The Lannisters are in some serious trouble, but Cersei isn't going down without a fight. As discussed in the June 12 episode of Game of Thrones, "No One," Cersei heard a rumor which she has Qyburn investigating. The former maester had bribed Varys' "little birds" for information, and has them investigating this mysterious rumor. So what exactly is the information that Cersei and Qyburn are looking into? The Game of Thrones fandom doesn't necessarily know what they were talking about, but at least it seems reasonable to assume that it will help Cersei defeat the High Sparrow and take back King's Landing.
While I'm not usually a fan of the Mountain (zombified or otherwise), I was looking forward to him battling for Cersei in a trial by combat after the Faith of the Seven accused her of myriad sins, especially after she already did a walk of atonement in the Season 5 finale. The High Sparrow is not satisfied with just humiliating the mother of the king. After pretty much brainwashing her son, Tommen, the High Sparrow had him betray his family again by banning trial by combat from the kingdom — meaning that Cersei will have to face a true trial, which she is not guaranteed to win.
Yet while Cersei is definitely down, she is definitely not out, and has her own plan. Unfortunately, no one seems to know what the hell she was talking about when she asked Qyburn, "Is it just a rumor, or something more?" One reasonable theory from Reddit user MaskedAmeoba is that the rumor could have something to do with wildfire. Cersei needs a a massive weapon — even more massive than the Mountain — to take power back from the High Sparrow, and using wildfire could be her solution. The Lannisters have shown they aren't afraid to use the weapon since back in Season 2, when Cersei came up with the plan to use it to repel Stannis Baratheon's assault. It also doesn't hurt that Bran saw the green wildfire in a vision earlier this season. To take back her kingdom and her son, Cersei would not be above destroying most of King's Landing.
But the existence or production of wildfire isn't the only "rumor" Cersei could be investigating. Since Varys' little birds are known to travel all over the place, the rumor could have something to do with Essos. If that's the case, it could be about Daenerys' dragons — or the fact that her younger brother is working with Daenerys. Either way, intel on Daenerys is pretty powerful in itself, and maybe she'd contact the Mother of Dragons to form some sort of alliance. Of course, this is a huge stretch, since Jaime Lannister killed Daenerys' father and Cersei wants Tyrion dead, but desperate times certainly call for desperate measures. Don't forget that we saw the shadow of a dragon over King's Landing in another of Bran's visions.
One other reasonable theory from Reddit came from user sithknight1. Cersei wants Tyrion dead for many things, but most notably because she believes that Tyrion killed her son, Joffrey. But what if Cersei learned her brother had nothing to do with it, and was investigating the Tyrells for Olenna's part in the murder? If Cersei found out that the Tyrells killed Joffrey, after Margaery convinced Tommen to accept the High Sparrow and Lady Olenna abandoned her at King's Landing, her vengeance would be unparalleled. If she told Tommen that Margaery had something to do with Joffrey's death, there's a chance he could turn against his wife — and the Faith of the Seven — which could lead to him securing the kingdom for his family once again.
While it's a bizarre feeling to be on Cersei's side, it's pretty essential that she win King's Landing back. So no matter what the rumor is about, at least take some comfort in the fact that Cersei is not going to let the High Sparrow win without a fight.
Images: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO; Giphy (2)
