Jaime and Cersei Lannister’s death scene was a lot more plausible in the scripts for Game of Thrones season 8. The brother and sister met their demise in the penultimate episode, but their fate wasn’t confirmed until the Game of Thrones series finale.
Leading up to Jaime and Cersei’s death in “The Bells,” Daenerys led her troops to King’s Landing. With the help of Drogon, she eviscerated the Golden Company as her forces moved through the streets of King’s Landing. Cersei eventually waved the white flag by ringing the bells, but that didn’t stop Daenerys’ rage-filled mission. The “Mad Queen” wiped out what was left of King’s Landing while targeting the Red Keep. Cersei found herself alone in the castle until she reunited with her brother/lover. Jaime, who was already severely injured after fighting Euron, tried to lead his sister through the passageway to the nearby beach, but the path was blocked by rubble. The twins then embraced as the structure caved in, crushing them both to death.
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The lifeless bodies of Jaime and Cersei were later found by Tyrion in the following episode, “The Iron Throne.” While searching the rubble of the Red Keep, Tyrion noticed his brother’s gold hand before he uncovered both of his siblings. The season 8 scripts available at the Writers Guild Foundation Shavelson-Webb Library in Los Angeles (via Insider) revealed that Jaime and Cersei’s deaths were meant to be a lot more gruesome. When Tyrion found the bodies of his brother and sister, the original script described that he discovered their “skulls have been blackened and scorched by the extreme heat of the fires that raged for hours.” The script also suggested that the Red Keep was engulfed in flames while the ceiling was caving in.
Jaime And Cersei’s Game Of Thrones Death Scene Was Better In The Script
Prior to the Lannisters’ death scene, it was heavily speculated that Cersei would meet her death by the end of the series. Many viewers had hoped that it would involve a face to face with Arya or Daenerys, but instead the longtime villain was killed by a crumbling castle, which felt like a letdown in the eyes of many fans (and cast members). To make matters worse, it seemed as though Jaime and Cersei could have avoided the death all together if they moved a few feet from the spot that they were standing in. While Tyrion searched the rubble, parts of the Red Keep looked intact, making the deaths of Jaime and Cersei seem even more poorly presented on-screen.
If Game of Thrones went with what was in the script, the death scene featuring the Lannister twins would have been much more impactful. Cersei dying by fire would have displayed more of a personal win for Daenerys, since she was using Drogon to decimate the city. It would have also proven more conclusive. Viewers wouldn’t have hung on the notion that Jaime and Cersei could have survived the event if the Red Keep was engulfed in “the fires that raged for hours,” and Tyrion still could have identified his siblings in the aftermath by Jaime’s golden hand.
