It’s been a hot minute since fans have seen the final episode of House of the Dragon Season 2, and it seems like everyone agrees what a terrible mother Alicent Hightower is. She was willing to give up her son, Aegon, in order for her and her daughter Helaena to escape unscathed.
This is where Cersei Lannister has an advantage. She loved her children above everything else. She would move the heavens and the earth to ensure they remained in power. Her methods are questionable, indeed, but there was never a time she gave up on them.
Is Cersei A Better Mother Than Alicent?
It’s a complicated situation Olivia Cooke’s Alicent Hightower found herself in when she went to Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra Targaryen to ask for clemency. At the time, she’s given up everything she worked hard for in bringing Aegon to the Iron Throne. With her son incapacitated, the war looming around with less firepower on their side, there was no other way out but to surrender.
As a mother, she knew Aegon wasn’t capable of leading and when she told him to “do nothing” in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4, she was inviting a reckless and fickle young man to dive into his death. Fans can say Alicent provoked her son to go to Rook’s Rest and eventually meet his doom.
Cersei Lannister, on the other hand, would go nowhere near like this. In Season 5 Episode 7 of Game of Thrones, a heartwarming scene between her and Tommen surely moved the audience to tears. The Queen Regent told him, “I would do anything for you, anything to keep you from harm. I would burn cities to the ground. You are all that matters.”
A fan on Reddit recalled this scene from the original HBO show and praised Cersei for being a loving mother to her kids. However, another fan did not agree with this sentiment. They argued that she had Tommen’s wife, Margaery Tyrell, killed by blowing up the Sept of Baelor. Unable to accept the death of his queen, Tommen removed his crown and jumped to his death.
For all her faults, mama Cersei did not play when it came to her kids
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She professed her undying love for her son, and later took away the one thing that made him happy. Perhaps Cersei is no different from Alicent after all.
Lena Headey Weighs In On Cersei’s Love For Her Children
Cersei’s affection for her kids is too complicated to describe. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lena Headey said, “Her children are her sanity, so the more they crumble, the more she does.”
Interestingly, the actress mentioned in another talk that the death of Tommen was somehow a relief to her. She was referring to a prophecy from a witch who said her children would die. “Some awful thing hanging over your head and then finally… it happens,” she told Time Magazine. So, when Tommen died, it was as if a burden has been lifted off her back.
Game of Thrones is currently available to watch on HBO.
