When Will Tyrion Die in Game of Thrones? I'm Calling It It's Time
Spoilers for Game of Thrones ahead. We've seen our fair share of gory, tragic Game of Thrones deaths in the show's 71-episode run. Some were unwarranted and shocking—Ned Stark's beheading in the first season had us all shook, and it was the first sign that the series was not afraid to kill off a major character. Still, we persisted, soldiering on through the bloody deaths of beloved characters like Robb Stark and Theon Greyjoy knowing that that they didn't die in vain. Even Jon Snow was sent to the grave when the Brothers of the Night's Watch turned on him—thankfully, our precious one was brought back to life with the magic of the Lord of Light.
Contrastingly, we all popped open a bottle of the finest and most expensive bubbly when Joffrey Lannister kicked the bucket, and a cheer was heard 'round the world when Peter "Littlefinger" Baelish finally got his just deserts when Arya Stark did him in with the same Valyrian dagger he tried to kill Bran with. And most recently, Cersei and Jaime Lannister fell victim to the shoddy infrastructure of the Red Keep when Daenerys and Drogon rained hell down on King's Landing. Not exactly the way we pictured Cersei and her bad wig going, but I *guess* we'll take it. Jaime, after what you did to Brienne, you're dead to me...literally.
With just one episode left in the show, Game of Thrones owes us just one more major character death: Tyrion Lannister.
I can hear the complaints now—keep it! Unlike the protests from Daenerys-hive (sorry that she lost her marbles, girlies), I'm no longer interested in hearing any defense of Tyrion at this point. The days of Tyrion being the "cleverest man alive" are loooong gone now, especially since he has apparently lost the good sense that God gave him. He's trash, folks.
When we met Tyrion, he was a wise-cracking problem child with a chip on his shoulder and a complex as a result of a very messed up familial situation. As the youngest Lannister, his father Tywin and his older sister Cersei utterly despised him for his appearance and the fact that his birth led to the death of his mother. Tyrion had a tough childhood, and his grown-up life wasn't much better. Without delving too deeply into his history, Tyrion really went through it.
One thing that Team Tyrion always appreciated was his ability to finesse any situation despite what he was going through. Tyrion faced death many times but was always able to escape with his life, and fans really loved his survival instinct. However, that instinct seemed to vanish overnight when Tyrion met Daenerys for the first time. Taken by the Dragon Queen and her passionate drive for the Iron Throne, Tyrion quickly falls into formation and becomes her Hand. As the Hand of the Queen, one might have expected Tyrion to be super smart when it came to helping Daenerys craft her strategy for taking on Cersei in King's Landing...wrong, wrong, wrong.
Despite having lived through all that Cersei had done to him (treating him like the black sheep of the family throughout his entire childhood, having him arrested for Joffrey's murder, charging him with said murder, hiring a bounty hunter to literally KILL him), Tyrion still underestimated the depths of his sister's wickedness. He advised Daenerys to approach Cersei with humanity and patience, stepping in as a middleman to broker some kind of peaceful transition of power when Daenerys and what was left of her army arrived at King's Landing. And what did we get Tyrion's well-intentioned but thoroughly asinine diplomacy? Missandei's head, cut off by the Mountain.
The foolishness continued to jump out when we discovered that Tyrion told Varys of all people that Jon was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. The Master of Whispers, who was already feeling some type of way about Daenerys (#VarysWasRight), wanted to promote Jon to king, but Tyrion insisted that they needed to be loyal to their queen. He betrayed his friend by snitching to the Dragon Queen, unconvinced of her propensity towards madness even as he watched Varys turn into dragon-smoked brisket before his very eyes.
When Daenerys and the couple hundred Dothraki soldiers that she ordered via Amazon Prime (seriously, where did all they come from?) arrived at King's Landing, Tyrion was still so sure that his queen still had a heart of gold, begging her to call off the attack should Cersei's army surrender. Lol. The sound of the bells of surrender ringing in the capital triggered Daenerys's psychotic break, and she burned down the entire city in an hour-long rage. Tyrion could only watch in horror as Daenerys did exactly what she said she was going to do: take what was hers with fire and blood.
With King's Landing all but annihilated, Tyrion has officially failed his last duty of advising Daenerys so that she could be the ruler that the Seven Kingdoms needed to unite as one. From his very first day as Hand of the Queen, Tyrion has been giving Daenerys some pretty crappy advice, and she's consistently spared him out of whatever affection she has left for him. Now that Daenerys has fully settled into her role as the Mad Queen, it's probably quiet for Tyrion, especially when she finds out that he freed Jaime from captivity and inadvertently spared Cersei from her wrath. And you know what? I'm not mad about it at all. His inability to see Daenerys for who she has already shown herself to be put the innocent people of Westeros in harm's way. Tyrion can't be trusted to do anything right, so it's time for him to go. Dracarys.
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