I Always Knew You Were the Stupidest Lannister

Published May 7, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hi guys,

Hannah here from Sydney Australia, firstly just wanted to say how much I enjoy the show, really gets me through to the next episode so thanks for all your efforts.

A couple of theories I wanted to write in about. the first was touched on the deep dive episode when you began to discuss Tyrion’s true alliances. The penny dropped for my husband and I the other day when we realised, Tyrion really hasn’t provided any useful advice to Daenerys so far, and yes his conversation with Cersei in season 7 was cut conveniently short. One thing’s for sure, Cersei had a change of heart after her conversation with Tyrion, yes she lied about sending the Lannister army to help fight the Night King, but before speaking with Tyrion she openly admitted her real plan, why change your public position now, even for the lie? She either lied to placate Tyrion and make him seem a fool (also highly likely) or Tyrion convinced her to lie. When Cersei’s plan to break her word is revealed to Jamie, Jamie is shocked at her real plans and Cersei replies “I always knew you were the stupidest Lannister” So Tyrion is smarter than Jamie in Cersei’s eyes? Tyrion’s thoughts about the morality of deceit was a running theme in season 7, when he stated to Jon “Have you ever considered learning how to lie every now and then, Just a bit”? Reddit users have suggested Tyrion’s betrayal may be related to Cersei’s unborn child, there certainly is a lot of attention being paid to the baby, is it possible there is a connection between Tyrion’s discussions with Daenerys about her successor, and a promise to Cersei about her child sitting on the throne after Daenerys’ reign is over? And the bigger question, does Sansa suspect Tyrion and is she playing them all? Little finger told her to believe the worst of everyone, to always be prepared, to think of the long game. When Sansa realised that Tyrion was expecting his sister to stick to her word she said “I used to think you were the cleverest man alive”. He may be still Sansa, but perhaps not cleverer than you.

The last theory I want to mention is about Bran. There have been a few cut conversations between Bran, Tyrion and his Stark siblings. Season 7 showed us that off-screen conversations can have powerful implications and the audience is definitely not privy to what the real motives of their favourite characters are (another nod to Sansa, and the lengths that Arya and her went to, even in very ‘private’ moments to pretend to be against each other to throw Little finger). I think Bran still has the biggest part to play of all in this game. I have always thought Bran was toying with the past, but after watching the scene between him and Tyrion in episode 4 where he says to Tyrion “I live mostly in the past” we then see Bran look quickly over his shoulder and then back and Tyrion. I believe now more than ever Bran is time-travelling, trying to gauge how different situations may play out and the ‘butterfly effect’ of his powers. I think we are going to see some serious destruction in episode 5, perhaps another moment where we feel their world has gone to shit and can’t be saved. Will another one of the Stark children use their powers to save humanity? I can’t fucking wait to find out.

Thanks guys, keep up the amazing work!!

Hannah, Sydney Australia

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