There’s no question that Cersei Lannister, who casually orders her enemies to be tortured and murdered on a near constant basis, is one of the show’s most important villains. However, if you really think about Cersei’s life and journey, it’s pretty obvious that the inscrutable Lannister is one of the show’s saddest and most honestly sympathetic characters.
Constantly overlooked as a strategist and power player by her father, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), Cersei’s only mission in life is to marry well. As a result, she weds Robert Baratheon and becomes his queen … but it definitely isn’t meant to be, considering that Robert spends their marriage pining for his lost love, Lyanna Stark. With that in mind, it’s not entirely surprising — though still pretty unsettling — that Cersei turns to her twin brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) for, um, companionship. After Robert’s death, Cersei has to try to wrangle her eldest son, Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), who she knows is a sadistic monster. After he dies, she loses her other two children in relatively short order. Cersei is definitely evil, but she’s also pretty sad, and deserves some genuine pity.
