The 10 Reasons Why I Hate Cersei Lannister of Game of Thrones

“Someday, you’ll sit on the throne, and the truth will be what you make it.”

Did you ever hear parents teaching their child how to lie? I’m sure you did not.

And if you teach your child things like this, it is obvious that the child will grow up to become a Monster. Don’t you think?

The above quote is from Cersei Lannister of Game of Thrones. If you have watched GOT, you know she teaches Joffrey it in the first season.

From the title of this article, it is clear that I hate her. Let me make some other things clear first, Cersei is a great character but an awful person.

And, I don’t hate Lena Headey. She is a great actor who made Cersei Lannister possible on screen. Also, I’m no Social Justice Warrior teaching what’s right and what’s wrong.

That all depends on you. Some people love her and some hate her, that’s the way it is. All I’m about to explain is why I hate Cersei Lannister.

Usually, I’ve the mindset of “Don’t hate the player, hate the game”. And, when you are in Game of Thrones with a lot of power, you need to ensure that you maintain the power.

But, Cersei has done things beyond what most people think as evil. And, I’m going to tell you every reason why I hate Cersei Lannister. Let’s start with #10:

10. She can’t stand her haters, enemies and competition

She sees everyone as her enemy and thus continuously plot schemes against them. She hates the Stark family even though Starks do not do anything wrong to her. It is just because she is jealous of Lyanna Stark.

She hates Tyrells too, even though they together with Tywin Lannister saves the King’s Landing from Stannis. She thinks Margaery as her competition and does everything within her power to keep her away from Joffrey and Tomen.

When Margaery calls her ‘sister’, she tells her “If you ever call me sister again I’ll have you strangled in your sleep”. She even blocks her when Margaery shifts her eyes from Joffrey to Tomen.

She wants to take revenge from everyone who did wrong to her. She chooses violence and kills innocent people. She insults people all the time, be it King Robert or anyone else.

She thinks that the only way to get rid of her enemies is to kill them. At the end of sixth season, she blew the Great Sept of Baelor just to get rid of her enemies. Here is a famous dialogue:

[Tyrion and Cersei are watching Sansa talking to Ser Loras]
Tyrion Lannister: I don’t suppose there is anything we can do about this?
Cersei Lannister: We can have them both killed.
Tyrion Lannister: It’s hard to say which of the four of us is getting the worst of the arrangement. Probably Sansa. Though Loras will certainly come to know a deep and singular misery.
Cersei Lannister: Father doesn’t discriminate.

9. She manipulates man

She lies to Robert accusing Arya and her direwolf for hurting Joffrey even though she knew the truth herself. She even prepares Sansa for it. Because of this the Butcher’s boy and a direwolf are killed.

She is the main hero of killing King Robert with the help of her cousin Lancel. She could have killed Robert a decade ago if he was an evil person or spouse abuser.

But she kills him when the heat is on and there is a chance of him figuring out the real father of his children. She kills him to save herself, her children and her continual power (as Queen Mother).

She uses all her powers to fight Tyrion continuously. She blames him for the death of her mother. She successfully convicts him of Joffrey’s murder. She blames Tyrion for the sake of taking revenge of her hate against him.

Her POV shows how distrustful, compulsive and mistaken she is. She spends most of her life blaming Tyrion based on a prophecy that she herself has actually done the most to fulfill.

She hates Tyrion and thus needs support of Jaime. She manipulates Jaime to join Kingsguard by seducing him. There are two reasons for this:

First, Jaime ends up being unable to marry anyone else. This means he cannot cheat on her and be with anyone else even if he wants to. Effective setup done by Cersei.

Second, being a Kingsguard Jaime can’t inherit the family title. Tyrion is already out of the inheritance, so by this single move she secures all the legitimate power and lands of Casterly Rock for her.

When Cersei is facing certain death, she asks Jaime to defend her. She knows that he has one hand and would probably lose, and die for her.

She thinks that they’ll go out together like they came in the world, but the message is clear: If she goes down, she’s taking Jaime with her. Actually she does not even care for Jaime. She just needs the support; she uses and abuses him.

8. She is a bitter woman

“I killed my husband because it felt good to be rid of him.”

These are her words while she is taking revenge from Septa Unella. Make note that she could have killed Robert decades ago, if he was evil.

She just gets rid of him because her power is vulnerable if Robert finds out about the father of his children. Yet, she thinks that she is his victim.

And, I don’t buy the “victim” profile. Is she at a disadvantage because of her sex, yes. Is she shuffled off into a marriage to a man she doesn’t love, yes. But she wanted to become the queen and she became. She wants the power of a Queen but does not want a King who has control over her. How come?

She thinks that Tyrion is responsible for her mother’s death. And it is the biggest joke he has ever made. How can Tyrion be blamed? He was just an innocent newborn child.

She has a big ego and thinks that she’s the most beautiful creature ever to walk the Seven Kingdoms. She is jealous of other beautiful women, be it Sansa or Margaery. She plays cold war with Margaery.

She aborts a child which is Robert’s child. Why? Because of the simple fact that she doesn’t want to have one of Robert’s children. She aborts one of her cubs because she doesn’t like its father. Devilish.

7. She does not inspire loyalty rather she forces it with fears and threats

She is not the leader someone will like to follow. She does not have a mission anyone would like to contribute their lives to. She does not inspire hope, she just needs power at her disposal.

“The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy”. This is the way she think loyalty works.

Another line “You want to be Hand of the King? You want to rule? This is what ruling is; lying on a bed of weeds, ripping them out by the root, one by one, before they strangle you in your sleep!”

Then, there is her comment about how if every blacksmith didn’t spend 24/7 making swords before Stannis’ invasion that she would break or cut off their hands?

These character traits are of a Dictator. That’s how they hold their power. Even Stannis is a Dictator, but he has a mission that his followers are ready to contribute their lives to. And, he is a far better leader than Cersei.

Cersei Lannister thinks herself of a great leader. Yet she does not feel good when somebody disobeys her pointless orders. And in return she demands more pointless orders to be performed on the person. That is not the way to get people to do your work.

Jaime and Cersei both causes open civil war and thousands of deaths by trying to pass off their bastards as Robert’s own children. Cersei wants all of the benefits but none of the responsibility.

6. All she think about is herself and her luxuries and power

“Power is power.” A great statement by her. She’s a self-centered murderer without a shred of feeling for her fellow human beings. She manipulates everyone to do what she wants i.e. remain in power.

She wants everything done her way. If someone does not comply, she gets him murdered. She does not care about people.

Cersei Lannister has a hobby to speak her mind out and never listen to anyone except herself. Due to this she has lost many people who were once close to her. And this by no way a friendly gesture.

She will destroy King’s Landing. She did not contribute a single thing for Westeros. All she did was destroy. She passed Jaime’s children as Robert’s and this single move caused wars and got many people killed.

Cersei plots to take power, but she’s not really capable of using it when she has it. She is involved in dirty politics of the world, but her main target is not to gain the throne, but to gain as much power as she can.

She is very much like Joffrey, who keeps on proclaiming himself as a King… without actually doing any kingly things. Finally, in the sixth season when she ran out of options she declared herself as protector of the Seven Kingdoms.

She thinks she is victim just because she is a woman. Some girls love her because they think she has a feminist’s perspective. But she is not demanding power for every women of Westeros. She just demands it for herself.

5. She lies all the time

She lies to King Robert and blames Arya and her direwolf for hurting Joffrey. Because of her Butcher’s boy and a direwolf were killed that day.

She know Ned Stark is not a traitor. But for the sake of her own powers, she let Joffrey dishonor him in front of people. She even tries to get Ned and Robert fight each other by lying.

She know Tyrion did not kill Joffrey. But because of her hate towards him, she with her father accuse him of murdering Joffrey.

She also teaches Joffrey how to lie. Shame! Cersei’s biggest crime here is that she’s just stupid. Teaching a child how to lie can backfire, she does not even think of it.

4. She created Joffrey

“Someday, you’ll sit on the throne, and the truth will be what you make it.”

She raised Joffrey, and basically made him into the monster he is, and is not able to control him. And even at the very height, when he is just knocking people off here and there, and insulting even her, she still loves him.

Everyone understands that as a mother she just can’t stop loving her children, but she should know the right time to draw that love for the sake of good things. Parents do that all the time.

Cersei Lannister: Margaery has her claws on Joffrey. She knows how to manipulate him.
Tywin Lannister: Good. I wish you knew how to manipulate him. I don’t distrust you because you’re a woman. I distrust you because you’re not as smart as you think you are. You’ve allowed that boy to ride roughshod over you and everyone else in this city.
Cersei Lannister: Perhaps… you should try stopping him from doing what he likes.
Tywin Lannister: I will.

She does stupid things and when things are out of her control, she needs Jaime or her father to do everything right again. Right now she has the Mountain.

She says hurtful things and make others suffer for no reason, just because it is fun and feels good. This is exactly what Joffrey did during his rule.

3. She manipulated Sansa against her father and Arya

“Tears aren’t a woman’s only weapon. The best one’s between your legs.”

She gave Sansa terrible women advice. This line shows that she used some of her weapons to get what she wants. The point is Jaime.

She also manipulated her to lie about Arya and butcher’s boy. Sansa knew what happened but did not say it. And because of that Butcher’s boy and a direwolf were killed.

She manipulates Sansa against Ned and makes her write a letter to Robb. She is stupid enough to think that Robb will take the letter seriously.

Time and again she proves her wickedness in the plot. As much as power she gains, she gets more involved in destroying people. She has spent more than half of her life to schemes to get more power, position and wealth.

But unfortunately she has no idea what to do with all that and in return her every step takes her to the road where she gets more evil. Now everyone who have had influence over her is died (King Robert and Tywin Lannister). So, she will become a monster.

2. She ordered to kill innocent bastards of Robert

“It doesn’t make me feel anything.”

King Robert was her husband yet she did not have a feeling about him. She even aborted one of her children because it was Robert’s.

And if that isn’t enough, she also ordered the deaths of Robert’s innocent illegitimate children (including at least three babies). It’s one of the most devilish things done by her.

Even evil of evil don’t kill innocent children, but she does. All because she hates Robert and if his children are alive they are threat to her power.

1. She indirectly Killed Ned Stark

“Everyone who isn’t us is an enemy.”

Yes, she teaches it to Joffrey. As already said, Cersei created the Monster Joffrey. And, Joffrey kills Ned Stark with Cersei indirectly backing him.

First of all, Cersei hates Ned Stark’s sister Lyanna. King Robert loves Lyanna Stark more than Cersei Lannister. He tells it herself that “She was the one thing I ever wanted… someone took her away from me, and seven kingdoms couldn’t fill the hole she left behind”.

During their wedding night also Robert whispers “Lyanna” in Cersei’s ears. Now that Lyanna is dead, she has Ned Stark (Lyanna’s brother) to hate.

There is another reason for her to hate Ned Stark. He knows the secret about her relationship with her brother. He may expose her and that means she goes out of power.

That’s why she claims Joffrey the king, buys the Commander of City Watch, dismisses King Robert’s last words by tearing the paper down and asks Littlefinger to capture Ned Stark.

To make Ned do what she wants him to do, she also orders guards to capture his daughters. And, as already said, she manipulates Sansa to write a letter to Robb.

They make Ned confess his treason before the crowd via Sansa, and that makes people question his honor. In Varys own words:

“Cersei is no fool. She knows a tame wolf is more use to her than a dead one.”

I know there is some stupidity of Sansa too. But being a child and manipulated by Cersei, you can’t blame her much.

When Joffrey orders to kill Ned Stark, all Cersei says to him is “My son, this is madness.” And she stands there watching Ned die. She may have saved Ned if has she tried. But she let Ned die.

What Next?

Okay, she has done wrong things and made bad decisions. But, will she change now or keep doing these evil things?

Based on how I see things, she will become more evil now. Only King Robert Baratheon and Tywin Lannister had influence on her. Now that they both are dead, she is free to do what she wants.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Based on the spoilers I’ve read about season 7, John Snow captures a White Walker to convince the lords of Westeros about the coming war.

At Dragonpit, the entire major characters see the captured white walker. There, Cersei orders the Mountain to kill it, but he isn’t able to. This freaks her out.

She gives her word to John Snow that she will contribute her army to fight white walkers and the night king.

But, as usual she has schemes in her mind and that’s why she does not send her men. She wants white walkers to thin out her enemies. For the sake of her own power, she is stupid enough to risk entire human race.

*SPOILERS ENDED*

Well folks that’s it. If you have not watched it, you can watch Game of Thrones on Netflix, HBO Go, HBO Now, iTunes and on DVDs. It’s one of the best TV show and is worth watching.

You may be wondering by now “If you hate Cersei Lannister, who do you like in GOT?”

I like John Snow and his way of dealing with people. He is the only person alive who inspires loyalty and is much like Ned Stark himself.

Do you love or hate Cersei Lannister?