for the love of game of thrones

Game of Thrones Couple of the Week: Queens by Proxy

Photo: HBO

Jon Snow was finally reunited with his dire wolf and the slapstick buddy comedy between Pod and Brienne is shaping up nicely. But last night’s couple crown belongs to two women who are figuring out how to play the game (… of thrones). In GoT land, it’s violent men who get to wield power, often carelessly, while women fight just to survive. Save for Daenerys, who is lucky enough to have three dragons and an army of castrated death machines, most women have unsuccessfully tried to assert some power by proxy. That strategy didn’t work for Catelyn Stark (via Robb), and it hasn’t been working too well for Cersei. (I mean, her proxy was a horrible little sociopath.) But finally, we’ve now got two women joining forces to win Game of Thrones Couple of the Week.

The Crowned: Cersei Lannister, she who should have the throne and perhaps the least sympathetic character in television history; and Margaery Tyrell, she of the most seductive bosom, and Joffrey’s “sad” widow. They were foils, but they could be each other’s greatest assets.

Why They Rule: Cersei — who has been failed by her horrid son, her horrid brother-lover, and her horrid father — finally gets real about her nightmare progeny, and decides to stop calling her daughter-in-law that “wicked little bitch from Highgarden” and start calling her ladyfriend. Both are cunning; plus, Cersei is 98 percent ruthless evil and Margaery is a willing seductress. In a show where “everyone in the world hurts little girls” is the unofficial tagline, their combined energies could actually be enough to ensure that Tommen becomes a decent king — and is far more effective than continuing to fight.

Best Moment: Three cheers for sisterhood! But c’mon, it’s still fun to watch these two do what they do best — deliver subtly vicious insults and throw soul-crushing shade, e.g.: “What will I even call you? Sister? [Delighted pause.] Mother?” Burn.

Game of Thrones Couple of the Week: Episode 5