Game of Thrones Did a Lot of Characters Dirty, Tyrion Most of All
Throughout the early seasons of Game of Thrones, Tyrion was an intelligent strategist. Yet by series 7 he was being portrayed as a clueless advisor who was pretty much ignored every time he spoke.
One of the most depressing scenes was when he advised Dany to "do nothing" instead of rescuing her allies from behind the Wall. Not only was this terrible advice given the situation, but it also positioned him as weak and feeble.
Even Tyrion's successes came to be portrayed in a way that he wasn't the hero. Remember, he was the one who brokered a meeting with Jaime and Cersei. But were viewers privy to how? Did we see his diplomacy in action? Was his persuasiveness a key feature of the episode?
No. His role was glossed over when there was a great opportunity for us to once again witness his skills.
Of course, as the series headed deeper into outright war, it's not implausible that a character such as Tryion would become increasingly dismissed by the likes of Dany. And in the books, Tyrion does indeed fade into insignificance after he married a low-born woman whom his father had gang-raped and exiled.
Had the showrunners decided to include this element of Tyrion's story and to focus on his attempts to advise in an increasingly maddening Dany but being rejected, his demise would have been dramatic and relevant.
But simply shoving him out of the limelight and turning him into a whining nobody was a real kick in the teeth for a man who was once one of the sharpest minds in Westeros and the most popular character with many fans.
And it's even more frustrating when you consider that fans of the series don't object to major characters being killed. Sure, we scream "No!" at the TV as another favourite is put to the sword or burned to death. But we accept that it's all part of the show and is what kept us coming back for more.
And that's why the showrunners did him dirty. We know they don't always stay faithful to George RR Martin's books, and there were myriad ways they could have brought about Tyrion's loss of influence while making it a feature of the show and completing his character arc.
But in the end, they simply made him pathetic, ineffectual and irrelevant.