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| nationality = [[Westeros]]i
| nationality = [[Westeros]]i
| family = [[House Lannister]]
| family = [[House Lannister]]
| relatives = [[Tywin Lannister]] (father)<br>[[Joanna Lannister]] (mother)<br>[[Jaime Lannister]] (brother)<br>[[Cersei Lannister]] (sister)<br>[[Kevan Lannister]] (uncle)<br>[[Lancel Lannister]] (cousin)<br>[[Joffrey I Baratheon]] (nephew)<br>[[Myrcella Baratheon]] (niece)<br>[[Tommen I Baratheon]] (nephew)
| relatives = [[Tywin Lannister]] (father)<br>[[Joanna Lannister]] (mother)<br>[[Jaime Lannister]] (brother)<br>[[Cersei Lannister]] (sister)<br>[[Kevan Lannister]] (uncle)<br>[[Lancel Lannister]] (cousin)<br>[[Joffrey Baratheon]] (nephew)<br>[[Myrcella Baratheon]] (niece)<br>[[Tommen Baratheon]] (nephew)
| spouse = Tysha (annulled)<br>[[Sansa Stark]] (unconsummated)
| spouse = Tysha (annulled)<br>[[Sansa Stark]] (unconsummated)
| significantother = Shae
| significantother = Shae

Revision as of 11:54, 26 August 2014

Tyrion Lannister
A Song of Ice and Fire character
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion
First appearanceNovel:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
Television:
"Winter Is Coming" (2011)
Created byGeorge R. R. Martin
Portrayed byPeter Dinklage
Game of Thrones
In-universe information
AliasThe Imp
The Halfman
GenderMale
TitleHand of the King
Master of Coin
FamilyHouse Lannister
SpouseTysha (annulled)
Sansa Stark (unconsummated)
RelativesTywin Lannister (father)
Joanna Lannister (mother)
Jaime Lannister (brother)
Cersei Lannister (sister)
Kevan Lannister (uncle)
Lancel Lannister (cousin)
Joffrey Baratheon (nephew)
Myrcella Baratheon (niece)
Tommen Baratheon (nephew)
NationalityWesterosi

Tyrion Lannister (also referred to as "The Imp" or "The Halfman") is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of high fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. Based on an idea that came to Martin while writing the 1981 novel Windhaven,[1] Tyrion has been called one of the author's "finest creations" and most popular characters by The New York Times.[2][3] Martin has named the character as his favorite in the series.[1][4]

Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Tyrion is a dwarf and member of House Lannister, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the fictional kingdom of Westeros. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000). Tyrion was one of a few prominent characters that were not included in 2005's A Feast for Crows,[5] but returned in the next novel A Dance with Dragons (2011).[6] The character will also appear in the forthcoming volume The Winds of Winter.[7][8] The popularity of the character led Martin and Bantam Books to publish The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, an illustrated collection of Tyrion quotes from the novels, in 2013.[9][10][11][12]

In 2011, Peter Dinklage received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and later the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film for his portrayal of Tyrion in the HBO series.[13][14] Among other accolades, Dinklage has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award in 2012, 2013, and 2014.[15][16][17][18][19]

Character description

In A Game of Thrones (1996), Tyrion is introduced as the third and youngest child of wealthy and powerful Tywin Lannister, the former Hand of the King. Tyrion's elder sister Cersei is the Queen of Westeros by virtue of her marriage to King Robert Baratheon, and Cersei's male twin Jaime is captain of the royal security detail, the Kingsguard. Described as an ugly ("for all the world like a gargoyle"), malformed dwarf with mismatched green and black eyes, Tyrion possesses the pale blond hair of a Lannister but has a complicated relationship with the rest of them.[9][20] While he is afforded the privilege and luxuries of his family, he is treated as a "second class noble" because of his stature.[21] Additionally, his mother Joanna had died giving birth to Tyrion, for which Tywin and Cersei blame and loathe him. Further, Tywin's pride in his family name and rank, and obsession with creating a long-lasting royal dynasty, is at odds with the reality that he has fathered a physically flawed child who repulses him but whom he is duty-bound to protect. Jaime however, though close to his sister and loyal to their father, treats Tyrion with respect and kindness.[22]

Tyrion is intelligent, witty and well-read, and shares his father's skill for business and political maneuvering.[22] David Orr of The New York Times notes him to be "a cynic, a drinker, an outcast and conspicuously the novels’ most intelligent presence."[2] As an outcast, he displays sympathy for other outcasts, and the otherwise mistreated; the TV series version of the character commiserates with the illegitimate son of Eddard Stark by saying “All dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes."[23] Still, he is usually seen for his deformities and vices, rather than his virtues and good deeds.[22] Tom Shippey of the Wall Street Journal points out that other characters underrate Tyrion: "His dwarf-status acts as a kind of protection, because — though he is probably the most intelligent character in the whole cast list — no one takes him seriously."[24] Acknowledging that Tyrion's wit, humor and cunning are his survival mechanism, actor Dinklage told The New York Times that "He knows he has no skills with the sword, and this is a world that is really deeply violent. Military rules. He would not be able to survive in that world, given his own strength. So he beats people to the punchline — he's entertaining."[21]

Creation and overview

In 1981, Martin was collaborating with Lisa Tuttle on a trio of novellas that would be published as the novel Windhaven:

So while we were writing the books we thought about a dwarf who would have been the Lord of one of the islands. He had to be the ugliest person in the world but the most intelligent too. I kept that idea in my mind and it reappeared to me when I was starting to write Game of Thrones. So ... That’s Tyrion Lannister.[1]

Tyrion is a prominent point of view character in the novels, and both David Orr of The New York Times and Lev Grossman of Time called him one of Martin's "finest creations."[2][25] Martin has singled out Tyrion as his favorite character in the series,[1][4] and in 2001 Thomas M. Wagner wrote that Tyrion "may very well be the strongest antihero in all of contemporary fantasy."[4] The New York Times also noted in 2012 that "for fans of the novels, Tyrion is among the most beloved among the scores of kings, warriors, wenches, slaves, queens and monsters that populate George R. R. Martin’s world."[26] Martin said, “My readers identify with the outcast, with the underdog, with the person who’s struggling rather than the golden boy.”[26]

Tyrion appears first in A Game of Thrones (1996), and then in A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000). He is one of a handful of "sorely missed" major characters that do not appear in 2005's A Feast for Crows,[5] but on his website in 2006 Martin released a sample chapter featuring Tyrion from his next novel A Dance with Dragons.[27] In advance of the publication of A Dance with Dragons in 2011, Martin confirmed Tyrion's presence in the novel and called him one of "the characters people have been waiting for."[6] In April 2012 Martin read a Tyrion chapter from his forthcoming The Winds of Winter at Eastercon;[7] a second Tyrion chapter was read at Worldcon in August 2013 and later released in the official A World of Ice and Fire iOS application on March 20, 2014.[8][28][29]

In 2013 Bantam Books published The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, an illustrated collection of Tyrion quotes from the novels.[9][10][11][12]

Development

Noting Tyrion to be one of Martin's most popular characters and singling him out as the author's "grandest creation," Dana Jennings of The New York Times calls him "a bitter but brilliant dwarf whose humor, swagger and utter humanity make him the (often drunken) star of the series."[3] As A Game of Thrones begins, Tyrion is a witty, hedonistic curiosity, protected by his family status but still the object of subtle derision. He is perhaps the most intelligent member of his family, but consistently underestimated and marginalized.[2][24] Tyrion embraces the advantages of being a Lannister, but at the same time is all too aware of its negative aspects, and his own place as the embarrassment of the family. Initially he is the one Lannister remotely sympathetic to the Starks, but he is soon caught in the middle of the escalating conflict between the two Houses.[30] Taken prisoner and put on trial for his life, "all of his skills at conniving must be brought to bear simply to stay alive."[30] With the Starks and Lannisters now fully at war, Tywin tasks Tyrion to manage affairs at King's Landing, recognizing that his son is intelligent, clever and has inherited his skills with statecraft. In A Clash of Kings, Tyrion relishes his new power, but finds that his sincere efforts to stabilize his nephew Joffrey's rule are being undermined and thwarted by the misguided and self-serving machinations of everyone around him. He plots to nullify the counterproductive whims of Joffrey and Cersei, but the "much-maligned dwarf" finds himself "teetering between order and disaster as he tries to keep the Lannisters from losing absolutely everything."[4] Thomas M. Wagner calls it a "defining moment" when Tyrion comments that he is all that keeps chaos from overwhelming the family and population who both despise him.[4] Roberta Johnson of Booklist likens Tyrion to the calculating title character of Robert Graves' I, Claudius.[31]

In A Storm of Swords, Tywin reclaims the office of Hand of the King and gives Tyrion the seemingly-impossible task of turning the failing royal finances around. Tyrion's previous efforts, crucial in keeping Joffrey in power and saving King's Landing from invasion, are all but forgotten. Joffrey, emboldened by Tywin's return, publicly humiliates Tyrion; when Joffrey is grotesquely murdered immediately after, everyone eagerly points the finger at Tyrion. Tywin and Cersei do everything in their power to assure that he is declared guilty at trial. Innocent, but condemned to death and hated more than ever, Tyrion takes a dark turn. Martin explains:

[Tyrion]’s lost everything ... He’s lost his position in House Lannister, he’s lost his position in court, he’s lost all of his gold — which is the one thing that’s kind of sustained him throughout his life ... and he’s also found out that Jamie — the one blood relation that he loved unreservedly and has his back, and was always on his side — played a part in this traumatic event of his life, the ultimate betrayal ... He’s so hurt that he wants to hurt other people ... and he knows that just up this ladder is a chamber that was once his that now his father has usurped from him ... And I don’t think he knows what he’s gonna say or do when he gets up there but he — some part of him feels compelled to do it. And of course then we find Shae there, that’s an additional shock to him, an additional knife in his belly. I think sometimes people just get pushed too far, sometimes people break. And I think Tyrion has reached his point. He’s been through hell, he’s faced death over and over again, and he’s been betrayed, as he sees it, by all the people that he’s tried to take care of, that he’s tried to win the approval of. He’s been trying to win his father’s approval all his life.[32]

Finding his former lover Shae in his father's bed, Tyrion strangles her to death. Confronting Tywin with a crossbow soon after, he ultimately murders his father as well. To Martin, "the two actions are quite different, although they occur within moments of each other." The author continues, "He’s furious at Lord Tywin because he found out the truth about his first wife and what happened to her, and ... Lord Tywin is convinced that since he doesn’t love Tyrion, then no one can possibly love Tyrion." As Tywin repeatedly calls Tyrion's tragic first wife Tysha a "whore," Tyrion warns him to stop. Tywin has always taught his son that you must follow through on your threats if you are defied, so when he fails to heed Tyrion's warning, the dwarf kills him. "And it will haunt him. Tywin was his father and that will continue to haunt him, probably for the rest of his life," says the author.[32] To Martin, Shae's murder is something else:

With Shae, it’s a much more deliberate and in some ways a crueler thing. It’s not the action of a second, because he’s strangling her slowly and she’s fighting, trying to get free. He could let go at any time. But his anger and his sense of betrayal is so strong that he doesn’t stop until it’s done and that’s probably the blackest deed that he’s ever done. It’s the great crime of his soul along with what he did with his first wife by abandoning her after the little demonstration Lord Tywin put on ... it’s again something that’s going to haunt him, while the act of killing his father is something of enormous consequence that would be forever beyond the pale, for no man is as cursed as a kinslayer.[32]

"Fan-favorite" Tyrion returns to the narrative in A Dance with Dragons, as he flees Westeros following the murders of Shae and Tywin.[33] Across the narrow sea in Pentos and Slaver's Bay he finds himself "in just about the most humiliating and dire circumstances in a life that has seen more than its share of such."[33] As Booklist notes, "his astonishing adaptability evident as he goes from captive to conspirator to slave to mercenary without losing his tactical influence."[34] Still in possession of the "cruel wit that has seen him through in the past," Tyrion provides, according to Thomas M. Wagner, the "warmest and most sympathetic moments" in the novel.[33]

Storylines

A Game of Thrones

Tyrion is first introduced in A Game of Thrones (1996) when he visits the House Stark stronghold of Winterfell with King Robert Baratheon's entourage. Ned Stark is an old friend of Robert's who helped the King wrest the crown from the Targaryens; though Jaime and Cersei's disdain for Stark is obvious, Tyrion tries to befriend Ned's bastard son Jon Snow, a misfit of sorts who is being sent far north to the Wall to join the Night's Watch. Seeing the state to which the number of men in the Night's Watch has dwindled, and knowing how important the Brotherhood are to protect Westeros from wildlings, Tyrion promises to send new recruits upon his return to King's Landing. He also provides the Starks' Maester Luwin with a design for a mechanism to help Ned's recently-crippled son Bran get around. Returning from the Wall, Tyrion is taken prisoner by Ned's wife Catelyn Stark, who believes he played a role in a subsequent murder attempt on Bran. Catelyn takes him to the Eyrie, home of her sister Lysa Arryn, who has also accused the Lannisters of murdering her husband Jon Arryn, former Hand of the King to Robert. Mockingly confessing to various petty crimes while denying the accusations regarding Bran and Arryn, Tyrion demands a trial by combat and wins his freedom through the victory of his champion, the mercenary Bronn. Meanwhile, Tyrion's abduction has reignited old rivalries, and Tywin has amassed an army to defend Lannister honor and retrieve his son. Managing to win over the hostile hill tribes as he and Bronn make their way to the Riverlands, Tyrion meets up with his father's army. He beds a camp follower named Shae, though Tywin strongly disapproves of Tyrion consorting with prostitutes. With Robert killed in a hunting accident, his and Cersei's sadistic young son Joffrey is now King, and petulantly executes Ned Stark for treason. With any hope of peace between the Stark and Lannister forces now ruined, and Jaime a prisoner of Ned's son Robb, Tywin sends Tyrion to King's Landing to serve as Hand of the King and keep Joffrey under control until Tywin can return to the capital. Tyrion secretly takes Shae with him, and takes great pains to hide her.[22]

A Clash of Kings

In A Clash of Kings (1998), Tyrion recognizes the power vacuum created in the wake of Robert's death by Joffrey's inexperience and ineffectiveness, Cersei's myopic and selfish decisions, and the various sycophants surrounding the King and his willful mother. Seeking to consolidate power and preserve order in King's Landing, Tyrion puts people he can trust — like Bronn — in key posts, imprisons Grand Maester Pycelle for betraying him to Cersei, and sends the corrupt Commander of the City Watch Janos Slynt to join the Night's Watch. Ned Stark's daughter Sansa, betrothed to Joffrey but essentially a captive of the Lannisters, lives in fear of Joffrey's constant mental and physical torment. Disgusted by Joffrey's behavior and Cersei's failure to control him, Tyrion openly opposes the young king and tries to keep Sansa out of harm's way. Meanwhile, the (secretly true) rumor that all of Cersei's children are the product of an incestuous liaison with Jaime has gained traction; Robert's brother Stannis Baratheon has declared Joffrey and his siblings bastards, and himself the rightful king. While engaged in an outright power struggle with Cersei and Joffrey, Tyrion masterminds the defense of King's Landing against Stannis' naval attack, using a massive chain boom and ships filled with the Greek fire-like substance wildfire. When both Joffrey and Sandor "The Hound" Clegane abandon the battle, Tyrion leads a cavalry charge during which he is grievously injured by one of the Kingsguard on (Tyrion suspects) Cersei's orders to kill him.[35]

A Storm of Swords

Upon his recovery in A Storm of Swords (2000), Tyrion learns that he has lost most of his nose, and that a returned Tywin has removed him from power. Tyrion is appointed Master of Coin, the treasurer, to untangle Petyr Baelish's labyrinth of investments. Tywin also forces Tyrion to marry the captive Sansa before Olenna Tyrell, the grandmother of Joffrey's new bride-to-be Margaery, can wed Sansa to Margaery's older brother Willas, heir to the great wealth of House Tyrell. With Sansa's brother Robb recently murdered and her younger brothers presumed dead as well, what is left of Winterfell and the loyalty of the Stark bannermen in the North should fall to her and her husband once the wars in Westeros have subsided. Sympathetic to Sansa's situation, Tyrion leaves their marriage unconsummated, despite his father's orders to conceive a child with her as soon as possible. At the celebration of his wedding to Margaery, Joffrey taunts and humiliates Tyrion; when Joffrey is murdered with poison minutes later, Tyrion is accused. His previous good deeds forgotten, Tyrion is put on trial as Cersei, Pycelle and others twist his words and actions in their testimony. He is heartbroken to find that even Shae has been turned against him. In his grief, Tyrion demands a trial by combat to prove his innocence. Bronn, though loyal, is unwilling to risk his own life against the opponent likely to be chosen: the huge and virtually unstoppable Gregor "the Mountain" Clegane. Visiting Dornish prince Oberyn Martell seeks justice for his sister Elia, the wife of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen who had been raped and murdered (with her children) by Gregor after Robert and the Lannisters seized the throne of Westeros. Oberyn agrees to be Tyrion's champion, and nearly kills Gregor, but dies in the attempt. Pronounced guilty, Tyrion is taken to the black cells to await his execution. Jaime frees him with the help of the royal spymaster Varys, but not before telling Tyrion the truth about his first wife Tysha. Years before, Jaime and Tyrion had saved a peasant girl from being raped; a young Tyrion had slept with her, and then secretly married her. When Tywin found out, he had revealed to Tyrion that he and Jaime had arranged the "rescue" as an adventure for Tyrion, and that Tysha was a prostitute. Tywin then forced Tyrion to watch as a garrison of soldiers raped Tysha, and made Tyrion do the same. Tyrion had been traumatized by the experience throughout his life; now, in the dungeon, Jaime admits that Tysha had never been a whore, and that Tywin had lied to teach him a lesson. Furious, Tyrion swears revenge on his family for a lifetime of cruelty, and to hurt Jaime, lies that he did kill Joffrey. Before escaping the palace, Tyrion climbs a ladder from the dungeons to the Tower of the Hand to confront his father. He finds Shae in Tywin's bed, wearing the Hand of the King's gold chain of office. Heartbroken, he starts to cry. When Shae calls him "My Giant of Lannister," her pet name for him that he had been humiliated to hear her repeat at his trial, Tyrion loses control. In a rage, he strangles and kills her with the Hand's chain. Picking up a crossbow, Tyrion finds his father on the toilet, and asks him about Tysha. When Tywin calls her a whore, an infuriated Tyrion shoots him more than once in the stomach, and kills him. Tyrion then flees the palace, and Westeros.[36]

A Dance with Dragons

In A Dance With Dragons (2011), Tyrion travels across the narrow sea to Pentos, where he finds himself under the protection of wealthy Magister Illyrio Mopatis. Since the murder of Mad King Aerys II Targaryen at Jaime's hands and the accession of Robert Baratheon to the Iron Throne, Varys and Illyrio have secretly plotted to someday return the Targaryens to power. Aerys' son Viserys is now dead, leaving the King's daughter Daenerys next in line. With three newly-hatched dragons and an army of Unsullied, she has freed the slaves in all three great city-states of Slaver's Bay and settled in Meereen to rule. Tyrion is sent to join her in her campaign to eventually retake the Iron Throne, soon realizing that two of his traveling companions are not what they seem. One is Jon Connington, disgraced former friend of Aerys' eldest son Rhaegar; the other is young Aegon VI Targaryen, son of Rhaegar and Elia, whom Varys had spirited away and replaced with another infant before Gregor Clegane's murder of Elia and her children. When it becomes clear that Daenerys has no intention of immediately conquering Westeros, Tyrion convinces Connington and Aegon to call in their own forces and invade without Daenerys' help, while Westeros is embroiled in civil war (although it is unclear if this advice was given in good faith). While Tyrion's companions seek a boat in Volantis, Tyrion visits a brothel and is recognized and captured by Jorah Mormont. One of Daenerys' former advisors who was exiled for spying on her for King Robert, Jorah hopes that delivering Tyrion to her will return Jorah to her good graces. On the journey, Tyrion encounters a dwarf woman named Penny whom he had previously met at Joffrey's wedding feast. Tyrion, Jorah and Penny are soon captured by slavers and sold, eventually finding themselves in a camp outside Meereen. When a plague strikes the camp, Tyrion engineers their escape by joining the Second Sons mercenary company. In exchange for membership, Tyrion promises the company the wealth of the Lannister ancestral seat of Casterly Rock, his birthright since Jaime has renounced it. Tyrion quickly realizes they are on the losing side, and attempts to convince the Second Sons to change their allegiance.[37]

TV adaptation

Executive producers/writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss had pitched the idea of adapting Martin's series for television to HBO in March 2006, and the network secured the rights in January 2007.[38][39] The first actor cast was Peter Dinklage as Tyrion in May 2009.[40] Benioff and Weiss later noted that the funny and "incredibly smart" Dinklage was their first choice for the role, as the actor's “core of humanity, covered by a shell of sardonic dry wit, is pretty well in keeping with the character.”[26] Unfamiliar with the source material, Dinklage was cautious in his first meeting with the producers; as a dwarf, "he wouldn’t play elves or leprechauns" and — choosy about genre roles — he had just come from portraying the dwarf Trumpkin in 2008's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.[26] Benioff and Weiss told Dinklage that the character was "a different kind of fantasy little person," or in the actor's words, "No beard, no pointy shoes, a romantic, real human being.”[26] Dinklage signed on to play Tyrion before the meeting was half over, in part because “They told me how popular he was.”[26]

Seasons 1 and 2 (2011-2012) follow the events of A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, respectively.[41] The plot of A Storm of Swords was split into Seasons 3 and 4 (2013-2014).[41][42][43] Both season 5 and a theoretical season 6 will adapt material from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons,[44] novels whose plots run concurrently and each contain different characters.[45] Though the HBO series has alternately extended, abbreviated, conflated and diverged from the novels' plot lines,[46] Tyrion's character and story arc have remained mostly consistent with Martin's writing.[47]

Season 1

Calling the character the "black sheep" of the Lannister family, TV Guide wrote as the show premiered in 2011 that "Tyrion sees through all the chicanery and decides the best option is to drink and bed his way though the Seven Kingdoms."[48] The Boston Globe added that he is "a hedonistic intellectual who can talk his way out of anything."[23] According to the Los Angeles Times, "brilliant but low-living" Tyrion is "so well acquainted with the workings of the world he can hardly bear it, the Imp is ... debauched, perhaps, but a truth-teller nonetheless, fighting for his own survival with as much mercy as he can spare."[49] The New York Times went as far as to name Tyrion "the closest thing to a hero" in the HBO series.[26]

Season 2

During the second season, Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote that "Tyrion is just about the only character developing any complexity. Maybe even a glimmer of a conscience."[50] Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker noted, "If the show has a hero, it’s Tyrion (Dinklage), who is capable of cruelty but also possesses insight and empathy, concealed beneath a carapace of Wildean wit."[51] The Hollywood Reporter called Tyrion "the one to watch, as he’s the smartest Lannister and knows that having a brat for a king — who mistreats all those around him — could cause major backlash."[52] Willa Paskin of Salon called the character's increased prominence in Season 2 "a trade up in entertainment value, and a trade-off in morality."[53] She added, "Tyrion is more cynical, more manipulative and much better suited to surviving. He’s not so keen to be made into meat, and that makes him the kind of man characters in the show and audience members alike should be investing in."[53] Praising Dinklage, Dan Kois of The New York Times wrote, "He plays Tyrion as the only modern man in a muddy, violent, primal world. He loves good food, good conversation and a good book. Unlike the warmongering lords and knights of Westeros, but like most HBO subscribers, he would prefer to stay out of battle."[26] Kois adds that, "Dinklage’s bravado masks Tyrion’s deep well of melancholy."[26] Of the season 2 storyline, Dinklage noted that Tyrion enjoys not only his foray into battle, but also his new and unprecedented power at court.[54] He said, "This is a character that’s been shit upon his whole life. I mean, he comes from great wealth, but he’s treated very poorly, so now there’s a newfound respect where if somebody calls him a name, he can have them killed. He never had that before. Tyrion definitely enjoys that part and he’s trying desperately to hold onto it. He’s enjoying it while it lasts ’cause he’s not sure it’s gonna last very long."[54] As Varys the Spymaster tells Tyrion, power is “a trick, a shadow on the wall ... and a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”[51]

Season 3

Season 2 leaves Tyrion "broke, beaten, scarred for life and stripped of his power," despite having been instrumental in saving King's Landing from invasion.[55] It is his chance to escape the sordid and deadly "game of thrones," but he cannot bring himself to, confessing, “Bad people are what I’m good at.”[55] So Tyrion finds he must submit to Tywin's plan of marrying him to Sansa Stark; despite being drunk in order to soothe his many woes, Tyrion manages to save Sansa from being publicly stripped and likely raped by Joffrey, and later "chooses decency over filial loyalty and elects not to consummate the marriage after all."[56] Tyrion is also now powerless against Joffrey's malice, but Tywin has asserted his control over the young king, if only when it serves his own desires; he stops Joffrey from presenting Sansa with her brother's head, but not because he cares about Sansa or Tyrion's outrage.[57] Despite Tywin's continuous determination to make Tyrion feel "miserable and unloved," he believes he is a good father — because he resisted the urge to cast Tyrion into the sea at birth.[57] Though he should not be surprised by his father's coldblooded machinations, Tyrion is horrified by Tywin's involvement in the Red Wedding; Todd VanDerWerff writes, "only Tyrion seems to understand that the blood they spilled will eventually be avenged. The North may have calmed for now, but it won’t be calm always."[58] Of that storyline, Matt Fowler of IGN notes, "Only an event that powerful could keep series-favorite Tyrion out of an episode for the first time."[59]

Season 4

In March 2014, Dinklage confirmed that Season 4 would "stick fairly closely" to Tyrion's plot line in A Storm of Swords, adding that "those reversals of fortune really send [Tyrion] down the rabbit hole." He notes that the character changes in Season 4, and "really ends up in a different place than he thought he was going to. It’s fueled a bit by anger towards his family, and trying to find his place in the world. You see that some people rely on drunk, funny Tyrion. I think funny and drunk lasts only so long. He sobers up in many ways. And love is in his life [with Shae], and that causes a tremendous amount of damage — because he’s vulnerable and he doesn’t like to be vulnerable. He’s completely stripped of his defense mechanisms."[47] Of Tyrion's relationship with his brother Jaime, Dinklage said, "If you’re raised together, you have an unspoken dialogue many times, and it’s very easy, especially between Jaime and Tyrion. They have a real friendship, a good brotherhood. They look after each other."[47] As in the novels, Tyrion is (unfairly) found guilty of Joffrey's murder and condemned to death; the HBO series does not use the reveal that his first wife was not really a prostitute to motivate Tyrion to kill his father, and he does not lie to Jaime that he his guilty of killing Joffrey.[60][61]

Recognition and awards

From the beginning, Dinklage's performance received much critical praise. The Boston Globe called his Tyrion one of the show's "highlights," adding that Dinklage "gives a winning performance that is charming, morally ambiguous, and self-aware."[23] Matt Roush of TV Guide told viewers to "rejoice in the scene-stealing bravado of Peter Dinklage as the wry 'imp' Tyrion Lannister."[48] The Los Angeles Times wrote "In many ways, Game of Thrones belongs to Dinklage"[49] even before, in season 2, the "scene-stealing actor's" character became the series' most central figure.[53] The New York Times noted that as beloved as the character of Tyrion is to the novels' fans, "Dinklage’s sly performance has made Tyrion all the more popular."[26] The Huffington Post called Tyrion the "most quotable" character on the HBO series, as well as one of the most beloved.[62]

In April 2011 both the Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly pronounced Dinklage worthy of an Emmy Award for his performance in Season 1.[49][63] He subsequently received one for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series,[13] as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film.[14] He also earned a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film and a Scream Award for Best Supporting Actor for Season 1 of Game of Thrones.[64][65] Dinklage has received several other award nominations for his performance in the series.

Awards
Won
Nominated

Merchandising

As with most primary characters in the series, HBO has licensed the production of various Tyrion figurines:

  • Game of Thrones POP! Television Tyrion Lannister figurine (4.5 inches tall) by Funko[76]
  • Game of Thrones POP! Television Tyrion Lannister in Battle Armor figurine (4.5 inches tall, post-Season 2 version with facial scar and axe) by Funko[77]
  • Game of Thrones Mystery Mini Blind Box line features mini Tyrion figurine (among 15 total) by Funko[78]
  • Game of Thrones Legacy Collection action figure, Tyrion in armor with axe by Funko[79][80][81]
  • Game of Thrones Legacy Collection action figure, Tyrion in armor with axe by Funko, Limited Edition "2014 San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive" version which also includes a helmet[82]
  • Game of Thrones Legacy Collection action figure, "Hand of the King" Tyrion by Funko [83][84]
  • Game of Thrones Tyrion figurine (6 inches tall) by Dark Horse Deluxe[85][86][87]
  • Game of Thrones Tyrion Lannister 1/6 Scale Collectible figure (8 5/8 inches tall) by Threezero[88][89][90][91]
  • Game of Thrones Tyrion Lannister Statue by Dark Horse (10 inches tall)[92][93]

Family tree of House Lannister

Template:Family tree of House Lannister

References

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