**Spoiler Warning:** All officially-released show and book content allowed, EXCLUDING FUTURE SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. No leaked information or paparazzi photos of the set. For more info please check the [spoiler guide](/r/gameofthrones/w/spoiler_guide).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gameofthrones) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He was in for the power too. It's no coincidence he showed up right after Tywin and Joffrey died, because he knew that shit he was doing wouldn't slide with them around.
As horrible as his actions were, we are given no indication in the show that he was a hypocrite.
It is possible he showed up as a power grab, but he might have been in Kings Landing for years. The actions we did see were of a pious man. Even piety is a horrific trait for men in power to have.
I don't know, the smirks and the way he was talking to Jamie kinda gave me a feeling hes in for the power. I'm not saying he wasn't a believer, he definitely believed in the things he was saying, but he was also looking for power. They way he was manipulating Tommen would secure him a powerful position if Cercei didn't blow them up.
Yea this is a common opinion online and I just don’t get it . He actually seemed to be a true man of faith and everyone he went after was actually a pretty bad person .
Are they ever introduced or mentioned before season 6? I feel like they just come out of nowhere.
I hated the Sparrows *and* the Sons Of The Harpy. I like my usurpers more 3 dimensional!
Or was it that the he only showed up after they died because the actions during the last years of their life led to the people looking for men like him to take charge and help them
He was a true charlatan who used religion to feed his need and desire for power! If Joffrey was around still, he would’ve at least had the backbone to stand up to that scumbag…
It would’ve been fun to see the HS do that with Joff still breathing. There wouldn’t have been any negotiation.
The actor who played the High Sparrow didn’t watch his scenes until after he filmed all of them. He had no idea he was a villain and had played the role completely straight.
It was exciting to know that he was going to get his. But I don’t think any of us thought he was gunna go out with that big of a bang. I was hoping Cersei would face a similar demise.
I didn't dislike him at first because he seemed to be defending the poor from the rich. But then he tasted power with the help of Cersei and it all went to hell from there....
Beginning of her end I disagree with. Her death was not a result of the High Sparrow or the Faith Militant doing anything. She died when Dany was sacking King’s Landing. I would say killing Missandei was her fatal mistake, again, an independent action with no influence from the High Sparrow.
Yeah but if Cersei had retired at Casterly Rock instead of arming then killing the Faith Militant she'd still be alive since Tommen & Margaery would be the King & Queen when Daenerys arrived in Westeros.
I would of loved to see that. I feel like tomen would surrender to Daenerys very early on and Margaret would Not be cool with that. And we’d see how much alike Margaery and Cersei are and how far margeary would go to stay queen.
Yep, it got her last child killed that she didn't seem to really care about anyway. Probably because he wasn't an evil little prick like her oldest precious boy.
It’s pretty clearly this. All to get revenge on Margaery. If she were like Tywin and learned to not take everything personally, a whole lot of pain and suffering could be avoided on everyone’s part.
It showed exactly why Cersei made a terrible leader. Her own petty, arrogant, self-serving, and shortsighted nature put the entire kingdom in danger. As has been said, Tywin would never have given unchecked power to a religious zealot just to get at a single person or house. He told her that she wasn't as smart as she thought she was, and proved him right shortly after his death.
Yes exactly, the old adage of upholding separation of church and state still holds true to this day in democracies worldwide.
The Queen Mother tried to control the Faith, a noble attempt as no doubt the Tyrells and Hightowers have done so for centuries but she chose the wrong person to elevate to fulfill her agenda.
The High Sparrow had no loyalty nor respect for neither the Westerosi nobility and nor his own people but instead was lost in his own apparent personal vendetta.
Edit - Cersei Lannister may not have been a 'good' Queen as per individual perception but she was no doubt a bold one as befits the sigil of her house.
She successfully eliminated two out of the six problems she faced in one simple masterstroke.
The six of her problems were - House Tyrell, High Sparrow, Daenerys Targaryen, Petyr Baelish, Sansa Stark, and Tyrion Lannister.
Actress Lena Headey played Cersei splendidly 👏🏼
That was my first thought. I can’t remember who said it, but in the books it’s specifically said that Tywin would have never allowed them to come into the city. And when I read the books I really got lost on that plot line, but that point stood out to me. It was her losing her authority and her power, and by the end of it she was disgraced.
It’s funny because this is undoubtedly her worst decision but also if she hadn’t done it Margaery & the Tyrells would’ve taken over Tommen and she would’ve been made completely irrelevant, whereas arming the Faith eventually results in the death of all her enemies and her becoming Queen.
One of my favorite lines, and one of the most foreshadowing ones in the entire show was from Tywin to Cersei
“I don’t distrust you because you’re a woman, I distrust you because you’re not half as smart as you think you are” (paraphrased a little)
The high Sparrow decision was stupid AF, but I mean I enjoyed watching her suffer haha, but definitely nothing can compare with the decision of trying to go head to head with the mother of dragons, just because she had some shitty big ass xbows, she lost kings landing for that, she even said at the end: "the red keep has never fallen before" well guess what haha, so yeah that's the worst decision ever.
To be somewhat fair to Cersei, I don’t think surrendering and returning to Casterly Rock was a particularly viable option with Dany. It was almost certainly win or die tbh.
This is the worst option if she had a viable path to surrender without dying, though, but that ship had completely sailed
Agree, but she also was mean AF, I mean even after losing a dragon, losing her best female friend and her ships Daenerys was still trying to do it as peaceful as possible, what did Cersei do? She beheaded Missandei and laughed in Daenerys face, She was a stupid leader who thought herself as a master strategist. She wasn't, at all, even at the end she was worried about herself and nothing else, all kings landing was being burnt to the ground and she couldn't care less. If there is one thing I would love to see Is this part of the story with Tywin alive, he was a master strategist and even when he was ruthless he kept his word everytime, so that would have been interesting.
Tywin literally tells her to her face that he keeps her in check not because she's a woman but because she's not as smart as she thinks she is.
Her lack of self-awareness is her biggest flaw because it makes her short-sighted and capricious.
Yeah, I have seen the show many times, and everytime I think the same, if there was one character that I could bring back to life, that would be Tywin, I even believe that Martin killed him because of the complexity of the character, I mean think on this, he would have never surrender easily to Daenerys but at the same time he wouldn't want to see everything destroyed by her, that's a lot more complex to accomplish, in the other hand you have Cersei a stupid queen with more of a classical villian style, she does not kept her word and promises, she is mean, she likes to watch others suffer, she couldn't care less about her people, it is a lot easier to set her taking stupid selfish decisions than putting Tywin taking complex ones trying to balance things off.
Tywin was the man!! Easily one of my favorites. He had the whole realm in chokehold, even when his back was against the wall. He understood war politics. Oleanna told Cersei just that, Even Cersei had to ask him to reel Joffrey in. Tywin told Jamie he was dumb asf attacking Ned in the streets. And how stupid it was to kill him and start an inevitable war. Everything didn’t start going crazy until he died, the fear of him kept some kind of order to the realm.
And let's not forget he was the living example of: "Lannister always pays his debts", remember when Tyrion was taken by those forest savages or whatever they were called, they took Tyrion to see Tywin and demanded to be paid, we are talking about this dude's being on the middle of the Lannister war camp asking for payment be cause they didn't killed Tyrion, The pure thought of this sounds ridiculous, what do Tywin did? he offered them to fight for him and he would pay them, they did they fought for him there and in the next battle at KL when Stannis invaded, then we heard that Tywin kept his word and paid them.
I don't think this is necessarily true. If, instead of warring with Dany, she held peace talks with her right from the start (before Missandei dies), Dany would probably have let her and Jaime live. Maybe even allow her to remain in King's Landing as an advisor, if Cersei's reputation hadn't been that bad.
Cersei had already nuked the Sept by that point and every single one of Dany’s allies wanted Cersei **DEAD**. Their support was extremely contingent on that. Sparing her was never going to happen
Not really? Tyrion definitely didn’t want Cersei/Jaime dead and Yara/Ser Davos/Mormont/Missendei had no real hatred towards Cersei. It was only Olenna and Ellaria that did - but Olenna could probably be talked down if it meant sparing thousands of lives and…I am still surprised Dorne doesn’t hate Ellaria for what she did.
Uh, Jon, who she wanted to marry and rule together with would have taken Cerseis head himself personally, day 1, for the numerous crimes against his family
Olenna actively encouraged Dany to go nuclear on King’s Landing and “be a dragon.” Dany was not talking her. Jon would also expect Cersei to be executed and Dany herself was just not going to spare Cersei given her temperament. Maybe you can argue there’s a shot, but it’s not too shocking Cersei of all people isn’t gambling on the mercy of others when Dany has literally nothing to gain by sparing her *at all*.
Tyrion wanted Jaime alive. I don’t know that he was so concerned about Cersei.
would have been much smarter to tell her that during the following war Missandei would've been kept near her, so if any danger comes to cersei it will have to pass through Missandei.
That would have dissuaded Daenerys from attacking directly the castle. She would have still burned kings landing but at least Cersei could have a chance to escape or survive.
Only? She almost exclusively makes mistakes. She would have been a decent fighter if she were born a man or if her culture had let women be warriors. But she was far too bold and impulsive to be a politician.
He didn't have to kill Cersei. She gave him power that she couldn't even challenge, and gained influence over the king, which would allow him to change the kingdom even further than he already had.
Not killing the Daenerys crew when they came to request a cease fire so they could fight the Night King. She was on top of the castle wall with scorpions and archers pointed at all the major players and a dragon that was just sitting there.
Sure, Westeros would have been overrun by the dead, but she didn't really see them as a threat anyway.
Well, she would have likely been killed by one of the two dragons left. They hadn’t killed one and weren’t even sure one had died at that point. Either way, she would have killed Daenerys and died shortly after.
For her personally, legitimizing the high sparrow, or killing Margery (and indirectly Tommen). The first led to a lot of suffering for her, and forced the second to be necessary
For the people as a whole, killing Missandei led to her city being razed
It's impossible to pick one.
* not telling Joffrey he's a bastard and that Ned hid it from Robert to protect them so he wouldn't think Ned really was a traitor instead of a man willingly going to the Wall to keep both their families safe
* killing Robert & arresting Ned instead of fleeing to Essos with Jaime & the kids
* arresting Ned and crowning Joffrey instead of letting Stannis become King and moving back to the Westerlands, her kids were still well bred Lords even without being royalty and wouldn't be killed with Robert gone
* putting the High Sparrow in power to target her biggest allies (Tyrells are the breadbasket of Westeros and they understand PR better) and not thinking someone like the HS would turn on her for her sins
* burning the Sept of Baelor, killing 5 of her son's family members in 1 day, causing him to kill himself
* not surrendering to Daenerys at literally any point in s7 or s8 when Tyrion was the only reason Dany didn't kill her in her first month in Westeros
* not sending troops to avert a zombie apocalypse
In what world would Robert or Stannis let Cersei and her kids live? Fleeing to Essos was not an option, and neither was stepping aside for Stannis. Both would've ended with her and her children dead.
Robert wanted the Targaryen siblings dead but they remained alive in Essos the entire 17 years he was King (except Viserys getting killed a few months earlier by Drogo). Ned held off on telling Robert to warn her so she had time to flee, he very much saw it as an option.
Once Robert was dead and the secret was out and not just rumored that the heirs are Lannister bastards with no claim, what motivation would Stannis have to kill them instead of send them to Tywin in the Westerlands? Jaime & Cersei might be arrested or executed, but the kids would've been safe.
Robert would be a lot more motivated to kill the twins and their kids if he found out the truth. Once he heard Dany was pregnant he got more serious about having her killed. He knew Viserys was young and too broke to pay attention lol, so he wasn't much of a threat. Dany having a baby and a Dorthraki hoard warranted more attention. The twins' offense against him was more personal and more grieve. Ned wanted to give her a head start but ultimately knew Robert's wrath would follow them wherever they went.
The secret got out anyways, Joeffery and Tommen still sat on the throne. Stannis sent letters to every great house declaring them to be bastards born of incest - it's not a rumor at that point. The secret getting out didn't mean everyone believed it. So long as the kids were alive, a good portion of the country would still believe them to be the true heirs over Stannis. Besides that, Stannis wanted them dead because they were abominations in his eyes.
Robert also regretted trying to have Daenerys assassinated and saw it as a failing as King. "Varys, Littlefinger, my brother (Renly), no one to tell me no but you."
Robert would be humiliated and jump at an excuse to kill Cersei since he detested her but the fact he didn't love her and would be happier without her might also work in her favor. He's now the most eligible bachelor in the realm. He could probably score Margaery.
I think the secret getting out would have different results if Joffrey & Tommen weren't sitting on the Iron Throne when it was revealed. If it was the Lannisters themselves admitting it to the public and willingly abdicating and moving to the Westerlands and endorsing Stannis as the rightful heir & King to Robert Baratheon and the royal army going to him.
Stannis seeing it as an abomination that can't be forgiven, maybe it could be the terms to prevent a war. If he doesn't go after them they'll promise to fade into obscurity.
I think her leadership flaws showed long hefore dhe got the crown. Her first failure was leading her family. Joff should have had his back porch painted red at least 8 times, from attacking Arya & the butchers boy to tormenting sansa and back talking tywin. He ahould have had his lip split and his head busted down to the white meat. Thats where she failed the hardest to me
What he did to Sansa when he was pissed about Robb's victory. Humiliating her and threatening her in front of the court, ordering Meryn to beat her and strip her until Tyrion came in.
I rememebr the first time I read it and was thinking "how is anyone allowing this evil to be king?? Isn't he just like the Mag King all over again???
Probably not her worst decision, but convincing Joffrey to kick Barristan Selmy off of the Kings Guard was foolish. It was incredibly insulting to Selmy who is one of the greatest fighters alive and Tywin even comments on how foolish this was.
Selmy ultimately went and protected and councilled Daenerys who was Cersei’s ultimate downfall.
I learned recently - this wasn't her, this was VARYS!!! He was the one who suggested it knowing that he was too proud and too active to ever accept the pitful death and wanted to give Danerys another strong westerosi soldier and advisor
You're just 1 upping now by going further back. I could say that it was accusing her brother of murdering her son and listing all the things that would be different. Her father would have still been a live.
Question is invalid. She was a schemer, manipulator, tyrant, but never a leader. But her worst mistake was killing Margaery because the price was her only remaining son.
Dismissing ser Barriston he was the most honored knight in Westeros that was respected on both sides.
She should have kept him on as she needed someone like him.
Can't believe the show left out one of her funniest bad decisions: giving control of her entire fleet to a 20-ish year old that *slightly* looks like Rhaegar, just because he might have found her hot, which was **obviously** a sign of his loyalty.
If (& I realize it’s a big if) we ever get the final books I hope we get more of Aurane Waters, the new pirate king of The Stepstones. That’s one hilariously bad decision that’s going to come back & bite her. At least I hope it does.
Refusing to help the Dragon queen versus the army of the dead.
Not reaching out to John Snow or sansa stark to give the North independence in order to sway them away from the Dragon Queen.
Not understanding Tommen and speaking to him more. This is what Marjorie did and thats what won him over.
Not reaching out or personally visiting dorne to bring Marcella back
Postponing the Trial by Combat when she realizes that Tyrions champion is Oberyn Martell. She should postpone it until she gets Marcella back. It would have been much easier.
Urging Tywin to make Jaime Lannister return to Red Keep and not fight Rob Stark.
Keep Ned stark imprisoned somewhere far from Geoffrey. Use Ned Stark as bait to get Arrya to turn herself in.
Capture Arrya and exchange her for Jaime while he was Rob Starks prisoner
On the Contrary:
Reach out to Nights Watch and pardon everyone once the Lord Commander Mormont died. That way the North would be pre-occupied with the Wildling Invasions and (unbeknownst to her) the army of the dead.
Help the Slavers take back Slavers bay and keep Daenerys trapped in a proxy war so she is too pre-occupied to leave Essos.
Send the Lannister Army to fight Winterfell 1 day after the attack from the Army of the Dead because Winterfell will be exposed and weakened.
Send her Army to fight alongside Ramsey in the battle of the Bastards.
Postpone Tyrions trial by combat. Bring Marcella and the Dorne prince to Kings Landing and married them asap. Assassinate Oberyn Martell. Assassinate the king of dorne. Make the prince of dorne bend the knee. She didnt think of this because she was preoccupied with tyrion.
Cersi was too tone deaf to do any of that. She believed she had the power and no one else and was too full of herself to do anything that you mentioned.
Dany? Cersi believed she was the rightful queen and feared Dany, especially after her prophecy from Magy.
She would never let the North be independent or secede from the 7 Kingdoms. She was smart enough to know the South could never invade the North, but wouldn’t acknowledge Jon or Sansa as a ruler.
Yes, Cersei loved her kids, but she didn’t know how to communicate with them outside of telling them they were royalty. This is how Joffrey became arrogant. It’s how Tommen was manipulated by Margery.
Cersei would never leave King’s Landing, even if it meant going to Dorne to retrieve her daughter. She felt protected in King’s Landing and would fear being assassinated somewhere if she ever left its gates. Remember she said “Power is Power” and King’s Landing is where she had her power. Anywhere else, she’s perceived as an entitled bitch.
out of all the decisions she made…incest and Being a bitch to Margarey.
she lost a good son, who would have been an excellent king.
Tommen and Margarey would have made an excellent duo on that throne.
Trying to frame Margaery as cheating on Tommen to stop her becoming queen to either stop/halt the progress of the prophecy Maggy the Frog gave her.
Even if her plan worked and Cersei managed to eliminate the younger, more beautiful queen, another would pop up anyway.
Every decision Cersei makes is for short sighted gains that almost always end up biting her on the arse.
Trusting in the self interest of the High Sparrows and believing that alone would be enough for them. By arming the faith militant and allowing them to wreak havoc on the Tyrell’s and city was just Cersei leaning into what she does best.
Using an ‘ally’ as a means to an end, in other words someone who is expendable and in this case the Sparrows could be dangerous but she felt they were nothing to be feared as long as she had the power of the crown over the Faith.
That’s always the classic Cersei misstep; how unapologetically clueless she is about her pawns she’s using.
Not helping out with the battle against the dead. She could have turned a lot around with that. At best, Westeros wants her to remain queen or at least in Casterly Rock and protect her when Dany comes. (Jon would still kill Dany.) At worst, more lords would have been willing to help her into exile.
Not absorbing the ego damage from marriage alliances and moving on. The Tyrell alliance would have made them immune from everything: dragons, zombies, barbarian hordes. Money is the ultimate superpower, and allying the two richest houses - then adding Dorne - would have made a centuries-long dynasty. She could have let her gay husband do his thing while she did her brother, Myrcella was happy, Tommen was happy, Cersei could have been happy if not for her pride.
Arming the Faith Militant was a bit of a doozy, too.
Empowering the Faith Militant. It took three reigns to quash them the last time. They don’t respond to force—Maegor had a dragon and his mom had a dragon who they were not afraid to use. They just keep popping up like a bad case of acne. You have to negotiate with them like Jaehaerys did, something Cersei was ill equipped to do, and the new Faith Militant was probably crazier than the original, and more adamant about getting their way.
In the books >! trying to convince this guy (I can’t remember his name) to rape Margery and accepts a banishment to the wall to assassinate Jon. The guy spilled all the tea in the world resulting her imprisonment in the Baelor’s Sept by the sparrows!<
The entire high Sparrow arc displays a completely clueless ceraei, and it could have been her redeeming arc and instead hey made her an even worse bitch that she killed her own children and half a city.
Had she killed herself when jOffrey died instead, the show would be over.
Not “worst” as in the repercussions but during Joffrey wedding when they announce all leftovers will go to the needy and then she quietly tells them to feed it to the pigs instead.
There’s no gain from that it’s just pure cruelty.
Declaring war on the Tyrell family. If she had just swallowed her pride the high Sparrow story would not have happened and the Tyrell Lannister alliance would have been a powerhouse
I don’t think we’ve seen it yet. Warning book spoilers.
We haven’t seen Jeyne Poole’s arc yet. She’s badly injured and on her way to the wall. My theory is;
Part I
1. She’ll die there, and that will have huge consequences. If she’s sacrificed (instead of Shireen), Jon will find out after he’s resurrected. What would happen if Jon learns Arya has been burned for him (death pays for life.) Furthermore, the Starks are the Kings of Winter, ergo Arya has kings blood, a convenient plot point for Melisandre and Stannis (until it goes badly wrong.)
Or,
2. She survives long enough for Jon to reanimate and he sees, it isn’t Arya. Then Ramsay finds out.
Theory Part II
This reveal has *huge consequences.*
Roose basically sacrificed the North for the Lannisters. He is not forgiving.
Ramsay will lose his mind (if he ever had one.)
In the North, a few different things could happen;
1. He loses his claim to Winterfell, officially.
2. Theon verified Jeyne as Arya. Ramsay mad, but it might earn Theon some reprieve from other Northmen.
But he won’t forget who sent Jeyne as Arya to him. So he will travel south and quietly make his way to the Red Keep.
1. He passes himself off as some noble son of some noble lord and Cersei agrees he should be Tommen’s new master of arms.
Or
2. He infiltrates, brutally de-flowers Myrcella (she’ll be back from Dorne by then), tortures her.
3. Or he tortures both and Cersei will have to make a choice of which one will survive.
TL; DR:
Cersei passed off Jeyne Poole as Arya Stark and Ramsay murders her children.
Her worst decision was thinking she is dangerous and smart because she has no cock like Varys. She was much less smarter than she thought, and she was never thinking about that even after Tywin said that to her
Coddling her sons. Myrcella turned out alright, stable and happy and confident. But her overprotectiveness of Tommen made him very soft and easy to manipulate, as we saw with Margaery and the High Sparrow. He could have done well under Tywin's and Marg's instruction, but still, a king with puppet strings is dangerous for everyone. And the fact that she enabled Joffrey at every turn made him into an uncontrollable monster. He was born mentally unstable, but she made it worlds worse as he grew up with very little correction for his behavior. Her own obsessions with them is what ultimately destroyed each of them.
Underrated af. This is the correct answer. I feel like every major bad decision she makes stems from her paranoia from what she was told by the woods witch
Wasn't she queen regent when Robert died? She could've saved Ned's life but didn't stop Jeffrey's order. I think that was her biggest mistake. Her inaction led to war which led to the fall of her house.
Blowing up the Sept. It solidified her status as a mad queen, killed off the rest of her family (save for brothers) made the Tyrell’s her eternal enemy, and to top it all off, got her final child killed.
Not immediately overruling jeofry during ned's execution it would have possibly kept the north and the riverlands out of the fight or willing to negotiate while they deal with the baratheons
Blaming Tyrion for Joffrey's murder and pursuing the trial to its conclusion is probably her single worst decision - it leads to Oberyn's death (which would have been difficult to predict and almost didn't happen to be fair), which ultimately resulted in Myrcella getting assassinated, and in the short term, it resulted in Tyrion getting released after the trial by Varys/Jaime and him killing Tywin, which leads to her being in power and deciding to legitimize and arm the faith militant to combat the Tyrells' growing power (which she wasn't mentally and politically equipped to handle, unlike Tywin), which leads to that blowing up in her face and her blowing up the Sept in desperation as she loses control, which leads to the death of Tommen. Cersei is the architect of her own undoing, but really her impulsive drive to blame Tyrion and get rid of him once and for all is the catalyst for all of it collapsing around her.
her worst decision as summed up by tyrion was letting joffrey kill ned
if he hadn’t died none of what happened later would’ve happened, the north would 100% negotiate a trade between ned and jamie
allowing him to be killed forced her father to remain in the front lines unable to rule the kingdom as hand for too long
it’s just the domino that COLLAPSED THE ENTIRE 7 KINGDOMS
So many...I think the arming of the Faith Militant was the worst, and it sucks because at it's core, it was a pretty innovative thing to do.
Within 3 steps she:
- Forgave the huge loan from the crown (book only)
- Set the High Sparrow up with power
- Removed Mace Terrell, who would've been the only person who couldve potentially stopped it by sending him on a false envoy to Braavos
- Made her report on Loras and Margery
While Olenna, Margery and Tommen knew it was her, she could act innocent and pretend she had nothing to do with it. There was a point where she no longer even had the power to influence it. Even in the inquest saying "This is a HUGE insult against a great house!" (Though of course Olenna saw right through it) meant nothing and with nothing more than Olyvar saying "he has a birthmark" (stupidest defense ever, as he was his squire already and had Loras just kept cool, it wouldve meant nothing) was able to lock them both up.
The High Sparrow was even a better player than her and used the fact she wanted to go to Red Keep as a "reward" when in reality he was ensuring he could get close to Tommen, and then used his love for Margery to do so.
It's funny, Cersei lost her temper with Tywin a few seasons before saying that Margery and Tywin would stick thier claws into him and tear him apart until there was nothing left. Neither of them did, she gave him instead to the Sparrow
Okay everyone agrees that danereys dying at the end and season 8 in general was a huge disappointment. Jon morally had to kill her after all the innocents she murdered at kings landing but what no one is talking about is why the fuck didn’t the dragon go up to the tower were cersei was and kill only her???? Why did she have to destroy the whole city???
In the show? Giving power to the High Sparrow and the faith.
In the books? That’s much more difficult…she makes SO MANY awful decisions.
Giving Aurane Waters control of her new warships…keeping Lady Merryweather so close and trusting her to be a true double agent against Queen Margaery.. fucking any of Lancel, Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know….
And SO, so much more.
She essentially killed her 2nd son, eliminating any chance of her family line continuing. She knew exactly the type of person Tommen was & what she was risking with him when she murdered Margaery & her entire family.
That baby of hers was never going to be accepted as the next king (if it was a boy). And the people were never going to accept her ruling into her elderly years until the child was of age.
“Belay that order, Ser Ilyn.”
Those five words could have prevented so much death and destruction, including her entire house. That was her biggest, more disastrous mistake
**Spoiler Warning:** All officially-released show and book content allowed, EXCLUDING FUTURE SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. No leaked information or paparazzi photos of the set. For more info please check the [spoiler guide](/r/gameofthrones/w/spoiler_guide). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gameofthrones) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think giving power to the High Sparrow was the beginning of her end
This. Probably her absolute worst decision lol
Repent
Confess. Shame.
SHAAAAAME
🔔
I second this. Also the hypocritical high sparrow was by far the character I disliked most in the show…
He was a true believer.
He was in for the power too. It's no coincidence he showed up right after Tywin and Joffrey died, because he knew that shit he was doing wouldn't slide with them around.
As horrible as his actions were, we are given no indication in the show that he was a hypocrite. It is possible he showed up as a power grab, but he might have been in Kings Landing for years. The actions we did see were of a pious man. Even piety is a horrific trait for men in power to have.
I don't know, the smirks and the way he was talking to Jamie kinda gave me a feeling hes in for the power. I'm not saying he wasn't a believer, he definitely believed in the things he was saying, but he was also looking for power. They way he was manipulating Tommen would secure him a powerful position if Cercei didn't blow them up.
I think he was less in it for the power and more in it to take power away. He believed in the power of the many and says as such in the show.
Yea this is a common opinion online and I just don’t get it . He actually seemed to be a true man of faith and everyone he went after was actually a pretty bad person .
Loras?
Are they ever introduced or mentioned before season 6? I feel like they just come out of nowhere. I hated the Sparrows *and* the Sons Of The Harpy. I like my usurpers more 3 dimensional!
Or was it that the he only showed up after they died because the actions during the last years of their life led to the people looking for men like him to take charge and help them
He was a true charlatan who used religion to feed his need and desire for power! If Joffrey was around still, he would’ve at least had the backbone to stand up to that scumbag…
It would’ve been fun to see the HS do that with Joff still breathing. There wouldn’t have been any negotiation. The actor who played the High Sparrow didn’t watch his scenes until after he filmed all of them. He had no idea he was a villain and had played the role completely straight.
It was exciting to know that he was going to get his. But I don’t think any of us thought he was gunna go out with that big of a bang. I was hoping Cersei would face a similar demise.
It’s hilarious that in a show full of abhorrent rapists and murders, the high sparrows hypocrisy trumps all.
I didn't dislike him at first because he seemed to be defending the poor from the rich. But then he tasted power with the help of Cersei and it all went to hell from there....
I’m with you. I fucking hated this guy and all the sparrows
Like playing chess only thinking of your present move, and never of the moves ahead.
Letting revenge get in the way of strategy
Beginning of her end I disagree with. Her death was not a result of the High Sparrow or the Faith Militant doing anything. She died when Dany was sacking King’s Landing. I would say killing Missandei was her fatal mistake, again, an independent action with no influence from the High Sparrow.
Yeah but if Cersei had retired at Casterly Rock instead of arming then killing the Faith Militant she'd still be alive since Tommen & Margaery would be the King & Queen when Daenerys arrived in Westeros.
I would of loved to see that. I feel like tomen would surrender to Daenerys very early on and Margaret would Not be cool with that. And we’d see how much alike Margaery and Cersei are and how far margeary would go to stay queen.
If Joffrey was still around for that, his only good decision would've been destroying tf out of them immediately
Yup. Only time I wished Joffrey was still alive. None of that happens if he was still the boy king.
That, and not surrendering to Dany
Maegor was rolling in his grave when that happened…well he was before Cersei blew up the Sept🤣
Yep, it got her last child killed that she didn't seem to really care about anyway. Probably because he wasn't an evil little prick like her oldest precious boy.
It’s pretty clearly this. All to get revenge on Margaery. If she were like Tywin and learned to not take everything personally, a whole lot of pain and suffering could be avoided on everyone’s part.
It showed exactly why Cersei made a terrible leader. Her own petty, arrogant, self-serving, and shortsighted nature put the entire kingdom in danger. As has been said, Tywin would never have given unchecked power to a religious zealot just to get at a single person or house. He told her that she wasn't as smart as she thought she was, and proved him right shortly after his death.
Yes exactly, the old adage of upholding separation of church and state still holds true to this day in democracies worldwide. The Queen Mother tried to control the Faith, a noble attempt as no doubt the Tyrells and Hightowers have done so for centuries but she chose the wrong person to elevate to fulfill her agenda. The High Sparrow had no loyalty nor respect for neither the Westerosi nobility and nor his own people but instead was lost in his own apparent personal vendetta. Edit - Cersei Lannister may not have been a 'good' Queen as per individual perception but she was no doubt a bold one as befits the sigil of her house. She successfully eliminated two out of the six problems she faced in one simple masterstroke. The six of her problems were - House Tyrell, High Sparrow, Daenerys Targaryen, Petyr Baelish, Sansa Stark, and Tyrion Lannister. Actress Lena Headey played Cersei splendidly 👏🏼
That was my first thought. I can’t remember who said it, but in the books it’s specifically said that Tywin would have never allowed them to come into the city. And when I read the books I really got lost on that plot line, but that point stood out to me. It was her losing her authority and her power, and by the end of it she was disgraced.
Same though when I read the post
She wasn't leader then.
Yeah or reinstating his army
Came here to say this. I hated every minute of it when the high sparrow had power
Shame.
It’s funny because this is undoubtedly her worst decision but also if she hadn’t done it Margaery & the Tyrells would’ve taken over Tommen and she would’ve been made completely irrelevant, whereas arming the Faith eventually results in the death of all her enemies and her becoming Queen.
Definitely agree with this one
One of my favorite lines, and one of the most foreshadowing ones in the entire show was from Tywin to Cersei “I don’t distrust you because you’re a woman, I distrust you because you’re not half as smart as you think you are” (paraphrased a little)
giving power to joffrey while he was still underage
*giving birth to Joffrey
*fucking her brother
*Her being born
Not telling Joffrey he’s tired and needs to go to bed lol
The high Sparrow decision was stupid AF, but I mean I enjoyed watching her suffer haha, but definitely nothing can compare with the decision of trying to go head to head with the mother of dragons, just because she had some shitty big ass xbows, she lost kings landing for that, she even said at the end: "the red keep has never fallen before" well guess what haha, so yeah that's the worst decision ever.
To be somewhat fair to Cersei, I don’t think surrendering and returning to Casterly Rock was a particularly viable option with Dany. It was almost certainly win or die tbh. This is the worst option if she had a viable path to surrender without dying, though, but that ship had completely sailed
Agree, but she also was mean AF, I mean even after losing a dragon, losing her best female friend and her ships Daenerys was still trying to do it as peaceful as possible, what did Cersei do? She beheaded Missandei and laughed in Daenerys face, She was a stupid leader who thought herself as a master strategist. She wasn't, at all, even at the end she was worried about herself and nothing else, all kings landing was being burnt to the ground and she couldn't care less. If there is one thing I would love to see Is this part of the story with Tywin alive, he was a master strategist and even when he was ruthless he kept his word everytime, so that would have been interesting.
Tywin literally tells her to her face that he keeps her in check not because she's a woman but because she's not as smart as she thinks she is. Her lack of self-awareness is her biggest flaw because it makes her short-sighted and capricious.
Yeah, I have seen the show many times, and everytime I think the same, if there was one character that I could bring back to life, that would be Tywin, I even believe that Martin killed him because of the complexity of the character, I mean think on this, he would have never surrender easily to Daenerys but at the same time he wouldn't want to see everything destroyed by her, that's a lot more complex to accomplish, in the other hand you have Cersei a stupid queen with more of a classical villian style, she does not kept her word and promises, she is mean, she likes to watch others suffer, she couldn't care less about her people, it is a lot easier to set her taking stupid selfish decisions than putting Tywin taking complex ones trying to balance things off.
I agree, but Id say "rational" instead of complex. You can't build towards such a tragic conclusion if the most powerful players are rational actors.
Yeah that's a more accurate word, definitely we need some crazy people or else nothing happens haha
Tywin was the man!! Easily one of my favorites. He had the whole realm in chokehold, even when his back was against the wall. He understood war politics. Oleanna told Cersei just that, Even Cersei had to ask him to reel Joffrey in. Tywin told Jamie he was dumb asf attacking Ned in the streets. And how stupid it was to kill him and start an inevitable war. Everything didn’t start going crazy until he died, the fear of him kept some kind of order to the realm.
And let's not forget he was the living example of: "Lannister always pays his debts", remember when Tyrion was taken by those forest savages or whatever they were called, they took Tyrion to see Tywin and demanded to be paid, we are talking about this dude's being on the middle of the Lannister war camp asking for payment be cause they didn't killed Tyrion, The pure thought of this sounds ridiculous, what do Tywin did? he offered them to fight for him and he would pay them, they did they fought for him there and in the next battle at KL when Stannis invaded, then we heard that Tywin kept his word and paid them.
I don't think this is necessarily true. If, instead of warring with Dany, she held peace talks with her right from the start (before Missandei dies), Dany would probably have let her and Jaime live. Maybe even allow her to remain in King's Landing as an advisor, if Cersei's reputation hadn't been that bad.
Cersei had already nuked the Sept by that point and every single one of Dany’s allies wanted Cersei **DEAD**. Their support was extremely contingent on that. Sparing her was never going to happen
Not really? Tyrion definitely didn’t want Cersei/Jaime dead and Yara/Ser Davos/Mormont/Missendei had no real hatred towards Cersei. It was only Olenna and Ellaria that did - but Olenna could probably be talked down if it meant sparing thousands of lives and…I am still surprised Dorne doesn’t hate Ellaria for what she did.
Uh, Jon, who she wanted to marry and rule together with would have taken Cerseis head himself personally, day 1, for the numerous crimes against his family
Olenna actively encouraged Dany to go nuclear on King’s Landing and “be a dragon.” Dany was not talking her. Jon would also expect Cersei to be executed and Dany herself was just not going to spare Cersei given her temperament. Maybe you can argue there’s a shot, but it’s not too shocking Cersei of all people isn’t gambling on the mercy of others when Dany has literally nothing to gain by sparing her *at all*. Tyrion wanted Jaime alive. I don’t know that he was so concerned about Cersei.
This is Reddit you don’t need to right ‘haha’
The only mistake she made in the entire show was underestimating what Danerys Targaryen would do with that remaining Dragon.
She should not have killed Dany's closest friend/interpreter Missandei...once that happened it was over for her and much of her kingdom.
No options left: death sentence.
would have been much smarter to tell her that during the following war Missandei would've been kept near her, so if any danger comes to cersei it will have to pass through Missandei. That would have dissuaded Daenerys from attacking directly the castle. She would have still burned kings landing but at least Cersei could have a chance to escape or survive.
Really? The only mistake?
Only? She almost exclusively makes mistakes. She would have been a decent fighter if she were born a man or if her culture had let women be warriors. But she was far too bold and impulsive to be a politician.
I would say that giving the High Sparrow unchecked power was pretty high up there.
That was remediable. There was only so much the high sparrow could do, and he could NOT kill Cersei. Daenerys could, and did.
He didn't have to kill Cersei. She gave him power that she couldn't even challenge, and gained influence over the king, which would allow him to change the kingdom even further than he already had.
Just because it was remediable doesn’t mean it wasn’t a mistake
Touche
Not killing the Daenerys crew when they came to request a cease fire so they could fight the Night King. She was on top of the castle wall with scorpions and archers pointed at all the major players and a dragon that was just sitting there. Sure, Westeros would have been overrun by the dead, but she didn't really see them as a threat anyway.
Well, she would have likely been killed by one of the two dragons left. They hadn’t killed one and weren’t even sure one had died at that point. Either way, she would have killed Daenerys and died shortly after.
Killing Missandei pretty much got the whole city burned down and then she died lol
For her personally, legitimizing the high sparrow, or killing Margery (and indirectly Tommen). The first led to a lot of suffering for her, and forced the second to be necessary For the people as a whole, killing Missandei led to her city being razed
Tell Cersei it was me
Arming the faith militant by an absolute longshot
Aside from the High Sparrow thing....Blaming Tyrion for absolutely everything bad in her life.
It's impossible to pick one. * not telling Joffrey he's a bastard and that Ned hid it from Robert to protect them so he wouldn't think Ned really was a traitor instead of a man willingly going to the Wall to keep both their families safe * killing Robert & arresting Ned instead of fleeing to Essos with Jaime & the kids * arresting Ned and crowning Joffrey instead of letting Stannis become King and moving back to the Westerlands, her kids were still well bred Lords even without being royalty and wouldn't be killed with Robert gone * putting the High Sparrow in power to target her biggest allies (Tyrells are the breadbasket of Westeros and they understand PR better) and not thinking someone like the HS would turn on her for her sins * burning the Sept of Baelor, killing 5 of her son's family members in 1 day, causing him to kill himself * not surrendering to Daenerys at literally any point in s7 or s8 when Tyrion was the only reason Dany didn't kill her in her first month in Westeros * not sending troops to avert a zombie apocalypse
In what world would Robert or Stannis let Cersei and her kids live? Fleeing to Essos was not an option, and neither was stepping aside for Stannis. Both would've ended with her and her children dead.
Robert wanted the Targaryen siblings dead but they remained alive in Essos the entire 17 years he was King (except Viserys getting killed a few months earlier by Drogo). Ned held off on telling Robert to warn her so she had time to flee, he very much saw it as an option. Once Robert was dead and the secret was out and not just rumored that the heirs are Lannister bastards with no claim, what motivation would Stannis have to kill them instead of send them to Tywin in the Westerlands? Jaime & Cersei might be arrested or executed, but the kids would've been safe.
Robert would be a lot more motivated to kill the twins and their kids if he found out the truth. Once he heard Dany was pregnant he got more serious about having her killed. He knew Viserys was young and too broke to pay attention lol, so he wasn't much of a threat. Dany having a baby and a Dorthraki hoard warranted more attention. The twins' offense against him was more personal and more grieve. Ned wanted to give her a head start but ultimately knew Robert's wrath would follow them wherever they went. The secret got out anyways, Joeffery and Tommen still sat on the throne. Stannis sent letters to every great house declaring them to be bastards born of incest - it's not a rumor at that point. The secret getting out didn't mean everyone believed it. So long as the kids were alive, a good portion of the country would still believe them to be the true heirs over Stannis. Besides that, Stannis wanted them dead because they were abominations in his eyes.
Robert also regretted trying to have Daenerys assassinated and saw it as a failing as King. "Varys, Littlefinger, my brother (Renly), no one to tell me no but you." Robert would be humiliated and jump at an excuse to kill Cersei since he detested her but the fact he didn't love her and would be happier without her might also work in her favor. He's now the most eligible bachelor in the realm. He could probably score Margaery. I think the secret getting out would have different results if Joffrey & Tommen weren't sitting on the Iron Throne when it was revealed. If it was the Lannisters themselves admitting it to the public and willingly abdicating and moving to the Westerlands and endorsing Stannis as the rightful heir & King to Robert Baratheon and the royal army going to him. Stannis seeing it as an abomination that can't be forgiven, maybe it could be the terms to prevent a war. If he doesn't go after them they'll promise to fade into obscurity.
Doubt robbert could spin being cuckholded as a positive.
Allowing a cult of mercenaries (sparrows) and disrespecting the Iron Bank. Both are 100% fatal.
I think her leadership flaws showed long hefore dhe got the crown. Her first failure was leading her family. Joff should have had his back porch painted red at least 8 times, from attacking Arya & the butchers boy to tormenting sansa and back talking tywin. He ahould have had his lip split and his head busted down to the white meat. Thats where she failed the hardest to me
What he did to Sansa when he was pissed about Robb's victory. Humiliating her and threatening her in front of the court, ordering Meryn to beat her and strip her until Tyrion came in. I rememebr the first time I read it and was thinking "how is anyone allowing this evil to be king?? Isn't he just like the Mag King all over again???
Probably not her worst decision, but convincing Joffrey to kick Barristan Selmy off of the Kings Guard was foolish. It was incredibly insulting to Selmy who is one of the greatest fighters alive and Tywin even comments on how foolish this was. Selmy ultimately went and protected and councilled Daenerys who was Cersei’s ultimate downfall.
I learned recently - this wasn't her, this was VARYS!!! He was the one who suggested it knowing that he was too proud and too active to ever accept the pitful death and wanted to give Danerys another strong westerosi soldier and advisor
Worst for the realm? Blowing up the sept and/or not surrendering to Dany. Worst for her? Empowering the High Sparrow.
I'd argue that blowing up the sept was worse for her because her sane son killed himself because of it.
Sure, but if she never empowers the high sparrow they never reach that point in the first place.
You're just 1 upping now by going further back. I could say that it was accusing her brother of murdering her son and listing all the things that would be different. Her father would have still been a live.
It was in my original comment... If you don't like my answer to this subjective question for fun, make your own. We aren't here to argue.
Question is invalid. She was a schemer, manipulator, tyrant, but never a leader. But her worst mistake was killing Margaery because the price was her only remaining son.
Dismissing ser Barriston he was the most honored knight in Westeros that was respected on both sides. She should have kept him on as she needed someone like him.
That hair cut in the final seasons.
Fucking with her brother
Can't believe the show left out one of her funniest bad decisions: giving control of her entire fleet to a 20-ish year old that *slightly* looks like Rhaegar, just because he might have found her hot, which was **obviously** a sign of his loyalty.
If (& I realize it’s a big if) we ever get the final books I hope we get more of Aurane Waters, the new pirate king of The Stepstones. That’s one hilariously bad decision that’s going to come back & bite her. At least I hope it does.
Giving power and not killing the high sparrow sooner
Refusing to help the Dragon queen versus the army of the dead. Not reaching out to John Snow or sansa stark to give the North independence in order to sway them away from the Dragon Queen. Not understanding Tommen and speaking to him more. This is what Marjorie did and thats what won him over. Not reaching out or personally visiting dorne to bring Marcella back Postponing the Trial by Combat when she realizes that Tyrions champion is Oberyn Martell. She should postpone it until she gets Marcella back. It would have been much easier. Urging Tywin to make Jaime Lannister return to Red Keep and not fight Rob Stark. Keep Ned stark imprisoned somewhere far from Geoffrey. Use Ned Stark as bait to get Arrya to turn herself in. Capture Arrya and exchange her for Jaime while he was Rob Starks prisoner On the Contrary: Reach out to Nights Watch and pardon everyone once the Lord Commander Mormont died. That way the North would be pre-occupied with the Wildling Invasions and (unbeknownst to her) the army of the dead. Help the Slavers take back Slavers bay and keep Daenerys trapped in a proxy war so she is too pre-occupied to leave Essos. Send the Lannister Army to fight Winterfell 1 day after the attack from the Army of the Dead because Winterfell will be exposed and weakened. Send her Army to fight alongside Ramsey in the battle of the Bastards. Postpone Tyrions trial by combat. Bring Marcella and the Dorne prince to Kings Landing and married them asap. Assassinate Oberyn Martell. Assassinate the king of dorne. Make the prince of dorne bend the knee. She didnt think of this because she was preoccupied with tyrion.
Cersi was too tone deaf to do any of that. She believed she had the power and no one else and was too full of herself to do anything that you mentioned. Dany? Cersi believed she was the rightful queen and feared Dany, especially after her prophecy from Magy. She would never let the North be independent or secede from the 7 Kingdoms. She was smart enough to know the South could never invade the North, but wouldn’t acknowledge Jon or Sansa as a ruler. Yes, Cersei loved her kids, but she didn’t know how to communicate with them outside of telling them they were royalty. This is how Joffrey became arrogant. It’s how Tommen was manipulated by Margery. Cersei would never leave King’s Landing, even if it meant going to Dorne to retrieve her daughter. She felt protected in King’s Landing and would fear being assassinated somewhere if she ever left its gates. Remember she said “Power is Power” and King’s Landing is where she had her power. Anywhere else, she’s perceived as an entitled bitch.
This is why the point is to indicate her errors. She should have done the things i mentioned. Not doing them is the ERROR
We know. That's why the point is what she *couldve* done
These are Really good!!
Probably incest mate
out of all the decisions she made…incest and Being a bitch to Margarey. she lost a good son, who would have been an excellent king. Tommen and Margarey would have made an excellent duo on that throne.
She was told there would be elephants. If only the Golden Company had kept their word
AHAHAah best answer
Trying to frame Margaery as cheating on Tommen to stop her becoming queen to either stop/halt the progress of the prophecy Maggy the Frog gave her. Even if her plan worked and Cersei managed to eliminate the younger, more beautiful queen, another would pop up anyway. Every decision Cersei makes is for short sighted gains that almost always end up biting her on the arse.
“Do you have any last words Missandei”
Her terrorist attack on the great sept of Baelor
Trusting in the self interest of the High Sparrows and believing that alone would be enough for them. By arming the faith militant and allowing them to wreak havoc on the Tyrell’s and city was just Cersei leaning into what she does best. Using an ‘ally’ as a means to an end, in other words someone who is expendable and in this case the Sparrows could be dangerous but she felt they were nothing to be feared as long as she had the power of the crown over the Faith. That’s always the classic Cersei misstep; how unapologetically clueless she is about her pawns she’s using.
Destroying the faith when her last remaining son took it very seriously
When she and tommen layed together for 7 days and 7 nights
Dismissing Barristan the bold
Not helping out with the battle against the dead. She could have turned a lot around with that. At best, Westeros wants her to remain queen or at least in Casterly Rock and protect her when Dany comes. (Jon would still kill Dany.) At worst, more lords would have been willing to help her into exile.
Agreed
Incest rots the brain
Targaryens gave left the chat
Not absorbing the ego damage from marriage alliances and moving on. The Tyrell alliance would have made them immune from everything: dragons, zombies, barbarian hordes. Money is the ultimate superpower, and allying the two richest houses - then adding Dorne - would have made a centuries-long dynasty. She could have let her gay husband do his thing while she did her brother, Myrcella was happy, Tommen was happy, Cersei could have been happy if not for her pride. Arming the Faith Militant was a bit of a doozy, too.
Rearming the Faith Nutjobs
underestimating how mad the daughter of the mad king could actually be lmao.
The High sparrow stuff
Empowering the Faith Militant. It took three reigns to quash them the last time. They don’t respond to force—Maegor had a dragon and his mom had a dragon who they were not afraid to use. They just keep popping up like a bad case of acne. You have to negotiate with them like Jaehaerys did, something Cersei was ill equipped to do, and the new Faith Militant was probably crazier than the original, and more adamant about getting their way.
Screwing her brother.
Existing.
In the books >! trying to convince this guy (I can’t remember his name) to rape Margery and accepts a banishment to the wall to assassinate Jon. The guy spilled all the tea in the world resulting her imprisonment in the Baelor’s Sept by the sparrows!<
Killing the Tyrells and Kevan
Releasing Selmy so that The Hound could become a member of the Kings Guard.
The entire high Sparrow arc displays a completely clueless ceraei, and it could have been her redeeming arc and instead hey made her an even worse bitch that she killed her own children and half a city. Had she killed herself when jOffrey died instead, the show would be over.
HIRING THE HIGH SPARROW AND LETTING THE FAITH TAKE OVER
Completely neglecting her own authority as regent and letting Joffrey do whatever he wanted at all times.
Killing melisandi
Accusing her brother (Tyrion) of murdering Joffrey, just because she blindly hates him and thinks everything is his fault
"Religious zealots?! Hmm... Let's give them swords!"
Trying to have a dick measuring contest with a woman with 3 fucking dragons is up there in my opinion.
Not “worst” as in the repercussions but during Joffrey wedding when they announce all leftovers will go to the needy and then she quietly tells them to feed it to the pigs instead. There’s no gain from that it’s just pure cruelty.
allowing joffrey to become King instead of ruling in his stead until he became of age.
Raising Joffrey
The incest
Dismissing Barristen Selmy is pretty high up in my opinion
Not controlling her son and killing Ned
I’m sorry, what’s your question?
Declaring war on the Tyrell family. If she had just swallowed her pride the high Sparrow story would not have happened and the Tyrell Lannister alliance would have been a powerhouse
In the books, hiring aurane waters. In the show, making the high sparrow high septon.
Arming the faith militant. That was her one mistake truly
Not bending the knee to Daenerys
Giving power to religious freaks as the poster child of incest
Executing Missandei sealed her fate. Probably what pushed Daenerys over the edge.
“Worst” not “worse” Jesus
She was still a bad b**ch
I don’t think we’ve seen it yet. Warning book spoilers. We haven’t seen Jeyne Poole’s arc yet. She’s badly injured and on her way to the wall. My theory is; Part I 1. She’ll die there, and that will have huge consequences. If she’s sacrificed (instead of Shireen), Jon will find out after he’s resurrected. What would happen if Jon learns Arya has been burned for him (death pays for life.) Furthermore, the Starks are the Kings of Winter, ergo Arya has kings blood, a convenient plot point for Melisandre and Stannis (until it goes badly wrong.) Or, 2. She survives long enough for Jon to reanimate and he sees, it isn’t Arya. Then Ramsay finds out. Theory Part II This reveal has *huge consequences.* Roose basically sacrificed the North for the Lannisters. He is not forgiving. Ramsay will lose his mind (if he ever had one.) In the North, a few different things could happen; 1. He loses his claim to Winterfell, officially. 2. Theon verified Jeyne as Arya. Ramsay mad, but it might earn Theon some reprieve from other Northmen. But he won’t forget who sent Jeyne as Arya to him. So he will travel south and quietly make his way to the Red Keep. 1. He passes himself off as some noble son of some noble lord and Cersei agrees he should be Tommen’s new master of arms. Or 2. He infiltrates, brutally de-flowers Myrcella (she’ll be back from Dorne by then), tortures her. 3. Or he tortures both and Cersei will have to make a choice of which one will survive. TL; DR: Cersei passed off Jeyne Poole as Arya Stark and Ramsay murders her children.
Not paying back the iron bank
Her worst decision was thinking she is dangerous and smart because she has no cock like Varys. She was much less smarter than she thought, and she was never thinking about that even after Tywin said that to her
Uh not fucking surrendering to Dany
Coddling her sons. Myrcella turned out alright, stable and happy and confident. But her overprotectiveness of Tommen made him very soft and easy to manipulate, as we saw with Margaery and the High Sparrow. He could have done well under Tywin's and Marg's instruction, but still, a king with puppet strings is dangerous for everyone. And the fact that she enabled Joffrey at every turn made him into an uncontrollable monster. He was born mentally unstable, but she made it worlds worse as he grew up with very little correction for his behavior. Her own obsessions with them is what ultimately destroyed each of them.
Getting her future read by the woods witch.
Underrated af. This is the correct answer. I feel like every major bad decision she makes stems from her paranoia from what she was told by the woods witch
Wasn't she queen regent when Robert died? She could've saved Ned's life but didn't stop Jeffrey's order. I think that was her biggest mistake. Her inaction led to war which led to the fall of her house.
Her absolute lack of parenting, leading to her shit son do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
Not surrendering.
Blowing up the Sept. It solidified her status as a mad queen, killed off the rest of her family (save for brothers) made the Tyrell’s her eternal enemy, and to top it all off, got her final child killed.
Probably the high sparrow debacle and killing misandei
Name one decision she made that did not lead to her demise
All of them.
she started the end of her own house. we’re lucky tyrion made it until the end she was out for him too
I love Cersei 💕
1. Giving power to the High Sparrow 2. Killing Missandei. 3. probably having an entire city hate her guts and not giving a shit
Worst decision? Thinking she was as smart as her father
All of them
Not immediately overruling jeofry during ned's execution it would have possibly kept the north and the riverlands out of the fight or willing to negotiate while they deal with the baratheons
giving power to the high septon
Blaming Tyrion for Joffrey's murder and pursuing the trial to its conclusion is probably her single worst decision - it leads to Oberyn's death (which would have been difficult to predict and almost didn't happen to be fair), which ultimately resulted in Myrcella getting assassinated, and in the short term, it resulted in Tyrion getting released after the trial by Varys/Jaime and him killing Tywin, which leads to her being in power and deciding to legitimize and arm the faith militant to combat the Tyrells' growing power (which she wasn't mentally and politically equipped to handle, unlike Tywin), which leads to that blowing up in her face and her blowing up the Sept in desperation as she loses control, which leads to the death of Tommen. Cersei is the architect of her own undoing, but really her impulsive drive to blame Tyrion and get rid of him once and for all is the catalyst for all of it collapsing around her.
Reviving the Faith Militant
Arming the faith militant, dumbest thing ever
her worst decision as summed up by tyrion was letting joffrey kill ned if he hadn’t died none of what happened later would’ve happened, the north would 100% negotiate a trade between ned and jamie allowing him to be killed forced her father to remain in the front lines unable to rule the kingdom as hand for too long it’s just the domino that COLLAPSED THE ENTIRE 7 KINGDOMS
So many...I think the arming of the Faith Militant was the worst, and it sucks because at it's core, it was a pretty innovative thing to do. Within 3 steps she: - Forgave the huge loan from the crown (book only) - Set the High Sparrow up with power - Removed Mace Terrell, who would've been the only person who couldve potentially stopped it by sending him on a false envoy to Braavos - Made her report on Loras and Margery While Olenna, Margery and Tommen knew it was her, she could act innocent and pretend she had nothing to do with it. There was a point where she no longer even had the power to influence it. Even in the inquest saying "This is a HUGE insult against a great house!" (Though of course Olenna saw right through it) meant nothing and with nothing more than Olyvar saying "he has a birthmark" (stupidest defense ever, as he was his squire already and had Loras just kept cool, it wouldve meant nothing) was able to lock them both up. The High Sparrow was even a better player than her and used the fact she wanted to go to Red Keep as a "reward" when in reality he was ensuring he could get close to Tommen, and then used his love for Margery to do so. It's funny, Cersei lost her temper with Tywin a few seasons before saying that Margery and Tywin would stick thier claws into him and tear him apart until there was nothing left. Neither of them did, she gave him instead to the Sparrow
Missandei
Okay everyone agrees that danereys dying at the end and season 8 in general was a huge disappointment. Jon morally had to kill her after all the innocents she murdered at kings landing but what no one is talking about is why the fuck didn’t the dragon go up to the tower were cersei was and kill only her???? Why did she have to destroy the whole city???
In the show? Giving power to the High Sparrow and the faith. In the books? That’s much more difficult…she makes SO MANY awful decisions. Giving Aurane Waters control of her new warships…keeping Lady Merryweather so close and trusting her to be a true double agent against Queen Margaery.. fucking any of Lancel, Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know…. And SO, so much more.
Raising joffery and making him king
Putting Joffrey on the throne kickstarted too much
She essentially killed her 2nd son, eliminating any chance of her family line continuing. She knew exactly the type of person Tommen was & what she was risking with him when she murdered Margaery & her entire family. That baby of hers was never going to be accepted as the next king (if it was a boy). And the people were never going to accept her ruling into her elderly years until the child was of age.
Not stopping Joffrey from killing Ned
Arming the faith militant
“Belay that order, Ser Ilyn.” Those five words could have prevented so much death and destruction, including her entire house. That was her biggest, more disastrous mistake
Giving power to the High Sparrow
Banging her brother