Cersei update #4 (Patreon)

One of the big insights we get from Cersei's Feast chapters are the feelings of fear and paranoia she feels over the prophecy of Maggy the Frog. Many of her more heinous crimes, like her persecution of Tyrion, can be explained by her fear of Maggy's valonqar. So it's tempting to argue that Cersei is a basically decent person, driven to cruelty by Maggy's prophecy.

Thing is, though, Cersei seems to have been cruel even before she met Maggy - in Storm, Oberyn Martell recounts a story wherein a seven-year-old Cersei torments a baby Tyrion, twisting his "little cock so hard I thought she was like to pull it off". Cersei also threatens a wet nurse - "Be quiet or I’ll have my father cut your tongue out". You can argue that this is an expression of grief over the death of Cersei's mother Joanna while birthing Tyrion - but still, Oberyn's story seems to indicate that Cersei had an inclination towards cruelty from a very young age - "Her Grace learned charm at an early age", Tyrion says of Oberyn's story.

But Maggy the Frog isn't the only factor that has shaped Cersei's personality. Like Arya, Cersei has a deep frustration with the gender role she's expected to play as a woman in Westeros. Cersei desperately wants power and status, but is denied it because of her sex, and this endlessly frustrates her - "If I were a man I would be Jaime, the queen thought. If I were a man I could rule this realm in my own name". Also, some of Cersei's other deep desires have been denied to her in painful and unexpected ways - for example, as a girl Cersei was ecstatic at the prospect of marrying the beautiful Rhaegar Targaryen - but she ended up with Bobby Baratheon. No doubt these frustrations and denials of Cersei's desires have contributed in shaping Cersei's character - though they can't excuse the extent of her cruelty.

This video is partly an attempt to see if Cersei's terrible behaviour can be justified or excused. I suspect that ultimately, it can't. But still, it's super interesting to look at this stuff about Maggy, and Cersei's past. I'll also be making predictions about Cersei's future - and her fateful end...

This is shaping up to be a really big video - looking forward to getting it out there for you guys (: