Game of Thrones: Tyrion Lannister’s journey to Season 8

Season 2

Tyrion’s Game of Thrones Season 2 arc kicks off with him at odds with basically everyone in charge in King’s Landing, most specifically Joffrey and Cersei. He berates his nephew and sister for getting rid of their only bargaining chips, Ned and Arya, for getting Jaime back from Robb, but his concerns reach deaf ears. Everyone is more concerned with hating him than listening to his, arguably, good advice.

In addition to finding no support in the very corrupt small council, Tyrion is having to fend off Varys and his spying. Varys is aware that Tyrion has brought Shae into the Hand’s Tower, and threatens to use it against Tyrion.

While Tyrion is playing politics and trying to run King’s Landing, he has Shae serve has handmaiden to Sansa Stark. He finds out that Joffrey has arranged for a public beating of Sansa, and puts a stop to it. He gets Joffrey some prostitutes to try and curb his behavior, but it only makes it worse.

Things in King’s Landing aren’t good, and everyone blames Tyrion. He arranges for Myrcella to leave to Dorne as the betrothed to the youngest son of House Martell. This causes an even larger rift between him and his sister. Things seem to keep getting worse for Tyrion.

During the Battle of the Blackwater, Tyrion leads the defense of the city. He orchestrates a trap with a ship filled with Wildfire that Bronn detonates with a flaming arrow.

He is betrayed by Ser Maddon outside the walls, who slashes his face, giving him the scar he is known for. Podrick comes to his rescue but succumbs to unconsciousness.

When he awakes, he’s told by Pycelle that he’s no longer Hand of the King, and he’s moved to new quarters. Varys visits him and tells him that even though he was crucial to saving the city, he’s not going to get any recognition for it. And Bronn has been sent away. However, Varys brings in Shae, who tends to Tyrion’s wounds and begs him to flee with her. Tyrion, however, is determined to stick around, so Shae says she’ll stay with him.

Season 3

Game of Thrones Season 3 picks up just a few weeks after the Battle of Blackwater. Cersei visits him while he’s recovering. She tells a story about when he got her in trouble as a girl, and that’s basically when she began hating him.

He goes to his father after talking with his sister and asks to be named heir of Casterly Rock since Jaime has denounced his claim to it. Tywin refuses because he hates Tyrion and blames him for the death of his mother. And then Tywin threatens Shae’s life if he ever finds her in Tyrion’s bed again.

When he warns Shae, she just laughs it off. She loves him and is not worried. She does ask him to protect Sansa from Baelish, but he says he doesn’t have that kind of power anymore.

During a meeting of the small council, he is named Master of the Coin, a position he has no experience in, basically to make sure he fails. However, what no one anticipated, was that he would begin digging into the financial situation of the city and learn that they are very much in debt and when the Iron Bank learns that they can’t repay their debts, they’ll refuse new loans, and then support rebellions against them.

While Lady Tyrell has agreed to foot the bill for Margaery and Joffrey’s wedding, Tywin has decided he’s going to marry off Tyrion to Sansa, so that when they defeat Robb, they will have a foothold in the North. When he talks to Sansa about their wedding, he finds her less than thrilled. The wedding is basically set up to embarrass both Sansa and Tyrion, and the two suffer through. When it comes time to consummate their marriage, he refuses to do it against her will.

Through their marriage, he and Sansa begin to bond. And when, during a small council meeting, he learns about the Red Wedding and Joffrey’s plans to give Sansa Robb’s head during his own wedding, he is not pleased.

By the end of the season, Tywin has ordered him to impregnate Sansa, and that is something he really doesn’t want to do.