Cersei Lannister

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Cersei Lannister
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister

Titles
  • Queen Dowager
  • Protector of the Realm
  • Lady of Casterly Rock
  • Queen Regent
Allegiance House Lannister
Culture Westeros
Born 266 AL
Casterly Rock
Spouse Robert Baratheon
Books

Played by Lena Heady

Cersei Lannister is Tywin Lannister's eldest child by mere moments and the twin sister of Jaime Lannister. After Robert's Rebellion she married the new king, Robert Baratheon, and became Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. A willful and ambitious woman, Cersei resents the restrictions put on her for her sex. She is always concerned for the safety of her royal children, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, and stops at nothing to protect them. In the TV series she is played by Lena Headey.[1]

History

Cersei has shared an incestuous relationship with her brother Jaime since they were youths[2]. That her three children were all a product of this incest, rather than her husband King Robert, was a well-guarded secret until Jon Arryn and Stannis Baratheon uncovered it shortly before the War of the Five Kings.

Cersei has been haunted since childhood by a prophecy given to her by a maegi, Maggy the Frog. This prophecy correctly predicted the death of a childhood friend, her unrequited love for Rhaegar Targaryen, and her marriage (and mutual infidelity) with the King. It also predicted that all three of her children would be crowned, but that all three would die before her. Everything that she had would be taken away by a younger and more beautiful queen, and then the valonqar (Valyrian for "little brother") would strangle her to death.[3]

Throughout the series Cersei has climbed the rungs of power, despite having a low cunning she is a very poor ruler. She does not have the patience or judgement for the tedium of leadership. Littlefinger once stated that Cersei lusts for power but does not know how to wield it.

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

After arranging the death of her husband, Cersei puts her 13-year-old son Joffrey on the throne, despite accusations of bastardy, and rules as his Queen Regent.[4] However, Joffrey, as king, does not listen to his mother or his council, and foolishly has Lord Eddard Stark executed, making peace between Stark and Lannister impossible.[5]

A Clash of Kings

To end the foolish edicts made by Joffrey and Cersei, Tywin promptly puts Tyrion in the position of Hand of the King until he can claim the seat himself.[6] Tyrion nullifies most of Cersei decisions. During the Battle of the Blackwater, Cersei has Joffrey summoned back to the Red Keep when she hears that the gates are under assault.[7] Seeing the king flee back to the castle damages the morale of the defenders, causing most of them to also abandon their positions. This outrages Lancel Lannister, who feels they could have held the gates if Cersei hadn't recalled the King.[8] If not for the timely arrival and attack on Stannis's flank by the army of Tywin Lannister and Mace Tyrell, the battle would have been lost for the Lannisters.[9]

A Storm of Swords

Tywin bends Cersei to his will and later makes it clear she is no longer wanted on the council.[10] When her son, King Joffrey, is killed at his own wedding feast, Cersei accuses her brother Tyrion and his wife, Sansa Stark, falsely believing them responsible.[11] Cersei names Ser Gregor Clegane champion if there is to be a trial by combat. This move, however, leads Oberyn Martell, whose sister was murdered by Gregor over a dozen years ago, to champion Tyrion.[12] Oberyn is killed in the duel, and Ser Gregor is fatally wounded.[13]

A Feast for Crows

When her father Tywin is murdered, the checks on her claim to power are cleared. She resumes her position as Regent over her son, the eight-year-old King Tommen, who is entirely obedient to her will. As the eldest child of Tywin, she is also acknowledged as the Lady of Casterly Rock by her uncle Kevan. Thus empowered and unrestricted, Cersei feels she has the opportunity to prove herself an even better ruler than her father. She begins her new regime by filling all of the positions on Tommen's small council with her own supporters and agents, disregarding the previous arrangements made by Tywin and the well meaning, if blunt, advice from Kevan.[14]

Cersei grows to suspect that her powerful Tyrell allies, now relatives through Tommen's marriage, are trying to seize control of the kingdom. This suspicion grows from a Tyrell coin found by Qyburn in the dungeon where Tyrion was being held before his escape[15]. Since the reader knows the Tyrells had nothing to do with Tyrion's escape, the coin was likely planted by someone else in the hopes of spreading discord in the Tyrell/Lannister alliance. If so, the plot seems to have worked, as Cersei commences a campaign of intrigue to remove all the Tyrells in King's Landing from positions of influence and authority, including her son's wife, Margaery, and Ser Loras, a member of the Kingsguard.[16]

Cersei's paranoia alienates Jaime, who abandons her to her political machinations.[17] She refuses to honor the debts owed by the Crown, angering powerful institutions such as the Iron Bank of Braavos and the Faith.[18] This results in the Faith refusing to bless King Tommen, and the Iron Bank calling in all their debts throughout Westeros and refusing all new loans.[19] This causes economic chaos throughout the Seven Kingdoms. With the monies owed, Cersei constructs a new royal fleet of warships and gives command to Aurane Waters, a sellsail of questionable expertise and loyalty.[20] In an attempt to alleviate the crown's debts, gain the Faith's blessing, and gain more protection from her purported enemies, she allows the new High Septon (known as the High Sparrow) to revive the Faith Militant, ignorant of its history of causing trouble for monarchs.[21] She also takes the disgraced former maester Qyburn into her service, using him as a torturer, and allowing him to conduct immoral experiments on human subjects.[22] She also begins drinking heavily.

All her plans to remove the Tyrell influence at court backfire when the High Septon arrests her for several crimes, including the murder of the previous High Septon. Her own ministers seize control of the government while she awaits trial in the Great Sept of Baelor. They recall her uncle Kevan to fill her position as Regent, while her new Lord Admiral, Aurane Waters absconds with the costly new fleet. Accused of capital crimes, her only hope lies in a Kingsguard champion to stand for her in a trial by combat. She sends an emotional summons to Jaime, which he burns and to which he does not reply.[23][24]

A Dance with Dragons

Cersei still remains a prisoner of the Faith. To try and gain access to visitors, Cersei decides to confess to the High Septon that she did have relations with her cousin Lancel Lannister and all three of the Kettleblack brothers, knowing that such sins would not earn her an execution. She continues to deny having ordered Osney Kettleblack to kill the previous High Septon, or that she was involved in King Robert's death. The High Septon agrees to allow her one visitor a day. Cersei then learns about Myrcella's injury. More importantly, she learns of Arys Oakheart's death, which leaves a vacancy in the Kingsguard. Cersei then sends word to Lord Qyburn that the time has come.[25]

Before her trial, the Faith requires Cersei to submit to a penance walk from the Great Sept of Baelor to the Red Keep. Cersei is shaved of hair from her entire body, then stripped naked. An escort of Warrior Son's, Poor Fellows, and several septas protect her from the leering and jeering crowds that flocked to see her shame. Cersei breaks down in tears just before finishing and entering the Keep. Upon her entrance, Qyburn has her body covered. Cersei is then carried into the castle by a silent eight-foot-tall knight covered head to heel in thick enamelled white plate, with a great helm concealing his face. Qyburn introduces Cersei to the newest member of the Kingsguard, "Ser Robert Strong," her champion.[26]

Cersei dines with her uncle, Kevan, on the night of his death. She requests that Lady Taena Merryweather attend again her once her innocence is proved. When Kevan has no news of Jaime, Cersei seems certain of his safety. She believes that if he were dead, she would know it.[27]

Appearance

Cersei is beautiful, with golden hair, bright green eyes and a slender figure. She has a fair skin.[28]

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tytos
 
Jeyne
Marbrand
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tywin
 
Joanna
Lannister
 
Kevan
 
Dorna
Swyft
 
Emmon
Frey
 
Genna
 
Tygett
 
Darlessa
Marbrand
 
Gerion
 
Briony
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Robert
Baratheon
 
Cersei
 
Jaime
 
Tyrion
 
Sansa
Stark
 
 
 
 
 
 
Issue
 
 
 
 
 
Tyrek
 
Ermesande
Hayford
 
Joy
Hill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Joffrey
Baratheon
 
Myrcella
Baratheon
 
Tommen
Baratheon
 
Amerei
Frey
 
Lancel
 
Willem
 
Martyn
 
Janei
 
 
 


References and Notes

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at House Lannister.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history of House Lannister.
As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

See Also