Not important enough for him to get remarried and produce a proper heirs for Casterly rock. I know he thinks Tyrion is not worthy, so I’ll give him a pass on that, but Jamie has been in the kings-guard for close to two decades. Plenty of time to produce a new male heir. He wants his children to suck it up and marry people they don’t want to, for the good of the Lannister line, but he’s not willing to do the same.
I have also wondered why Tywin won’t take himself a young wife and have some new heirs, lots of men of Westeros seem to do this. He doesn’t seem that happy with any of the heirs he currently has so why not? Was he really that hung up on his now dead wife that he can’t even do the duty he expects everyone else to do or maybe he feels no one else is good enough for him or maybe he’s secretly a fan of Ser Loras? Okay, probably not the last one. I think he really doesn’t like kids.
Agreed. Someone could make a supercut of every shot of Bran jerking awake after each new vision (not that they should). And I’ve taken to calling the Love, Actually Kid “Plot Device” since he’s only there to tell Bran what’s happening to him.
This is a really good question. I wonder if he was just so busy with the rebellion and everything else that he decided it was better to concentrate on the children he already has. He gets frustrated with them all the time, but I think he still believes he can use them to get what he wants.
I think Littlefinger had Joffrey killed without any help from Tywin or the Tyrells. Joffrey married to Margarey means the two strongest houses are united in control of the kingdom. That is a stable situation. Littlefinger wants chaos and war, so he can move up and become king while everyone else is distracted. Now he has Sansa and Tyrion is in jail and the new king is a child. The part where he crushed the necklace showed that the fat knight was lying about where he got it. Littlefinger gave it to him to give to Sansa to gain her trust so she would go with him after the murder. So he knew about the murder days in advance, neither Tywin or the Tyrells want Sansa missing they both want to marry her into their family.
Someone still had to put the poison in the cup.
Hmm. Good point; I’d never thought of that before. Maybe he’s sterile now, and knows it? Some war wound that he would rather others not learn about?
It’s also at least possible that he genuinely mourns his dead wife too much. He did seem awfully upset at Tyrion for “killing” her in childbirth, even though his attitude could have been the more Tywin-y “hey, a chance to get myself a new wife and forge some new alliances. Awesome!”.
Actual love of family members does seem to be a trait (weakness?) common to the Lannisters.
In addition to the part where he crushed the necklace showing that the fat knight was lying, there was the part where Littlefinger said he had the necklace made three weeks prior, and said that he paid the fat knight (I think 10,000 gold coins) for his involvement. But I agree that Olenna seemed to be involved as well.
He said he promised to pay Ser Dorntas. He actually paid him with arrows to the chest. And yes, there is the problem of how the poison got to Joffrey. It still looks like Olenna was responsible.
The defining character trait of Tywin is his obsession with the legacy of his family. But he’s not a robot that follows a set program. People are contradictory and inconsistent. It seems likely that Tywin may have truly loved his wife and that if you were to ask him why he hasn’t remarried he’d respond similarly to Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting: “My wife’s dead.” He doesn’t necessarily need a child of his own to inherit: As we’ve seen throughout the show there are other Lannisters, Tywin, Jaime, Tyrion, and Cersie are just the ones we see the most of. And he may believe that his favored son will eventually wise up and claim his place as heir.
You’re right that Tywin cares about the Lannister name and not just his own children, but as the head of the family, I think he wants the power to remain in the hands of his direct descendants.
I definitely agree with that. And more than that, I think Tyrion was at least partially correct when he pointed out how convenient it was that Tywin’s quest for the Lannister legacy all too often just happened to lead to personal power. I’m just sort of spitballing on the character in general. Like most people he’s complex.
Does Tywin have a brother? I seem to remember Tyrion addressing someone as uncle back when we first met Tywin in Season 1.
Yeah, his brother Kevan has been occasionally mentioned. Father of Lancel i believe.
He sure does. Kevan Lannister. You can see him here. He’s the older gentleman who talks with Tywin and Tyrion. In this 1st season scene Joffrey suggests deposing the Starks and installing his uncle Kevan as Warden of the North in their stead.
Right. That’s not an accident, but Tywin would say he’s just doing what’s necessary since no on around him seems to have the vision. He’s a believer in the saying “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” And he also thinks that the best way to ensure his family’s survival is to accumulate as much power as possible. He’s now wrapping up his family with as many other powerful families as possible so there won’t be anyone on the outside to attack them.
I wonder if he’d recognize it in them if they did.
Cersei sure doesn’t think he does. What did he tell her last season? I think it was, “You’re not as clever as you think.” And, even if he does think Tyrion has vision," all midgets are bastards in their father’s eyes."
One thing I noticed on rewatch in his scene with Tommen : he starts pretty much taking a steaming dump on Joffrey’s legacy, then flashes a look at Cersei and goes something like “come with me now, kid, we can talk more about wisdom elsewhere” and leaves. Tywin always looks kind of like whoever he’s talking to has disappointed him *again *but I read that particular one as “Not gonna let you fuck *that *one up, I’m taking over”.
So not only did Cersei lose her pwecious Kinglet, she’s just had another torn from her by her own dad. And Myrcella’s still in Dorne, right ?
She wasn’t the most stable of people before, but between that and the rape and I think she might just crack completely in the coming weeks. Maybe she can form a support group with Lysa Arryn and Stannis’ wife ? 