“They don’t make villains like her anymore”: ‘Game of Thrones’ Highlights 1 Urgent Problem With Modern TV Despite ‘House of the Dragon’ Carrying on the Legacy
- Ardent Game of Thrones fans miss power-hungry Cersei Lannister on House of the Dragon.
- Cersei Lannister remains one of the most ruthless yet beloved villains of all times.
- Emma D'Arcy revealed that they felt kind of lonely while filming Season 2 of HOTD.
Created by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon is a prequel to Game of Thrones and is set 200 years before the events of GOT. The fantasy drama that portrays the events that led to the decline of House Targaryen has already been renewed for a third season.
The show’s cast, including Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Ewan Mitchell, Fabien Frankel, and more, has been praised for their spectacular performances in seasons one and two. Despite receiving positive reviews from critics and the audience, there is one character’s aura from Game of Thrones that fans feel is missing from House of the Dragon.
House of the Dragon has everything except Game of Thrones’ ruthless Cersei Lannister
Actress Lena Headey portrayed the character of Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones, and even though the show ended in 2019, ardent fans of the show still remember the impact that the character made on television shows. CBR once described the character as a child in a woman’s body, who reacts with violence and spite at the slightest provocation.
Cersei Lannister is one of the most complex characters on GOT. She accepts Joffrey’s behavior when she has the power to make him stop. Or her desire for vengeance that blinded her love for her son Tommen, who eventually kills himself after she blows up the Baelor’s Sept with wildfire. She was one of the characters who, right from season one to season eight, had one clear intention: to sit on the Iron Throne, and for that, she was ready to do whatever it took.
However, despite her character being power-hungry, insensitive, and selfish, Cersei’s move to blow up the Sept of Baelor is considered one of the bad** moments on Game of Thrones. She needed to get rid of her enemies, and she was not ready to solve things peacefully as everyone wished, so she chose what a Lannister would do; she blew up the Sept of Baelor along with the surrounding areas of King’s Landing and watched it blow.
An X user commented,
She destroyed the Westerosies version of the Vatican City and just sat there serving face and drinking wine. They don’t make villains like her anymore.
With Rhaenyra Targaryen growing to be a powerful opponent to Team Green in House of the Dragon and wishing to have the Iron Throne for herself, there have been instances where she is compared to Cersei Lannister. But despite a few similarities between the two strong-headed female characters, Rhaenyra is nothing like Cersei.
Where Rhaenyra tried to avoid the war as much as she could and wanted a peaceful decision, the word peaceful never existed in Cersei’s dictionary. Rhaenyra wanted to enjoy the life she built with Daemon and the kids; Cersei wanted to rule the 7 kingdoms. Cersei also had a better understanding of how courts and alliances work than Rhaenyra. Cersei was aware that nothing would be handed to her, so she took steps to take whatever she wanted, but Rhaenyra has been shown waiting and complaining about things happening rather than doing it. Other characters, including Aemond Targaryen or Cristian Cole and more, are gray-shade characters on the show but have not quite reached the level of Cersei.
What season 3 of House of the Dragon has in store for the audience is hard to tell as of now, but if compared, Cersei Lannister remains one of the villains that can make the hair on your stand with fear even when compared to Ramsay Bolton, or The Governor from The Walking Dead or even Walter White from Breaking Bad. Walter White, however, had the hunger for power just like Cersei and eventually turned unsympathetic in later seasons, but he was also not what Cersei was.
Emma D’Arcy on feeling ‘lonely’ on House of the Dragon Season 2
Emma D’Arcy plays Queen Rhaenyra on House of the Dragon, and in early June 2024, they spoke to THR at the premiere of the show in New York about their experience of working on season 2. Filming with Matt Smith and Olivia Cooke was kind of lonely for them, but they explained,
There are so many beautiful actors on the show; it’s an ever-mutating thing. Certainly, I think it’ll make the active viewership kind of more exciting because there are so many parts to the series that I’ve not had the chance to watch yet. So I get to watch as sort of a pure fan these other narrative strands.
D’Arcy continued about missing their two co-stars while filming season two, adding that it makes one realize what they have lost and everything they get to work with each other; it’s a privilege and very exciting. They added that season one for them was just about falling in love with Matt Smith and Olivia Cooke.
The actress, who has been highly appreciated for their portrayal of the character, noted that the show has to move on, and according to them, what will keep the audience hooked on season 2 is the different gravitational pulls for Rhaenyra. They admitted that they missed Smith terribly when his character Daemon left for Dragonstone because they loved working with them and just being around them.
House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are streaming on HBO MAX.
