Game of Thrones as Myth: Qyburn as the Archetypal Shadow
PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF THE SHADOW
As we have seen, the character of Qyburn operates less as a reflection of Cersei and more as a manifestation of her own Shadow inclinations. Cersei is an bitter, angry person who needs a hand grenade to throw, and Qyburn both constructs and throws the hand grenade for her. As Vogler states:
"The shadow can represent the power of repressed feelings. Deep trauma or guilt can can fester when exiled to the darkness of the unconscious, and emotions hidden or denied can turn into something monstrous that wants to destroy us … this energy can be a powerful with an internal force of its own and its own set of interests and priorities."
As we will see later, while Qyburn seems utterly committed to Cersei, it is most certainly in part because she allows him to proceed unhindered with his own dark obsessions. Qyburn’s support of Cersei pays him huge dividends: his own laboratory, access to body parts and carte blanche to pursue his controversial “experiments.”
Shadows often appear in stories as destructive and frightening creatures like vampires, murderers and dragons. The merging of Cersei with the manifestation of her dark side, Qyburn, results in the creation of the abomination: the reanimated Ser Gregor. Like Victor Frankenstein, Qyburn explores taboo science in order to study and cheat death, and the resulting monster can be considered a child born of the Cersei/Qyburn union.
DRAMATIC FUNCTION OF THE SHADOW
One of the dramatic functions of the Shadow is to challenge the hero. But the Shadow can also erupt out of the unsavory catacombs of a character’s unconscious and, if not properly thwarted, take control:
"“When the protagonist is crippled by doubts or guilt, or acts in self-destructive ways, expresses a death wish, gets carried away with (her) success, abuses (her) power, or becomes selfish rather than self-sacrificing, the Shadow has overtaken (her).” —Christopher Vogler"
Cersei has long been overtaken by her own Shadow, but she lacked the power to transform her dark impulses into action. Qyburn provides Cersei with the ability to act according to her Shadow-side’s most murderous desires.
MASK OF THE SHADOW
The Shadow can and often does wear the masks of other archetypes. Qyburn tried and failed to become a normal Maester, but what he truly wanted was a platform where he could indulge his obsession with “unnatural” human experiments. But Qyburn is also able to apply his immense knowledge to heal people and “save many lives.”
Qyburn’s former profession as a respected Maester is akin to the mask used by Hannibal Lecter, whose day job as an esteemed psychiatrist hid the cannibalistic monster within. Hannibal also did some good by harnessing his genius and knowledge of his own affliction to help Agent Clarice Starling capture another serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs, thus saving lives.
HUMANIZING THE SHADOW
Shadows are better served in stories when they have depth and display a few positive qualities, such as kindness or perseverance. Qyburn, like all interesting characters, is not all bad, or at least one can argue he isn’t all bad. He saves what is left of Jaime’s arm, assists the little birds and their families, and eventually protects Cersei from the High Sparrow.
But each of Qyburn’s ‘good’ turns, like those of Hannibal Lecter, are also designed to gratify himself or pursue his own agenda. The salvaging of Jamie’s arm, as Roose Bolton suspected, leads to Qyburn being promoted to a respectable position at King’s Landing. Qyburn transforms Varys’ little birds from whispering spies into knife-wielding assassins, and his use of wildfire to eliminate the High Sparrow and his minions also wipes out the entire royal court, along with many innocent civilians in the area.
CONCLUSION
The end of Season 6 left us with Qyburn, as Master of Whisperers and Hand of the Queen, crowning Cersei as she took the Iron Throne. They have become an inseparable team, both of them now more powerful than they have ever been before.
Cersei has equipped Qyburn with the tools and influence to act according to her wishes and pursue his dark science to the maximum. Functioning as the Shadow, Qyburn, with his great intellect, obsession and amoral practicality, turns Cersei into a far more deadly and effective player in the great game.
Qyburn, like all characters, is the hero of his own story. Now that he has been unleashed and empowered by Cersei, Christopher Vogler sounds a warning: “Beware the man who believes the end justifies the means.”
The Shadow Qyburn: Specifics
House: Allegiance to House Lannister
Sigil: None
Animal: Duck-billed Platypus
Weapon: Complete Amorality
Nemesis: Grand Maester Pycelle (now deceased)
Sidekick: Little Birds
Greatest Love: Experimenting on things living, dead and in-between
Greatest strength: Weird Science
Greatest Weakness: Weird Science
Greatest Mystery: How does Qyburn reanimate Ser Gregor? He does a better job than Mirri Maz Duur with Drogo, but worse than Melisandre with Jon Snow.
Color: Corruption blue
Tarot Card: The Devil
Ice Cream: Bone Marrow with Smoked Cherries (yes, it was real, though perhaps discontinued)
Future Prospects (Season 7): most trusted and powerful counselor to Queen Cersei with his own well-equipped laboratory, but life is always perilous in the vicinity of the Iron Throne.
OTHER WIC GAME OF THRONES AS MYTH ARTICLES in the ARCHETYPE and HERO’S JOURNEY series:
Hero’s Journey: Daenerys Targaryen
(Anti) Hero’s Journey: Tyrion Lannister
Alliser Thorne as Archetypal Threshold Guardian
Melisandre as Archetypal Dark Herald