Tyrion Lannister is one of the most interesting characters in the Game of Thrones universe, brought to life on the small screen by the incredibly talented Peter Dinklage. But the version of Tyrion fans fell in love with on Game of Thrones leaves out many of the dark and despicable aspects of the character from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Tyrion Lannister does a lot of heinous things in the books. You could even argue he’s a villain.
One of the big things that the show changed about Tyrion is that, in the books, he’s ugly. In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, Tyrion is supposed to have a grotesque appearance, hence the nickname the Imp. Everyone gives him a hard time simply because he isn’t pleasant to look at, so it’s easy to understand why he’s liable to lash out at those around him. Through his POV chapters, we know that Tyrion often thinks about murdering his sister Cersei and his father Tywin because they have routinely antagonized him throughout his life.
All of this makes Tyrion who he is, which is a person who regularly seeks out violent revenge on those who oppose him. He is basically a small version of his father Tywin, even if the latter doesn’t want to admit it.
Here are the five worst things Tyrion Lannister has done in the Song of Ice and Fire books.
Aimee Richardson as Myrcella Baratheon
5. Sending Myrcella to Dorne
In A Clash of Kings, Tyrion arranges for Cersei’s daughter Myrcella to marry a prince of Dorne, which requires that she move to the desert kingdom in the south. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like too bad an act, but when you take into account Tyrion’s motivations it is not a good look. Myrcella is his niece and one of his closest family members, but he decides to ship her off to a foreign nation as a bargaining chip for political and military support. In addition to the socioeconomic motives, Tyrion is also trying to hurt his sister Cersei.
In retaliation, Cersei imprisons a prostitute named Alayaya that she thinks is sleeping with Tyrion. However, Tyrion’s actual lover is Shae. Tyrion lets Cersei believe that he is in love with Alayaya and threatens to take everything that Cersei holds dear away from her if the girl is harmed again. This includes beating and hurting his own nephew Tommen, which Tyrion says he will do himself. So yeah, you don’t want Tyrion to be your uncle…
