--- title: Lena Headey Talks Cersei's Game of Thrones Scene Last Night description: Lena Headey opens up about how she really felt about her final scene as Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones' penultimate episode. canonical: https://time.com/5588396/lena-headey-cersei-lannister-game-of-thrones-final-scene/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-13T18:00:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:58:58.007Z og:title: Lena Headey on Why Cersei's Game of Thrones Scene Last Night Was Perfect og:description: Her response might surprise you og:url: https://time.com/5588396/lena-headey-cersei-lannister-game-of-thrones-final-scene/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d4b9096c495092c/698949cf22fb85dfede28404/game-of-thrones-s8-e5-cersei-jaime.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3150 og:image:height: 1772 og:image:alt: Game-of-Thrones-S8-E5-Cersei-Jaime og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lena Headey on Why Cersei's Game of Thrones Scene Last Night Was Perfect twitter:description: Her response might surprise you twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d4b9096c495092c/698949cf22fb85dfede28404/game-of-thrones-s8-e5-cersei-jaime.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lena Headey Says Last Night's _Game of Thrones_ Was So Perfect for Cersei > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c1e5280d-e783-45b8-a717-8896831f6f06&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 13, 2019 6:00 PM UTC  Jamie and Cersei reunite on Game of Thrones. Jamie and Cersei reunite on Game of Thrones. Helen Sloan—HBO  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 13, 2019 6:00 PM UTC **Warning**: This story contains spoilers for _Game of Thrones_. Cersei Lannister’s last scene in the [eighth and final season of _Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/5517025/game-of-thrones-binge-watch-recaps/) ended with the [queen dying in the arms of her twin brother and lover Jaime](http://time.com/5586743/game-of-thrones-cersei-jamie-death/), crushed by the crumbling walls of the Red Keep, as Daenerys, Drogon, and her troops wrecked havoc on King’s Landing. For Lena Headey, who played the mercurial ruler for entirety of the popular HBO series, however, the relatively tame way Cersei left the Seven Kingdoms in episode five initially gave her “mixed” feelings. In an interview with [_Entertainment Weekly_](https://ew.com/tv/2019/05/12/game-thrones-cersei-kings-landing-battle-interview/), she revealed that she “wanted her to have some big piece or fight with somebody.” After Headey discussed the scene with co-star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime, they both agreed that Cersei’s final demise was very fitting. “The more we talked about it the more it seemed like the perfect end for her,” Headey said. “They came into the world together and now they leave together.” “I think the important thing is that Jaime had a chance at freedom \[with Brienne\] and finally liberated himself from Cersei, which I think the audience will be thrilled about,” Headey said. “I think the biggest surprise is he came back for her. Cersei realizes just how she loves him and just how much he loves her. It’s the most authentic connection she’s ever had. Ultimately they belong together.” In fact, Headey said she found closure in Cersei and Jaime’s moment together before the Red Keep tumbles. “It’s maybe the first time that Cersei has been at peace.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5588396/lena-headey-cersei-lannister-game-of-thrones-final-scene/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5588396/lena-headey-cersei-lannister-game-of-thrones-final-scene/"},"headline":"Lena Headey Says Last Night's Game of Thrones Was So Perfect for Cersei","datePublished":"2019-05-13T18:00:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:58:58.007Z","description":"Her response might surprise you","url":"https://time.com/5588396/lena-headey-cersei-lannister-game-of-thrones-final-scene/","keywords":["Newsfeed","game of thrones","onetime","clickmonsters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d4b9096c495092c/698949cf22fb85dfede28404/game-of-thrones-s8-e5-cersei-jaime.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d4b9096c495092c/698949cf22fb85dfede28404/game-of-thrones-s8-e5-cersei-jaime.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Game-of-Thrones-S8-E5-Cersei-Jaime","caption":"Did Jamie and Cersei live on Game of Thrones","creditText":"Helen Sloan—HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5588396/lena-headey-cersei-lannister-game-of-thrones-final-scene/","name":"Lena Headey Says Last Night's Game of Thrones Was So Perfect for Cersei"}}]}] ```