HBO - Game of Thrones SPOILERS INSIDE. you have been warned

[Chain]

Arya isn't cruel, she just isn't a pacifist and is kind of shat on (like pretty much every character in that book).. I would say wanting some payback after some incidents she has been through isn't really indicative of cruelty

I would call [spoiler]reciting the names of everyone you want to kill (something like ten people?) every night before bedtime and actively seeking methods to bring about their deaths[/spoiler] more than just "some payback." I can sympathize with her of course - she's not evil, no one in the books really is except maybe Reek, Rorge, Biter and a few other minor characters - but that doesn't make her actions any less cruel.

Cersei is not sympathetic at worst she is deplorable at best she is pathetic for the following reasons: she indulges her incestuous feelings for Jamie despite the risk they carry to her and the family she claims to love, she refuses or is incapable of exerting her power by any means other than overtly, seems to have little foresight for the consequences of her actions, enables the worst habits of her children by never acting as a mother and more a servant, limitless sense of entitlement to power and station, no concern for her subjects as regent of Westeros, emotionally bullies all those that disagree or deny her wishes, and if I continued to read the rest of the books I am sure this list would be much longer! Were I a soldier of the North I would beg Robb Stark for the privilege to dismember this horrid human being limb by limb!

Would you have her live like a stone, mutely catering to the wills of others, letting Robert abuse her then run off to his whores while simultaneously denying herself physical contact from the man she loves? She really only wants for herself and her children a few things - love, safety, comfort - but her situation requires that she go to extreme measures for those very basic things. The scene in her solar [spoiler]while Stannis is attacking Kings Landing[/spoiler] is one of her most profound moments, and I think you'll understand her better after that. When she tells Sansa [spoiler]that it is said a woman's weapon is tears, but men get swords[/spoiler] my heart broke for her.