A psychologist just explained the dark side of Cersei in the Season 6 “Game of Thrones” finale
If everyone just talked through their emotions and shared their feelings on Game of Thrones, things would probably be 1,000% better in Westeros. Okay…probably not. But it’s a nice thought to have! If there were just some trained therapists and psychologists in King’s Landing, willing to listen, doubtful the Wildfire situation would have gotten out of hand like it did.
But would we really want to watch an entire episode where someone just psycho-analyzes Cersei? Yes.
Since that’s not going to happen any time soon on Game of Thrones, time to turn to the internet. Reddit user Rain12913, who starts off by explaining that they’re a clinical psychologist, tries to figure out Cersie as best they can in a lengthy post. The long and the sort of it is this:
Cersei is a narcissist and “unlikely… [isn’t] capable of true love.“
We knew this already, because duh, Cersei is a narcissist and has had her eyes on the prize of the Iron Throne this entire time — and as we’ve seen, she’ll do whatever it takes to get there.
That’s where Rain12913 dives deeper into this idea, from the psychological side of it. They explain that though Cersei claims she loves her children and Jaime, she really only loves herself. She sees her children, and Jamie, as extensions of herself, which is why she believes she loves them.
“Cersei isn’t capable of loving someone who isn’t herself. Her one true love in life is her twin, who looks just like her. Loving one’s twin is the ultimate form of self-love, and it is sort of a perfect embodiment of what it means to be narcissistic.”
Rain12913 raises the question of whether Cersei would have still destroyed the Great Sept of Baelor had Tommen been inside, and would she have still destroyed it knowing that Tommen would kill himself?
“Again, for Cersei, it’s not about Tommen; it’s about herself, because in her mind, she is all that exists. People are either ‘her,’ or they’re ‘not her.’ At that point, Tommen had become ‘not her.’ He had joined the Faith and forsaken his family. He showed weakness, gullibility, and stupidity, and he even abandoned her. From that point on, he was no longer a part of her.”
“While we had previously seen Cersei go completely hysterical at the loss of Myrcella and Joffrey, she is cold and emotionless during this scene. This is because when the former two children died, they were still a part of her. When Tommen died, he was not.”
You can read Rain12913’s whole explanation here. Be prepared to start looking at Cersei in a whole new light.