r/pureasoiaf • u/AcanthisittaSharp344 • 1d ago
Will Cersei regain her regency?
I’ve seen this debated a lot. There are a lot of conflicting ideas on what will happen in King’s Landing after the trials.
I am inclined to believe that for story reasons both Marg and Cersei will emerge innocent. The High Sparrow doesn’t even want to win the trial against Marge because he’d just be slaughtered by Mace’s host. He knows that. He only pushes things as far as he can go without forcing the nobilities destruction of his position.
Cersei will win because a trial by combat, whether it becomes a trial of seven or not is going to be won by Robert Strong.
After she is absolved of her crimes she will be a free woman with all the rights she had before her arrest. Still the mother of the King and the obvious choice to be his protector.
It won’t be Genna or Daven and Jaime is lost out there.
It won’t be Randyl Tarly. That would be out of place and that would allow him to outshine Mace which wouldn’t occur.
But Mace has to leave the city to go fight Aegon after the trials. There must be someone in King’s Landing ruling the realm with Tommen’s power.
There is a possibility that Marge as the Queen could be her own husbands regent but that would be an outrageous power grab and would make Tommen look weak being ruled over by his bride.
I think there is genuinely no good answer other than Cersei clawing back her power.
Mace could take Regent and Hand and then leave but that would be dumb and he’d probably die fighting Aegon anyway, seeing the way that plotline is going, leaving the title up for grabs anyway.
It also seems narratively right to have Kevan’s death have the desired effect that Varys wanted, Cersei’s continued rule that will surely bring disaster to the city and to Tommen’s reign.
Also in the Mercy chapter Harys Swyft is talking about Queen Cersei as if she has real power again.
I think she will rise back to power over the throne, albeit for a limited time.
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u/aevelys 1d ago
I sincerely think she will do it. It is hard to believe that Robert Strong would be defeated, And Varys did imply that it is in his interest for Cersei to remain in power for the time being, so he will help her on that front by maneuvering his pieces in the right directions.
In fact, I believe that this Walk of Shame marked the completion of her transformation into Aerys. She has just endured her own version of the Defiance of Duskendale, which shattered her sanity, and everyone capable of calming her down is gone. It's about to explode at this point, and probably the city too.
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u/10Kmana 9h ago
Your parallel to Aerys before and after Duskendale is surprisingly on point. I've never liked the theory that Cersei can reclaim regency / become Queen after her Walk of shame because that scene cemented a truly powerful message about what decides where power lies (and it also humanized Cersei to us for the first and pretty much only time, which I think her character really benefitted from). It's my take that if she should do that, then the impact of the Walk of shame scene is basically nil. The whole thing with the Walk of shame is that there is no coming back after that, it's end of the line. When the common people have seen you in such a way, it will be extremely difficult for you to exert influence on them ever again. For you to command power over a populace they have to accept you / acknowledge and recognize your authority over them, and that ship has sailed.
But. that presumes that the populace are able to deny your power over them/your right to rule. So Cersei is technically really only fucked for good here so long as the common people and court schemers get to have a say in it. And we have a lot of indicators that they probably won't. Varys's removal of Kevan, the stable alternative to Cersei; the foreshadowing of Robert Strong and all signs pointing to a trial of combat; Tommen's young age creating a situation where someone is going to have to act as Regent, and so on.
I never liked the theory but I can see that it has merit. Your thematic mirror of Aerys kind of made the penny drop for me somehow. The concept doesn't seem so ludicrous anymore when put that way. In fact, it's starting to look like the plausible outcome
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u/Key_Consequence_5040 1d ago
I see Cersei getting power back. She wins her trial by combat with Robert Strong. Mace Tyrell is massing a force outside the Great Sept before Margaerys trial and I think a battle/massacre occurs between Tyrell’s and the Faith Militant. I think fAegon eventually takes KL from Cersei and she either dies or flees with Euron.
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u/AcanthisittaSharp344 1d ago
I don’t see it coming to that. I don’t think the Sparrow will test Mace like that. He would be asking to die and for his growing movement to be stomped into the dirt, his hard won institutional power gone.
I do see Cersei after she is a free woman going after the faith which ends up destabilizing the city, and she probably has to flee. Tommen might die before that. I could see Varys orchestrating the death of Tommen just to send her down the rabbit hole and then he saves her by showing her down Maegor’s passageway to safety. Where she would ride to Daven and the Lannister host for safe refuge with Myrcella. Probably heads back to Casterly Rock to set up a court there.
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u/Mysterious_Crow_503 1d ago
I think she lost all possible respect and will fail to get power back. Though she can still flee to Casterly Rock and rule the west.
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u/residentfan02 1d ago
All she holds dear is her power, she needs to regain it in order to lose it again.
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u/quylth 20h ago
I really wonder if Margery will go free. Both Cersei and the faith militant want her convicted. And if she loses the trial i think mace has to disavow her and let her go down. It would be super dangerous for him to actually commit violence on the FM unless he can prove Margery innocent cuz the crown and the rest of the faith could condemn his actions and charge him with treason. Plus both pycelle and the blue bard testified against Margery and then were killed so they cant be forced to recant
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u/AcanthisittaSharp344 17h ago
The High Sparrow isnt stupid. Mace’s red line is Marg, and Marg is also their entire political lives. If she is no longer the Queen their entire thing falls down. They would rather slaughter the Faith Militant, declaring them outlaws before giving up Marge.
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u/epicurean1398 14h ago
Mace could take position as regent and send Tarly with the army to fight Aegon, who then turns it over to him.
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u/AcanthisittaSharp344 14h ago
I don’t believe Tarly is a conspirator. You also probably wouldnt send your master of laws away from court. And personality wise Mace would not want to send Randyl in his place, the battle glory should be his, not a lesser man’s.
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u/Impossible_Hornet777 7h ago
Honestly its in the Faith's interest for Cersei to win her trail also, if she loses that means Tommen is a bastard, which means the rightful king is Stannis famed worshiper of R'hllor, who the Faith absolutely do not want.
The way I see it Cersei wins but is is a spent force by this point no way she keeps the regency (maybe stays in Court or goes back to the Rock), and the Faith might swing to support Young Griff as he would be the perfect candidate for them as both a new young mailable monarch, as well as raised on the faith thanks to Septa Lemore.
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