25 reasons we love Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones

Complexity

Over the past few slides, we’ve examined moments where Cersei is at the height of her power, moments where she takes on men and gives them some life lessons about the nature of the game she plays along with everyone else, moments where she simply threatens people, and moments when she herself is threatened or hurt.

There’s no real way to say that Cersei is a protagonist of Game of Thrones at this point. You don’t put on all black and sit the throne with no real claim other than having birthed the previous two kings as a protagonist. However, that doesn’t mean that she isn’t a complex, fascinating character.

She’s capricious, has a tendency to take things personally, and isn’t as clever as she thinks she is. At the same time, though, she fiercely loves her children, has some intelligence to her name, and has ambition to spare. She’s willing to ally with someone like Euron Greyjoy, even if he doesn’t bring her elephants like he promised, because he can help her hold on to her power.

Cersei may not be the most likable character on this show, but we’d take arguments that very few characters actually qualify as likable by now. Game of Thrones chopped its most traditional hero’s head off 9 episodes in.

There’s no real argument, though, that she doesn’t make things interesting and far more complex than they would be without her.