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Cersei Lannister - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cersei Lannister
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cersei Lannister is a ctional 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. She becomes a prominent point of view
character in the novels beginning with the 2005 fourth
installment A Feast for Crows.

Cersei Lannister
A Song of Ice and Fire character

Cersei is portrayed by Lena Headey on the HBO series

Game of Thrones. Headey received Emmy Award
nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a
Drama Series for her performance in 2014[1][2] and
2015.[3] In season 5, a young version of the character is
portrayed by Nell Williams in ashbacks.

Contents
1 Character description
2 Storylines
2.1 A Game of Thrones
2.2 A Clash of Kings
2.3 A Storm of Swords
2.4 A Feast for Crows
2.5 A Dance with Dragons
2.6 Family tree of House Lannister
3 References

Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister

First
appearance

Novel:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
Television:
"Winter Is Coming" (2011)
Video game:
"Iron From Ice" (2014)

Created by

George R. R. Martin

Portrayed by

Lena Headey
Nell Williams (young)
Game of Thrones

Character description
Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Cersei is the
politically ambitious, manipulative and willful eldest
child of Lord Tywin Lannister and Lady Joanna. She is
the twin sister of Ser Jaime Lannister, with whom she
shares an incestuous relationship. According to George R.
R. Martin, Jaime is the only person she truly loves apart
from her children. Fifteen years before the events of the
series, Cersei married King Robert Baratheon to seal an
alliance between House Lannister and the throne and so
became Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but she neither
loves nor respects Robert after years of abuse and
violence. The contempt she feels towards her husband
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cersei_Lannister

Information
Aliases

Light of the West

Title

Queen Regent
Lady Paramount of the
Westerlands
Lady of Casterly Rock
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stems from the woman he was rst betrothed to and was

in love with, Lyanna Stark. She has three children, but all
three are fathered by Jaime rather than Robert although
all carry the surname Baratheon and are heirs to the
throne. In her role, Cersei proves herself to be cunning in
handling political turmoil, however, as the series
progresses, her incompetencies become more
conspicuous. Cersei grows increasingly paranoid and
unstable, believing her younger dwarf brother, Tyrion, to
be the center of all of her problems after being haunted by
a prophecy in her childhood that described the valonqar
(High Valyrian for little brother) who would end her
life. Described as having classic Lannister looks, Cersei is
seen as strikingly beautiful with her green eyes, golden
blonde hair, slender gure and fair skin however, as of A
Feast For Crows she has begun to gain weight as a result
of alcohol abuse.

Family

House Lannister
House Baratheon

Spouse(s)

Robert Baratheon

Children

Joffrey Baratheon
Myrcella Baratheon
Tommen Baratheon
(with Jaime)

Relatives

Tywin Lannister (father)

Joanna Lannister (mother)
Jaime Lannister (twin
brother/lover)
Tyrion Lannister (brother)

Kingdom

The Westerlands
The Crownlands

Storylines
A Game of Thrones
At the beginning of the novel, King Robert Baratheon, his queen Cersei and
most of the court visit The North to appoint Ned Stark Hand of the King.
During the royal visit to Winterfell, the young Bran Stark nds the queen
committing incest with her brother Jaime Lannister. To prevent her adultery
from being revealed, her brother attempts to kill Bran but is unsuccessful.
Cersei and Robert have a loveless marriage, their union being a marriage of
state to bind two wealthy houses together. Both Cersei and Robert repeatedly
cheat on each other, with Robert fathering sixteen bastard children, and Cersei
Coat of arms of House
pretending that her children are Robert's. In reality, all of Robert's presumed
Lannister
heirs with Cersei have been fathered by Jaime. Ned Stark eventually discovers
the truth of Cersei's indelity and confronts her, giving her the opportunity to
ee into exile and thus spare her innocent children certain execution. However unbeknownst to Ned, Cersei
had already arranged Robert's death in a hunting accident. With the help of Petyr Baelish and Sansa Stark
(unknowingly), Cersei foils Ned's attempted coup and becomes Regent, gaining complete control of the
capitol.

A Clash of Kings
Frustrated with Cersei's many political blunders as well as her failure to control her son, King Joffrey
Baratheon, Cersei's father, Tywin Lannister appoints his son Tyrion Lannister Hand of the King with explicit
instructions to control Cersei and Joffrey. Once at the capitol, Tyrion enters into a bitter power struggle with
Cersei, methodically removing her supporters from positions of power and isolating her on the Small
Council of the king's advisers.
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When Stannis Baratheon, Robert's younger brother, marches on King's Landing, Cersei and Joffrey hide in a
fortied tower, leaving Tyrion to mastermind the defense of the city. Just as Stannis is about to breach the
gates, Tywin arrives and drives Stannis from the city. There, Tywin formally assumes his position as Hand
of the King, once again marginalizing Cersei and depriving her of her power to rule as Joffrey's regent.

A Storm of Swords
After formally assuming his position as Hand of the King, Tywin makes it clear to Cersei that she is no
longer welcome on Small Council meetings, de facto stripping her of her political authority. Furthermore, as
a condition of their alliance with House Tyrell, Joffrey is to marry Margaery Tyrell with Cersei being
shipped off to the Tyrell seat of Highgarden to marry Wilas Tyrell. Cersei is incensed by these
developments, frustrated that not only has she lost her power of the capitol, but also lost control over her
own life by a succession of forced marriages.
This state of affairs is shaken when Joffrey is poisoned at his wedding feast. Maddened with grief at the loss
of her eldest son, Cersei lashes out against Tyrion, accusing him of poisoning the king out of revenge.
Cersei manipulates Tyrion's trial to ensure a guilty verdict, bribing and intimidating witnesses. When Tyrion
demands a trial by combat, Cersei selects the imposing Gregor Clegane, "The Mountain," as the Crown's
champion. The Mountain prevails, killing Tyrion's champion. Tywin then pronounces Tyrion guilty and
sentences him to death, but Tyrion escapes prison with the help of his brother Jaime and kills Tywin. Cersei
is once again in complete control of the kingdom.

A Feast for Crows

With the death of her father and her son Joffrey, Cersei de facto rules the kingdom. Her second child,
Tommen Baratheon is crowned king but is widely considered weak, signing every decree that passes in front
of him. However she is ruling a kingdom on the brink of ruin. The huge losses suffered by House Lannister
in the war combined with the wartime disruptions to trade and harvest mean that the ruling House Lannister
is dependent on resources from House Tyrell. The Tyrells leverage this position and begin to build power in
the capitol, much to Cersei's consternation.
Furthermore, Cersei makes a series of political and economic blunders, alienating allies such as Pycelle and
Kevan Lannister. In an attempt to undermine the Tyrells as well as release her son from his marriage to
Margaery, Cersei attempts to frame Margaery for adultery and treason. However this plot backres as the
investigation into Margaery reveals evidence of Cersei's own adultery and her complicity in Robert
Baratheon's death. She confesses the adultery to the High Septon (though not her relationship with Jaime)
and as punishment, she is stripped naked and forced to walk through the capital in full view of the public.
The remaining charges will be settled in a trial by combat.

A Dance with Dragons

Cersei takes her walk of shame, nearly breaking down in tears near the end. The more serious charges of
regicide and incest will be settled in a trial by combat. She sends a letter to her twin Jaime, asking him for
help, but he burns her note. In prison awaiting trial, the kingdom is now run by Pycelle and Kevan.
However, at the nadir of her fortunes, Varys returns to the capital and murders both Pycelle and Kevan. The
book ends with Cersei's fate unknown.

Family tree of House Lannister

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See: Extended family tree of House Lannister

References
1. Jacobs, Matthew (July 10, 2014). "Emmy Nominations 2014: Breaking Bad, Orange Is The New Black Among
Top Nominees". The Hufngton Post. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
2. Brown, Tracy (July 10, 2014). "Emmys 2014: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 10,
2014.
3. "Emmy Award Nominations: Full List of 2015 Emmy Nominees". Variety. July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 16,
2015.

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Categories: A Song of Ice and Fire characters Fictional characters introduced in 1996
Fictional characters involved in incest Fictional child killers Fictional twins Fictional queens
Characters in American novels of the 20th century Characters in American novels of the 21st century
Fictional domestic abuse victims
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