My first viewing of Game of Thrones left me with a fragmented understanding of Westeros politics. A second viewing has given me a better comprehension of the family histories, alliances, and feuds. One thing a second viewing of this show has also taught me – the Lannister acting cast is sublime. There’s not one weak link in the bunch, making Lannister scenes memorable and worth rewatching. This article series will focus on the plot antagonists who enable and challenge them.
From the pilot episode, the Lannisters show pathological hatred and vengeance for anyone who impedes their political ambitions and preservation of family legacy. Like most GoT characters, the Lannisters, excluding Joffrey, follow an arc that doesn’t define them as good or evil. While Cersei is mostly atrocious, she almost seems like a reasonable person compared to the High Sparrow, after her empowerment of him proves to be a “shame”-ful mistake.
High Sparrow
Oh boy, many of us know a “High Sparrow” type – the person who lived out life as they selfishly saw fit for years until deciding to change. The type who treated people horribly or lived carelessly, and then found a religion or philosophy that changed them. But it’s not good enough for them to change, is it? They have to enforce their new found understanding on the rest of us and mercilessly judge our choices from their enlightened perch.
Before he rose to prominence, the High Sparrow inherited his father’s cobbler business and decided his success was too much to endure after a night of hard partying. Realizing that owning a thriving business isn’t the life he wants, he puts on a muumuu and heads for King’s Landing. In Season 5, we first see him doing what the religious and enlightened are supposed to do- hang out with the poor, feed them, and give them guidance.
Cersei shows up and ingratiates herself to the High Sparrow by arresting the Sept’s current leader for whoremongering and gives the High Sparrow his own little army, the Faith Militant. Cersei doesn’t like King Tommen’s wife, Queen Margaery Tyrell, so she needs the high sparrow to have his faith militant arrest Margaey’s brother Loras, a homosexual. This solves two problems for Cersei – 1) she was promised to marry Loras Tyrell, which would send her away to the Tyrell home of High Garden and 2) the arrest distracts Queen Margaery away from Tommen. Soon enough, High Sparrow exploits Cersei’s hatred for the Tyrells and eventually Cersai and Margaery find themselves sleeping in dungeon cells along with the rest of King’s Landing influential sinners.
As a result of arming the Septon, King’s Landing becomes an even scarier place. Barrels of ale are destroyed, Littlefinger’s establishment is raided, and the faith militant are patrolling for deviance. Cersei’s little scheme turns the whole town into a violent theocracy, ending season 5 with her humiliating walk of shame from the King’s Landing Sept to the Red Keep.
Even Jaime and Lord Tryrell’s armies cannot stop the High Sparrow. In one Season 6 scene, we see HS smirking at Jaime after King Tommen emerges from the sept to inform his father/uncle he is now ruling from the church. HS now has full control of the king. The High Sparrow’s expression tells us that just like his cobbling trade, modest success isn’t enough for him. No, he needs more control by manipulating King Tommen and the faith militant. Interestingly enough, throughout the entire storyline, the High Sparrow never strikes a blow – yet persuades his followers and faith militant to carry out his wishes.
Cersei wasn’t able to keep the High Sparrow under her control, so she used her power to undo the mistake of arming him. Aided by Maester Qyburn’s ”little birds”, she finds out that wildfire barrels are stored under the Sept’s foundation. In season 6, the wildfire explosion kills the High Sparrow, along with many other of Cersei’s most hated – Margaery, Loras, and Lord Tyrell.
Unlike the amoral sadists Joffrey Baratheon and Ramsay Bolten, the character of High Sparrow was multidimensional and mysterious. Before Cersei made him armed and powerful, he was down in Flea Bottom feeding the poor. Would he have stayed on the path of peacefully serving the poor had the Queen Mother not paid him a visit? Probably so. Certainly HS was revered by the powerless, but without funding, any militia he could muster is no challenge for the Lannister and Tyrell forces. Cersei offered him more than what he gave up to become High Sparrow and this empowerment exposed his greedy nature. While I was relieved to see the High Sparrow and his followers exterminated, the dreadful oppressive presence captured by the rich and brilliant acting of Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow is unforgettable.