Tywin Lannister

Tywin Lannister
A Song of Ice and Fire character
File:Tywin Lannister-Charles Dance.jpg Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister
First appearance	Novel: A Game of Thrones (1996) Television: "You Win or You Die" (2011)
Last appearance	Novel: A Storm of Swords (2000) Television: "The Children" (2014)
Created by	George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by	Charles Dance Game of Thrones
Information
Title	Lord of Casterly Rock Warden of the West Hand of the King Lord Paramount of the Westerlands
Family	House Lannister
Spouse(s)	Joanna Lannister
Children	Jaime Lannister Cersei Lannister Tyrion Lannister
Relatives	Tytos Lannister (father) Jeyne Lannister (mother) Kevan Lannister (brother)
Kingdom	The Westerlands The Crownlands

Tywin Lannister, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.

Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Tywin Lannister is the eldest son of Tytos Lannister. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000).

Tywin is portrayed by Charles Dance in the HBO television adaptation.

Character description

Tywin Lannister is Lord of Casterly Rock, Shield of Lannisport, and Warden of the West. He is a calculating, ruthless, and controlling man. In his youth, he witnessed his father grow old and "weak". Eventually several nobles revolted against Lannister rule. Disgusted with his father's inaction, Tywin personally led the Lannister army and utterly destroyed the rebellious vassals, placing the bodies of their entire families on display at Casterly Rock. Impressed with his decisive actions in putting down the rebellion, Aerys II Targaryen appointed the young Tywin Hand of the King. Despite his ruthlessness, Tywin proved himself a capable leader and his tenure was marked by peace and prosperity.

He eventually married his first cousin Joanna. When she died giving birth to their dwarf son Tyrion, he was devastated and it is said that "the best part of Tywin died with her." He never remarried. Tywin loves his children Cersei and Jaime, but he despises Tyrion for being deformed and blames him for Joanna's death. When Tywin discovered that the young Tyrion had eloped with a peasant's daughter, he fell into a cold rage, believing that a Lannister should never stoop so low as to marry lowborns. He had Tyrion's marriage annulled, telling him that the entire love affair was a plot by Jaime to get Tyrion to lose his virginity, his "love" being nothing more than a prostitute. Tywin then had the entire garrison of Casterly Rock gang-rape the girl.

During Robert Baratheon's rebellion, Tywin remained neutral until Robert had all but won the war. He then captured King's Landing through treachery and ordered the murder of the royal family before Ned could capture the city.

Overview

Tywin Lannister is not a point of view character in the novels, so his actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of other people, such as his son Tyrion Lannister. Tywin is mostly a background character in the novels.

Reception

The English actor Charles Dance has received positive reviews for his role as Tywin Lannister in the TV series.

Storylines

Coat of arms of House Lannister

A Game of Thrones

In A Game of Thrones, he views the kidnapping of Tyrion as a slight against his family and sends Gregor Clegane to raid the Riverlands. He then spends much of his time fighting House Stark in the following war. After King Robert Baratheon dies, he is named Hand of the King to his grandson Joffrey Baratheon.

A Clash of Kings

Upon hearing that rebel Stannis Baratheon is attacking King's Landing, he arrives in time to drive Stannis away in A Clash of Kings (1998).

A Storm of Swords

He arranges for Joffrey to marry Margaery Tyrell to secure an alliance between the Lannisters and Tyrells, and he orders Tyrion to marry Sansa Stark to claim Winterfell. He also plots the massacre at Edmure Tully's wedding, which kills rebel Robb Stark and most of his army, effectively ending the war. When Joffrey is poisoned and Tyrion is blamed, Tywin presides at his son's trial. Tyrion is determined guilty in a trial by combat and is sentenced to death. However, Tyrion escapes and murders Tywin in the privy after learning that Tywin had lied about his first wife in A Storm of Swords (2000).

Later novels

Tywin is mentioned a few times in the later novels.

Family tree of House Lannister

• See: Extended family tree of House Lannister

TV adaptation

Tywin Lannister is played by Charles Dance in the television adaption of the series of books.

Storylines

Lord of Casterly Rock, Shield of Lannisport and Warden of the West, Tywin is a calculating, ruthless, and controlling man. He is also the former Hand of King Aerys II. He is the father of Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion. After Eddard Stark's arrest, Joffrey names him Hand of the King once more, but after Jaime is taken captive by the Starks, Eddard is unexpectedly executed by Joffrey, and Renly and Stannis Baratheon challenge Joffrey's claim to the throne; Tywin elects to remain in the field commanding his forces until he wins his war, and in the meantime gives the position of Hand of the King to Tyrion.

Tywin continues the war through Season 2 at Harrenhal where he criticizes his commanders for losing and underestimating the Stark army led by King Robb Stark. While there, he forms an unlikely friendship with his cup bearer, unaware that she is actually Arya Stark. Originally, he was about to attack Robb's forces while they are distracted by the Greyjoys seizing Winterfell, but changes his mind and helps the defenders of King's Landing drive Stannis Baratheon's forces away. He assumes his position of Hand of the King once again and arranges for Joffrey to marry Margaery Tyrell to secure an alliance between the Lannisters and Tyrells. In the third season, as Hand of the King, he fortifies his position as de facto leader of the Seven Kingdoms, and he successfully defeats Robb Stark, the King in the North, by forging an alliance with the lords Frey and Bolton, who betray and kill Stark and his men. The crown subsequently pardons and rewards them with Riverrun and the North, respectively, though Tywin is criticized by Tyrion for winning the war through such an unscrupulous scheme. He also has to deal with an increasingly belligerent Joffrey, who chides his grandfather as a coward who "hid under Casterly Rock" while Robert Baratheon led the rebellion against Aerys Targaryen, and complicated relations with his children as he forces them into marriage alliances with Sansa Stark and Loras Tyrell, to secure the support of the Tyrells and Lannister dominion in the North (now Sansa's heirdom, as all her brothers are presumed dead).

In the fourth season, Tywin is present at the royal wedding where Joffrey dies, and has King's Landing closed off to prevent Sansa from escaping (although she escapes with help from Petyr Baelish and Dontos Hollard). He grooms Joffrey's younger brother, Tommen, to becoming the new King, and appears determined to make sure Tommen becomes a much better King than Joffrey was. The presence of Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne poses a new problem, however, as he resurfaces the Martell–Lannister antagonism over the rape and murder of his sister Elia by Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane during the Robert's Rebellion; Oberyn believes the deed was done on Tywin's order. Tywin denies the allegations and promises Oberyn justice in exchange for Oberyn serving as one of the judges at Tyrion's trial. At the trial, when several supposed witnesses give false statements regarding Tyrion's supposed guilt, Tywin promises Jaime in private that if Tyrion is found guilty and pleads for mercy, he will exile him to the Night's Watch but only if Jaime ceases to be a Kinsguard and takes his place as heir to House Lannister. However, Tyrion loses his composure, lashes out at Tywin and demands a trial by combat, to Tywin's anger. When Tyrion's champion, Oberyn, loses the fight and is killed, Tywin sentences his son to death. Later, when Jamie helps Tyrion escape, Tyrion discovers that Tywin was having an affair with Shae, Tyrion's former lover, who falsely testified against him at his trial. Tywin is ambushed by Tyrion while in a privy, wielding Joffrey's crossbow. Tywin attempts to reason with Tyrion, swearing that he would never have had him executed, but also – upon Tyrion showing regret for Shae's death – taunts him as "afraid of a dead whore". In rage, Tyrion shoots Tywin twice in the chest, killing him. His body is discovered shortly afterwards, and a grand funeral is held in the Sept of Baelor. As revealed by Davos Seaworth, he was 67 years old. Tywin's death heralds instability in the Seven Kingdoms, with the arrival of the Sparrows in the capital, and rivalry rising between Cersei, who aspires to her father's position but lacks many of his statesmanlike qualities, and the Tyrells. The Boltons also lose the potential Lannister military support just when they are faced with Stannis Baratheon planning to take Winterfell on his way to the Iron Throne.