Tyrion’s war strategy is working.

dylan coyle
Aug 9, 2017 · 3 min read
Who’s name is first in the credits? That’s right. Peter Dinklage.

Includes spoilers up to season 7, episode 4.

How do you split a kingdom 7 ways?
Remember the bank heist at the beginning of The Dark Knight when Heath Ledger’s Joker gives each troop a job and has them eliminate each other when their job was over. That left no one to contest for the money when the job was done so he could burn it all by himself. Besides, if each person was willing to betray another co-worker, who wants them as co-workers?

At the beginning of Game of Thrones season 7, Tyrion’s co-workers included Ellaria Sand, Olenna Tyrell, and Yara and Theon Greyjoy. These treacherous and vengeance fueled characters were not the best people to keep around after the war. Ellaria poisoned Myrcella, Olenna poisoned Joffrey, and while Yara is relatively cool, Theon jumps off boats or burns children when he thinks he needs to. Tyrion doesn’t need to know every detail to know he can’t trust them. So when each was taken out of the game early in the season, it shouldn’t have been surprising.

“ Every time we deal with an enemy, we create two more.”

Calling back the end of season three, Tyrion tried to give Cersei a math lesson. Dealing with enemies is hard and tends to make more enemies. Tyrion’s current plan seems to be to makes friends with his enemies and let them deal with each other. At the end of Spoils of War, Euron’s fleet is far away, the Lannister and Tarly army was vulnerable, and Casterly Rock is taken. This is at the cost of no one truly loyal to team Daenerys.

Besides being a distraction, why is the Rock important? It is personally important to Tyrion. Legally, it should belong to him anyway, and it plays into his daddy issues.

“What do I want, you ask? I’ll tell you what I want. I want what is mine by rights. I want Casterly Rock….

Lord Tywin’s eyes were a pale green flecked with gold, as luminous as they were merciless. “Casterly Rock,” he declared in a flat cold dead tone. And then, “Never. …Go back to your bed, Tyrion, and speak to me no more of your rights to Casterly Rock. You shall have your reward, but it shall be one I deem appropriate to your service and station.”

Jaime gave Casterly Rock to Tyrion twice now, once by becoming a Kingsguard and once by marching the other direction. There is nowhere better that Tyrion should like to die when he’s 80 years old?

There is chatter around the webs that if Jaime is alive then maybe he will be traded for Ellaria. But why? Both are broken. I guess there is still room to break them more though.

But recruiting Jaime to Tyrion’s side makes more sense. There is chatter about shipping a captive Jaime and Dany. Ok, maybe it’s just in my headcannon. I imagine that now that Tyrion has his Rock, the final thing he wants is for his big brother to find someone nice and settle down. Or if Tyrion is a Targaryen, for his little sister to find someone nice and settle down. Everyone is expecting Jaime to kill Cercei and there’s talk about Jon Snow needing to kill Dany. Either could play into the Prince/Princess who was promised mythology. A Jaime/Dany thing would be a nice and unexpected twist.

Tyrion is smart and playing the game. He doesn’t have his brother’s sword, nor the late late King Robert’s warhammer, he has his mind. He is a master of strategy and has a good conscience. Let’s not underestimate him.

dylan coyle

Written by

chaotician. futurist. foodie.

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