Cersei is about to discover that karma’s a bitch (season 5, episode 7)
26 May 2015 by Catherine Holdsworth in Entertainment, Game of Thrones on Business
WARNING SPOILERS
You’d be forgiven for thinking that last night’s episode of Game of Thrones was more Gladiator than Westeros but the pace was picking up for the key characters. While Jon headed off to recruit the Wildlings, Samwell had a very good and very bad time, and Sansa’s situation has gone from bad to worse. Tyrion has finally come face to face with the queen across the sea and we will have to wait another week to find out whether our personal hero, Jorah will be forgiven by Daenerys.
Forgiveness is not a theme that appears often in this series and characters are more likely to get their heads chopped off before experiencing redemption. However, we are hoping that Daenerys forgives Jorah for his treachery, it would seem that though his past sins had come back to haunt him, he has more than atoned for them since.
A character not so familiar with atoning for her sins, though, is Cersei, Queen Mother and, until recently, the most powerful woman in King’s Landing. In an earlier blog post, we wrote about how her alliance with the High Sparrow was a dangerous one to make, forging alliances with those in haste for a quick fix are likely to end in disaster. With Queen Margery in jail and King Tommen powerless before the mighty High Sparrow, Cersei is beginning to regret sending her only ally, Jaime to Dorne. We ended last night’s episode with Cersei locked in a jail cell, where she now has plenty of time to think about all the cruel things she has done over the past few seasons, to name a few: lying to Westeros about the paternity of her children; sleeping with her twin brother; torturing Sansa and conspiring to have her husband killed.
Cersei has never been the most rational of women and has failed many times to put her people before her own interests. It’s tough at the top, when you’re top dog, there’s lots of pressure to remain there, rather than be usurped by those who are against you. It is undeniable that Cersei has never been the easiest character to warm to, but one has to admire the way she has handled herself in a man’s world.
There is no way out, it would seem, for the once-powerful Lannisters. Gone are the days when Tywin’s arrival at a battle saves the day, or when Jaime can get away with pushing Ned Stark’s son out of a window. As Lady Olenna learnt last night, the High Sparrow cannot be bought with jewels and riches. He does not want material things. I suspect that this series will end with the fate of King’s Landing much worse off than it was with two boy kings in succession.
This latest episode began at Castle Black in snowfall, winter is definitely coming and its arrival in imminent. With King’s Landing in turmoil, Strannis marching on Winterfell and Jon heading north of the wall, the future of Westeros is on the edge of a precipice and only one thing is certain, not everyone will make it to season six.
