Cercei and Taena

[Booknerd2]

Totally out there with no evidence but... Or the child belongs to the person she is spying for. Hence a little investment was there for her to put her neck on the line. It is not for her current husband, I'm sure.

No idea who it might be though.

[tinyskeeveuk]

while this theory is amazing and would be so cool, didn't the prophecy state that robert would have 16 children and all 16 have been accounted for to the reader? or are some still "missing"?

We only know about 7 of the 16 - Mya, Gendry, the twins at Lannisport, Barra (The child by the whore in KL), Bella and Edric Storm. Even Varys admits he only knows of eight... which means we're missing another eight (if the prophecy of 16 is true). So if the reader only knows of seven, Varys knows of eight, the last known one could be Taena's child. And then we have eight nobody knows of....

[Booknerd2]

I thought I saw a thread a long time ago. Can somebody direct me to a thread if it was speculated who some of the other 8 might be. I would think not going to be crucial at this point in the series, but when the Joff, Tommen, Myrcella paternity comes up, as it most certainly will, it is just more evidence against them.

[danm_999]

The UK newspaper The Guardian has a yearly 'Bad Sex Award'.

Cercei v Taena is a serious contender. I thought it was badly written and unnecessary.

Myrish swamp isn't even the worst in AFFC. Honestly, that award has to go to 'fat pink mast'.

[tinyskeeveuk]

Haha... fat pink mast.

[TheGriffonReborn]

Never seen this Robert & Taena theory before. If this son is Robert's, does whoever Taena is spying for know this? And if they did, why would they choose Taena, knowing that she could bare some enmity towards the person she's spying on and do something rash and compromise the mission?

[Consigliere]

I actually have the theory that Taena was pretending Cersei was Robert in that scene. So, ironically, as Cersei fingered Taena and tried to imagine herself as Robert, Taena was imagining Cersei as Robert as well.

There is a theory on these boards that Taena was at one point Robert's mistress, and that her little boy is Robert's bastard. Personally, I think it fits very well with what we know about Taena, her husband, her marriage, and her interactions with Cersei.

Hints that Taena was Robert's mistress for a time and Robert fathered her son include:


1. In 8 years of marriage, the 23-year-old Taena has produced one son, aged 8. Being a gorgeous young woman, it is surprising that her husband is not more diligent in his attentions, and that Taena is not more fertile. Perhaps Lord Merryweather's seed is weak, but still, the baby at the beginning of the marriage seems somewhat strange.

2. The marriage to Lord Horton seems like a sham. It goes without saying that Lady Merryweather obviously married Horton for his money. However, he does not seem much interested in her either when we see the two interact. And it is unusual that in eight years, his gorgeous young wife has only borne him one child, at the very beginning of their marriage.

One idea is that Horton is gay or impotent, and that the marriage is mostly a sham. (I hold the gay theory myself, because while Taena, Horton, and Cersei are all dining together with the Blue Bard, it is noted that "Lord Horton kept stealing glances at the singer." People have suggested that Lord Merryweather was merely apprehensive about what was to come; however, his reaction to Cersei's accusations suggest that he did not know about them beforehand. So Horton was merely checking out a handsome young man, rather than looking at his gorgeous wife.)

Why would Taena and Horton be in a show marriage? One idea is that Taena was impregnated by a very important, powerful man who could afford to get a guy to clean up his mess by marrying his old mistress off to someone with money and some power. Robert is such a man. And though Robert generally threw women away like old rags after using them, Taena's slightly higher status, as well as her stunning looks and sensual charm, may have made Robert more fond and generous than he usually was with his mistresses. Hence his going through the trouble to find Taena a well born, fake husband.

Horton was down on his luck and would have gratefully accepted a favor from the king in exchange for marrying his discarded mistress.

3. Obvious but worth mentioning-- Taena is drop dead gorgeous and oozes sex appeal. All around her, male and female, notice it. It would have been hard (heee) for king Bob, the horniest son of a bitch in Westeros, to ignore a woman like Taena.

4. The idea that Tanea is gay does not really correspond with the idea about her man with black hair and a scar, whom Taena mentions to Cersei. (Also, her comment that "I did not come to my husband's bed a maid entire" goes along well with the idea that she was Bob's mistress before he had Orton take her off his hands.)

Furthermore, though Cersei thinks she cunningly "got the truth out of" Taena by getting her drunk, the fact that Cersei thinks she did something clever pretty much indicates the opposite. Taena's words to Cersei that her first lover was "black haired and almost a pirate" may be false.

However, Taena's statement that the man had black hair and a scar could easily be true-- Robert surely has a large scar on his chest from the wounds he acquired during the war of the usurper. "Scars make a man more interesting," Taena says. Perhaps she was in a position to look at the ones on Robert's chest.

5. Taena's refusal to bring her son anywhere near Cersei. There are numerous explanations for this, including Taena realizing Cersei is a loose Cannon. However, it also could be that if Cersei saw Taena's son, she'd realize who his father was.

6. Cersei's reflections that Taena is "her only true friend" etc. make it likely that Taena is playing her and betraying her in a big way.

7. Cersei unquestioningly buys into Taena's act that she desires Cersei, and vainly assumes that Taena's very showy sexual attraction to her is genuine. It seems as though it is very likely an act, and that Taena was trained in the Shae school of fake sexual pleasure. Thus, in a way, Taena is playing Cersei in a way that Cersei has played so many men before her. Cersei thinks she's in control and has Tanea under her thumb, but Tanea is merely gritting her teeth and doing whatever it takes to get into Cersei's good graces.

This.

[A Crow Come Over]

I don't even think that Taena has a child either.

[binga]

Taena is either working for Tyrell or maybe even Euron considering that she talked about the first man she did it with who was a pirate or something. I like her character, I really hope she gets to be in the tv show.

[Squire Dalbridge]

Taena + Robert is interesting. However, if she is in fact a spy of Litteflinger, her child could be Littlefingers as well(or still Robert's , but she's talking littlefinger). He is great grandson to a bravosi sellsword. So not a pirate, but it's in his lineage. He definitely has a scar, and dark hair, and it wouldn't be his first bastard.

Would it not? Do you know any (bastards of LF)? I have heard of none save for Alayne Stone.

Great theory, by the way. I don't see any weakness in it. There must be a good reason for Taena not to bring his son to court.

[bloodsteel bitterraven]

Robert makes sense at the father, but did Robert ever go to the Free Cities?

[Petyr Patter]

Both the Robert and the Littlefinger theories strike me as interesting. I mean, I'm willing to accept on a certain level Cersei's beauty and "power" got her one last pawn before the whole shebang comes crashing down on her. Yet, it seems far more poetic that Cesei is getting played, badly, and its going to come back and bite her, even more badly.

Still, what does Taena actually do for her? Largely help her plot against the Tyrells. So, it can't be the Tyrells she's helping, as they would never have allowed Margaery to be accussed of treason, even if they believed a trial would find her innocent. Just the accusation would do horrors for their carefully crafted PR campaign.

[Slackylc]

This Robert+Taena theory is fantastic. Totally convinced. I don't see anything so far that gives a strong indication if/who she's working for.

[manting]

the fact that she served up the serving maid leads us to her working for the Tyrells. Since there serving maid is unimportant compared to having someone close to the queen then it would make sense that she is working for the Tyrells and the serving maid was "served up" to prove Taena's value and loyalty to Cersei at no expense to the Tyrells. But, why does she flee Kings Landing after Cersei's arrest and return to Longtable? If she was working for the Tyrell's she would have nothing to fear.

[Slackylc]

Actually I take back my previous post. Strongly seems like she's working for the Tyrell's.

[Pod The Impaler]

OK, we know thatTaena was playing Cersei, whether for her own advancement or as a spy for the Tyrrells, possibly both. But in the Myrish Swamp scene where Taena was roaring her head off, was it for real or was she faking it, like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally?

I think Taena geuinely wanted it to happen.

Cersei was defintely faking any interest in it. She seemed quite disinterested any partaking any of it herself.

I think there was an element of calculation in it for her - she maybe thought this bit of seduction would keep Taena loyal to her; perhaps because the same tactic has worked with men (and eventually backfired, but that's later).

Now while I do not think Taena faked the sexual desire / enjoyment, I think Taena was faking the "loyalty" part. I think she is Dorne's friend in King's Landing.

[Light a wight tonight]

This thread got bumped? The only thing I can add is that on re-read of one Cersei POV Taena seems very protective of Margaery in particular and the Tyrells generally. I think she's their agent.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

I tried to post a reply and it up and vanished, somehow. I even copied and tried to repaste my reply, as I could tell something was funny, at the bottom of the reply box, saving post was cycling, and well, it's all gone.

I could see, IF Robert is her son's father, and/or she had true geniune feelings of frienship and love for him, Taena doing alot of this for herself and justice. I think she works, somewhat for the Tyrell's, but perhaps moreso for Martell, longterm, and herself. In a good way. I hope this doesn't up and vanish like a fart in the wind.

What's the big deal if the thread got bumped. I never saw this theory before, Robert being her son's father, I think it's an interesting and somewhat possible longshot.

[Pearlthegirl]

Robert made the 8 plus Myr! I like it!