The Fates Of Every Major Lannister Family Member In Game Of Thrones

The Lannister family can be considered, in a series that is never black and white, to be the primary antagonists in Game of Thrones. The family members, almost all of them, are shown to be constantly plotting for more power and usually have a shocking lack of any moral compass.

However, the fates of these characters were usually as brutal as the crimes they committed. The Lannister family was ancient in Westeros, but they were almost wiped out by the conclusion of Game of Thrones. Their various misdeeds and inability to work alongside any of the other major families led to their eventual downfall. A sign of their failure as a great family is that many of them were killed by their kin.

9 Tywin Lannister

A Terrifying Mastermind Slain By His Son

• Killed By Tyrion With A Crossbow In Season 4, Episode 10: “The Children”
• Appeared In 27 Episodes
• Played By Charles Dance

The most terrifying man in Westeros and the one who was able to keep things relatively under control for the Lannister family as it took power, Tywin was many evil things, but he was also a great patriarch for a dangerous family. One of the most feared men in Westeros, Tywin was a great battle commander, and he ruled with an iron fist.

He went from leader of Casterly Rock to Joffrey’s Hand and leader of his armies to being eventually shot with a crossbow by his son, Tyrion, in exchange for the brutal neglect he was shown his entire life. Tywin’s greatest failure was also his downfall, which is typical for a Lannister.

8 Kevan Lannister

A Former Hand Of The King & Victim Of Cersei

• Killed In Cersei’s Wildfire In Season 6, Episode 10: “The Winds Of Winter”
• Appeared In 12 Episodes
• Played By Ian Gelder

Tywin’s brother never had the force of mind or arms that his sibling did. But he was still a strong-willed, intelligent man, and he was opposed to the idea of Cersei gaining all the power in King’s Landing following Tywin’s death. He refused a place on the Small Council and returned to Casterly Rock. He came back again when Cersei was imprisoned by the Sparrows, and took on the role of Hand of the King to Tommen.

Having achieved the same level of power as his brother, it seemed like Kevan might have been able to do some actual good with the role until he was one of the many victims of Cersei’s crazed wildfire attack on the Sept of Baelor. An unforeseeable level of madness had gripped his niece, and Kevan became just another Lannister who was killed by his own family.

7 Cersei Lannister

A Queen & Ruthless Schemer Who Sealed Her Own Fate

• Killed During The Destruction Of King’s Landing In Season 8, Episode 5: “The Bells”
• Appeared In 62 Episodes
• Played By Lena Headey

There are a lot of things that can be said about Cersei Lannister. She went from Queen to Queen Mother and back to Queen throughout the series, always holding power to a high degree within King’s Landing from the time that fans met her until her eventual death. Her fate was perhaps destined and always seemed to be coming, as she slowly lost all of her children in her relentless quest for power.

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One of the few characters that made it from the beginning until the final season, Cersei died after being crushed in the destruction of much of King’s Landing. She was with Jaime at the time, as they were pretty much the only family they had left to each other by that point in the story. Scorning the opportunity to escape, to live without all of this power, Cersei proved herself to be the ultimate power-hungry villain.

6 Jaime Lannister

A Kingslayer Who Died With His Sister

• Killed During The Destruction Of King’s Landing In Season 8, Episode 5: “The Bells”
• Appeared In 55 Episodes
• Played By Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Another Lannister who made it to the final season, Jaime Lannister had an interesting but confusing life. A member of the Kingsguard for the Mad King, he saved a huge number of people by slaying the King before he could burn King’s Landing with wildfire. However, he went back to his sister even after she did the same thing to the High Sept.

Jaime spent a lot of the series being humbled, learning about being a better man, and even falling somewhat for Brienne of Tarth. Sadly, he could never stay away from the temptation of Cersei. As a result, he returned to her in time to die with her in King’s Landing as Daenerys crushed it, though he seemed to want to live and escape for a different life with her. Never interested in power as much as the love he desired, Jaime died a broken man.

5 Tyrion Lannister

A True Lannister & The Sole Survivor

• Survived And Became The King’s Hand
• Appeared In 67 Episodes
• Played By Peter Dinklage

Considered by many to be the best of the Lannister family, Tyrion was the only major Lannister family member left alive by the end of Game of Thrones. He followed different masters throughout his life. Being shunned by his own family, he nevertheless helped them in some truly important ways, admittedly, after a lifetime of sleeping around and taking a minimal interest in anything serious.

After they attempted to frame him for Joffrey’s death to finally get rid of him, they succeeded, although Tyrion earned his sentence by killing Tywin before leaving. He became Daenerys’ Hand and returned to Westeros in time to try and save Jaime from a death sentence. All this did was turn Daenerys against Tyrion and allow Jaime to go back to Cersei, so they could die together. But it worked out for Tyrion, as he convinced Jon Snow to remove Daenerys from the equation before being made Hand for a third time to Bran Stark. Tyrion was always a great and fair mind, and becoming an adviser to the new king was a great way for his story to end.

4 Lancel Lannister

A Religious Fanatic Who Became Cersei’s Victim

• Killed In Cersei’s Wildfire In Season 6, Episode 10: “The Winds Of Winter”
• Appeared In 16 Episodes
• Played By Eugene Simon

One of the less memorable Lannister family figures, Lancel, was the son of Kevan and a squire later turned knight of the realm after Robert Baratheon’s death. However, he suffered a near-death experience from an infested arrow wound sustained during the Battle of the Blackwater. After recovering, he took to religion with the Sparrows.

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This new role was a fascinating one, as Lancel attempted to come clean about his former relationship with Cersei, which led to her being arrested and driving her down the path of vengeance that led to her killing many of her enemies in a single fell swoop during the destruction of the Great Sept of Baelor. Lancel and his father both being present didn’t stop her, and this major blow brought the Lannisters much closer to extinction.

3 Joffrey Baratheon

A Tyrant King Who Was Poisoned

• Killed By Poison In Season 4, Episode 2: “The Lion And The Rose”
• Appeared In 26 Episodes
• Played By Jack Gleeson

Few characters can say they ruled Westeros, and Joffrey Baratheon managed to hold onto power for several years. His tyrannical reign over King’s Landing went on from the end of the first season until his death early in the fourth, which came when he was poisoned at his own wedding.

Joffrey was a horrible person. He was spoiled by Cersei, given no fatherly advice from either Robert or Jaime, and became a true monster who tortured the likes of Sansa Stark, had her father killed, and behaved in a cowardly and sadistic manner until his death. He proved on countless occasions that he wasn’t fit to rule and became one of the most black-and-white villains in the show’s history.

2 Myrcella Baratheon

An Innocent Bystander Who Was Poisoned

• Killed By Poison In Season 5, Episode 10: “Mother’s Mercy”
• Appeared In 14 Episodes
• Played By Aimee Richardson & Nell Tiger Free

The other children of Cersei and Jaime miraculously turned out not to be monstrous at all. Perhaps it was the horrifying vision of everything that Joffrey was that made them shy away, but Myrcella Baratheon seemed, on all accounts, to be a pleasant child who was every bit the young princess. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be enough to save her.

Myrcella was sealed by Tyrion in a marriage pact that was to take place when she was of age with a prince of Dorne, and she was sent to live there during the war for safety. Unfortunately, after the death of Oberyn Martell, she was more a prisoner than anything. Jaime went to Dorne to save her, but she was poisoned by Ellaria Sand as they left, and Jaime was helpless to save her. Cersei would later take vengeance on Ellaria for this murder, but it was too late for her daughter.

1 Tommen Baratheon

A Gentle & Heartbroken King Who Died By Suicide

• Died By Suicide In Season 6, Episode 10: “The Winds Of Winter”
• Appeared In 18 Episodes
• Played By Dean-Charles Chapman

The final of Cersei’s children could have been a truly great hope for Westeros. Without his mother’s intervention, Tommen genuinely seemed to be a good person and a potentially kind King for the country. He loved Margaery Tyrell, and it was her death that led to his own. He was too young to accept this loss.

Tommen took his own life, jumping from his balcony in the wake of his mother’s destruction of the Great Sept. Ending the chance of someone wresting power from his mother from within their own family, Tommen left King’s Landing in her hands by ending the line of her children. Though Tyrion could have children following the end of the series, Tommen’s death signified the end of the Lannister line.

Game of Thrones

First Episode Air Date

April 17, 2011

Where to watch

HBO Max