Dame of Thrones: Cersei Lannister
What with there being no new episode to discuss this week, I thought we could chat about how great a character Cersei Lannister is instead. All bow down before the great Lena Headey.
Name: Cersei Lannister, Our Lady of Ultimate Bitchfaces.
Family: One brother she loves (in more sense than one), another she hates, three kids, and a father who makes Denethor from The Lord of the Rings look warm and cuddly.
Known Associates: Cersei doesn’t have a whole lot of friends. Shocking, I know. People whom she can have a conversation with without it seeming like she actively loathes them include the Josef Mengele of Westeros and an infamous rapist/baby murderer.
Weapon of Choice: Ruthlessness, cunning, the Lannister family name, and a truly stunning array of judgmental faces.
What’s Her Deal? Of the three kids Tywin Lannister had whom he doesn’t like all that much, Cersei is the one who most aspires to be like her father: A political powerhouse whom no one dares stand up against. Unfortunately, as the Lannister daughter, she’s the one least in a position to achieve that goal. Doesn’t stop her from trying, though.
Why Is She Awesome? Let’s get this out of the way: Cersei’s done some terrible things. On the Westeros Scale of Villainy, she’s closer to the Gregor Clegane end of the spectrum than the Ned Stark end. (Though there aren’t that many people who aren’t, really.) But if Cersei’s a villain, I contend that she’s at least partially a tragic one. She and Jaime both view themselves as two sides of the same coin, but while Cersei wants respect, wants power, wants to be the second coming of Tywin Lannister, Jaime—under constant pressure from his father as the heir of Casterly Rock—just wants to be left alone. Which Cersei, as a woman, could be. She could bow out and leave politics to the men, and no one would think it was odd. They each want what the other one has. As the situation heats up in King’s Landing this leads to an increasingly bitter, dysfunctional relationship (yes, even more dysfunctional than twins being lovers in the first place). An example is Cersei demanding that Jaime kill Tyrion after the Purple Wedding: She doesn’t understand why he’s not jumping at the chance, and he’s appalled that she’d ask him to kill their brother in the first place.
All this is to say that I find Cersei and Jaime’s dynamic incredibly interesting: All their lives they’ve seen themselves basically as the same person, but they’ve always been really different, and neither one of them realizes exactly how much. If Jaime’d been born a woman and Cersei a man, they’d probably both be a lot happier. But it isn’t so, which for Cersei leads to a tale of thwarted ambition, of constantly trying to elbow her way into a man’s world, of seeing (whom she often perceives as) lesser men get what she wants without even having to try for it.
Is Cersei a villain? She is now, I think, even though that phrase kind of loses its meaning in a series where being a traditional “hero” is a good way to get yourself killed and one of the protagonists shoves a 7-year-old out of a window. On a personality level, Cersei has good qualities: She’s determined, she’s brave, she’ll do anything to protect her children. But that’s not why I love her. I love her because of her complexity. It’s not just that she tries to be a major player in the game when everything is aligned against her—it’s that when she does get power, she kind of sucks at wielding it. It’s not just that she’s a woman in a man’s world—it’s that fighting her way into Westeros’ power structure has left her with a wicked case of internalized misogyny (“women are weak and stupid and foolish, but I’m the exception”).
God bless lady villains. God bless three-dimensional female characters. God bless Cersei Lannister.
Best Quote: “When you play the Game of Thrones you win or you die” from the “Ned Stark, you honorable idiot” scene has certainly proved its quotability more than anything else Cersei has said…
Most Badass Scene: …but I prefer the most understated “Power is power” from the scene where she orders Petyr to be executed, then immediately takes it back, just to make sure he absolutely knows what a powerless little weenie he really is. That “You mad?” little headtilt Lena Headey gives after saying it is a thing of beauty.
Fan Theory Du Jour: This fan theory hinges on a prophecy that hasn’t been mentioned yet on the show, so to avoid spoiling people I’ll just get a bit cryptic and say “Cersei hates the wrong valonqar.”
Merch Me Up: Lannister merch is pretty well dominated by the dudes of the family—”God of tits and wine” and “Kingslayer” are just so catchy—but those who want to display their allegiance to Cersei have some options, too. Like this lady of Casterly Rock t-shirt, for example, or this LEGO minifig necklace. There’s even a Cersei coaster for you to rest your wine on.
It Belongs In a Museum, AKA Fanart:
Rebecca can be found on Twitter, Pajiba, or The Mary Sue, where she is the Associate Editor.
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