Game of Thrones season 7: Lena Headey suggests Cersei might not stay on the throne for long

Is another bombastic Game of Thrones death scene for Cersei Lannister on the way? A new interview with Lena Headey seems to suggest it just might be.

From the “color us not very surprised” files comes a few new tidbits from Lena Headey of Game of Thrones fame. Since season 7 is just around the corner, speculation is at the kind of fever pitch you’ve come to expect from the most pirated show ever.

Speaking of fevers, Headey’s interview with the New York Times probably just added a couple of degrees, and it all boils down to one particular statement, buried at the very end.

Here it is:

"“It can’t be me [reigning at the end of the series] because I’m already there,” she said. “So I’m [expletive].”"

Game of Thrones does have a pretty poor track record with keeping its monarchs alive. Robert Baratheon, Khal Drogo, Joffrey Baratheon, Robb Stark, Renly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, and Balon Greyjoy have all died in the series, and that’s to say nothing of the rulers of the cities Daenerys has stomped all over in her tour of Essos. So in that respect, this statement isn’t that surprising.

The question then becomes how to interpret it. On the one hand, it could mean that Cersei Lannister survives all the way to season 8 and possibly dies then, because Headey’s already shot season 7. Per the same article, season 8 filming won’t kick off until “this fall,” so the idea that she’s guessing she’ll die in season 8 does make a modicum of sense.

But she could also be dropping a hint about season 7. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has already talked extensively about Jaime’s relationship to Cersei, even going so far as to call the Jaime-kills-Cersei theory “too obvious” at one point. That doesn’t mean she couldn’t, say, meet one of Daenerys’ dragons up close and personal, though. At this point, these two options seem almost equally likely to happen.

Just to make things a little warmer, to get back to the original metaphor, TheWrap has recently reported that Cersei still leads odds to be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms through season 7. It doesn’t say anything about season 8, though.

It all depends on how long the show intends to drag out the war for the throne as opposed to the war against the White Walkers. Will the two be concurrent, or will there be a new monarch who then immediately has to turn their attention to the looming threat? The latest trailer seems to indicate the former, at least for now.

Next: 25 reasons we love Cersei Lannister

Hopefully, with the season 7 premiere, we’ll have a slightly better idea of how the rest of the season — and Cersei’s storyline — will play out.