This Will Change Your Mind About Cersei

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, because she wouldn't. Cersei Lannister is pretty much an all-around unlikeable gal. Eh, that's kind of putting it mildly. Cersei is a terrible human being. At least, that's what I thought for a better part of my Game of Thrones viewing experience. I didn't realize until far in that, as with all characters, Cersei is layered. She wouldn't be as compelling or have stuck around as long as she has if there weren't some gray moral area with her. Most "absolutes" in Westeros go to the slaughter eventually, whether it's because they're too altruistic, like Ned Stark, or too horrific, like Joffrey Baratheon. Not Cersei. She's amongst those devious characters who still have a bit of soul left to them, believe it or not. And, if you're more inclined not to believe, I have found the one thing that will change your mind about Cersei.

No, I am not kidding (though, like you, at one point I probably would have thought this laughable as well). Cersei has done so many awful things it's hard to overlook them and find the bits of humanity within her. But the sole Lannister sister is, in fact, an actual human being, and she isn't nearly as cold and calculated as I once thought her to be. Of course, that doesn't negate all of her (countless) misdeeds, but I am a believer in forgiveness. Are you with me?

It's all about the new Thrones trailer. If you've caught wind of the new clip, you've seen the now short-haired Cersei looking completely and utterly despondent.

Think that's bad? She can't even talk about violence with giddy, evil glint in her eye. It's like she's not even enjoying giving murderous threats, any longer. That was once her favorite pastime! Peep this:

I know, it's actually off-putting. I never thought I'd miss Cersei smugly summoning someone to a likely death, but guys, I am. This trailer will change your mind about Cersei in this way: You realize that it's time to stop hating her and to start feeling sorry for her. Like, really, really sorry.

Here's the deal: Cersei loves her children, fiercely. And now, after experiencing imprisonment and the degradation of a lifetime after being stripped bare and marched through town as people spat at, pelted, and harassed her, two of those three beloved children are dead. Sure, there's still Tommen to hang onto, and Jaime, but as Cersei's dead, lifeless stare and monotone voice show, she's experienced more grief than any one person could handle in a lifetime. (Except for, you know, Catelyn Stark.) Cersei has, amazingly, become a sympathetic character, and this trailer pushed that notion over the edge.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Images: HBO (1); GameofThrones/YouTube (2)