Fashion is Coming: Examining the costumes of “The Bells”

Cersei’s red and gold dress

Cersei is another character donning her house colors in “The Bells.” Her red-and-gold dress resembles the one she wore during last week’s episode, and it’s fitting that she would die wearing Lannister colors. Even when she’s been at odds with her family, Cersei has always been proud of being a Lannister, and she’s always been softer on them than on others. It’s meaningful, then, that she would die in her twin brother’s arms, wearing a dress that’s red and gold. Cersei has taken her house pride to her grave.

What’s interesting, though, is that the shoulder armor Cersei’s been sporting during most of season 8 is gone during “The Bells.” That armor once highlighted Cersei’s willingness to put up a fight against the Dragon Queen. But during this episode, the fight goes out of Cersei once and for all. Even if she’s in some serious denial as Daenerys burns her city to the ground, she knows deep down that this war is lost. Why wear symbolic armor when it won’t be able to save you in the end?

Also significant is the fact that Cersei’s crown is MIA during “The Bells.” It’s surprising that Cersei would remove it; after everything she’s given up to maintain control of King’s Landing, one would think Cersei would wish to die with her crown on as much as she’d wish to die a Lannister. But this episode marks one of the rare displays of vulnerability we get from the Lannister queen, and in the moments leading up to her death, she seems to understand that there’s more to life than the throne. It’s too little, too late, but perhaps the missing crown symbolizes that.