Fan favorite character Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) routinely has the best lines and some of the more interesting political machinations on “Game of Thrones.” These are the moments that have shaped his personality across the last six seasons.
Tyrion, known also as The Imp, is a dwarf whose mother died giving birth to him. Except for a select few, he is hated by most of the Lannisters, especially his father, Tywin.
Tyrion yearns to use his intellect to punish the wicked and help those who are discriminated against, like he is. As such, unlike the other Lannisters, he was kind to the Stark children and often butted heads with his own family.
That didn’t stop Catelyn Stark from falsely accusing Tyrion of sending an assassin to kill her crippled son, Bran. Tyrion tried to tell her she was mistaken, but to no avail.
Tyrion elected to have a trial by combat to prove his innocence. A sellsword named Bronn offered to serve as Tyrion’s champion. Bronn won the trial and earned Tyrion’s freedom.
On his return to King’s Landing, Tyrion created his own ragtag band of soldiers made out of sellswords and wild hillmen as he joined Tywin Lannister and prepared to fight in the War of the Five Kings.
Tyrion also encountered a prostitute named Shae, whom he fell deeply in love with.
After Joffrey foolishly executes Ned Stark and starts a war throughout Westeros, Tywin begrudgingly makes Tyrion the Hand of the King. Tyrion takes over day-to-day governing of King’s Landing and disciplined Joffrey when he went too far.
When King’s Landing came under attack at the Battle of Blackwater, Tyrion used his resources to lay a trap of unquenchable wildfire to repel the invaders. However, Tyrion was seriously wounded in the battle when one of Joffrey’s Kingsguard tried to kill him under orders from the king. Tyrion suffered a deep slash across his face, but survived.
When Tyrion awakened, he discovered his men had deserted him and Tywin has taken the title of Hand of the King for himself. Tyrion was made Master of Coin … but inherited an empty treasury and an immense royal debt.
Tywin also forced Tyrion to marry Sansa Stark to keep her close to the Lannisters. The two formed an uneasy friendship, but they never consummated their marriage.
Tyrion knew Shae was in danger now that he is expected to bed Sansa, and with his father and sister watching him and looking for ways to hurt him. To protect her, he berated her and ordered her to go far away from King’s Landing.
King Joffrey spent his wedding to Margaery Tyrell mocking and belittling Tyrion. After Joffrey insisted Tyrion act as his cupbearer, the king succumbs to poison, dying in front of everyone. Tyrion, who handed the poisoned wine to Joffrey, is immediately and falsely accused of murder and arrested.
At the trial, Shae gave false testimony that Sansa and Tyrion conspired to murder Joffrey. Knowing that the trial is rigged against him, Tyrion released all his repressed rage in one of the greatest “GoT” speeches ever. He wished death upon everyone in the room, and demanded a trial by combat.
Prince Oberyn Martell offered to act as Tyrion’s champion in his trial by combat, knowing that Cersei would choose the Mountain as her champion. Oberyn wanted revenge on the Mountain for the death of his sister and her children during Robert’s Rebellion, and planned to get it during the battle. But while he inflicted a mortal wound on the Mountain, the huge knight was able to knock him down and crush Oberyn’s skull. That also sealed Tyrion’s fate, condemning him to death.
Before Tyrion could be executed, though, Jaime and Varys broke him out of the Red Keep’s dungeon. As he was escaping, Tyrion went to his father’s room, where he found Shae in Tywin’s bed. She attacked him, and Tyrion killed her. He then killed his father with a crossbow while Tywin was sitting on the privy.
Varys smuggled Tyrion across the Narrow Sea in a crate, with the intention of the two of them meeting up with Daenerys Targaryen.
Soon after arriving in Essos, Tyrion was kidnapped by the exiled Ser Jorah Mormont, who sought to bring him to Daenerys. The pair were eventually captured by slavers, but Tyrion managed to convince the slavers to keep them alive. They later found their way to Daenerys while battling in the fighting pits.
Tyrion convinced Daenerys to let him advise her as ruler of Meereen. After Dany escaped the insurrectionist Sons of the Harpy with her dragon Drogon, Tyrion ruled Meereen in her stead.
To secure peace in Meereen, Tyrion brought representatives from the slave masters from Yunkai, Astapor and Volantis to bargain. He offered the slave owners seven years to transition away from slavery in return for them to stop backing the Sons of the Harpy. Despite objections from Missandei and Grey Worm, Tyrion was able to broker a fragile peace.
Soon after, though, the Masters laid siege to Meereen. Daenerys wanted to use her dragons to destroy the Masters’ armies, ravage their cities, and kill everybody. Instead, Tyrion convinced her to make a more measured show of force.
Before setting sail for Westeros with her newly acquired fleet, Daenerys took a moment to honor Tyrion for his service. She formally named him the Hand of the Queen, and he pledged his loyalty to her as a ruler he believes in.
