Hey guys, it’s Jan here.
I cannot wait for Season 5 of Game Of Thrones to kick off.
So, while we’re all gearing up to the new season, I’m going to be taking a look at
some of the show’s highlights so far.
This video is all about Tywin Lannister’s top 10 moments.
A no-nonsense man with an authoritative demeanour, Tywin’s insistence on family and legacy
above all else made him the Godfather of the Game of Thrones world.
His cruel and calculating nature was even immortalised in song.
Remember The Rains of Castamere, which commemorated the time Tywin brutally killed all of House
Reyne when they rebelled against his father Tytos?
He truly was the Tywin-ator!
And Charles Dance played him to perfection, turning the ruthless and politically savvy
Tywin into one of our favourite characters on the show.
So, let’s countdown Tywin’s top 10 moments!
As the judges took a break from Tyrion’s trial, Jaime offered his father a deal: in
exchange for his brother’s life, he’d do what he’d previously refused to do.
He’d leave the Kingsguard, go to Casterly Rock, marry a suitable woman and carry on
the Lannister line.
Tywin agreed without so much as batting an eye, leaving Jaime looking more than a little
shocked.
Oh, Jaime, you walked right into that one, mate!
Doh!
Good job for Jaime that Tywin’s not around anymore to make him keep his word!
Tyrion visited his father to ask for Casterly Rock, which he believed he was entitled to
as lawful heir, given that Kingsguard Jaime couldn’t inherit.
Tywin, however, saw things rather differently and told Tyrion he’d rather be consumed
by maggots than make him heir to the family stronghold as he regarded Tyrion as an “ill-made,
spiteful little creature full of envy, lust, and low cunning.”
In this scene, we really saw Tywin’s cruelty and coldness to his son Tyrion, who he not
only blamed for the death of his wife Joanna but also accused of sullying the Lannister
name by consorting with prostitutes.
He even threatened to hang the next one he found in Tyrion’s bed.
Which is hypocritical given that Tyrion later found his former lover Shae in Tywin’s bed.
We always knew that Tywin was a master of the game, but apparently he was also a frustrated
school teacher.
I mean, did you see him teaching Tommen about kingly qualities as they stood right next
to Joffrey’s corpse?
Tywin was loving it; Cersei, however, was most definitely not.
Then there was Tywin’s classic line to Tommen, “Your brother was not a wise king; your
brother was not a good king; if he had been, perhaps he’d still be alive.”
He even started giving Tommen a lesson about the birds and the bees!
Can you just imagine being taught that by Tywin Lannister?!
Olenna may be a master of political power games, just like Tywin, but when the Tyrell
matriarch and the Lannister patriarch went toe to toe in season 3, it was Tywin who came
out on top, at least at the time.
It was just fantastic to watch their pretty evenly-matched verbal sparring session as
Olenna refused to marry her grandson Loras to Tywin’s daughter Cersei.
Little did she know that Tywin was well aware of her plans to marry Loras to Sansa Stark!
The pair traded jibes, yet nothing would change Olenna’s mind until Tywin played his trump
card, pulling out his quill and threatening to make Loras part of the Kingsguard, which
would have meant no heirs or Highgarden for him.
As Olenna caved, what a wonderful line she delivered to Tywin: “it’s a rare enough
thing, a man who lives up to his reputation”.
In a brilliant bit of deviation from the books, Tywin rode into Harrenhal like a boss, stopped
the prisoners being tortured by his men, and chose Arya as his cupbearer.
Though Arya was disguised as a boy, Tywin, immediately recognised her as a smart young
girl.
Their scenes together were great to watch as they showed a slightly warmer side to Tywin
than usual, as he grew to sort of respect Arya.
The best moment came when talk turned to Aegon Targaryen who Tywin said attacked Harrenhal
with his dragons; but Arya corrected him, adding that Aegon’s sisters Rhaenys and
Visenya were also responsible for the Targaryen triumph.
This was the moment we saw Tywin let Arya know that he knew she wasn’t really who
she claimed to be.
In the end, Tywin seemed to let her off the hook, but it was certainly a dangerous moment.
To see what Charles Dance and Maisie Williams said about shooting these scenes, check out
my interviews with them here.
The Lannisters were so famed for their wealth that people joked Tywin Lannister even shitted
gold.
So, it was fitting he should end his days sat on a toilet while Tyrion confronted him
with a crossbow.
And I couldn’t help but think how doubly appropriate it was that Tywin got that crossbow
in his gut given how we first met him gutting a stag.
The gutter became the guttee, so to speak.
Adding to the aptness of Papa Lannister’s last scene was the fact it aired on Father’s
Day.
Yes, the parting gift Tyrion gave his father before fleeing King’s Landing certainly
seemed well deserved.
After all, Tyrion had just discovered his former lover Shae in Tywin’s bed and Tywin
did dismiss her as nothing more than a whore after Tyrion revealed his love for her.
Oh yes, and there was that small matter of Tywin having always wanted Tyrion dead.
In the end, though, it was Tyrion who was the death of Tywin.
And as Papa Lannister shuffled off this mortal coil, I remembered his words in season 3 to
Olenna Tyrell that his “stomach remained quite strong”… yeah, just not quite strong
enough to withstand a crossbow, hey, Tywin?!
When Joffrey summoned Tywin to the Throne Room to get a report on the Small Council,
let’s just say it didn’t exactly go the way the King was hoping.
Instead of filling Joffrey in on the details, Tywin told his grandson he was welcome to
attend the meetings himself!
I love the way Tywin still managed to talk down to Joffrey even though he was standing
at the bottom of the steps to the Iron Throne, and Joffrey was above him, sitting on the
Throne.
But the scene got even better when Joffrey complained about Tywin moving the council
meetings to the Tower of the Hand, which meant the boy-King would have to actually walk up
some steps!
Clearly, Joffrey had forgotten just who he was dealing with at this point – I mean,
Tywin was one of the few people who wouldn’t put up with the King’s crap, after all.
And just when you thought Tywin was intimidating enough standing below Joffrey, he strode up
those steps to the throne and towered over him, adding, “We could arrange to have you
carried there.”
And what about that smirk on Tywin’s face as he walked away from the King?!
The very first time we saw Tywin on screen, he acted like a total boss, as you’d expect,
While he gutted and skinned a stag with ruthless efficiency, he lectured his son Jaime on the
importance of family legacy and what it really took to be a Lannister.
And what about those great Lannister lines that Charles Dance delivered, including “A
lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of the sheep”, as he told Jaime not to worry
about what other people thought of him.
And when he gave Jaime half the Lannister forces, he ominously told his son to remind
Catelyn Stark that “Lannisters pay their debts”.
This was an incredible scene where we really learned why Tywin would do anything to ensure
the Lannisters’ survival.
Oh, and of course, that stag he butchered was a nice metaphor for the fate of House
Baratheon.
Tywin’s late arrival with an army of Lannister and Tyrell soldiers at the Battle of Blackwater
may have saved the day.
But, could anyone other than Tywin Lannister actually get away with riding his horse into
the King’s Throne Room without so much as a please or thank-you?
Hell, he even let his horse shit on the threshold to the room!
Still, knowing Tywin, I guess Joffrey and Cersei would have just been grateful that
he didn’t leave a steaming pile of manure right in front of the Iron Throne!
And did he get down off his steed when accepting the titles “Saviour of the City” and “Hand
of the King” from his grandson Joffrey?
Are you out of your mind?!
This is Tywin Lannister we’re talking about!
Tywin didn’t shy away from putting anyone in their place, so, when Joffrey started an
argument with Tyrion at a small council meeting, threatening his uncle and vowing to serve
Robb Stark’s head to Sansa, Tywin put his foot firmly down.
As an enraged Joffrey screamed “I am the king”, Tywin interjected: “Any man who
must say ‘I am the king’ is no true king.
I’ll make sure you understand that when I’ve won your war for you.”
Then, with his trademark glare, Tywin stared down Joffrey as the boy-King accused his grandfather
of hiding under Casterly Rock while Joffrey’s father won the real war!
Oh, Joffrey, you really overstepped the mark there!
And by the look on your face, you realised it, just a little bit too late!
And who can forget Tywin’s fabulous, ice-cold reply: “The king is tired, see him to his
chambers”; which he finished off with a final verbal slap-down, ordering Pycelle to
give Joffrey some essence of Nightshade to help him sleep.
What a fantastic scene and who didn’t cheer as Tywin treated Joffrey like the spoiled,
little brat he really was?!
In fact, there were so many great Tywin moments over the seasons that I’ve got to give an
honourable mention to one moment that didn’t quite make my top 10:
When Tyrion went to tell his father he’d succeeded in getting the Tyrells to cough
up some cash for the royal wedding, he wasn’t expecting to leave the meeting with an order
to marry Sansa Stark.
But that’s exactly what happened, as Tywin told him he wasn’t about to let the Tyrells
steal the key to the north by marrying Loras to the eldest Stark daughter.
As Cersei sat there, all smug at having stitched up her younger brother – remember it was
her who told Tywin about the Tyrell plot – little did she know that she was next in the line
of marital fire.
And her protests did no good as Tywin stated stonily that she had to marry Loras, breed
and end the rumours about her once and for all.
So what are your favourite Tywin moments?
How much are you going to miss him in the show?
Let me know in the comments below.
Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on more top 10s coming up, as well
as season 5 episode reviews and exclusive cast interviews.
Oh, and why not check out our Season 5 interviews here with Maisie Williams, Jerome Flynn, and
Anton Lesser aka Arya, Bronn, and Qyburn.
And remember, if you’re not watching Jan G on GoT, you know nothing!