Summary

• Tyrion's motive for killing Tywin in Game of Thrones was revenge for a life of disrespect and cruelty, rather than the truth about Tysha.
• The show made changes to soften Tyrion's character, such as omitting darker moments from the books and altering the circumstances of certain events.
• Omitting Tysha's backstory and the truth about her was a deliberate choice to focus on Tyrion's relationship with Daenerys and his siblings in the series.

The moment Tyrion Lannister kills Tywin is a memorable one on Game of Thrones, but his reason for killing his father was changed from the books. After being freed by Jaime Lannister before his execution, Tyrion found his way up to Tywin’s chambers, where he found his former lover Shae in his father's bed. Tyrion kills Shae in a fight before confronting his father on the privy with a crossbow. After a tense final conversation, Tyrion calmly kills Tywin while asserting that he has always been his son, despite Tywin saying otherwise.

The circumstances under which Tyrion kills Tywin in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books are similar, with Tyrion killing him with a crossbow on the privy, making for a memorable demise for a character who always seemed so dignified and in control. However, there are a few key differences that entirely change why Tyrion decides to murder him. While fans can debate which version is better, they show just how much the character of Tyrion differs from the source material of the series.

Why Tyrion Killed Tywin In GOT Season 4

Tyrion Sought Revenge For A Life Of Disrespect

It was inevitable that Tyrion would pull the trigger on the crossbow in Game of Thrones, but it wasn’t until Tywin called Shae a “whore” again after Tyrion repeatedly told him not to that he killed him. Lannisters kept their word, so there was no way Tyrion was going to let Tywin live after he had already promised that word would signal his death. The added fact that Shae was the woman he had loved and Tywin was willing to sleep with her while also disrespecting her was too much for Tyrion.

Once Tyrion discovered that Tywin was prepared to execute him for killing Joffrey, a crime Tywin knew he didn't commit, Tyrion realized that he truly never loved him.

However, Shae's betrayal of Tyrion and Tywin ignoring his son's instructions were just excuses. The reason why Tyrion decided to kill Tywin in Game of Thrones was an act of revenge for himself. Throughout his entire life, Tywin had treated Tyrion like a “bastard” due to his dwarfism and the wrongful assertion that he killed his mother, who had died giving birth to him.

Tyrion was treated horribly by everyone in the historic House Lannister aside from Jaime, but still had a tiny sliver of hope that Tywin harbored some genuine love for him as his father. Once Tyrion discovered that Tywin was prepared to execute him for killing Joffrey, a crime Tywin knew he didn't commit, Tyrion realized that he truly never loved him. Paired with the fact that Tywin was sleeping with Shae, whom Tyrion loved and Tywin threatened to banish, the extent of Tywin’s cruelty was realized in his son’s eyes.

Tyrion Killed Tywin In The Books After Learning The Truth About Tysha

The Story Of Tyrion's First Wife Shows The Extent Of Tywin's Cruelty

While Jaime frees Tyrion before his execution in the books as well, he also reveals a dark secret about Tysha, Tyrion's first wife. In both the Game of Thrones books and show, Tyrion tells the story of meeting Tysha as a teenager, finding her on the road as she escapes an attempted rape. Jaime fended off Tysha’s attackers, whereupon Tyrion helped Tysha recover and they soon married. Tyrion and Tysha were only husband and wife for two weeks before Tywin discovered their marriage.

Tyrion explains in Game of Thrones season 1 that Jaime eventually told him Tysha was actually a prostitute, so he organized the entire charade of the attackers so that Tyrion would finally get to have sex for the first time. Tywin cruelly ordered the Lannister guards to gang-rape Tysha as Tyrion watched, with Tywin paying her silver for each man. Jaime claimed not to know that Tyrion would marry her or what Tywin would do in response, but his marriage would soon be annulled with the assault, marking the last time Tyrion saw her.

This is where Game of Thrones diverts significantly from Martin's books. While Tyrion believes this story about Tysha actually being a sex worker for most of his life, Jaime finally confesses the truth about her when freeing Tyrion. Jaime explains that Tysha was just a common girl who genuinely did love Tyrion when he married her — the entire event in which they found her fighting off would-be assaulters was true.

In Game of Thrones, Jaime never reveals the truth about Tysha, so Tyrion’s fury with Tywin after Jaime helps him escape is simply about his own relationship with Tywin.

Tywin had forced Jaime to tell Tyrion that Tysha was a “whore” and everything was a charade, hoping Tyrion would never return to her. Another major detail that Game of Thrones omits in Tysha’s backstory is that Tywin forced Tyrion to rape Tysha last after every guard had already done so, with Tywin paying her gold because he’s a Lannister. In the Game of Thrones show, Jaime never reveals the truth about Tysha, so Tyrion’s fury with Tywin after Jaime helps him escape is simply about his own relationship with Tywin.

Fueled by incredible rage after hearing the truth, Tyrion goes to confront Tywin instead of escaping. Like with Shae in the show, Tyrion tells Tywin that if he calls Tysha a “whore" again, he’ll kill him. Tywin tells Tyrion that he never killed Tysha, but says she went “wherever whores go,” so Tyrion keeps his promise and kills his father. Tyrion’s motivation for killing Tywin. Seeing that his father will not help him find his former wife, Tyrion takes his revenge for separating them in the first place.

Why GOT Changed Tyrion’s Motive For Killing Tywin

At San Diego Comic Con 2014, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss revealed that they omitted Tyrion’s dark storyline from Game of Thrones and the truth about Tysha because there wasn’t enough time to fit in every book subplot, but this feels like a fairly weak excuse. When considering how differently Tyrion’s future after killing Tywin was in the books compared to Game of Thrones, it seems the series wanted to maintain a certain level of justice for Tyrion himself that would better send him into an allyship with Daenerys Targaryen.

In the books, Tyrion is sent into a deep depression after killing Tywin and discovering the truth about Tysha, which ittedly isn’t as exciting a plot for Game of Thrones season 5 as his journey to Daenerys' cause. Tyrion’s discovery of Tysha’s real background is harder to express onscreen than in the books, plus revealing this truth likely would have required a flashback scene, which Game of Thrones largely strayed from. Since readers are inside Tyrion’s head, it’s much easier and more powerful to convey this reason for his final decision to pull the trigger on his father.

In the Game of Thrones books, this was also the moment that destroyed Jaime and Tyrion’s relationship, and the show was focused on maintaining their brotherly bond and a source of redemption for both characters. It’s also possible that Game of Thrones decided to leave out Tysha’s story as a source for Tyrion killing Tywin because her background was far less important to his character in the show than in the books.

She was also only given a prominent scene for her background back at the time of Game of Thrones season 1, so many viewers likely wouldn’t the story well enough for such a key moment as Tywin's death. As far as the books have gone, Tyrion is still hoping to be reunited with Tysha someday, whereas Game of Thrones’ changed his personal arc to focus on his relationship with Daenerys and his siblings.

There Were Other Tyrion Changes Made For The Show

The Show Avoided Many Of Tyrion's Darker Moments From The Books

As with most adaptations, there are many things in Game of Thrones that are not in the books as well as big omissions from the source material. When it comes to Tyrion, there have been some notable changes that go beyond the real reason he killed his father. One of the most controversial was his injury in the Battle of Blackwater. In the book, Tyrion has his face slashed, removing part of his nose. Despite it being an injury sustained in battle protecting his city, the injury becomes another way people see him as grotesque and a monster.

Tyrion is also slashed across the face in the series, leaving a big scar. While he laments how it looks at first, however, it is barely talked about after a while with Margaery Tyrell even commenting that it actually makes him look more handsome. It is not hard to see why the show changed the injury as having to do the extensive makeup and effects work to remove Tyrion's nose in each scene would have been daunting.

However, the show also made changes to Tyrion to soften the roughness of the character in the books. One key example is the character of Symon Silver Tongue who does not appear in the series. Symon is a singer in King's Landing who learns about Tyrion secretly taking Shae to King's Landing when he was Hand of the King. Eventually, Symon attempts to blackmail Tyrion with this knowledge. Rather than risk Cersei finding out about Shae and harming her, he has Bronn kill Symon.

While Tyrion has killed before in the series, it was in defense and the heat of battle. Seeing him order the death of a man who was no warrior was grim and changed the way readers saw him. Likewise, the show softens Shae's death from the novel. In the show, Shae attacks Tyrion first and he kills her in the ensuing struggle. In the book, Shae attempts to convince Tyrion she was forced to betray him, only for him to respond by strangling her to death. Tyrion was a complex character, but Game of Thrones made him more likable.