‘Game of Thrones’ Star Lena Headey Wished A Better Death For Cersei Lannister

It’s been a month since the finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Viewers, as well as the cast, have mixed feelings about the show. That being said, Cersei Lannister, the heartless, impatient and vindictive queen portrayed by Lena Headey, had something to say about her character’s death.

Spoiler alert for those who haven’t watched Game of Thrones by now.

Game of Thrones: The Queen is Dead

The series final battle scene shows Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) attacking King’s Landing with her last dragon (Drogon). They burned down the city and its people, laying waste to everything that stood in her path to the throne, despite the Lannister army surrendering.

Meanwhile, in the Red Keep, Cersei and her twin brother slash lover Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) tried desperately to escape the wrath of Daenerys and Drogon. Despite their efforts, they got trapped underneath the castle as all the tunnel exits were blocked by rubble. It was in this moment we saw Cersei show how vulnerable and scared she was, she saw this as the end and didn’t want to go out that way. Ultimately, she resigned to her fate and spent her final moments in the arms of her lover and brother, Jaime as the walls caved in and buried them alive.

The ending for Cersei sparked outrage because the past seasons of the show had Cersei outsmart her enemies and escape death multiple times. Her death, despite being buried alive, was a bit anticlimactic because fans expected Daenerys to get her revenge and end Cersei but it seemed that the writers took the easy way out and just gave most of the characters an easy death.

Headey Speaks about Cersei’s Death on Game of Thrones

Lena Heady had mixed emotions about Cersei’s death scene. But Headey’s commentary wasn’t the first time she expressed disappointment in her character’s storyline. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, she said that her reaction to Cersei’s death was “mixed.”

“I will say I wanted a better death,” Headey admitted in an interview with The Guardian. “Obviously you dream of your death,” she says. “You could go in any way on that show. So I was kind of gutted. But I just think they couldn’t have pleased everyone. No matter what they did, I think there was going to be some big comedown from the climb.”

“The more we talked about it, the more it seemed like the perfect end for her,” Headey says. “They came into the world together and now they leave together. It’s maybe the first time that Cersei has been at peace.”