Maggy the Frog

Though her name was lost, the alias, Maggy the Frog, came to become her name. However, the name was a bastardization of the word maegi, the term given to any woman from Essos that practices blood magic. Many called her a witch because of her crusty yellow eyes and scary demeanor. She was the go-to source for fortune-telling and portions. Cersei Lannister and her friends traveled to Maggy’s tent and asked for their fortunes. When she told them what she saw, Cersei and her friend ran from the tent, never returning.

Maggy the Frog Personal Details

• Alias: Maggy the Frog.
• Real Name: Unknown.
• Allegiance: House Spicer.
• The Continent of Origin: Essos.
• Culture: Westermen.
• Religion: Unknown.
• Eye Color: Yellow. 

Appearance and Personality

Maggy is a scary-looking woman with crusty yellow eyes and a pale green jowl. Due to her age, she has no teeth, which makes her voice croaky. Though her voice sounds chapped, she speaks in an accented voice. Besides having hideous features, she has a bent back. Before her name got lost to the Westerosi, it was complex to pronounce. She conducts all her dealings in a dark green tent.

Biography

When she was younger, Maggy came to Lanisport with her husband, a trader who sold saffron and pepper in Essos. She eventually stayed back at Lannisport, and later, her son, a merchant, got ennobled by Lord Tytos Lannister, forming House Spicer. With her son a petty lord and the head of a new minor house, she became the grandmother to the knights Ser Samwell and Ser Rolph.

Cersei’s Fortune

When Cersei was ten years old, she attended the tournament hosted by King Aerys II Targaryen in honor of his newborn son, Viserys Targaryen. At the event, Cersei got awestruck by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Viserys’s older brother. To learn if there were any hopes of her marrying the man of her dreams, she and her friends, Melara Hetehrspoon and Jeyne Farman traveled to meet Maggy in her tent.

On entering, Jeyne got scared of the witch’s yellow eyes and fled. With Cersei and Melara left, the girls ordered their fortunes. Maggy refused their offer, but when Cersei threatened her, she obliged and drank their blood after bleeding them with a twisted iron dagger.

On taking in their blood, Maggy gave a young Cersei three questions. After Cersei asks the first question, she responds: 

You’ll be queen for a time. Then comes another, younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear.

To the other questions, she responds: 

Oh, aye. Six-and-ten for him, and three for you. Gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds. When the tears have drowned you, the Valonqar shall wrap his hands around your pale white throat and choke the life from you.

Later Cersei learned the word Valoqar was the High Valyrian term for the word little brother; this haunted her later when Tyrion Lannister killed Tywin. Maggy told Cersei that she would get replaced by a beautiful queen. When Melara asks if she would marry Jaime, Maggy says: 

Not Jaime, nor any other man, Worms will have your maidenhead. Your death is here tonight, little one. Can you smell her breath? She is very close.

Unsatisfied with the prophecies she received, Cersei stormed out of Maggy’s tent. However, before she left, she poured a potion on the witch’s face; this made her curse them both. Cersei never told anyone of her encounter with the witch, not her father or Jaime, her twin. Melara later drowned in a well.

Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire

A Feast for Crows

After Robert Baratheon’s death and Joffrey’s death, Tommen becomes King and Cersei assumes the position of Queen Regent against the advice of her uncle Kevan Lannister. With Margaery Tyrell now Tommen’s wife, Cersei gets jealous and remembers Maggy’s prophecy of a beautiful queen coming to displace her. When Cersei sees Olenna, Margaery’s grandmother, in the Red Keep, she remembers Maggy.

Cersei dreams of when she was a little girl. In the dream, she visits Maggy and relives the encounter with her. However, she realizes that some events are different. She tells Qyburn and Taena of Myr her dream.

A Dance with Dragons

When Cersei gets arrested by the Faith Militant, she gets forced to make the walk of penance. During the walk, she tries to remain unshaken, but then she imagines Maggy among the crown mocking her. When the witch’s words echo in her mind, she breaks down and begins to cry. She eventually reaches the Red Keep, and her uncle, Kevan, orders that she gets treated.

Relevance in Adaptations

In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Maggy got portrayed by Jodhi May. Though she appeared in one episode, she influenced Cersei’s character. Most of her actions sprang from the fear of an unknown queen coming to dethrone her. She hated Sansa and Margaery because they were potential queens who could replace her. 

In the series, Maggy revealed to Cersei that she would lose all her children, and it all came through when she lost Joffrey and Myrcella to poison and Tommen to suicide. All the losses Cersei faced eventually made her eviler, and with the arrival of Daenerys Targaryen at the end of season 7, she became more paranoid. With Dany’s arrival in Westeros, Cersei prevents her soldiers from fighting the Night King. Later, Daenerys attacks King’s Landing with Jon Snow, and during the attack, Cersei gets killed.

Maggy the Frog: The Old Witch

In A Song of Ice and Fire, Maggy the Frog is a minor character who affects a primary character. Before ever becoming Queen Regent, Cersei was paranoid about getting replaced by another Queen; this made her kill the bastard children of Robert and commit other heinous deeds. As her paranoia increased, she started suspecting her husband may discover her secret illegitimacy and send her packing; this made her kill him. All of Cersei’s terrible decisions got influenced by the fear she nurtured, one given to her by Maggy.

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