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In the Game of Thrones books, Tyrion is described as an ugly man, who is short and deformed. While he is still a dwarf in the show, he is definitely not ugly. But what makes Tyrion so attractive has nothing to do with looks. His intelligence, wit, kindness, bravery, pragmatism, honesty and maturity. Not to mention virility (if his hookers are anything to go by…crass joke alert).
Tyrion isn’t just ‘book’ smart, he is sharp. He is able to use his brain to get himself out of tricky situations and keep himself alive. He can adapt in ways that characters like Daenerys and Ned Stark don’t or didn’t. I admire that greatly. I love to read and have intellectual chats about things – not necessarily politics, but anything. I like a guy who can tell me new things and ‘challenge’ me intellectually, who has an opinion and doesn’t just have mud swimming in his head.
As well as intelligence, humour is a quality I find super attractive in men. Tyrion’s level of intellect allows him a sense of dry, ironic humour that I also tend to emulate and enjoy. I love dark humour that verges on the ‘offensive.’
And then of course, Tyrion’s kindness. Tyrion is obviously not perfect. (He killed his daddy and he’s an alkie.) But on the whole he is a deeply kind, caring man. He has a good heart and does try to do the right thing. He is the only Lannister that cared for Sansa’s wellbeing, and while he is able to influence others, he is not manipulative for personal gain like Littlefinger.
Tyrion possesses a great deal of empathy for others, which is in part due to being born a dwarf. This is something else that I also love about him; he’s an ‘underdog.’ I was always the weird eccentric kid in school. I have a lot of wonderful close friends but I don’t have a large ‘social circle’ whom I regularly hang out with. I felt like an ‘underdog’ in primary school. Too nerdy and mature and naive for the others. Needless to say, many of us feel like this growing up.
So I relate to Tyrion. I know my strengths and my weaknesses. I am honest with myself and others about who I am and what I am. Tyrion doesn’t bitch or moan or complain about how hard life is for himself because he was born with a disadvantage. He resents it, but he gets on with things and doesn’t turn himself into a victim. Tyrion is able to live with the person he is, and gets on with his life because he knows whingeing and ‘protecting’ one’s ego are not the most important things in this world.
So the main reason why I love Tyrion so much is he is a character I feel I am deeply similar to. He knows that you can’t always get exactly what you want; you have to compromise and take others desires into account. Rather than banning the slave pits outright, he compromised by allowing them to decline over several years.
This is because he was aware that just because Westerosi may view slavery as wrong, it was a big part of the culture in Yunkai, Astapoor and Meereen. A white person can’t just go charging into a foreign country and stamp their moral code on it and expect there to be no backlash.
Tyrion is a character who I have grown to respect and love deeply over the course of my journey with the ‘Ice and Fire’ books and series. I hope against hope that he lives, and have a feeling that he will, based on his level of rational pragmatism and adaptability. If Tyrion dies in Season 8, it will be because of letting his ego or emotions get in the way of his cunning. This is what killed Ned Stark; an inability to adapt, and it also killed Robb, as well as many other characters in the show.
I think it’s also a lesson for us in life; when we listen to what others want, learn to adapt and compromise rather than forcing someone else to see our view for the sake of our ego and insisting we are ‘right’, we create better relations with others and are respected more, not to mention are able to achieve our own goals more easily.
