Sorry, Cersei Skeptics, But This May Mean She Really Is Pregnant

Cersei has never been the most trustworthy of characters on Game Of Thrones, so it's no surprise that fans are still asking themselves, is the Queen of the Iron Throne really pregnant? Especially since the season 7 finale didn't attempt to clarify Cersei's pregnancy status in any factual, verifiable way. In fact, showrunner David Benioff seemed to admit that Cersei's pregnancy may be a small part of her big plan to rule the Seven Kingdoms.

In an interview about the finale, Benioff addressed the scene in which Cersei (Lena Headey) gently touches her belly, only for Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) to see and ask whether she's pregnant. "It's a little bit of a poker game they're playing there because it seems like she's bluffing and he reads her bluff," Benioff explained, "but she wanted him to read her bluff — this was all part of her game."

With that, Benioff hints that Cersei isn't actually pregnant, but doing all this to manipulate her brothers. Clearly, it seems to be working since Tyrion thought he had the upper hand after figuring out Cersei is pregnant. A piece of information, that in his mind, ultimately forces his sister to change her mind. She would do anything to keep this child safe, even call a truce with Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen to help them destroy the Night King.

Of course, Cersei isn't going to do anything like that. Instead, she was putting on a show for her visitors and really plans to bulk up her army while Jon Snow and Dany put their focus on the North. Oh, she's good. But even after all that, director Jeremy Podeswa, who helmed the GOT season 7 finale, still believes that Cersei is actually pregnant for one specific reason: she lets Jaime walk away.

"I think she’s capable of any kind of treachery," Podeswa told Mashable, "but I feel that the fact that she has a new life within her does give her a different kind of core strength now, and even the strength to let Jaime go, for example, because she’s not truly alone anymore."

The theory was that Cersei is just saying she's pregnant to keep Jaime loyal to her. As part of her baby announcement, Cersei even tells Jaime,“Never betray me again." By letting him go she seems to be admitting that the baby is enough. Cersei loved Jaime, but another reason she kept him around was because he was a Lannister. Cersei cares about her family's legacy, often talking about how she, Jaime and Tyrion are the last ones left. But if she's pregnant, then there is hope that House Lannister will survive and maybe even thrive.

This baby is Cersei's last hope of keeping the Lannister name alive and she'll do anything to make sure that happens with or without Jaime, which could be a scary thing. Podeswa, though, thinks it could reveal the true Cersei, who is more complex than anyone gives her credit for.

"What’s so great about Lena [Headey] is she is never a simple villain," Podeswa said. "In all of this we see her humanity, and when we find out that she’s going to have a baby again, I think part of us is hoping that this is transformative for her. Every character in the show does have that kind of complexity, but in this final episode, we see so much of the complexity of who she is and nothing is ever at face value with her."

That's why we'll be debating whether Cersei's really pregnant until 2019 when Game Of Thrones returns for its final season.