Who Is Cersei's Childhood Friend On 'GoT?'

This post contains book spoilers from A Feast of Crows.

The only thing scarier than adult Cersei Lannister might be a pint-sized version of Cersei Lannister. Sunday night's Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere began with a flashback to Cersei's childhood. And, naturally, my mind ran straight to wondering who Cersei's childhood friend is on Game of Thrones . (Because, really, who would possibly enjoy being friends with this person even before she turned out to be the worst?) If you're a fan who's caught up on the Song of Ice and Fire series, you probably recognized this flashback (of course you did) but, if you haven't read George RR Martin's series, you — like me — did not know that Cersei's friend on GoT is Melara Hetherspoon.

You're probably thinking, "DAMNIT, I HAVE TO REMEMBER ANOTHER CHARACTER?" Well, don't worry because, unfortunately, Melara is dead. Yes, that fearless little girl that essentially dragged Cersei to visit the Witch in the premiere is no longer among the living in Westeros. So, why did we see this flashback at all? Well, the remaining details that Sunday's premiere didn't reveal will, undoubtably, become somewhat important in understanding Cersei going forward.

In the Feast of Crows version of this flashback, the Witch explains that "someone" in the group doesn't have a future to tell — that someone is Melara. In Martin's original version of the flashback, readers learn that Melara died on the way back from meeting the Witch when she fell into a well and subsequently drowned. It's not confirmed in the novel, but implied that young Cersei killed her friend by pushing her into the well and leaving her to drown. Possibly because, unfortunately, Melara was hoping to marry Jaime Lannister (Cersei had already staken her claim to her brother even at that young age) or because she was unlucky enough to hear the fate that awaits Cersei when her prophecy finally comes to fruition.

Either way, Cersei's flashback and Melara are important in understanding where Game of Thrones Season 5 is headed. Clearly, it's possible that we haven't seen the worst of Cersei just yet or, at the very least, we're about to learn that the Queen Mother has been ruthless and coldblooded since birth.

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