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sarea
Prophecies, schmophecies. ASOIAF is littered with them. Here's a fun one to noodle on.
Who will be the one to cast Cersei down and take all that she holds dear?
When Cersei is a girl, she has her fortune told by Maggy, a woodswitch ("maggy" is probably a bastardization of "maegi"), who says, "Queen you shall be... until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all that you hold dear." She also says that Cersei will outlive her children – "and when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you." In High Valyrian, "valonqar" means "younger brother." There's a possibility that it could just mean "younger sibling."
The identity of the valonqar is up in the air. Cersei thinks it's Tyrion, which is one of the reasons she dislikes and distrusts him. Cersei is pretty much wrong about everything, so I think this puts Tyrion in the clear. Other people, mainly Arya fans, believe it to be Arya, since she's in training to be an assassin and Cersei is one of the people whose name she utters like a mantra, of the people she wants dead. Their argument is that Arya is a younger sibling, and could be said to be a "little sister" to Cersei, as her sister Sansa is married to Tyrion. I think the obvious answer (maybe it's too obvious – that its only fault) is that it's Jaime. We've seen their roads diverge quite significantly since the first book. Jaime is, while not quite redeemed, at least in possession of some redeeming qualities – he just has his own sense of honor. Cersei, on the other hand, has been shown to be even more shallow, stupid and paranoid than originally thought (one of the huge disappointments of her being a POV character). Narratively speaking, it would be much more interesting for Jaime to be the valonqar than anyone else in contention, primarily because Cersei cares about Jaime. They are each emotionally invested in the other (despite everything, he loves her), so this act would weigh heavily on them both. And it would not require any stretching of the facts to make it fit – Jaime is Cersei's younger twin.
The "another, younger and more beautiful," is hotly contested. Many people think it has to mean another queen, whereas I read the text more vaguely, with "another" simply meaning... well, another (person). If someone wanted to say that it means Jaime or Loras, I really couldn't refute them. Even if it does mean another queen, I also think that that person doesn't necessarily have to be a queen when she takes Cersei down; she can become queen afterward. There's really no text support for anyone's theories, so the arguments wage long and loud.
My belief – or rather, hope – is that it's Sansa. It would be poetic justice for it to be her. It's clearly not Margaery, because, as I said above, Cersei is wrong about everything, and she is super paranoid and suspicious of Margaery. It's too obvious for it to be Margaery. Instead, she should be the one that Cersei focuses all her time and energy on, even though she's not the person in the prophecy. Another obvious choice is Dany. Dany is literally a queen, and she is gunning for the Iron Throne (or at least, she was, before ADWD). The problem I have with this is that it'll come out of nowhere, and be nearly meaningless to Cersei (and for Dany, who hasn't given Cersei two thoughts), other than losing her position, but that would be true of just about anyone who takes her place. Now if it were Sansa, it would be much more satisfying. Cersei's already written off Sansa as not being a player; she's manipulated her; she's not threatened by her at all. So Sansa coming back to be the younger, more beautiful person to take everything from Cersei would be much more meaningful.
Who will be the one to cast Cersei down and take all that she holds dear?
When Cersei is a girl, she has her fortune told by Maggy, a woodswitch ("maggy" is probably a bastardization of "maegi"), who says, "Queen you shall be... until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all that you hold dear." She also says that Cersei will outlive her children – "and when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you." In High Valyrian, "valonqar" means "younger brother." There's a possibility that it could just mean "younger sibling."
The identity of the valonqar is up in the air. Cersei thinks it's Tyrion, which is one of the reasons she dislikes and distrusts him. Cersei is pretty much wrong about everything, so I think this puts Tyrion in the clear. Other people, mainly Arya fans, believe it to be Arya, since she's in training to be an assassin and Cersei is one of the people whose name she utters like a mantra, of the people she wants dead. Their argument is that Arya is a younger sibling, and could be said to be a "little sister" to Cersei, as her sister Sansa is married to Tyrion. I think the obvious answer (maybe it's too obvious – that its only fault) is that it's Jaime. We've seen their roads diverge quite significantly since the first book. Jaime is, while not quite redeemed, at least in possession of some redeeming qualities – he just has his own sense of honor. Cersei, on the other hand, has been shown to be even more shallow, stupid and paranoid than originally thought (one of the huge disappointments of her being a POV character). Narratively speaking, it would be much more interesting for Jaime to be the valonqar than anyone else in contention, primarily because Cersei cares about Jaime. They are each emotionally invested in the other (despite everything, he loves her), so this act would weigh heavily on them both. And it would not require any stretching of the facts to make it fit – Jaime is Cersei's younger twin.
The "another, younger and more beautiful," is hotly contested. Many people think it has to mean another queen, whereas I read the text more vaguely, with "another" simply meaning... well, another (person). If someone wanted to say that it means Jaime or Loras, I really couldn't refute them. Even if it does mean another queen, I also think that that person doesn't necessarily have to be a queen when she takes Cersei down; she can become queen afterward. There's really no text support for anyone's theories, so the arguments wage long and loud.
My belief – or rather, hope – is that it's Sansa. It would be poetic justice for it to be her. It's clearly not Margaery, because, as I said above, Cersei is wrong about everything, and she is super paranoid and suspicious of Margaery. It's too obvious for it to be Margaery. Instead, she should be the one that Cersei focuses all her time and energy on, even though she's not the person in the prophecy. Another obvious choice is Dany. Dany is literally a queen, and she is gunning for the Iron Throne (or at least, she was, before ADWD). The problem I have with this is that it'll come out of nowhere, and be nearly meaningless to Cersei (and for Dany, who hasn't given Cersei two thoughts), other than losing her position, but that would be true of just about anyone who takes her place. Now if it were Sansa, it would be much more satisfying. Cersei's already written off Sansa as not being a player; she's manipulated her; she's not threatened by her at all. So Sansa coming back to be the younger, more beautiful person to take everything from Cersei would be much more meaningful.
