OK, these are good examples of him being crafty and great at diplomacy.
The other examples (e.g. the wildfire strategy and designing Bran’s saddle that someone mentioned) do show he is smart, but don’t show that he is devious and crafty in manipulating humans.
Regarding whether someone who is crafty and devious would kill the king in front of everyone, well, that could be the genius of it: “I’m not so stupid as to kill him in front of everyone, when I could have done so on so many other occasions, as you well know”.
Technically, Craster didn’t kill his children, either. He simply left the boys for the White Walkers. We don’t actually know what happened to them after that…
Wait, that wasn’t Lisa Tully at Stannis’ stake buring? I could have swore it was. I remember telling my wife that’s the woman that breastfeeds her adolescent son. She agreed. I guess I’ll have to rewatch.
Lysa is the widow of Jon Arryn, who was the ruler of the Vale, the eastern region that borders the North. As far as we know she’s still there - it’s where the Hound and Lysa’s niece Arya are headed.
Selyse, the crazy lady who keeps her babies in tanks and is a devout worshiper of the Lord of Light, is Stannis’ wife and the mother of Shireen, the little girl with the facial deformity.
We the viewers know that Tyrion is smart and crafty. But do the people of King’s Landing know that? If I remember correctly, his reputation is more for his drunkenness and partying with whores, not for his intelligence. Some of the people who know him well, like his family, might realize his intelligence, but might let their hatred overshadow that and think he’s the killer.
Also, that could be a genius way to kill someone in more modern times, with a more reasonable court system. But from what little we’ve seen of Westeros court justice, it doesn’t seem like he’d have the chance to use that explanation as his defense. Especially if it will be Cersei as Queen Regent who will decide his fate.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if Joffrey had died in some other way and Tyrion was behind it. But I would be very surprised if Tyrion did kill Joffrey this way. You don’t have to be super crafty or devious to realize you don’t want to be the guy who served the king wine that seems to have killed him.
I think both the positive and negative traits of Tyrion are well known. I think it was strongly implied in season 1 (if not outright said) that between Tyrion and Jaime they had brains and braun thoroughly dominated. Tyrion WAS made Hand and subsequently master of coin. It’s not like he’s a complete waste of space, especially post-Blackwater.
During the battle at Blackwater, some of the soldiers saw that Tyrion behaved bravely, leading the charge against the invaders and being responsible for the wildfire explosion that destroyed most of the ships. So perhaps some of those soldiers will come to Tyrion’s defense or help him escape?
You’re right, people probably do think of him as intelligent. But even then, him planning on a double-bluff defense seems way too risky. I would think that most people would think either “he’s usually so smart, why did he kill Joffrey in such a stupid way?” or “he’s too smart to kill Joffrey like this, he probably didn’t do it, but I don’t know what Cersei will do to me if I try to defend him.”
This is true, he’s not friendless. It’s not inevitable that he’ll make it to the end, but I do think he has a good chance of making it out of this alive.
Ha, that’s great! I guess that would make Joffrey the Joker?
That’s not impossible. But I think Tyrion’s work at the Blackwater is known only by a few soldiers and a few people in the Lannister inner circle. The public knows him as a drunken wastrel or an evil Imp. He’s not a popular figure. His status as a little person alone is a huge strike against him in a society like this.
The person who might best be able to appreciate Tyrion’s intelligence is Tywin, but Tywin thinks he’s an idiot. And to my way of thinking, Tywin would absolutely be willing to let Tyrion hang if circumstances called for it.
I think it’s extremely unlikely this would persuade a modern jury, but a medieval-style court? I agree- forget it. If Tyrion goes on trial, only thing that matters is who decides his fate. Maybe Tywin would want him to live for some reason, but Cersei wants him dead right now.
Tywin doesn’t think he’s an idiot, he just hates him. He let him rule in his stead as hand of the king and made him master of coin. Tywin knows Tyrion is the smartest of his children, and the most capable of playing the game - but he can never get over the things that make him hate him.
To put it in context, Tywin seems to think everyone else is an idiot. The only exception I can think of is Olenna Tyrell. He obviously recognizes Tyrion’s intellectual capacity, but he doesn’t seem to respect it. He thinks Tyrion is a wastrel and that he fails to see the big picture. I don’t think he believes Tyrion is very useful to him, which is why Tyrion is in danger.
Well I think some viewers overestimate Tyrion because we like him and give him the benefit of the doubt. Objectively, Tyrion is probably just merely of above average intelligence as expected of a nobleman but has huge vice-plagued strikes against him such as boozing, whoring, and his imp-udence.
As far as how Tywin feels, I don’t think he hates Tyrion so much as overwhelmingly disappointed that he’s a boozy little man whore. Plus Tywin just found out that Tyrion is STILL whoring despite strong warnings not to. That doesn’t overcome the fact that he knows how to add up credits and debits and has a passing knowledge of Westerosian history. I mean, Tyrion’s not at a Maester’s level of wisdom or anything merely capable enough.
So… yes Tyrion is capable of operating and setting up safety nets for himself, he’s not at the level of Varys or even Littlefinger as far as intrigue goes. I don’t think he masterminded Joffrey’s death.
I’m not entirely sure Tyrion is afraid of Tywin so much as he is still desperately trying to get any positive emotion at all from the sour old man; if Tyrion could somehow get over his need for his father’s approval, he could probably move on and start working on his machinations to get out from under his father’s thumb.
Maester Pycelle is an idiot (best example is his estimation of how Joffrey would be as a king in his talk to Roz) so you can’t really go on that position meaning that much in terms of wisdom or capability.
Varys treats Tyrion as a legit equal. Littlefinger’s cleverness is pretty much relegated to treachery.
None of the characters are masters of intrique as I’m pretty sure everyone has been bested at some point. Even Tywin got outfoxed by Robb during the war.
I object! Who is smarter than Tyrion? The only possible candidates, IMO, are Tywin, Littlefinger, Varys, and Olenna Tyrell. And I think the only thing they have more than Tyrion is scheming-experience (and, perhaps, a lack of morals).
I think Tywin hates him. He explicitly blames him for his wife’s death (she died in childbirth), and hates the fact that he sired a dwarf. He also dislikes his habits, of course, but the death of his wife and the fact that he dared to be a dwarf are the chief motivations for his hatred, it seems to me.
Tywin knowing how smart Tyrion is defines why he gets so angry at Tyrion’s drinking and whoring. In Tywin’s mind Tyrion has *one *redeeming quality, his brain, and pisses all over it demeaning the Lannister name in the process.
