neck during their final embrace. For a show that (at first) relished prophecies and magic, Cersei’s death felt somewhat empty because it lacked so much dramatic tension. Of course, the (mis)interpretation of prophecies has long been a theme in the show, but it would’ve been nice to see Jaime complete his turn and realize just how awful Cersei was.
What Role Did This Character Player in the Overall Storytelling?
Where do we begin? Cersei is a driver of much of the plot in Game of Thrones. Her manipulations and strategies are what most of the other characters struggle against. Thematically, she’s a potent symbol of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. There’s an argument to be made about how she can be seen as a tragic example of a woman brutally carving out a place for herself in a bloodthirsty, patriarchal society, but Cersei’s methods would probably overwhelm most defenses of her character. The quandary that most viewers will need to ponder in the coming months and years is who the true “final boss” was supposed to be: the Night King, who was neutralized in the third episode of the season; Cersei, who didn’t have much of a plan beyond her fleet and her castle; or Daenerys, who went mad in her efforts to rid the world of the first two.
Best Moment On The Show
Supercuts of Cersei’s wine drinking aside, there’s plenty of fine moments to choose from, including her sitting on the Iron Throne for the first time, and her gazing at the Great Sept of Baelor as it’s blown to smithereens by wildfire. She’s brutal for most of the show but her walk of atonement through the streets of the city was the first time Cersei’s power had been both figuratively and literally stripped away.