Cersei Lannister is one of the most compelling character of Game of Thrones. She has been through a lot and has done many things.
So let’s find out what is so compelling about her!
- Cersei Lannister is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones
- There she is portrayed by English actress Lena Headey
- In the novels, she is a point of view character
- Introduced in 1996’s A Game of Thrones, Cersei is a member of House Lannister
- One of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the kingdom of Westeros
- She subsequently appeared in A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000)
- She becomes a prominent point of view character in the novels beginning in A Feast for Crows (2005) and A Dance with Dragons (2011)
- The character will also appear in the forthcoming volume The Winds of Winter
- In the story, Cersei Lannister, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, is the wife of King Robert Baratheon
- Her father arranged the marriage after his attempt to betroth her to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, as she wanted, failed
- The Targaryen dynasty lost the war
- And her father schemed his way into the role of a political counselor for the newly crowned King Robert
- The Lannisters are the richest family in Westeros and helped him to win the Throne
- Which is why Robert agreed to a marriage between them
- Cersei has a twin brother, Jaime
- With whom she has been involved in an incestuous affair
- All three of Cersei’s children are Jaime’s
- Cersei’s main character attribute is her desire for power and her ambition
- Headey has received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the character on the HBO series Game of Thrones
- She has been nominated for four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance
- Headey and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016
- In season 5, a young version of the character is portrayed by Nell Williams in a flashback
- Much of Cersei’s storyline from the first and second seasons in the television series is unchanged from the books
- However, a notable change in the show is Joffrey’s authorising the purge of Robert’s bastards, rather than Cersei
- Cersei learns that her husband Robert is in danger of finding out that the children he sees as his heirs to the throne are not his
- Robert meets his end as the result of a boar attack on a hunting trip
- Before Ned Stark tells him the truth about his children
- Cersei works quickly to instate her oldest son, Joffrey, on the throne
- With her as his chief political advisor and Queen Regent
- Joffrey quits listening to his mother
- Tywin decides that Cersei does not exercise enough control over her son
- And sends Tyrion as an additional political advisor
- Cersei and Tyrion do not get along, and constantly try to undermine each other’s authority over the crown
- As of the end of season 2, Tyrion has accumulated more sway over the Iron Throne
- And has shipped Cersei’s only daughter off against Cersei’s will
- To be married to the prince of Dorne
- Cersei comes to fear that Margaery intends to usurp her as queen
- And unsuccessfully tries to alienate Joffrey from her
- Cersei is delighted when Tywin learns of the Tyrells’ plan to wed Sansa Stark to Margaery’s brother Loras
- And he intervenes by having Tyrion marry Sansa instead
- But is furious when Tywin also orders Cersei to marry Loras
- When Jaime returns to King’s Landing, he immediately seeks out Cersei
- Who is shocked to discover that his sword hand has been cut off
- Cersei has Tyrion arrested after Joffrey is fatally poisoned
- It is implied that she knows Tyrion’s guilt is highly unlikely but just wants to see him dead
- Although Jaime refuses to carry out the order
- Indeed, at Tyrion’s trial, it is obvious Cersei has manipulated the entire procedure so that the witnesses give either incomplete or entirely false testimonies to implicate Tyrion and Sansa further in the murder
- When Tyrion demands a trial by combat, Cersei quickly chooses Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane as her champion
- To diminish Tyrion’s chances of acquittal
- And has Bronn betrothed to a noblewoman so that Tyrion cannot choose him as his champion
- Cersei’s wish comes true when Tyrion’s champion, Oberyn Martell, is killed by Clegane
- But she still refuses to marry Loras
- Threatening her father with revealing the truth about her relationship with Jaime and the parentage of her children
- Tywin is killed by an escaping Tyrion soon afterward
- Cersei receives a threat from Dorne, where Myrcella is betrothed to Trystane Martell
- And sends Jaime to Dorne to retrieve her
- Tommen is married to Margaery
- Who tries to manipulate Tommen into sending Cersei to Casterly Rock
- Fearful of losing her power, Cersei meets the religious leader, the High Sparrow
- Appoints him as the High Septon
- And gives him authority to re-establish the Faith Militant
- In order to destabilise House Tyrell, Cersei arranges for the High Sparrow to arrest Loras for his homosexuality
- And have Margaery also arrested for perjury after lying to defend Loras
- However, Cersei’s plot backfires when Lancel, now a member of the Faith Militant, confesses to his affair with Cersei
- And his role in Robert’s assassination
- And accuses Cersei of incest
- Prompting the High Sparrow to arrest her
- Cersei is eventually allowed to return to the Red Keep after confessing to having committed adultery with Lancel
- But has her hair cut off
- And is forced to walk naked through the streets of King’s Landing as atonement
- Cersei returns, distraught from the abuse directed at her by the smallfolk of King’s Landing
- But is consoled by Qyburn’s successful reanimation of Ser Gregor Clegane
- Cersei remains in the Red Keep
- Confined to her chambers and stripped of her authority
- Alhough she accepts Tommen’s apology for his lack of action in her arrest and walk of atonement
- She remains looked down upon by other members of the court
- Cersei learns from Tommen that the High Sparrow plans to have Margaery do a walk of atonement before Cersei’s trial
- And conspires with the Small Council to have the Tyrell army march on the Sept of Baelor to secure Margaery’s and Loras’ release
- Their plan backfires when it is revealed that Margaery has joined the Faith of the Seven
- And has convinced Tommen to merge the Faith and the Crown
- Despite being stripped of her allies, Cersei opts to remain in King’s Landing
- Having named Ser Gregor as her champion in her trial by combat
- However, Tommen announces that trial by combat has been abolished and replaced by trial by the Seven
- Cersei arranges for a cache of wildfire to be detonated beneath the Sept during Loras’ trial
- Which kills the High Sparrow, Margaery, Loras, and the rest of the Small Council
- As a direct result of Cersei’s actions, Tommen commits suicide after witnessing the explosion
- With House Baratheon officially extinct
- And no one to oppose her in King’s Landing
- Cersei is crowned the first ever Queen Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms
- Despite nominally being ruler of Westeros, Cersei’s grip on the throne is tenuous
- With the Riverlands in upheaval following Arya Stark’s massacre of House Frey
- The Vale and the North’s declaration of Ned Stark’s bastard son Jon Snow King in the North
- And Tyrion, Dorne, and the Reach all supporting Daenerys Targaryen, whose fleet has seized Dragonstone
- Cersei remains cold and distant after Tommen’s suicide
- Viewing it as a betrayal of their family
- With no children left to protect, Cersei’s malice and vindictiveness have grown
- And she relentlessly seeks to expand her power and destroy her enemies
- Cersei reaches out to the King of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy, to form an alliance
- But rejects Euron’s marriage proposal as she considers him untrustworthy
- Euron later ambushes Daenerys’ fleet and captures Yara Greyjoy, Ellaria, and Tyene Sand
- And presents them as a “gift” to Cersei
- She agrees to marry Euron after the war is won
- However, she continues her affair with Jaime, no longer attempting to hide their relationship from their servants
- Cersei imprisons Ellaria and Tyene in the dungeons
- Kills Tyene with the same poison used to kill Myrcella
- And keeps Ellaria alive to watch her daughter die and rot
- Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank arrives in King’s Landing to request repayment of their debt
- Cersei requests a fortnight in order to comply
- She then has the Lannister and Tarly armies attack Highgarden, defeating the Tyrells
- Olenna Tyrell commits suicide following the defeat and gloats to Jaime that she was responsible for poisoning Joffrey
- The Tyrells’ wealth is transported safely to King’s Landing
- But the food the Lannisters steal from the Reach is destroyed when Daenerys attacks the caravan with her Dothraki horde and dragon Drogon
- Jaime barely survives the battle and encourages Cersei to consider a ceasefire
- Tyrion infiltrates the capital to meet with Jaime
- And Jaime tells Cersei that Daenerys and Jon want to meet with Cersei to negotiate an armistice while mankind fights the threat of the White Walkers
- Cersei is skeptical but agrees
- And tells Jaime that she is pregnant
- Daenerys and Jon meet with Cersei in the Dragonpit on the outskirts of King’s Landing
- And present to her a wight reanimated by the White Walkers as evidence of their threat
- Although terrified, Cersei initially refuses to agree to an armistice
- As Jon refuses to remain neutral in the war between the Lannisters and Targaryens
- Tyrion speaks to Cersei in private
- And apparently persuades her to ally with the rival monarchs
- However, she later reveals to Jaime that she intends for her enemies to wipe each other out and then attack the victor
- And has sent Euron to Essos to transport the Golden Company to Westeros
- Disgusted by Cersei’s selfishness and shortsightedness, Jaime finally abandons her side and goes north on his own
- Leaving Cersei alone
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