Is Cersei lying about her pregnancy? 'Game of Thrones' finale director addresses the fan theories

There are few things more dangerous than a woman scorned, which makes Cersei Lannister one of the most dangerous players left on the board in Game of Thrones.

How dangerous? Well, she's prepared to risk the fate of the world and sit out the battle against the White Walkers in the hope that the Army of the Dead will murder her political opponents for her -- that's a plan so cold-blooded, it would probably give the Night King chills.

Fans are so skeptical of Cersei's motives at this point, some are even convinced that she's been lying about her pregnancy as a means of manipulating her brothers in Season 7.

She certainly doesn't hesitate to use her good news as a way of ensuring that Jaime's still on her side, warning him not to betray her again, even as they share a celebratory embrace.

And in the Season 7 finale, a well-timed touch to her belly reveals her condition to Tyrion, right as they're in the midst of a fraught political negotiation, perhaps because she wants him to believe she might put aside their differences for the good of her unborn child.

"It's a little bit of a poker game they're playing there because it seems like she's bluffing and he reads her bluff, but she wanted him to read her bluff -- this was all part of her game," showrunner David Benioff observed in a behind-the-scenes video from the finale. "Cersei's become quite good at playing this game. She wasn't in power but she was on the edges of power, and she learned how to operate in that environment. She plays Tyrion pretty beautifully here."

But would she lie about something so personal, especially when she's already lost three children? During an interview with Mashable, finale director Jeremy Podeswa shared his perspective on Cersei's behavior.

"I believe that she is really pregnant," he said. "I think she’s capable of any kind of treachery, but I feel that the fact that she has a new life within her does give her a different kind of core strength now, and even the strength to let Jaime go, for example, because she’s not truly alone anymore."

Sounds pretty definitive -- and despite Benioff's observation that Cersei is "unequivocally bad" at this point, Podeswa believes that she still has the capacity for good, which is demonstrated in the fact that she has opportunities to kill both Tyrion and Jaime in the finale, but fails to follow through on either.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"I think what’s so great about the writing on this show in general is that there’s no black and white; nobody’s all evil, nobody’s all pure," Podeswa told Mashable. "Cersei is a character who’s done unspeakable things and yet we also know that she’s a mother who’s lost her children; that she’s been pushed to the end of her tether. We understand, in a way, why she is the way she is, She was brought up a certain way and she’s suffered many indignities in her life, and her response to all those things is to want to take revenge on the world, really.

Podeswa added, "What’s so great about Lena [Headey] is she is never a simple villain. In all of this we see her humanity, and when we find out that she’s going to have a baby again, I think part of us is hoping that this is transformative for her. Every character in the show does have that kind of complexity, but in this final episode, we see so much of the complexity of who she is and nothing is ever at face value with her."

While some fans believe Cersei may have cut a deal with Tyrion in exchange for her (apparent) agreement to an armistice with Dany and Jon, Podeswa doesn't believe Tyrion would betray Dany in favor of his sister -- at least not yet.

"One never knows with this show, how it’s going to unfold," he laughed. "But I feel like at this moment in the story, he’s devoted to [Dany], and his goals are her goals. But I think the more that she acts independently, the less of a role he has to play in shaping all those things, and so where that ends up going in the future, only Dan and David know. It could go either way, I would say."

For the first time in her life, it looks like Cersei is the odd Lannister out, so it's just as well she's not faking her pregnancy -- she's going to need all the allies she can get in Season 8.