The cunning Tywin Lannister, son of Tytos Lannister, emerged as the biggest winner in the aftermath of Robert's Rebellion. Portrayed by Charles Dance in Game of Thrones, the Lord of Casterly Rock was a social climber who believed in hypergamy and vied for a permanent place in the power corridors of the Red Keep. He wanted Crown Prince Rhaegar as a match for his only daughter Cersei, but Aerys II, more commonly known as the Mad King, dashed his hopes.
Tywin had the cold-blooded determination that was required to stay at the top of the power structure in Westeros. He awaited the end of two incompetent kings to reach the top as the most powerful man in Westeros. But what became of him in Game of Thrones?
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Who Is Tywin Lannister?
From Aerys II's Hand To The Sack Of King's Landing
Tywin became the youngest in history to serve as Hand but ended his tumultuous tenure after the Mad King thwarted his attempts to gain more power and influence. The King forbade Jaime from squiring for Prince Rhaegar and stole Tywin's future from him by making a celibate out of his heir through his appointment to the Kingsguard. After this, Tywin left the Mad King's side and awaited his doom at his ancestral seat of Casterly Rock. As the Targaryens were being wiped out from Westeros, Tywin formally ended his neutrality and presented their next generation wrapped in Lannister cloaks as tokens of fealty to Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones lore.
For most of Robert's Rebellion, Tywin acted like he was neutral in thought as well as action. As a result of his policy, House Lannister stayed out of the various battles. Since it did not field an army for either side, its strength remained intact. The Lannister lord's seeming neutrality came to an end when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen fell on the Trident and the rebel side gained the upper hand. In its aftermath, Tywin and his bannermen marched from Casterly Rock to King's Landing and asked for the gates to be opened, so they could bolster the city's defenses. Aerys II heeded Pycelle's counsel and the brutal (not to mention dishonorable) Sack of King's Landing ensued.
Game of Thrones lore says that Tywin's loyalists, Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch, climbed up Maegor's Holdfast to commit the murders of Prince Rhaegar's children, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon. Gregor smashed Aegon's head and violated and killed his mother, Elia Martell, while Amory Lorch took out the three-year-old, Rhaenys. The westermen who swore obeisance to Tywin were just as ruthless and cunning as their mighty overlord.
What Does Tywin Lannister Do In Game Of Thrones?
Robert did not wish to take up a wife after Lyanna Stark's death, but ultimately married Cersei on the counsel of his Hand, Jon Arryn. The royal wedding took place in 284 AC and unbeknownst to Robert, the wedlock resulted in three legal (not biological) children, viz, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. This, in other words, meant that Tywin had three pawns in the great game, and they were fathered by his son, Jaime. Tywin had heard the rumors about Joffrey's birth, but he remained in denial even when he heard the truth from his daughter in Game of Thrones:
Everything they say is true... About Jaime and me. Your legacy is a lie.
Game of Thrones season 1, episode 7 "You Win or You Die" is home to Dance's first appearance as the Lord of Casterly Rock. He was stern with Jaime because he wanted him to give up the position of a glorified bodyguard (a white cloak) and assume his duties as heir and defend their family. Tywin was also concerned about his legacy and the future of his House. He went to war when Catelyn Stark took Tyrion captive, not because he experienced a newfound love for the son whose birth caused the death of his beloved wife, Joanna, but because he cared about the Lannister name.
Tywin's military operation in the Riverlands ended in disaster because Robb Stark outmaneuvered him in the Battle in the Whispering Wood. He retreated to Harrenhal to fight a three-pronged war (Stannis, the Northern host, and Renly Baratheon). Joffrey, meanwhile, was the nominal head, and Tywin sent Tyrion to King's Landing to rule as Hand and to keep a check on the unhinged king and the mother of madness, Cersei.
Tywin planned the rest of the war at Harrenhal while his son, Tyrion's wildfire trick, destroyed most of Stannis' fleet in the Battle of the Blackwater. Tywin won as Petyr Baelish brokered an alliance between Highgarden and the Lannisters. Joffrey proclaimed him Savior of the City, and he assumed the position of Hand. Tywin looked forward to the wedding of Joffrey and Margaery and was chiefly responsible for the fall of the Starks and the Tullys at the Red Wedding. He arranged a marriage between Tyrion and Eddard Stark's heir, Sansa, to ensure the Lannisters' grip on the North. He wanted Tyrion to come forth with an heir to Winterfell and bled out the Tyrells by using their grain, swords, and money for his wars and the royal wedding in Game of Thrones.
What Happened To Tywin Lannister?
With Myrcella shipped to Dorne, Joffrey dead at the Purple Wedding, and the Lannister gold mines running dry, Tywin bet his money on Cersei's last, Tommen. The Lannister-Tyrell alliance through the marriages of Tommen and Margaery and Cersei and Loras Tyrell guaranteed stability, while he focused on dealing with one threat after another. The debt the crown owed to the Iron Bank of Braavos, Tyrion's imprisonment for Joffrey's murder, and the pending trial were his political headaches throughout Game of Thrones season 4.
Tywin's downfall was caused by the monster machine he ran in the capital. Oberyn Martell hated him because he believed he gave the orders to kill Elia and her children. Margaery and Cersei got their claws into Joffrey (the Iron Throne) and Jaime refused to take his seat at Casterly Rock. Tywin's biggest mistake was to sentence Tyrion to death after his champion, Oberyn Martell, died at the hands of Gregor Clegane in a Trial by Combat duel. Tyrion, who was the most selfless of his three children, fatally shot him with a crossbow and ended his quest for a legacy and his reign. Tywin whispered under his breath, "You are no son of mine" and bowed out of Game of Thrones.
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Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin, tells the sprawling story of warring families in Westeros. This includes the Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, and the Targaryens. Along with human conflicts, Westeros is also threatened by the re-emergence of dragons, and an undead enemy from beyond the Wall.
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