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Jamie Lannister and Bronn from the Game of Thrones series riding white horses
Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO

How Ned Stark Could Kill Cersei On 'Game Of Thrones' — Yes, Really

by Laura Broman

If you were hoping for some Jon Snow-type resurrection, courtesy of yet another spooky Red Priest, I'm sorry but it's not that. Sadly, I think we can count on the OG protagonist staying dead. But there's another way Ned Stark can get revenge on Cersei on Game of Thrones, even from beyond the grave — yes really. And it's got to do with the sword Jaime's been carrying since the beginning of the latest season.

As Lady Olenna Tyrell (RIP Forever) reminded viewers right before she dropped some heavy truth bombs on Jaime on her way out of last week's episode, "The Queen's Justice," Jaime has recently been seen with Joffrey's old sword on his hip. Why does that matter? Well, as you may remember that sword has a special backstory.

Let's rewind a bit: Jaime's new blade comes from Ned's old sword Ice, which was a Valyrian Steel sword passed down through House Stark for ages. We didn't get to see much of Ned using Ice before he died, but it was also the sword that was used to behead him. Later, Tywin Lannister had Ice melted down and reforged as two new swords: one for Jaime and one as a wedding present for Joffrey. But Jaime gave his sword to Brienne, who named it Oathkeeper (I don't know about you, but I'm still rooting for those two). Joffrey, meanwhile, only got to use his sword Widow's Wail to hack apart a book and kill some doves before his untimely but also very gratifying demise, so apparently it's now been passed on to Jaime.

But what does this have to do with Cersei? Over the years, Jaime has somehow managed to overlook a lot of Cersei's awfulness, but in these past few episodes his unvocalized scowls whenever she does something a little too far out there have been getting more and more strained. Throw in a few Mad King parallels and a swashbuckling Greyjoy as the first real competition Jaime's ever had for Cersei's affections, and many fans are starting to predict that Jaime will be the one to ultimately take her down. I guess love — even the kind that will make you push a 10-year-old out of a tower window — will only get you so far in terms of moral compromising.

So, to sum up: Jaime may kill Cersei using a blade that comes from Ned Stark's old sword. It would be good to finally get some #justiceforNed, amirite? Personally, this theory has me convinced. If you look at how Game of Thrones dished up the deaths in "The Queen's Justice," you'll notice a bit of a pattern in all the revenge. Lady Olenna killed Joffrey by poisoning his wine, and Jaime then offed her in the same way. Ellaria killed Myrcella by kissing her with poison on her lips, and Cersei did the same to Ellaria's daughter.

Is it just a coincidence that in the same episode, Olenna pointed out Joffrey's obnoxiously-named sword for the audience to take note of? Maybe. But it would also be pretty awesome if Widow's Wail came back to take out Cersei. As the Lannisters are always fond of reminding us, their debts will always be paid, and they owe a big one to the Starks.