The “Game of Thrones” Season 7 finale ended with a crack in the Wall ― and also some butt crack on the part of Jon Snow.
One question, though, has been really troubling: Why did Tyrion throw that look down the hall on the ship?
As Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) consummate their love, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) stands outside the room with a strange and ominous expression on his face.
(Dang. What does a King in the North and a Mother of Dragons have to do to have boat sex in peace?)
Now it appears that moment could have happened for a dark reason …
Tyrion may have secretly betrayed Daenerys.
After Cersei (Lena Headey) initially walks away from the dragon pit meeting, Tyrion follows her to speak in private. During this meeting, Tyrion confesses that he never wanted to destroy his family despite all his talk about doing so. (And we were all like, “Come again, bruh?”)
Make no mistake, the fact that Tyrion doesn’t want to destroy the Lannisters is a major confession, and it could confirm that he will betray ― or has betrayed ― Dany.
In the George R.R. Martin novels that inspired “Game of Thrones,” Dany hears a prophecy in the House of the Undying that leads her to believe she will face three key betrayals:
The voices were growing louder, she realized, and it seemed her heart was slowing, and even her breath … three treasons will you know … once for blood and once for gold and once for love …
Dany is also warned in the novel A Dance with Dragons not to trust a number of characters, including a lion (such as the lion of House Lannister):
Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun’s son and the mummer’s dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.
With the show’s revelation that Tyrion doesn’t really want to destroy the Lannisters, there’s evidence that one of the three betrayals promised in the books will come from him. And if the books are set to include an event as big as Tyrion betraying Dany, it will almost certainly make the show.
Now comes the question of how. And it might all go back to that private meeting with Cersei.
The theory: Tyrion cut a deal with Cersei.
After Tyrion says he doesn’t want to destroy his family, and Cersei has a chance to kill him but doesn’t ― possibly because Dany’s armies would promptly stomp all over King’s Landing ― Tyrion notices that his sister is pregnant.
The scene cuts off, and we’re soon treated to Cersei miraculously coming to her senses, returning to the dragon pit and saying she’ll send her armies north.
Uh, did we miss something? Actually, maybe.
Following the episode, and Tyrion’s ominous look at the end, various fans began coming up with the same theory: Tyrion cut a deal with Cersei. He knew she wasn’t going to go north, and he told her to lie about it.
He talks about the value of lying just minutes prior: Before going off to speak privately with Cersei, Tyrion tells Jon, “Have you ever considered learning how to lie every now and then?”
Of course he would lie about a deal with Cersei. This move ends the meeting on good terms, no questions asked.
And, as Redditor FacelessGreenseer explains, it’s a win-win for Cersei, since it assures her of Tyrion’s death:
If Cersei wins, they all die. If she loses, Tyrion dies at the hand of his new Queen with the revelation of Tyrion conspiring with Cersei.
The potential secret deal would also explain Tyrion’s ominous look on the ship. According to the Redditor:
He feels guilty towards the end of the episode when he sees Jon enter Daenerys’ room. He betrayed her, it was treason.
There are also some other possible reasons why Tyrion is such a creeper outside Dany’s room.
Maybe he’s worried Dany will get pregnant, since he seemingly wants to establish an alternative line of succession outside the traditional royal bloodline, perhaps moving Westeros towards more of a democratic form of government.
Some even speculate that Tyrion did make a deal with Cersei, but, because he’s worried about Dany’s heirs, he promised his sister that her child would one day sit on the Iron Throne. However, if that’s the case, Cersei would have incentive to actually send her armies north ― and Tyrion would have to convince Dany of the plan.
Perhaps Tyrion is just worried that Dany is letting her emotions get in the way of her head, considering she shouldn’t even be on the boat with Jon Snow anyway. Dany should be riding north safely on the back of her dragon.
We know Tyrion doesn’t want to destroy the Lannisters ― but still. Did he make a deal?