Game of Thrones: Tywin Lannister Never Planned On Killing Tyrion, & Here's Why

Summary:

• When accusing Tyrion of killing Joffrey, Tywin Lannister didn’t intend to execute his youngest son: he had a better plan ready.
• Tywin wanted to free Tyrion in exchange for Jaime’s loyalty and return to Casterly Rock where he’d become Lord Paramount.
• This plan would have also allowed the Lannisters and the Tyrells to stay united under Tywin’s leadership, but then Tyrion demanded trial by combat.

When Tyrion Lannister was accused in King Joffrey’s murder, most assumed Lord Tywin wanted to have him executed, but that’s unlikely. There are many reasons to believe that the Warden of the West was not willing to kill his son; furthermore, he planned to make the most out of this ordeal and strengthen his House even further.

Tywin Lannister Was Not a Kinslayer

Let’s get one thing out of the way right away: Tywin Lannister was a monster. He ordered assaults, executions, and exterminations in cold blood; he didn’t know the definition of love; all he cared about was House Lannister’s legacy, not its people.

And yet, for all his heinous deeds, Lord Tywin was not a kinslayer.

While the Warden of the West didn’t care much for his children, he cared about his family’s image. Under his rule, House Lannister was to be perceived as strong, prosperous, united, and — most importantly! — untouchable. Everyone in the Seven Kingdoms had to know that a Lannister’s life was worth more than any other lord’s.

If he so wished, Lord Tywin could have killed Tyrion numerous times. From his very birth, Tywin suspected that the child wasn’t his and hated him; the Warden of the West had many years and chances to get rid of the unwanted son yet he didn’t. He brought Tyrion up and even went to war to return him home despite his feelings.

However problematic Tyrion wasn’t for his father, Tywin Lannister didn’t want to kill him, and he was willing to dispatch anyone who’d murder his son in his stead.

Tyrion’s Trial Was Tywin Lannister’s Gambit

Seeing that Lord Tywin would never sink to kinslaying, his grandson Joffrey’s death was still a great relief to him — even more so than for anyone else. The poisoning was orchestrated by Lady Olenna Tyrell and Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger, but it worked out perfectly for House Lannister in the Warden of the West’s eyes; he had a plan.

By accusing Tyrion of the murder, he gained the right to send him to the Wall where he’d finally stop “embarrassing his family” and, in his eventual death, would bring honor to House Lannister. But even that he wasn’t intent on doing: Tyrion’s potential fate was Lord Tywin’s leverage on his other son, Jaime Lannister, who went rogue.

As the Warden of the West had predicted, Jaime came to him pleading his brother’s case. This play would have brought Jaime back in his father’s fold as the Kingslayer was willing to follow through with Lord Tywin’s wish, return to Casterly Rock, and become Lord Paramount of the Westerlands in exchange for Tyrion’s life.

Having gotten rid of the psychopathic grandson Joffrey, Tywin Lannister had the perfect opportunity to also take away his unwanted son Tyrion and return his heir Jaime — all the while making sure the Lannisters and the Tyrells stayed united. It was the perfect gambit and it didn’t include Tyrion’s death which Tywin didn’t want.

And then Tyrion messed everything up with his trial by combat aspiration.