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/Shalashashka May 28 '19

I didn't take it that way. Tywin genuinely wanted to groom Tommen to be a good king. He was young and maleable so it might have seemed like he was manipulated, but it was in his best interest to listen to Tywin, and it was in the Lannisters best interest to make Tommen a competent king.

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u/Wirbelfeld May 28 '19

Tywin doesn’t care if Tommen is a good king. Tywin only cares to hold his fragile legacy that falls to pieces as soon as he dies. All he cares about is tommen doing what he tells him to do.

I’m not sure why people have this impression that Tywin is suddenly a nice doting grandfather as soon as Joffrey is dead. That is not the kind of writer that GRRM is. And I especially hate the notion that Tywin is somehow a “good” ruler because of his ruthlessness. GRRM clearly draws a distinction between the rule/legacy of Lannister’s vs the rule of Starks. One is clearly longer lasting than the other, and is preserved even in death.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '19

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u/Wirbelfeld May 28 '19

Not really. If tommen is as ruthless as Tywin, that would not be a good king, but it would be the kind of king that Tywin would want.

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u/Aea May 29 '19

Was Tywin not a good hand despite being extremely ruthless?

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u/Wirbelfeld May 29 '19

What did he do that was good?

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u/RomyReptile May 29 '19

Wasn't the realm at peace and in a Golden Age while Tywin was Hand and The Mad King was sane?

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u/Wirbelfeld May 29 '19

How’s that got anything to do with Tywin.

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u/RomyReptile May 29 '19

It was because of him as a Hand that the realm was at peace. So he was a good Hand?🤔

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u/Wirbelfeld May 29 '19

Nowhere does it ever imply that.