Game of Thrones: Grading Cersei Lannister’s season 7

For a while there, it looked like Cersei Lannister was going to end up having a good season 7 of Game of Thrones, and then that ended.

If Jon Snow came out of season 7 mostly better than how he came in, Cersei Lannister basically had the opposite experience in Game of Thrones this season. For the first few episodes, she was practically ascendant.

In the beginning of the season, Qyburn had finished development of the Scorpion. She and Jaime successfully diverted the bulk of the Unsullied out of the way to Casterly Rock. Euron Greyjoy destroyed the bulk of the Targaryen fleet and brought her her daughter’s murderer for some sweet revenge. Jaime conquered Highgarden and got rid of Olenna Tyrell. Even though Olenna wasn’t a threat for the Iron Throne, those two women did not like each other. Besides, Cersei was probably extra glad she was dead after hearing that Olenna had confessed to murdering Joffrey.

All of this started changing, though, as soon as Daenerys Targaryen showed up with Drogon and made an example of what exactly a dragon can do.

By the end of season 7, Cersei has lost her greatest asset, Jaime, and he ended up doing it in a way that might affect the queen’s mental state. Even the promise of a baby didn’t keep him there, because he disagreed with her intent to renege on her promise to help in the battle against the Night King.

Obviously, that intention to not follow through has to count as her biggest challenge going into season 8. Daenerys and Jon will very quickly become aware of her intentions, whether by Jaime arriving at Winterfell (as spoilers and his costume in the finale both suggest) or simply when her soldiers fail to show up.

However, the idea of Cersei’s mental state has to be a challenge as well. “No one walks away from me” is not really the healthiest thing to be saying. She might even feel cornered as season 8 continues, both by the looming threat of either the undead or the wrath of Daenerys, and that means she might do some things that she wouldn’t normally do.

(Okay, are there any things Cersei wouldn’t do at this point to keep a hold on her power? The point is that she’ll be more dangerous than ever if she thinks she has very little to lose.)

Next: Early season 8 predictions for Game of Thrones

Sadly, we think Cersei gets something in the C- range. That strong start fizzled out pretty quickly, and her season 8 odds look particularly grim.