Will Bronn be the instrument of Cersei’s Betrayal?
There was one element of the“Eastwatch” episode of Game of Thrones (and of my recap) last night that has been eating at me all day, why was Bronn such a central figure of discussion throughout despite being on screen for only a few minutes?
It can’t be an accident, especially after a TON of exposition about Bronn and getting paid, that in the first few seconds Bronn says:
“Listen to me cunt, until I get what I’m owed, a dragon doesn’t get to kill ya, you don’t get to kill you, only I get to kill you.”
Foreshadowing?
There are two options given the reveal that Cersei is pregnant:
- Cersei is lying and, as some have suggested, using this information to deepen the bond even deeper between herself and her brother.
- Cersei is telling the truth, and Cersei is pregnant despite her age (nature finds a way)
Option one makes almost no sense to me. Jaime, despite a million reasons to stay away (for instance, that he has to tell Cersei both that her armies are annihilated and that he gave Olenna a relatively painless death despite her treachery against Joffrey, ran right back to her for like the thousandth time. Jaime is already super loyal to Cersei (or at least as loyal as he will ever be).
Option two suggests to me that Jaime is about to face a betrayal, and given the foreshadowing, I suspect he is going to be betrayed by Cersei at the hand of Bronn (who he believes to be loyal and a friend).
Let us also remember that she put Jaime to the question on what Jaime would do to punish Bronn (for helping Jaime meet with Tyrion) two separate times last night and received no answer. My guess is that she will give Bronn two options, kill Jaime and get his treasure or refuse and die (sound like anything else we saw a different Queen face last night)?
Cersei has a number of reasons to betray Jaime now:
She blames him for Tyrion getting away with killing their Father (and for letting Tyrion get away). Remember it was also Tyrion who sent Myrcella to Dorne.
She blames him for being the only Lannister who loved Tyrion often despite her hatred of him.
She blames him for being gone during the Blackwater rebellion.
She blames him (partially) for the death of the other children and for not protecting them better.
She blames him for giving Olenna a relatively painless death.
And most important, now that she is Queen, she can’t have any child of hers and Jaime’s who would ever be considered a legitimate heir by her kingdom. As long as Jaime is around, he is a living symbol to the people of the illegitimacy of their line (Cersei was actually the only Lannister who ever really had a claim on the Iron Throne).
Jaime is the problem and Euron is the solution, but I think she knows that she has to get rid of Jaime and that, in many ways, he has become a liability to her.
Jaime may survive, Bronn might lose his nerve or trick Cersei, but I suspect some version of this betrayal is coming soon to a television set near you.
Why else have they gone to such efforts to make sure we know what Bronn really wants (and that Jaime has not given it to him)?
Why else have they gone to such efforts to set Bronn up and had Cersei (who never forgives anything) mention multiple times that he needs to be punished?
Et Tu Cersei.
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