One of the thingsGame of Thronesgained attention for during its initial run was its approach to character death. While a lot of shows would claim complexity by killing off a nobody from time to time, HBO’s excellent fantasy series let huge names drop with alarming frequency. Everyone remembers the first time they saw Ned Stark on the chopping block or Joffrey Baratheon succumbing to poison. Tyrion Lannister scored one of the most satisfying kills of the series when he put down Tywin, but what pushed him to pull the trigger?
House of the Dragonis still a thrilling and enjoyable show, butfans miss a lot of charactersfrom its predecessor. Both series have excellent casts, butGame of Thronesgave the world many years to attach themselves to the performers. Fans are only just coming to love Rhaenyra, Alicent, and Aegon like they loved Jon, Arya, and Tyrion. The new team may never capture the complicated legacy of their predecessors, but fixtures from the earlier era still hold so much power.
Why Did Tyrion Kill His Father, Tywin Lannister?
There are two ways to viewTyrion’s murder of Tywin. It’s both a crime of passion and a response to a lifetime of abuse. In the short term, Tyrion killed Tywin because he destroyed the only love in his life. Tyrion developed an intense relationship with a sex worker named Shae. He picked her up while traveling with the Lannister army in the Riverlands and took her with him to King’s Landing. Mirroring an earlier engagement between Tyrion and a sex worker, Tywin turned Tyrion’s love against him. When Joffrey died at the Red Wedding, Tyrion became the prime suspect. Shae became the star witness, lying to paint Tyrion into a corner and guarantee a guilty verdict. Tyrion deserves some of the blame for mistreating Shae throughout their relationship, leaving her with few ways to provide for herself. Tyrion demands a trial by combat.His champion loses, and he’s facing the death penalty. Tyrion has to flee King’s Landing to escape his fate, but he makes a stop on his way out the door.
Tyrion enters his father’s chambers with unclear goals. He’s onhis way to meet Varysto board a ship to the Free Cities. On his way out, he enters Tywin’s room. He discovers Shae lying naked in his father’s bed. It’s clear that Tywin has chosen to pay her for her services as a final insult to his son before sending him to die. It’s a tense moment, but Shae isn’t sentimental enough to let it become a tearful reunion. Well aware that she’s sealed his fate and betrayed him with his greatest enemy, Shae quickly realizes that her life is in danger. She lunges at Tyrion with a knife, prompting him to fight back. In a combination of self-defense and jealous rage, Tyrion strangles Shae to death with his father’s chain. Though he briefly regrets his actions and mournfully apologizes to his lover’s corpse, Tyrion stands with renewed vigor. He draws Joffrey’s crossbow and confronts his father, catching Tywin in the privy. After a tense exchange, Tywin insults Shae repeatedly. Tyrion shoots him in the heart andabsconds to the Free Cities.
What Events Led Up To Tyrion Killing Tywin?
The most succinct answer to this question would be a fullaccounting of Tyrion’s entire life. Tywin was an awful and abusive father to Tyrion from the moment he realized his youngest son had been born a dwarf. Tyrion’s mother died giving birth to him, leaving the family to blame him for her tragic death. Tywin hated Tyrion, only offering him the life of luxury his name guaranteed because he had no other choice. Every grasp for power Tyrion made came with his father’s pushback. Ultimately, the plan to let Tyrion take the fall for Joffrey’s death was a multi-stage scheme to disinherit him. Tyrionwanted the ancestral Lannister homeof Casterly Rock, but Tyrion swore he’d never give it to his least-favorite son. He offered this speech to his son when he asked for the castle:
You are an ill-made, spiteful little creature full of envy, lust, and low cunning. Men’s laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors since I cannot prove that you are not mine. And to teach me humility, the gods have condemned me to watch you waddle about wearing that proud lion that was my father’s sigil and his father’s before him.
Tyrion’s older brother, Jaime, gave up his right to the castle when hejoined the Kingsguard. Tywin planned to force Tyrion to take the black, shipping him off to live out the rest of his days on the Wall, while Jaime would renounce his Kingsguard vows to take Casterly Rock. He did not plan for Tyrion to demand a trial by combat and mount an escape when he lost. Tyrion’s choice to kill his father is a crime of passion and opportunity. Shae was the final straw after a lifetime of abuse and mistreatment. Tyrion’s choice to pull the trigger came with the knowledge that he was already a fugitive with the promise of death at his back.
How Is Tywin’s Death Different In The Books?
The scene depicted in the show is a little morecharitable to both Tyrion and Tywin. When Tyrion kills Shae, he does so with no threat to his life. HBO’s Shae attempted to defend herself, arguably striking the first blow and partially justifying violence on Tyrion’s behalf. The books give Tyrion no such excuse. He chokes her to death in vengeance for her disloyalty, both here and at his trial. Conversely, the books also take this opportunity to bloodlet an earlier sin of Tywin’s. Tyrion’s tragic backstory involves a young lady named Tysha, but her role changes between the two versions. Tyrion met Tysha when he was a teenager. He and his brother rescue her from some bandits, leading to a whirlwind romance. Tyrion married Tysha in secret, summoning Tywin’s rage. He orders his soldiers to rape Tysha in front of Tyrion to punish him for daring to marry a low-born woman. In the show, Tysha is a sex worker who Jaime hires to free his younger brother of his virginity, staging the attack to let Tyrion feel like a hero and enjoy his first time. In the books, Tywin forces Jaime to lie to Tyrion, tricking the younger brother into believing that his bride only sought the family fortune.Jaime reveals this deceptionbefore Tyrion invades his father’s chambers. Their final confrontation is similar, but Tyrion kills Tywin for calling his first love a whore.
Game of Throneshas few murders more justified than Tyrion’s killing of his father. The books are a little more thorough when it comes to explaining how many sinsTyrion intends to avenge. The show turns the murder into slightly more of a crime of passion, though it’s hard to imagine he hasn’t thought about it for decades. Tyrion killed his father after a life of brutal abuse from the old man, finally mounting through several betrayals and a combination of passion and opportunity. It’s hard to imagine him choosing to forgive.
