For Millennials. By Millennials.
We know that Game of Thrones diverged a lot from the George RR Martin books. Believe it or not, the book series A Song of Ice and Fire, upon which the HBO show is based is a lot darker than the show. And the characters are remarkably different as well. Martin is an expert at making amazing character arcs. However, Tyrion has an arc that no show watcher could ever expect. After all, he was the golden boy in the eyes of the fans. But, in the books, Tyrion Lannister was a rapist!
Tyrion Lannister – a fall from grace
As we discussed before, we said that Tyrion was a lot better in the books than he was in Game of Thrones. However, by better, we did not mean that he was morally a good character. Far from it, in fact!
Tyrion Lannister gradually became a much more morally grey character. After Jamie’s confession and the killing of his father, Tywin Lannister, Tyrion was no longer the joyful drunkard that he was before. He grew more miserable, and that was extremely evident when Tyrion literally raped a prostitute in Selhorys.
Tyrion raped a prostitute in Selhorys
In the 5th book of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, named A Dance With Dragons, George RR Martin really showed us how low Tyrion had fallen. He was about to bed a prostitute for the first time, after a very long time. And it is clearly written how revulsed she was at Tyrion’s face:
The wh*re was looking at his noseless face with revulsion in her eyes. “Do I offend you, sweetling? I am an offensive creature, as my father would be glad to tell you if he were not dead and rotting.”
Normally, such a moment would put any decent man to shame. But, Tyrion Lannister was having none of that. He then told her to undress and then proceeded to rape her, as Martin wrote:
The wine was strong and sour and required no translation. “I suppose I shall settle for your c**t.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Have you ever bedded a monster before? Now’s as good a time as any. Out of your clothes and onto your back, if it please you. Or not.”
She looked at him uncomprehending, until he took the flagon from her hands and lifted her skirts up over her head. After that she understood what was required of her, though she did not prove the liveliest of partners.
That last phrase just shows how that girl was being forced into having s*x with Tyrion. And as a reader, it baffles you when you realize that Tyrion is a rapist. But sadly, he wasn’t done with the prostitute just yet.
He raped her a second time!
At first, Tyrion felt some sort of shame at what he had done to the poor girl, as he thought after raping her:
He rolled off feeling more ashamed than sated. This was a mistake. What a wretched creature I’ve become. “Do you know a woman by the name of Tysha?” he asked…
Moreover, Tyrion even realized that the girl was so revulsed from him after the rape that she didn’t even have the “strength to loathe him”:
The wh*re did not respond. “Do you know where wh*res go?” She did not answer that one either. Her back was crisscrossed by ridges of scar tissue. This girl is as good as dead. I have just f**ked a corpse. Even her eyes looked dead. She does not even have the strength to loathe me.
But, all that shame was not enough. Tyrion Lannister was no longer the person we thoroughly enjoyed in the previous Game of Thrones books. Raping the girl once wasn’t enough for him, as Tyrion proceeded to rape her again.
And this is how Tyrion Lannister became a rapist. He raped a prostitute not once, but twice even after feeling guilty and knowing full well about what he had done. It is an incredible fall from grace for a character that was hailed as the ultimate underdog in Game of Thrones. But, that is the brilliance of George RR Martin’s writing. On one hand, the beloved Tyrion Lannister ended up becoming a rapist. Whereas his initially much-despised brother Jamie Lannister had a character arc that saw him become arguable the best character George RR Martin ever wrote. And we can’t wait to see how he will be like in Winds of Winter!
