Eugene Simon (Lancel) on Cersei’s trial and the hypocrisy of The Faith
By Ani Bundel
It will be two weeks until we’re back in King’s Landing for Cersei’s trial, according to the partial synopsis accidentally released by HBO earlier this week. But like all trials of the century, it’s hard not to find oneself getting hyped, even if it’s coming only two seasons after the last trial of the century in King’s Landing. (Which, funnily enough, also found one of Tywin Lannister’s children in the docket.)
With the Westerosi Wrestling Federation’s “Trial By Combat” PPV now canceled, instead of the Mountain taking center stage, it will be a parade of witnesses testifying both for and again Cersei Lannister. And the star witness for the prosecution is none other than Lancel Lannister, Cersei’s cousin and former lover.
Eugene Simon, who plays the born-again Faith Militant, discussed with Vulture last week’s experience of filming a scene where one of the Faith attempted to go against the Mountain, as well as the upcoming trial. Simon says he’s not surprised that a lot of people thought it would be be him who attempted to go against the Mountain and find himself unable to get ahead of the bloodshed, as it were.
"We figured a lot of people would think Lancel was going to die — he’s going to confront the Mountain, here we go! And the Mountain is wearing about 58 pounds of armor, so a lot of what we needed to do was figure out the technicalities of getting the cudgel in and out of the armor…. By the end of the shoot, when Hafþór Björnsson [who plays the Mountain] — who is an enormous, six-foot-nine giant of a man — rips the head off my now-decapitated colleague, it was actually from a life-size dummy that had congealed pus and blood at the base of the neck. It splattered blood all over the Faith Militant, but I don’t think the cameras were on us at the time, so you didn’t see that."
In an episode that was already filled with blood and gore, perhaps that last part is a good thing. Simon also weighed in on the Faith’s secret adgenda.
"It’s never been understood whether or not Lancel confessed to his sins and underwent a sort of degree of punishment the same way that Cersei or Margaery would, but that’s where things get interesting. That’s where we start to see that there is something politically motivated about the Faith Militant. It’s not as idealistic as it likes to think it is. It’s a sort of communist uprising, because it’s very much about demeaning the figures of authority, and trying to create a sense of equality when that’s not really fully possible. So because Lancel had helped them, because he had shown them just how bad Cersei really is, he has in a sense paid his dues."
Tommen canceling the trial By combat after the Mountain’s display of force seems to have taken the wind out of Cersei’s sails, at least for he moment. Simon agrees. “Cersei has been possibly checkmated, because before the odds were hugely stacked in her favor, and now she has no other choice except a formal trial,” he said. “To me, it comes down to the question of which one is more cunning than the other — Cersei or the High Sparrow?”
But Simon also brings up another point, one that could become important now that Jaime Lannister has finished conquering Riverrun and is likely on his way back to the city to see Cersei’s trial: Jaime doesn’t actually know Cersei cheated on him with Lancel.
"…the first time we see Lancel this season is outside the Sept of Baelor, when the Tyrell army came to intervene, and Lancel was right in front of Jaime. What must have been going through Lancel’s mind! A very mixed bag of emotions, which he suppressed, and Jaime is seemingly none the wiser. There’s not much reality-checking going on in the Lannister household!"
Book-readers know that Jaime finding out that Cersei slept with Lancel (as well as a few other characters cut from the show) is part of what begins the emotional break between the twins, and that he starts suspecting her of sleeping with just about everyone. So far, that break hasn’t come on screen—could learning of Cersei’s confession in the finale be part of what finally splits the two asunder?