Tyrion Lannister, our beloved, wine-guzzling, sharp-tongued underdog, was once the undisputed king of comebacks and one of the best minds in Game of Thrones. He could talk his way out of anything, outdrink anyone, and outsmart entire courts of scheming nobles.
From his first moment on screen, it was clear that he wasn’t just another Lannister. He had a brain, a heart, and a healthy amount of self-awareness that made him stand out in a family full of megalomaniacs and sociopaths.
His arc was fascinating, he started as a spoiled, drunken noble, but quickly proved he was more than his family’s black sheep. He survived capture by Catelyn Stark, convinced a band of hill tribes to fight for him, and managed the impossible task of governing King’s Landing in Joffrey’s absence.
He also devised one of the best battle strategies in the show’s history when he used wildfire to obliterate Stannis Baratheon’s fleet. And yet, somehow, the man who once prided himself on knowing things and drinking things ended up doing a whole lot of the latter and none of the former in the final seasons.
The Hand of the Queen who really should have fired him
When Daenerys made Tyrion her Hand, it felt like a dream come true. Finally, someone with political and tactical genius was advising a powerful, driven ruler. This was supposed to be the ultimate power duo, the Breaker of Chains and the Breaker of Bad Decisions.
Instead, Tyrion turned into the most useless political advisor in Westerosi history. Every decision he made after becoming Hand seemed to actively sabotage Daenerys rather than help her. He told her not to burn the Red Keep, not to use her dragons, and to be patient with people who literally wanted her dead.
Meanwhile, Lady Olenna was in the background telling her to be a dragon, because at least the Queen of Thorns had the sense to recognize that playing nice wasn’t going to cut it. Tyrion’s master plan for conquering Westeros? A blockade around King’s Landing.
Tyrion is progressively unbearable after Season 4
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A queen with three dragons against zero was supposed to sit around and starve out her enemies. His reasoning? He didn’t want her to be the Queen of the Ashes. This would be a viable reason but the common folk of the city, which he was trying to protect, would die of starvation before the enemy gave up anyway.
A similar situation happened in House of the Dragon with the Blockade of the Gullet. But Rhaenyra Targaryen at least sent food supplies to the common folk. Even if her reasoning behind it was to incite chaos in the city, she did care about the people.
You don’t conquer a kingdom by writing strongly worded letters and hoping the opposition surrenders out of sheer politeness. And it’s especially rich coming from the guy who literally used wildfire to torch Stannis Baratheon’s fleet back in Season 2. Apparently, it was okay to burn those guys alive, but suddenly, now it’s a war crime?
Tyrion’s sudden soft spot for Cersei
Tyrion Lannister hated his family. No one knew that better than Tyrion Lannister. His father tried to have him executed for a crime he didn’t commit. His sister spent years openly wishing he would die. And let’s not forget that time she tried to have him killed at the Battle of the Blackwater. And yet, in the final seasons, Tyrion suddenly became obsessed with the idea that Cersei Lannister had a heart.
Cersei, who literally blew up the Sept of Baelor with wildfire, killing thousands of innocent people just to avoid another walk of shame? Cersei, who murdered her own daughter-in-law, the High Sparrow, and half the city without breaking a sweat? Cersei, who let the Mountain go on a murder spree in her name? That Cersei?
But no, suddenly Tyrion thought she wasn’t a monster because she might be pregnant. And not only did he buy into this nonsense, but he also convinced Daenerys to let her army retreat, believing Cersei would honor a truce. Of course, she didn’t, because why would she? Cersei was many things, but a woman of her word was not one of them.
Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Tyrion betrayed Daenerys by spilling Jon Snow’s secret heritage to Varys, effectively setting in motion the series of events that led to her death. He manipulated Jon into turning on Daenerys, and after all that, he didn’t even make Jon king!
Instead, he pulled some bizarre speech about stories and convinced everyone to put Bran, yes, Bran, the guy who sat out half the show staring into space, as king. Honestly, the real mastermind behind the fall of Daenerys Targaryen wasn’t Jon, or Arya, or even the writers. It was Tyrion Lannister, the man who knew things… until he didn’t.
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