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Cersei regained control of King's Landing in the explosive season six finale of "Game of Thrones," and all bets are off.
Cersei was conspicuously absent from the Trial of the Faith, which was to determine her fate and Loras Tyrell's. By the time Margaery Tyrell realized those in the Sept were doomed, Cersei's plan was already set in motion. She used a cache of wildfire to doom the Sept and all those inside to a green, fiery death.
She also left Septa Unella at the torturous hands of the Mountain. It seemed like Cersei had everything back under control, until her youngest son, Tommen, threw himself from a window.
His death was her fault, showrunner D.B. Weiss said in a behind-the-scenes video.
"Meanwhile, while [the explosion] is happening, Tommen is alone," he said. "This fragile, malleable, devastated child, basically, is sitting there without anybody to comfort him, and if she had been there, he wouldn't have gone out that window. She failed him, and she alone failed him here."
And now, without her children, Cersei has nothing holding her back from losing control.
"I think the idea of Cersei without her children is a pretty terrifying prospect," showrunner David Benioff said. "It was the one thing that really humanized her, you know, her love for her kids. And as much of a monster as she could sometimes be, she was a mother who truly really did love her children, and now those children are gone, and all she's got is power."
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Cersei becoming the Mad Queen she was born to be.. #GameOfThrones
- Caitlyn (@caitlynwinn) June 27, 2016
Yo. I'm so glad Cersei embraced the Mad Queen. #DemThrones
- levi. (@joshuaperrin_) June 27, 2016
And many are also predicting Cersei's death at the hand of her brother and lover.
So Cersei did to King's Landing the very thing that her lover-brother Jamie killed Mad King Aerys for plotting. He's gonna kill her.
- John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 27, 2016
I AM SO IN FOR JAIME KILLING CERSEI NEXT SEASON LIKE HE KILLED THE MAD KING TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE
- anna (@sherlockohlmes) June 27, 2016
Based on the popular "valonqar" prophecy, this could very well be the case.
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"And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you," Maggy told her.
Valonqar means little brother in High Valyrian, and while Tyrion is Cersei's little brother, Jamie technically is as well. Jamie and Cersei are twins, but Cersei was born first. Jamie killed the Mad King before he had a chance to blow King's Landing and its people to smithereens, but he wasn't able to stop Cersei this time. Is this foreshadowing? (You can read a more in-depth post of the prophecy here.)
And now that she sits on the Iron Throne, Cersei has total power.
"I don't think that bodes well for anyone, really," Benioff said. "And even for Jaime, who loves her, I think it's a terrifying moment. She's capable of doing anything, as she's proven in this episode, to get what she wants, and the real question now is what does she want?"
We have to wait until season seven premieres to know for sure, but that won't stop us from theorizing over the next year.