Most of the main Lannister family (which includes Jaime, Tyrion, Cersei and Tywin) are not particularly good people to put it mildly. However, from what I have seen, the ASOIAF fans at least try to understand where Jaime, Tyrion and Tywin come from and there are a lot of people who think they are not actually evil people even if they have their faults.
Yet, when it comes to Cersei, the fandom just hates her and think she is irredeemable and evil and constantly dehumanizes her and refuses to see things from her perspective even she is no more morally reprehensible than the rest of her family. Tywin as actually done much worse things than her and Tyrion’s actions are just as bad as Cersei’s and in soe cases can be even worse (I don’t recall Cersei organizing a massive invasion against the Vale where many innocent people are killed or feeding human flesh to unsuspecting poor people).
The fans completely ignore the fact that most of the things Cersei has done are done to protect her children from harm and I honestly don’t even blame her for her actions against Robert and Ned. Robert raped her and he would have executed her children because Cersei commited the “crime” of cheating on her (which is something Robert also did, but when a man does according to the fandom, it’s not a crime, but when a woman cheats on her rapist husband, she is Satan herself and needs to be beheaded along with her children and isn’t allowed to do anything to protect her family from this injustice). Ned endangered her kids wit his actions (just to be clear, I don’t hate Ned but if you look at things from Cersei’s perspective, Ned’s actions would have led to her children being executed) and that’s why I can’t blame her for acting to protect them. But most of the fandom totally ignores how executing a woman and her children because said woman was forced to marry a man she didn’t love and cheated on him is morally wrong and laos conveniently ignores that Robert also cheated on her and raped her (if somebody rapes you repeatedly, I personally would be totally fine with you killing said person even in the present day).
Also, there are some double standards that readers use to judge characters when it’s convenient to them. For example, Cersei isn’t allowed sexual freedom and shouldn’t do anything about her husbadn rping her because “that’s how things were back then” but when Catelyn is cold towards Jon due to his bastard status or when people don’t like Tyrion due to being dwarf, the fans apply modern morality and judge the people who do it harshly even though that also falls under the category of “that’s how things were back then”.
My point is not that Cersei is 100% good and pure and should be excused of all her faults. My point is that she has reasons to be the way she is and she has relatable reasons behind her actions and she should be judged the same way Tyrion or Jaime are judged by the fandom.
by AmphibianJolly8699
35 Comments
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I agree with this, and always have. I think your last point is important. Cersei is not good, but very few GoT characters are. The story works on shades of grey.
I think the reason she gets so much hate is because 1) She takes many actions against the first book’s POV characters (the Starks) so by book 4 when we hear her side, it’s too late. 2) She defends Joffrey, as she would.
I think you can also see that double standard when looking at the reception of House of the Dragon. Cersei gets a similar treatment to Allicent. People generally like Rhaenyra who does many of the same things as Cersei, but it’s HER story.
I think Tywin said it best when he told Cersei, “I don’t distrust you because you are a woman, I distrust you because you are not nearly as clever as you think you are.” I don’t dislike her for loving and protecting her children, even a child as repulsive as Joffrey; I think that’s one of her better redeemable qualities actually. I am, however, revolted at her for conceiving those children with her twin brother.
I don’t think she’s the worst character in ASOIAF, far from it. I think her inability to recognize her own failings and limitations, while also scheming at the expense of other people’s lives, makes her a bad person, and is a major contributing factor as to why I personally dislike her. A big problem too is that even when she does things that you can understand her motivation, she does them in the cruelest way possible. Was it really necessary to betray the alliance against the army of the dead? All of her children were dead at that point, so she’s not doing it for any reason other than self preservation.
As someone who watched the show before reading the books, I think a lot of the hatred of her is based on Lena Headey’s portrayal. Lena portrayed her so effectively cruel, dismissive, harsh, etc. that it made it very easy to hate her.
If you want my answer, it comes from the show. Cersei is pretty evil in the books, but once we reach book 4 where we get her actual POV, I found myself actually on her side. I still didn’t excuse the things she did prior, but at least going forward, I wanted her to have some level of success and peace with herself and her children.
In the show, though, Lena Headey portrays her as a machiavellian villain, irredeemable and with hardly any humanity beneath the surface. Which is odd, because we follow her POV from the very first episode. There are scenes here and there, yes, where the show does try to paint her in a sympathetic light (her convo with Robert in S1 about how she did love him at first, and her breakdown in the keep during the battle of the Blackwater come to mind), but ultimately I see her just as evil, manipulating, conniving and ultimately one of THE major bad guys in the show. I end up hating her as much as I do Littlefinger (who I did dislike in the book, but *hated* in the show). It’s a credit to the actress, of course, but the show never game us That Scene from her that fully turned me on her side, at least not in the show.
For me, at least, there’s no Big Turn. Jaime has his (again, for me) at the bathhouse with Brienne after he just got his hand stump mended. Tyrion is a favorite from episode 1. Tywin is weird for me because, while I respect the balls on the man, I want him gone as soon as possible. He’s compelling, yes, but far from likeable.
Again, in the books Cersei is shown as a desperate mother wanting to keep her family safe and secure. In the show, though….?
Nah. Tyrion and Jaime both make attempts to be better people. Cersei doesn’t
Yes and no
Lets start by the easiest one
Tyrion starts as the most decent of the lannisters, being sympathethic by the start for his humour and multiple acts of kindness he has with some of the stark kids. However, its obvious that Tyrion is not exactly a role model and his temper gets worse and worse trought the books, ending as almost a villain in book 5
Jaime starts as the cocky, handsome dude that have everything he wants because of his fame and talent, he is a dude you love to hate but progresively gets better as the series advances, redeeming himself somewhat thanks to the positive influence of Brienne and the humbling event of losing his hand
Now Tywin, my dear dear Tywin, is an example of a character that lots of people put into this weird bubble of “he may be evil but at least he is efficient” you know? That type of character that people forget would be terrible to be close to, because he has such an aura of authority. Its one of those characters that are almost completely evil, but are kind of fascinating to see in action, and people kind of forget that they are not an example to follow
As for Cercei, I think its a mix of her treating almost everyone we see very badly. There is almost no character Cersei respects if they deny her anything, she is not stupid, but thinks herself as the most intelligent in the room.
From outside she looks moderately intelligent until we see her POV in Feast of Crows and discover how inefficient, dumb and full of herself she is. I believe Cersei could be a character you could feel bad about that same way you feel bad for Tyrion or Jaime despite them being pretty bad people in general, but since every time she gets the most minuscule amount of power possible she uses it to mistreat everyone around her you end up hating her instead
Sorry if some of what I wrote was incorrect or has a bad structure, I typed it as I thought about it
When I watched a few episodes of the show (before I read the books), my best friend said “you are going to wind up really loving Jaime Lannister” and I was like “Yeah lol no, his debut was banging his sister and crippling a little boy”.
Yeah…
Jaime has a redemption arc though. Same as Theon really. You really really really hate him, but as his moldering hand is hanging around his neck or when he’s abandoning Cersei to do what’s right, you start to turn around towards him.
Part of what made me DESPISE Cersei despite not even liking Sansa, was the way she treated Sansa. Here is a girl going through what she went through, but even worse. She started out as deeply loyal, absolutely infatuated with Joffrey, and Cersei insists that her wolf be killed (when it wasn’t her wolf that bit him and the matter was being resolved until Cersei piped up), and then just continues tormenting her, opining about rape when they’re holed up against Stannis’ army and just continues delighting in this as Joffrey also torments her.
So she’s deeply scarred by being married off to a man (that she initially wanted to marry) who, instead of you know, murdering Tywin, arranging the murder of Jaime, forcing her to look at Tywin’s head and her childhood septa, threatens to rape her even when she’s going to be married off to someone else instead of… you know, being in love with a dead woman and being a drunk adulterer.
As Jaime has a redemption arc, Cersei continues down a bitter and brutal path, then sparring with Margaery who has the trappings to half rein in Joffrey, and then groom Tommen (ugh, literally in the book ages) to be a good ruler, but she’s so busy with mommy jealousy that she ruins that too.
She had a fortuneteller who she demanded tell her fortune butchered when she had a chance.
I mean, other than her love of her children, she has no real redeeming qualities. We find out that Sir Incest actually saved all the smallfolk of Kings Landing before the books started!
For Tywin, I think Charles Dance is the reason Tywin is popular, because Tywin in the books is a far less likeable character, though remains practical, but his treatment of Tyrion for the crime of being born is contemptable.
Tyrion I’m a fan of until he becomes a whining slave-rapist in DoD.
For popular female characters, Arya, Dany, Margaery, Olenna, Brienne, Myrcella, and many Sansa fans. While I really didn’t like early books Sansa and despise show Sansa, if I thought GRRM would *ever* finish the books, the way her story is going in the books shows real promise for her growth and rise to be really cool and make her an impressive character. Unfortunately the show went with “rape is character development” and then had other characters talk about how smart she is. But groomed to rule by Petyr in the Vail with a plan to marry her to the Sweetrobin makes her far more interesting. If anything happens to Rickon in the books, she also then becomes heir to Winterfell since Bran is off becoming the Three Eyed Raven and Jon is still a dead bastard.
I find Cersei fascinating, thoroughly enjoyed her chapters.
Now, if one’s being moralistic (and an a*se) adultery is not as bad as incestuous adultery and definitely not as bad as narcissistic incestuous adultery perpetrated by a woman.
Tyrion is a very interesting character. He walks that narrow path between loyalty to his family and doing what’s right. His characters path is very interesting to read
Jaime has the best character arc in the entire series. He starts out an asshole but gets served a huge slice of humble pie that leads to him becoming a better person. He also has to walk a narrow road between the people he loves and becoming that better person. It is a very inferring character to read
Cersei doesn’t have much of a character arc. She is power hungry from the start and pretty much stays that way. I did enjoy her character once she got her own POV chapters. Her character is good but doesn’t really give you any reason to love her.
>The fans completely ignore the fact that most of the things Cersei has done are done to protect her children from harm
Yeah and look how that ended up for them.
Cersei simply doesn’t have any charming aspects to her personality, she’s not written to have any, and it’s not sexist for me to think that or for the author to write her that way. There are plenty of female characters in asoiaf that are beloved by fans.
Daenerys would be a way better comparison to Tyrion and Jaime, she’s a beloved character who has done vile things as well.
Different people are different. What “people” are out here giving credit to Tywin of all people, and NOT Cersei, it sounds like you’re generalizing or this is how you “feel”, which I’m sorry to say, means literally nothing.
Both of those characters are evil assholes, who are willing to do anything for “family” while also turning on/fucking over that same “family” at any given moment. They are just power hungry assholes with very little redeeming qualities, certainly not enough to sway that many people, IMO at least.
I’m not sure how Tyrion is getting lumped in as the “same” as those two, you’ve kind of lost me there. If people can’t understand why others might see Tyrion in a more favorable light than Cersei or Tywin, I’m not sure what else to tell you, that feels a little obvious to me, but maybe that’s just me.
I don’t doubt that sexism plays a role with certain people, that would be silly to deny. But in this specific context, I think you might be over thinking this. Maybe like other commenters have suggested, it’s more prevalent in Succession, because the sister in that show isn’t even close to being as evil/terrible as Cersei.
It is likely that there is a significant element of a double standard. However, I think it’s not just on the side of the fandom, but also on the side of the author.
Cersei is *presented* as being more hateable.
The biggest single, simple factor: Cersei is not a primary POV character, while Tyrion is from the start. This has a huge impact on who is liked and who is not, in any piece of media. But there are plenty of other factors as well, directly in the writing.
Second, Cersei is presented as having more *malice*. On average, a character full of malice is interpreted as “worse” or “more evil” by more people, regardless of if their actual actions result in good or bad outcomes. Tywin and early Jaime simply don’t care about the harm they do. Tyrion is shown to be trying to make good decisions and often failing. Cersei is portrayed as *enjoying* the cruelty of the outcomes, and going out of her way to make them extra-cruel when it’s not really necessary for her goals. This is true from the start. In book 1, the first real agency we see from Cersei is getting Sansa’s wolf killed, in a way that serves essentially no significant purpose to any of her big plans, to protecting her children meaningfully, to getting vengeance on her rapist, etc.
And yes, that might be unreliable narrators since it’s other people’s POV, but when that’s all you have for the foundation of the series (the first three books, spanning nearly a decade IRL), it largely defines the portrayal.
The choice to construct a character that way in the first place has elements of misogyny woven in. No, GRRM didn’t chuckle “heh heh, evil woman” while writing it, but the narrative tropes are deeply linked to cultural concepts that are misogynistic, regardless of the author’s conscious intention.
Not really. Tyrion is sympathetic from the jump. Jaime is an ass at first but then goes through the wringer and comes out more likable. In no world would I say Tywin is beloved, but he is highly competent and no-nonsense, which makes him easy to respect and understand. Cersei, in contrast, wants to be a major player, but is shown as reactive and out of her depth at best, which makes her easy to deride and hate. Plus she doesn’t go through the character development that her siblings do.
I don’t know anyone who likes Tywin. Jaime and Tyrion are not even close to the same level as Cersei. Cersei is generally hated less than Joffrey.
I love to hate Cersei, which means I love the character. I think that’s the same logic most people apply with her more than anything.
No, and I think that’s a whole lot of hyperbole and a whole lot of assumptions about a whole lot of readers. Most people I’ve talked with that have also read the series don’t hate Cersei. And why would they? She’s a great character. Are they rooting for her? No, and they probably shouldn’t be. As you say, she’s not necessarily a “good” person. And, as others have said, for example, she’s positioned as an antagonist against the Starks, our first consistent POV characters and probably the most “good guy” types. Once we get Cersei’s POV, she’s certainly more sympathetic (and may be before that to astute readers). But, she is still largely a somewhat villainous character. That’s ok. Every story needs them. She’s also a woman. That’s ok, too. It isn’t sexist to recognize that.
As for comparisons to her family, I think others have pointed out that Jaime has, at least in my opinion, a redemption arc of sorts. And Tyrion is a long term POV that never got up to quite as many dirty deeds as the rest of his family. As for Tywin, I can’t really imagine most people think he’s “bad,” too. Most of the praise I’ve seen about him is really about Charles Dance’s portrayal on the HBO show.
It’s moreso just the arc’s given to each character. George R.R. Martin did not write many, if any, redeeming stories for any of his female characters.
Jaime has a few redemption arcs, and Tyrion has a few dozen. Cersei as a character doesn’t develop many positive qualities because the arcs given to her are almost always deceit, treachery or simply villainous
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One thing about ASOIAF is that, because of the POV structure, the author can very easealy influence the reader’s perception of certain characters and events. And he does so intentionally and often misleadingly.
Cersei gets her POV chapters much later than her siblings (book #4, compared to books #1 and #3 for Tyrion and Jaime). And, while Jaime is portrayed in a bad light outside of his own POV chapters, he’s also largely absent for the first two books, meaning we don’t get that much time to hate on him.
Cersei, meanwhile, appears as a main antagonist in the POVs of Ned, Sansa, Arya and Tyrion. Her main thing is activly plotting the murder of everybody she interacts with, while also being as pointlessly mean to them as possible.
Then, when we finally get to her own POV chapters, she has none of that “I’m evil but I kind of regret it” internal monologue that her brothers have. She has drunk the Lannister koolaid.
She doesn’t really have her own sense of honor, like Jaime. People repeat the idea that she “loved her children,” but there are alternative interpretations… From her interactions with Tommem, she seems to exhibit the characteristics of a narcissist parent, who sees the children as an extention of themselves, or as their personal propriety (this also extends to Jaime). And she propably sees them as a sort of shield for her own self. Maggy the Frog’s prophecy said that she wouldn’t die until all her children are dead; so she likely sees each death as a ticking timebomb for her own demise, rather than a tragedy within itself.
She’s also a paranoid mess who considers herself the ultimate chessmaster. She believes she far outshines Tyrion and Tywin in wit. Any character that’s that cocky will get some ridicule from the readers.
I’m likely in the minority here, but I don’t think Cersei is that dumb. Yes, Varys and Littlefinger play her like a fiddle, but they do that with all other characters including Tywin. Her paranoia is often exagerated, but it’s not unjustified. There really are assassins in the walls, and the Tyrells really are working in the shadows to increase their prestige.
And while her plans ultimatly backfire, she’s far from the only character that weaves ridiculous and highly risky plots. If the story ever finishes, I think we’re like to see lots of “geniuses” have a very humiliating fall from grace, much like Cersei.
However, for all the other characters that make dumb decisions, GRRM tends to be more subtle. Tywin Lannister was actually a cruel dimwit who gained short term advantages for his House in exchange for the eternal enmity of the North, the Riverlands and Dorne. He’d had to forge desperate alliances with the powerhungry Tyrells only to gain a few more years. He effectivly doomed his House to extinction, as it will be clear if the final two books come out.
But unlike Cersei, people aren’t calling him a pawn and a fool openly. So the readers don’t notice that.
> don’t recall Cersei organizing a massive invasion against the Vale where many innocent people are killed or
Pretty sure that was only in the show. The Vale is untouched by war, though the mountain clans are becoming more difficult.
> feeding human flesh to unsuspecting poor people
Technically that was Bronn. And the owner of the shop.
Her hatred of Robert started on their wedding day, which wasn’t rape. Yes there’s a huge sexual double standard, still is in the modern world. That doesn’t excuse the *incest.* Jaime gets a pass to some because he had a redemption arc and is pulling away from Cersei, trying to be a good man. Cersei doubles down on the evil when given the chance. Did you forget what she did to the Blue Bard just because she felt threatened by her daughter in law being young and pretty?
Or all the people she gave to Qyburn? Falyse Stokeworth couldn’t even feed herself after he was through with her.
Right. The incest, did you forget her murdering a friend solely because that girl had a crush on Jaime? Then threw acid in the face of the old maegi who predicted it. She was like 8 then.
I like Cersei. I think she’s an awesome character.
I don’t think anyone hates Cersei for killing Robert. nor is she directly to blame for Ned’s death. Her main fault in the early books is a complete inability or unwillingness to control Joffrey. She is also kind of a second rate schemer, less competent or intentional than Varys or Littlefinger. And by the time she comes into some personal power for herself, she turns out not to be a great leader either. So in three areas, mother, schemer, and leaders, she lacking in competency. I think that is what distinguishes her from her family: Cersei lacks both the competence and commitement of her father, and the charisma and self-awareness of Tyrion and Jamie.
No, I think your premise is fundamentally flawed.
Tyrion and Jaime are written far more sympathetically than Cersei. They are far more beloved, sure, but then they’re *much better people*. No angels, certainly, but Tyrion is sympathetic both because he’s had such a shitty hand, and because, well, he’s very charming.
Jaime is on a proper redemption arc. We hate him in book 1, but end up loving him as he grows and changes. This is really the defining feature of his storyline, moreso than anyone else.
I don’t think anyone likes book 1 Jaime over Cersei.
Tywin? I don’t know where you’ve seen all this love for Tywin. The average post about Tywin tends to be about how his legend is exaggerated and he’s actually rubbish.
Now, I say this as someone who sympathises with Cersei more than most – I do get where some of her anger and bitterness comes from, it’s not unjustified. And she’s clearly suffering genuine mental health issues.
But even so, she does a whole bunch of very shitty things, not all of which can be excused by the above. Murdering her childhood friend for example – can’t blame that on alcoholism, paranoia, Robert’s abuse or patriarchy.
She knowingly sends other women to Qyburn to be tortured, experimented on and killed.
Hell, arranging your husband’s death is a pretty big deal. He may have been a shitty husband, but shitty enough to justify murder? Which of course is also regicide and high treason. And she was at least as shitty a wife as he was a husband.
So no, I don’t think it’s a gendered double standard, I just think she’s a far less likeable character.
If it was so gendered, Arya, Dany and Brienne wouldn’t be fan favourites.
No, you are wrong. Cersei did what she wanted for selfish reasons and that led to her downfall. She corrupted Jamie, twisting what good he had in him. Betrayed Robert with her infidelity leading to the succession war. Made enemies left and right which ultimately led to the death of her children. Cersei is selfish, vain, and cruel and the fanbase is right to despise her.
I think this is a terrible example. Your premise relies on this idea that the only factor for why people like or dislike someone is cruelty.
It also falls apart because you’re ignoring that Geoffrey was easily the most hated to the point that the actor quit acting.
Not sure what exactly Tyrion does that you think is worse than having Lady killed or “blowing up” a bunch of people (or one of a dozen other things). I don’t see much love for Tywin.
The only really comparable character is Jaime. I think the real difference between them is that Jaime has a “redemptive arc” built into the story. He gets severely “punished” when he loses a hand, is humbled, and changes as a character. Cersei never changes. There’s nothing wrong with static characters, but viewing fundamentally different character stories and portrayals purely through a lens of sexism is gross oversimplification
It depends on WHY people like and dislike the characters, doesn’t it? Your entire post feels like a strawman because essentially what you’re saying is “people dislike Cersei because she’s a bad person but these other characters are bad people and they aren’t hated what the heck” but WHO said that the reason the fandom dislikes Cersei is because she’s a bad person?
Cersei’s problem is that she’s a fucking idiot. But unlike other fucking idiots like Jon and Ned who can fall back on their virtues, Cersei has none. The truth is, Cersei has literally ZERO redeemable qualities. Ned, Jon and Daenarys are all kind of ditzy but they have good values. Tyrion, Tywin and Jamie are psychopaths but they’re all charming and mostly competent at what they do. Cersei? Cersei has nothing. She’s completely amoral and self-serving while also being dumb as a brick. Jamie can be pretty damn dudebroish but Jamie would never do something like promote a person to be his Lord of Ships just because they’re good looking anad remind him of a dead person that they used to think was hot, like Cersei did with Osmond Kettleback. No other character in the story would enable the shit that Joffery got away with. Every single thing that Cersei touches turns to dust, and all the while she spends the entire story feeling sorry for herself and insisting that if she was a man things would be better when the problem is just her and her shitty personality.
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People who complain about mysoginy in the GoT community need to focus their anger less on the community and more on GRRM. Because the truth is that most of the women in these stories are just written to be as unlikable as humanly possible.
No double standard. Fans love Dany but hate Viserys. It has nothing to do with their gender. Cersei is unlikeable for many of her actions and personality traits. Tyrion is a much more likable person. Most fans don’t like Tywin but they respect him as a villain because he is very wise. Cersei makes dumb selfish moves so she doesn’t get the same respect. Pretty simple IMO.
What were her redeeming qualities?
Cersei is a very well written villain that is meant to be hated. That’s it. There’s really nothing else to it. I don’t think there’s any sort of gender double standard because there’s no other dimensions to her. She is just everything about a human being that would annoy you, piss you off, make you sympathize with anyone that comes into contact with her because she is so horrible. From the very beginning she is written as someone you would feel guilty about sympathizing with. Any time she does or says something that even remotely gives you a chance to sympathize with her or even agree with her, she does or says something almost immediately after to remind you that you are not supposed to side with her.
I really disagree with the idea that we somehow shouldn’t hate her, or we should be more sympathetic to her just because she’s a woman. We hate the Boltons because they are utter pieces of shit, why should Cersei be any different?
Not really. Cersei is the classic example of a character who’s not just evil but tremendously incompetent. Every plan she made backfired horribly ending in all of her children being killed.
She really has no redeeming features. For people to like characters, even bad characters, they need to have a traits we value. Intelligence, strength, loyalty, foresight, really anything that that we value.
She has none. She’s disloyal, comically stupid, incompetent, and greedy.
Now you can argue that the fact she was written as so grossly unlikable could be some subconscious double standard by George RR martin, but as she’s written she’s basically the platonic ideal of an unlikable character.
you are assuming an awful lot of things that are not there. sometimes the curtain is just blue. if you have to imply every single redeemable quality, maybe she just doesn’t have any.
While it can’t be denied certain sexism exists against Cersei she is not hated because of that but because she barely has any redeeming qualities. Tyrion is the most sympathetic character is clearly an underdog trying to survive the Game of thrones, Jaime shows that he’s a more complex character and actually cares about people, he is not as politically skilled as Tyrion or Tywin but he knows that. Tywin is a bad person and most people admit that but he is a skilled leader you can hate him but you cannot say he’s incompetent.
Cersei on the other hand is neither of those things, she’s nos sympathetic as Tyrion because of the way she treats people, unlike Jaime she doesn’t recognize her flaws and politically is very incompetent. Even the refiling qualities she has still show flaws, for example, she ñoves her children but because of that she allowed Joffrey to became the monster he was.
There are many female characters that are loved like Arya, Brienne, Olenna, and a lot of male characters that are hated, Cersei is not hated because of sexism, is because she’s an awful person
Not even remotely. Cersei is just like Joffrey. Just plain dislikeable.
>I honestly don’t even blame her for her actions against Robert and Ned. (…) Ned endangered her kids wit his actions (just to be clear, I don’t hate Ned but if you look at things from Cersei’s perspective, Ned’s actions would have led to her children being executed) and that’s why I can’t blame her for acting to protect them.
I honestly feel like this doesn’t add up. Ned confronted Cersei in the godwood and told her to gather her family and get out of Dodge. At this point, he believes—correctly, I might add!—that she’s complicit in the murder of his foster father and the attempted murder of his 7-year-old son, as well as the murder of at least three children and countless other crimes. But because Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella carry no blame, he’s willing to let her get on a ship with them and get to safety before he tells Robert about the treason. Under the circumstances, I would argue that’s a *very* generous offer.
And Cersei refuses. She even **tells** us what her perspective is:
>”When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”
Cersei is the one who decides to stay in King’s Landing and make her children play the game of thrones. She was given a way out, but she’s actively choosing to put her children’s lives in danger because she thinks she can win.
When they die, it certainly won’t be because of *Ned’s* actions.
You bring up an excellent point that is prevalent in almost all fandoms. If you read anything about the Office, everyone hates Pam for reasons that are hypocritical and love Jim even though he is actually a huge asshole.
And the argument that she should have put up with the rape because “that how things were then” – what in the actual fuck??? This is a fantasy novel. When was the time period we had dragons? No. This is fantasy. And no woman ever in the history of anything – real or imagined should ever be expected to put up with rape.