Yeah I think that's her. I remember there was a scene in the books where Cersei wanted to "take what was hers" (like Robert had done to her) or something like that and sexually abused Taena, but she didn't enjoy it and sent Taena away out of the room. Clearly there is some lingering trauma from what Robert did to her.
Yeah, that was an odd scene. I remember Cersei was really rough and was hurting Taena, but Cersei didn't give a ****. I agree; Cersei is definitely still feeling the effects of Robert's abuse (I also think some of the reason that she assaulted Taena was because of penis envy).
Agreed. Honestly, I like most of the female cast because they're all strong in their own way. I also really appreciate that in the books, there are a lot of very minor female characters that appear maybe once or twice but are still portrayed very positively. One of my biggest gripes with the show is that many of these characters have vanished or that many of the women that do appear have their stories changed or watered down. The show also adds a lot of sexual violence that never happened, for no apparent reason.
The female cast is way stronger than the male cast, which is really cool. Danaerys, Cersei, Brienne, Arya, Sansa, Ariane, etc. are all very unique and have their own strengths and weakness, so they're memorable. A lot of the male characters are very similar and are just all about honor and fighting and sex. There aren't many male characters that I care for in the series.
The sexual assault thing is really weird and I don't really understand it. Why did Sansa have to get *****? Her and Ramsay were nowhere near each other in the books, so why do they have to randomly get married? My prediction is that she's going to kill him in the finale.
The quote still shows how she - and by extension women in power - are viewed though. She's repeatedly called the "Queen Mother" or "Queen Dowager" this season.
And why should Tommen take over when he turns 16? Kings rule for life, so once the power was transferred to Cersei, shouldn't she rule for life as well? Sons don't get the throne until their fathers die - they shouldn't get it until their mothers die as well. Tommen's claim to the throne shouldn't be greater than his mother's, nor should it be greater than Myrcella's. There's a whole sub-plot in the books about Arianne of Dorne trying to get Myrcella to rule instead of Tommen because she's older than her brother.
That's actually a really good point and I hadn't considered it. I was really excited when the whole Myrcella thing was going on because it was time that Westeros embraced gender equality. But then Myrcella's ear got chopped off and Ariane's lover got murdered and I was like, "whelp."
15? Okay. That makes things better. I was so disturbed when Tommen and Margaery had sex because of his age in the books...
I watched that episode with my mother and I was appalled because he was so young in the books. I even told my mother about how weird it was (and the fact that Margaery's virginity is a major plot point).
Tywin was great at ruling and forging alliances, etc. If he had taught Cersei how he did things, things would have went a lot better for her. The books (not so much the show) emphasize constantly her intelligence and cleverness; she would be capable if she had been prepared for ruling in my opinion. Tywin made sure that Jaime had been well prepared for his life as a knight and fighter and role as heir to Casterly Rock, but Cersei definitely got f****d over in that regard.
Teaching her how to rule would have been very beneficial, but that doesn't change the fact that Cersei did things that were outright stupid. Cersei's story is created to draw attention to how gender is extremely important in Westerosi society and that the rigid gender roles are there to stay, despite things such as when a female is more capable than a male and all that.