Game of Thrones has become famous, some would say ‘infamous’, for killing off main characters – and rightly so. But it’s not just the deaths, it is the way they die which sets the books, and now the smash hit HBO show, apart. It’s not even just that the deaths are so shocking and usually come when least expected. It is the horrifying realisation that there is always an almost poetic beauty in the way popular characters lose their lives. Tyrion’s end, heartbreakingly, will be no different.
The wheels are already in motion.
Remember when Cersei sent Bronn, via her dodgy maester Qyburn, to kill both her brothers? Many fans were sure the loveable mercenary would not actually be mercenary enough to murder the two men he is closest to in the whole of Westeros.
Except for one chilling fact.
George RR Martin loves to foreshadow, especially deaths. Ned Stark’s doom was already in motion when he beheaded a deserter in the opening of the books and show. Similarly, the Stark children’s fates are closely tied up with the fates and NAMES of their direwolves. Oleanna died by poison, just as she killed Joffrey.
As for Tyrion, his most iconic moment is probably killing his father, Tywin Lannister.
It’s not the outrageous fact the proud and powerful lord was sitting on another type of throne, it is the method Tyrion used.
He shot his father with a crossbow and not just any crossbow but the very same weapon Qyburn handed Bronn. At the time, it merely seemed a little strange since the sellsword is best accustomed to swinging a blade.
However, with hindsight (and nervous foresight) it bodes very badly for Tyrion.
Will Tyrion really end this way?
The main hope lies in that prophecy which says Cersei will die, choked by the valonquar – little brother. Most fans have always taken this to mean Tyrion, doubly because of his height and the fact he is her younger brother.
How typically and deliciously twisted of Game of Thrones – a man’s greatest hope of survival lies in the way he is expected to kill someone else…
GAME OF THRONES IS OUT NOW ON HBO
