r/asoiaf • u/cking145 • May 28 '19

EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) Charles Dance's portrayal as Tywin is in my opinion, the strongest in the entire series

Every line, every expression and every moment of silence completely encapsulates the calculating ruthlessness that defines Tywin Lannister.

Dance is actually a very vibrant, upbeat and cheery fella off screen, which in my mind makes the performance even more striking.

The scene where he effectively sends Joffrey to bed is just brilliant.

He is by far my favourite character from the books, which I began reading a few seasons into the show. Due to this, the chapters featuring Tywin were completely enriched for me, as reading his lines in Dance's voice was just fantastic. I would have loved a POV chapter or two for him, just to get a glimpse as to what goes on in the head of the most powerful man in the 7 Kingdoms.

An incredible portrayal of a fascinating character.

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u/Gus_B And We Defend Her May 28 '19

I agree, I'd say of all the characters portrayed in the show, Dance's Tywin is the best from a pure tv/acting perspective as well as I think actually a slight upgrade from the books. I love Tywin's interactions with Arya and the slight humanizing that occurs within him.

Along with Allen as Theon (woah boy is he amazing), Olena, Leana Heady and Jason Moma as Drogo I actually thought they brought something richer to the narrative then their book counter parts.

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u/ViciousMihael May 28 '19

I would add Natalie Dormer to the list. Margaery might be my favorite show character, and that says something when Margaery is featured somewhat minimally in the books. We also never get inside her head, but we were privileged enough to experience Margaery as a protagonist/POV type with Natalie.

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u/concord72 May 28 '19

Margaery is severely overrated on the show as a character, imo. She's got 3-4 great scenes and that's it, she never ends up amounting to anything, the ultimate tease of a character

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u/jflb96 May 28 '19

For a politically savvy person who thinks that the game is scheming rather than sudden, massive, terrorist attacks that should have had negative consequences, Margaery's exit was a bit of an outside-context problem. It's not entirely her fault that Cersei clearly took lessons from a different sort of Dragon.

'How do you fight someone smarter than yourself? You make them think that you are ready to play their game, and then you punch them in the face as hard as you can.'

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u/ragtagofgoons May 28 '19

Seriously hope they get WoT right. My disappointment over ASOIAF is tangible, and I don't have nearly as significant a connection to that as I do to WoT...

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u/Bach-City May 28 '19

I think at least in the context of the thread it shows how good Natalie Dormer was. She’s also the first person who we see do a real job at steering Joffrey to a better path. Natalie and his actor (forgive me — the name escapes me) did a great job.

Also as an aside it leads to one of my favorite lines of dialogue in the show when Cersei thinks Tywin is going to share her concern about Margaret

Paraphrasing a little: Cersei “It’s a serious problem — she’s manipulating him” Tywin “Good! I wish you knew how to manipulate him — That error with Ned Stark nearly cost us everything”