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Robert Baratheon/the Usurper
Tyrion is Jaime and Cersei’s brother and Tywin’s son. He is portrayed as witty and has a quick retort ready for almost every situation. He has dwarfism, which resulted in his father’s rejection. As Tyrion tells Jon Snow, “All dwarfs are bastards in their father’s eyes.” Tyrion’s trajectory shows that adversity, while often horrific to endure, can have a transformative impact on those who face it head-on rather than avoiding it. Tyrion argues that by embracing one’s perceived weaknesses, one can turn those supposed weaknesses into sources of strength. Tyrion teaches those lessons directly to Jon Snow, and Jon takes them to heart. Those lessons arguably enable Jon to overcome the frustration he feels at being left out of the Stark family in order to embark on a new path in life and embrace his inherent capacity for leadership. Tyrion’s lessons make a broader point about life in Westeros as a whole. As Tyrion shows, one’s status in Westeros is determined by strictly defined expectations about who is worthy of power and respect. Tyrion shows how defying those narrow expectations by embracing one’s true self can lead a person to be the most empowered version of themselves.
Tyrion Lannister Quotes in A Game of Thrones
The A Game of Thrones quotes below are all either spoken by Tyrion Lannister or refer to Tyrion Lannister. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5: Jon Quotes
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
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Chapter 13: Tyrion Quotes
“I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind … and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.” Tyrion tapped the leather cover of the book. “That’s why I read so much, Jon Snow.”
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Chapter 22: Arya Quotes
“Your mother and I have charged [Septa Mordane] with the impossible task of making you a lady.”
“I don’t want to be a lady!” Arya flared.
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Chapter 26: Jon Quotes
Fat and awkward and frightened he might be, but Samwell Tarly was no fool. One night he visited Jon in his cell. “I don’t know what you did,” he said, “but I know you did it.” He looked away shyly. “I’ve never had a friend before.”
“We’re not friends,” Jon said. He put a hand on Sam’s broad shoulder. “We’re brothers.”
And so they were, he thought to himself after Sam had taken his leave. Robb and Bran and Rickon were his father’s sons, and he loved them still, yet Jon knew that he had never truly been one of them. Catelyn Stark had seen to that. The grey walls of Winterfell might still haunt his dreams, but Castle Black was his life now, and his brothers were Sam and Grenn and Halder and Pyp and the other cast-outs who wore the black of the Night’s Watch.
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Tyrion Lannister Character Timeline in A Game of Thrones
The timeline below shows where the character Tyrion Lannister appears in A Game of Thrones. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: Eddard
...at Winterfell with his band of knights. Cersei, her twin brother Jaime, and their brother, Tyrion are also with Robert. Robert immediately asks Ned to go to the crypt, and Ned...
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Chapter 5: Jon
...whole table is listening. He bursts into tears and runs outside. Outside, Jon runs into Tyrion, who advises Jon to make who he is his strength. That way his identity can...
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Chapter 9: Tyrion
Tyrion is reading when he hears a wolf howl. He has been up all night, as...
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Chapter 13: Tyrion
Instead of traveling with the king’s procession, Tyrion goes with Ben and Jon Snow to see the Wall and the Night’s Watch. On...
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Jon Snow finds Tyrion reading. The two begin talking, and Tyrion says that he knows Jon, like Tyrion himself,...
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Chapter 18: Catelyn
...Or at least it had been until he recently lost it in a bet to Tyrion Lannister.
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Chapter 19: Jon
Jon thinks that no one told him the truth about the Wall except for Tyrion. The Wall is a cold and mean place, and his uncle Ben has practically ignored...
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...were once 5,000 of them, but now there are only about 500. Jon then sees Tyrion. The two haven’t seen much of each other since the journey to the Wall. Tyrion...
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...learn that Bran has woken up. He runs back into the dining hall and tells Tyrion the news. For a moment, Tyrion looks shocked. Others around Jon join him in his...
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Chapter 20: Eddard
...happened, including the discovery that the dagger that was meant to kill Bran belonged to Tyrion Lannister. Ned is taken aback by what Catelyn says but quickly makes plans. He tells...
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Chapter 21: Tyrion
Tyrion eats dinner with officers of the Night’s Watch and confirms that he plans to leave...
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After dinner, Tyrion decides to go to the top of the Wall to look out from it one...
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Chapter 24: Bran
...dead things that felled armies and had spiders in their legions as big as dogs. Tyrion then arrives at Winterfell with three men from the Night’s Watch. Hodor helps Bran go...
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Robb is visibly upset at Tyrion’s presence (due to his suspicions that the Lannisters killed Jon Arryn and tried to kill...
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Chapter 28: Catelyn
While Catelyn and Ser Rodrik are eating dinner, Tyrion walks into the inn accompanied by three members of the Night’s Watch. After Tyrion speaks...
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Chapter 31: Tyrion
After Catelyn arrests Tyrion at the inn, they set out along the road. In the inn, Catelyn repeatedly said...
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...pass the mountains, a mountain clan attacks them. They battle, and Catelyn agrees to let Tyrion have a weapon to defend himself. Eventually, they defeat the mountain clan and continue riding....
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Chapter 32: Arya
...to tell him. Yoren—one of the members of the Night’s Watch who was riding with Tyrion—comes to speak to Ned. He says he rode as fast as he could from a...
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Chapter 33: Eddard
...and his family if he stays, especially considering what Yoren told him about Catelyn arresting Tyrion. Since Robert is already angry with him, Ned is afraid that Tyrion’s arrest might send...
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Chapter 34: Catelyn
...see her. But Lysa quickly drops the façade. She menacingly asks Catelyn why she brought Tyrion to her kingdom and dragged her into Catelyn’s problems. Lysa says she wants to avoid...
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Chapter 35: Eddard
...Littlefinger is taken aback and can’t believe what’s happening. Jaime asks Ned why Catelyn took Tyrion as her prisoner. Ned says Tyrion needs to answer for crimes against Bran and tells...
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Chapter 38: Tyrion
Tyrion is held in the Eyrie in a cell that has bars on one side and...
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Later that night, Lysa summons Tyrion and is prepared to hear his confession. Tyrion begins describing a litany of sins, including...
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...the shape of a crescent moon opens, revealing nothing but the sky beneath it. If Tyrion loses his trial, he’ll be thrown through the opening. Tyrion then says he wants a...
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Chapter 39: Eddard
...Ned. Cersei chimes in to say that Catelyn had no right to lay hands on Tyrion and take him as her prisoner. Jaime has fled from King’s Landing, and Ned urges...
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Chapter 40: Catelyn
Catelyn wakes up on the morning of Tyrion’s trial intent on speaking with her sister Lysa. Catelyn wants to stop the trial. She...
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...convinced that her champion will defeat the soldier for hire, Bronn, who will fight for Tyrion. Catelyn tries to remind Lysa that Tyrion is her prisoner, not Lysa’s, but Lysa won’t...
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Ser Vardis (Lysa’s champion) and Bronn (the hired soldier who stands in for Tyrion) begin to fight. Bronn runs around the room as Vardis chases him. Bronn’s strategy appears...
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...stabs him through the ribs. Robert Arryn tells Lysa again that he wants to see Tyrion fly, but Lysa says that Tyrion is now free to go. She also ensures that...
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Chapter 42: Tyrion
Tyrion and Bronn make their way through the mountains. Bronn proposes that they travel at night...
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Tyrion tells Bronn the story of the first woman who he had sex with. He says...
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...says he would kill any man if he did something like what Tywin did to Tyrion. As Tyrion and Bronn sit by the fire, two men appear out of the shadows....
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Chapter 56: Tyrion
Tyrion travels with about 300 people from various mountain clans. He’s not sure whether he’s their...
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Tyrion tells Tywin that he has debts to settle. He needs weapons and armor, along with...
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Chapter 62: Tyrion
Tyrion eats dinner with Tywin and Tywin’s closest confidants. Tywin proposes that Tyrion and his band...
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Tyrion wakes in the middle of the night to battle horns. The Stark army marched through...
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Tyrion talks with Tywin after the battle and asks if he and the mountain clans ruined...
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Chapter 69: Tyrion
...to the next and has no clue what he’s doing. Now that he’s killed Ned, Tyrion says, there’s no way for them to petition for peace with Robb and the Starks...
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...sends his men away and says he wants to speak to his brother Kevan and Tyrion alone. Tyrion is shocked that his father has asked him to be privy to momentous...
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Chapter 71: Catelyn
...She thinks that the war and all that followed is her fault because she seized Tyrion. Catelyn tells her father that Robb secured the capture of Jaime Lannister and that Hoster’s...
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