Why Tywin Lannister is the BEST Villain in GoT

What made Tywin great to me was that he never really felt like a villain half the time, he was just such a responsible and cunning character, it was hard not to respect him.

Loved his line “how is it more honorable killing thousands of men at battle than a dozen at dinner”

I LOVED Charles Dance's portrayal of Tywin. He felt like the perfect embodiment of lawful evil; he acted as though he was this lone vanguard of the realm that kept it from falling into chaos and ruin and we, as the audience, sided with him based on all of the evidence pointing to this fact. I think his scenes with Tyrion were also brilliant because, going off of his tone and body language, you got the sense that deep down, past his hatred of the Imp, he saw Tyrion as the child that was the most like him and this clearly pissed him off to no end. In fact, I dare say he respected Tyrion to some degree but saw him as squandering his talents and ruining the Lannister name. If Tyrion had Jaime's good looks, "normal proportions" and charisma, as well as lacking a propensity for wine and whores, then he probably would've been Tywin's favorite.

Tywin might be the only "villain" in a story for which I was sad when he died, he was such a great character, GRRM's writing and Charles's acting (especially his voice) made him so iconic. I hated him but I also understood him, but I'm also happy that he died before D&D ran out of books and were able to ruin his character like they did with Tyrion and all the others.

Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage are basically the two best 'face actors' alive, so watching them together is an overload of joy at the apex of the craft.

I always appreciated how Tywin used his brutality as a tool of necessity rather than for his own sick enjoyment like Ramsay or Joffrey.

Charles Dance is one of the greatest character actors ever. And he's certainly one of the best of our time.

Tywin also almost broke down when Cersei blackmailed him that she would reveal that her children are truly bastards. He didn't see that coming.

Great villains we should have gotten: - Lady Stoneheart. Would have helped nailed in the point that the Lord of Light' resurrections are not a pleasant experience. IMO it would have been a better use than keeping Beric around waiting for death, a better lesson to Arya about not to let revenge consume you, and in combining the two we could have seen Stoneheart be the one to save Arya at Winterfell, allowing Stoneheart to succeed at saving one of her children after failing to save the one during her first life. - Patchface. Technically not a villain in the books, but there's just something so creepy about him (i.e., the nonsensical prophecies that keep coming true) that he could easily become one if something sets him off (like say someone murdering his only friend). - Book accurate Euron Greyjoy. Instead of being the "Frat Bro in Florida For Spring Break" version of Ramsay, Euron in the books is a dangerously charismatic and is steeped in the Dark Arts, including having a Valyrian Dragon Horn that binds dragons to his will (thus making him a REAL danger to Dany). He won the Driftwood Throne using both of those and taking intelligent steps to remove opposition (bribing Victarion's captains to ensure their loyalty and then sending Victarion off on an implied suicide mission, kidnapping Aeron immediately after the Kingsmoot lest he turns the Ironborn against him and "marrying off" Asha to a loyal captain) instead of losing the Iron Fleet to his niece because he left the proverbial keys in the ignition. He's shaping up to be possibly the most dangerous antagonist south of the Wall instead of being psycho party animal obsessed with being Cersei's f**k-boy. - Book accurate Tyrion, post Trial By Combat. GRRM described Tyrion's ASOIAF story as a villain origin story and frankly its one you can sympathize with. Most of his (living) family despises him no matter what he does, the decadent aristocracy treat him like a monster/a scapegoat for their own crimes, and he finds out his beloved brother lied about Tyrion's first wife Tysha being a wh*re leading to Tysha's gang r*pe (which Tyrion was culpable in. The result is Tyrion snaps and begins to become the very monster society said he is but the reader is fully supportive of his fall from grace. The result is once in Essos Tyrion is becoming more venomous and ruthless, becoming an even better political chessmaster (ie convincing an entire mercenary army to defect back to Dany's side). Instead of becoming a pathetic and stupid loser like D&D portray him as, Tyrion in the books is becoming Tywin 2.0 but without any of Tywin's hypocrisy, which I find another fine "F**k You" to Tywin.

Tywin was a villain to the audience but a hero to/for his family. When he was Hand under Aerys, the realm was at peace and prospered for 20+ years.

I honestly wish that we'd gotten an interaction between Ned Stark and Tywin Lannister. That conversation would've had me at the edge of my seat.

I don't think his actions in the Riverlands can be waivered like that "because it is war time". He deliberately sent his most vicious first like Gregor Clegane and the Brave Companions, who went on campaigns of rape, pillage, destruction -- if not genocide -- throughout the Riverlands during the War of the Five Kings. Tywin knew exactly who he was sending (he knew Clegane for decades at that point). His campaign there ravaged the whole region and caused death and suffering on an unprecedented scale, which triggered indirectly many of the events in Feast. This was not inevitable-- Rob, for example, never went down to that level (though Roose did). To say that Tywin didn't "go out of his way to cause harm" simply isn't true. Among the noble lords, Tywin was notorious for using excessive violence to crack down on any perceived slight to his house, which started with his extermination of Castamere.

My favorite thing about Tywin is Charles Dance's performance, but also, how he is written as "being busy" in almost every scene he is in. Talking to Jaime? Skinning a Buck. Talking to Cersei? Writing a letter. Head of the army. Hand of the King. Always in meetings. He is always shown as having his mind on something else other than the conversation he is having. Even in his death scene, he is trying to take a doody, and can't even do that in peace.

Tywin is a perfect example of Machiavellism

The thing about Euron Greyjoy. I know this is something everyone who’s read the books agrees with, he is a significantly more interesting and evil character. His ambitions are the greatest among any of the main villains. Tywin may want his house to be the most powerful in Westeros. But Euron is after cosmic, eldritch power in order to leave the world in silence. Literally to silence the song of ice and fire.

charles dance deserved a golden globe for his performance, in the show, he was by far the one who shined the most, dinklage got the emmy or golden globe in S7 but wasn't really earned, even peter was baffled that he got the award and not niklolaj waldau

All his children have aspects of him too which makes it interesting. Cersi has his manipulation, Jamie is the Knight, and Tyrion has his wit and intelligence. Funny how his children drive him crazier than anyone else in the show.

I love that we didn’t have to see a decline of his character since he died at the end of season 4

Charles Dance is also a wonderful voice actor. His short performance as Emhyr in The Witcher 3 is memorable

One theory i loved is that Tywin was already dead from poisoning (why he was stuck on a shitter for SO LONG, giving Tirion all the time he needed and some other signs like fast decay of his corpse mentioned in the books) by Oberyn. Oberyn knew that Tywin is dead, hence his playfullness and carelessness after he acheved his second goal - killing the mountain. So, in that sence, Oberyn's demise is kinda poetic. And, Tyrion perfectly gets in a way of said plans, unknowingly, but he does this often enough to become character's trait.