At the end of A Storm of Swords, and of Season 4, of Game of Thrones, Tywin Lannister is
killed by his son, Tyrion. But a popular theory claims that Tywin is already dying, that he’s
poisoned, by Oberyn Martell. So Oberyn Martell is the younger brother of
Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne, and of Elia Martell, who was murdered in Robert’s
Rebellion. Oberyn’s the father of eight bastard daughters, called the “sand snakes”,
who he had with various women including Ellaria Sand. Oberyn has a “fearsome” reputation
as a fighter and a lover. He’s travelled the Free Cities, studied at the Citadel, and
soldiered in the Disputed Lands. Doran calls him “Deadly, dangerous, unpredictable”.
Tywin calls him “half-mad”. Varys says he’s “a proud man”, and “sentimental”.
Oberyn was close with his sister Elia, and,
like the rest of his family, he is outraged by her murder at the hands of Gregor Clegane.
So when he comes to King’s Landing, Oberyn makes clear that he comes for justice, not
just for Gregor, but for the man who gave his orders, Tywin. He never says outright
that he wants to kill Tywin, but he hints it heavily to Tyrion, telling him “Your
father … may not live forever”. Oberyn’s known as a poisoner, having learned
the trade on his travels. In his fight with Gregor Clegane, Oberyn uses a poisoned spear,
which is what kills Gregor after Oberyn’s own death. He’s also rumoured to have used
a poisoned sword in a duel with Lord Edgar Yronwood, back when Oberyn was sixteen. This
earned him the name Red Viper. So we know Oberyn wants revenge on Tywin,
and we know Oberyn uses poisons. Is there evidence that Tywin is poisoned before he's killed
by Tyrion? On the night of Tywin’s death, Tyrion finds his father in the privy, which
some fans suggest shows that Tywin’s been poisoned with “Widow’s blood … A [poison
mentioned by Pycelle that] shuts down a man’s bladder and bowels, until he drowns in his
own poisons”. But – being on the toilet doesn’t prove that you’ve been given constipation
poison, right? Especially considering Shae is in Tywin’s bed at the time. Are we meant
to believe Tywin was in the mood while his bowels were shut down and he was “drown[ing]
in his own poisons”? Others point to the line saying that Tyrion “[finds] his father
where he knew he’d find him, seated in the dimness of the privy tower”. But Tyrion
knows Tywin is there not because he knows he’s on widow’s blood but because Tyrion
was just in Tywin’s bedroom, where he expected to find him, and Tywin wasn’t there. So
Tywin being in the privy is not evidence that he’s poisoned.
But there is another thing. After Tywin’s death, something weird and gross and wrong
goes on with his corpse, which is laid out in the Sept of Baelor. The body rots, with
greenish skin and leaking fluid, and it stinks, so badly that Tommen retches, Pycelle’s
eyes water, and one of the Most Devout has to be helped from the room. Davos hears
that the “corpse [stinks] so badly that no one [is] able to enter the … Sept … for
days afterward”. This isn’t meant to happen. The room is filled with incense, and
silent sisters prepare the body, removing bowls and organs, stuffing in “salts and
fragrant herbs”, yet Tywin’s body still really stinks. What does this mean? There’s
a famous Russian book called The Brothers Karamazov where a monk dies, and his body
stinks afterwards, shocking and upsetting people, and making them think that the monk
was somehow corrupt or dishonest. So in the same way, the stink of Tywin’s corpse might
mean he’s a rotten person. It might mean that his murder by his son is terrible and
wrong, that his relationships with his family, and his legacy are bad. And Tywin’s rotting,
smiling corpse is a “mockery” of his pride and power and sternness in life. So the “horror”
of Tywin’s body means lots of things. Some have suggested that it also shows that Tywin’s
body is corrupted by poison. But this doesn’t actually make a whole lot of sense. If Tywin
is poisoned by Oberyn, it must happen before Oberyn’s death in Tyrion X. The most likely
time seems Jaime VII, when Tywin has breakfast with Oberyn. But whenever it happens, there’s
a good chunk of time between the poisoning and Tywin’s death, so it seems really weird
that Tywin is apparently totally unaffected by the poison right up until he’s dead when
it suddenly makes his body gross. It is plausible that Oberyn could use some slow-acting poison,
but it’s pretty implausible that the poison would only happen to kick in right after Tywin’s
death, and its only effects are decomposition and ickiness that can happen naturally anyway.
So, especially considering that the “horror” of Tywin’s corpse already means a bunch
of stuff, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with poison.
One other thing to consider – Doran, Oberyn’s brother, says that he’s been “work[ing]
at the downfall of Tywin Lannister since [Robert’s Rebellion]”, hoping to “strip [Tywin]
of all that he [holds] most dear before” killing him, so he’s disappointed when
Tyrion kills Tywin – Doran doesn’t want Tywin dead yet. This is important, because
Doran says that he works closely with Oberyn in their plans to strike at their enemies.
If they’re working closely together, Oberyn would surely share Doran’s goal of “stripping
[Tywin] of all that he [holds] most dear before” killing him, so he wouldn’t kill him right
after arriving at King’s Landing. It’s true that Oberyn’s impatient, unpredictable,
“bloodthirsty”, even. But would a bloodthirsty man secretly and anonymously kill his enemy
with a slow-acting poison? Look at how Oberyn kills Gregor – he makes a show of it, demands
a public confession, insists on killing Gregor with his own hands. It’s not at all Oberyn’s
style to quietly poison Tywin, and it probably goes against Doran and Oberyn’s plans.
So at first glance, it seems totally reasonable to think that Oberyn might poison Tywin. Oberyn
wants revenge on Tywin, Oberyn’s known to use poison, the two even have a convenient
breakfast together not long before Tywin’s death. But the closer you look at this theory,
the less sense it makes. Oberyn’s known to use poisoned weapons in duels, but slipping
poison into peoples’ morning tea is not his style at all. Slow-acting poison, too,
which apparently has no effect on Tywin in the time between Oberyn’s death and his.
Tywin’s being on the privy and the stench of his corpse have more to do with subverting
his dignity and reputation than with any exotic poison. At the end of the day, while it is
possible that Oberyn poisons Tywin, there's no evidence that it happens, and there
are good reasons to believe that it probably doesn’t. So the most reasonable conclusion
is that Oberyn did not poison Tywin. Thanks for watching.