oh dear god do i love reading about this character!!!

this is the whole point of Cersei that she is her own worst enemy, her perception of the world is so distorted by her total need for more power, her pathological paranoia (she is unbelievably insecure) and her complete lack of empathy that she has no idea (that she cannot see) that she already has everything that she has been working for

it all starts off so reasonable

her paranoia at the threat of Ned does seem understandable – with him coming to Kings Landing she feels she will be losing status and thus power, acting ruthlessly to keep an important secret is also understandable.

i think the fact that she lost her mother at such a young age and Tywins parenting after she was not taught how to think/empathise properly (Tyrion seems to have taught himself extremely well)

when i say empathise i don’t mean kindness i mean the ability to put yourself in anothers mind, she seems incapable of connecting/understanding someones character and therefore their motivations she just relates it to herself and then acts accordingly

her idolisation of Tywin and wanting to be his legacy – again because she doesn’t see him for what he is, unlike Tyrion – i just find sad

must stop now i could go on forever

love your analysis

Kudos for stopping right there. Great self-discipline you got there.

Not sure if it’s actually healthy…

I do remember this chapter even after such a long time: the description of the castle, the ‘stop and smell the roses’ quality of it, the innocence of a kid, one of the few confirmed/reported laughs by teh Ned,… then BANG.

You know HBO’s pilot ends right there? “The thing I do for love” is the official non-spoiler euphemism for that scene.

Like others, I enjoying your read-through, and I hope you are enjoying these chapters as well. I just don’t think you should force yourself _too hard_ to stop at the end of the chapter.

gl hf

Hodor

I think the following will be fairly free of spoilers.

Empathy is a trait for people that care. Cersei does not have the luxury of caring. She grew up in a ruthless world and she does whatever needs to be done to keep herself and her loved ones safe.

I second Kalith_rian’s point that Cersei’s personality is tied to her history. Her ultimate goal is simple, to control her own life. I’ve met many beautiful women with an obsessive need for control. The world is chaos and hurt. Controlling their surroundings completely keeps them safe from this chaos.

Cersei fears what she cannot control. She cannot control Robert and she understands that Ned’s loyalty is to Robert and not her. So she cannot control Ned.

Elena, This was my first “jump up out of bed, no way that just happened” moment, and the beginning of my true love for this series. It feels like you are going down that same path as well!

– Kinda spoiler belows –

Kalith_rian, I seem to remember that he considered slipping out, but I’d want to brush up on that portion before commenting. I do want save some of the Jaime stuff for later, but I will say that I think Ned really acted like a Grade A ass given the situtation, and I think too many readers give him a pass because of the Ned and Jaime they “know” in A Game of Thrones (which is unfair for many reasons, including that Jaime was, I believe, 17 when he killed Aerys).

*End of Kinda Spoilers*

***Super SPOILERS (to reply to Birdie)***

Birdie, I completely agree with you at some point afterwards, and this play into Elena’s thought that Cersei is incapable of empathy. We also see Cersei revert to what she “knows” when Ned confronts here with his evidence. It just seems like there was an easier, more sensible route in all of this – embracing Robert and Ned, afterall, Ned would have done everything in his power to protect Robert and his family – he is honor bound to do so – and I think Jaime actually see’s that with. Of course ,the elephant is her relationship with Jaime, and as wrote this, I will admit to struggling with how strong she felt that info was about to get out, as it seemed that secret is precarious whether Ned or anyone else took the position. Her failure, in my mind, was not getting over the slight so long ago – as she literally had everything: her child is the heir, she’s the queen, Jaime is close, and Robert just have power to the most loyal person in the realm. I don’t blame her for it, but at some point over the years, one would think she could just wait Robert”s lifestyle out, or even worked to move against him, but doing so under a more clever guise of loyalty. She could have easily portrayed the beautiful wife of an unworthy king. This make me wonder exactly where Tywin was in all of this.

*END OF SUPER SPOILERS**

Jay- (sorry Elena, SPOILERS ahoy)
I’ve always thought of Cersei as protecting herself and her children first and foremost. I wonder if she actually thought Ned would refuse to be the Hand, when the King asked him so directly. Perhaps it’s not the fact that he agreed to be Hand that’s worrying her. It’s the fact that an HONEST, LOYAL man, not under her sway at all, is going to take power in her court. She’s worried once he gets a real taste of life at court that he will like it, and begin to carve out alliances for himself and his family.

It’s only logical that Cersei would think this, because in her mind, that’s natural. And if Ned followed this oh-so-natural course, Cersei would not have any recourse to stop him, and her power would continually diminish. Ned has such sway with Robert that I think it’s unsettling to *everyone* else. That’s why the minute Ned starts to go after her, she sees the need to do away with him. And then once he’s dealt with so easily, she naturally thinks that it would be just as easy to do away with Robert and really cement her power. After all, hasn’t that been her dream since her father promised her that she would be the most powerful woman in the realm?

Not to sound too repetitive, but I want to riff on my previous idea of Martin’s handling of women within this novel as an attempt to put a specific set of rules into place and then is working out the consequences of this with different characters. Given a world where women have significantly more restricted power in comparison with men (in terms of combat and cultural prestige, largely along the lines of medieval history) and where marriage is a political maneuver more than an attempt to establish a love match, it seems to me that Martin is asking himself what kinds of reactions women might have to the circumstances. Cat is one reaction, and Cersei is another. There are others we will meet, and I would be curious to see how you respond to them within this framework as we move forward. As always, I am greatly enjoying this read-through, and I hope you are enjoying these chapters as well.

Jay–

I realize this is somewhat early, but I am curious if you are planning to do a chapter-by-chapter reading of the next book. Would it be something you are willing to consider? I am enjoying your readings here, especially the connections made back through the chapters.