George R.R. Martin Is a Monster for Writing the Best Game of Thrones Villain Committing the Worst Atrocity Against His Own Family

The common notion for portraying a villain is to make the character evil. However, when a villain shows intelligence and power along with his flawed humanity, it becomes more appealing to the viewers. It seems like George R.R. Martin is a master of writing such characters.

Game of Thrones features many intricately layered characters throughout its eight seasons. Among them, one particular villainous character stands out, especially because of the heinous acts he did against his own blood.

Tywin Lannister was the most complex villain in Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones featured one of the best villains in the form of Tywin Lannister, played by Charles Dance. Tywin was an extremely ambitious man who didn’t shy away from using any means to achieve his goals. His pursuit of power and his pride in his family legacy added much more depth to his character.

Tywin rebuilt House Lannister’s reputation out of his father’s failures and believed in ruling through fear and respect. However, despite his negative traits, he was a strategic genius who won many battles using his practical intelligence.

However, his leadership abilities lacked empathy, as he was single-mindedly obsessed with the possession of power even at the cost of his personal relationships. Tywin saw his children as tools to continue the Lannister legacy. Jaime let him down by joining the Kingsguard, Cersei was dismissed because of her gender, and Tyrion, played by Peter Dinklage, was always neglected because of how he was born.

The worst thing that he did to his family was to Tyrion’s first wife, Tysha. After Tyrion married Tysha out of love, Tywin was furious as he felt his own blood had married a commoner. He believed Tysha married Tyrion only for his wealth. To get back at Tyrion and to make him suffer, Tywin made him watch Lannister soldiers sexually assaulting Tysha.

Tywin even forced Tyrion to pay her a silver coin, saying, “A Lannister is worth more.” This had a lasting impact on Tyrion, as he was completely shattered by his father’s twisted sense of family honor.

Poetically, the two facets that helped Tywin build his legacy, fear and thirst for power, ultimately led to his downfall. He might have sustained House Lannister’s dominance during his lifetime, but his ill-treatment of Tyrion ultimately led to the subsequent destruction.

Tyrion’s reason for killing Tywin in Game of Thrones differs from the book

In Game of Thrones, the relationship between Tywin and Tyrion and how they despised each other was well established. In the show, Tyrion kills his father after he finds Shae on Tywin’s bed and realizes it was his father who used her to paint him as Joffrey’s killer.

However, George R.R. Martin has a different reason for Tywin’s death in the book, and it is related to his first wife Tysha’s reality. In the books, Tyrion was forced to believe that Tysha was indeed a s*x worker who married him only for his wealth. 

But in A Storm of Swords, Jaime confessed to Tyrion that she was not a s*x worker and it was Tywin who forced him to lie. In the books, Tyrion is also forced by Tywin to assault Tysha after the soldiers.

This big realization was the catalyst that triggered the rage that had been built up against Tywin over the years, which led Tyrion to kill him. However, in the show, Tysha’s character was not explored again after her incident. 

All seasons of Game of Thrones are available to stream on Max.