Skip to main content

game of thrones - Why was Shae in the Tower of the Hand?


I haven't read the books yet, but I have been watching and re-watching and re-watching again, the show. And nowhere since he first appeared on the screen Tywin Lannister seemed like the kind of person who will use the service of a whore. Let alone share one with his son.


But sure enough, from reading about the fourth season finale a little bit, it seems that this part was more or less true to the books. So Shae was with Tywin the night Tyrion was sprung out, and it seems to hint that Shae and Tywin "did the deed".


So I wonder if the books reveal a different Tywin than Charles Dance's excellent acting?



Answer




If one pays close attention to what Tywin says to Tyrion, one can notice, as Theik says in his answer, that he is not opposed to visiting whores, only in doing so publicly. For example, he says



"You will not bring the whore to court."



(I.e. "keep her out of sight".) And



"You're done with whores. The next one I find in your bed, I'll hang."



(I.e. "make sure I don't find her".) And of course, we are familiar with the story of Tysha, the common girl that Tywin "made" into a whore by allowing his soldiers to rape her.


The foreshadowing of Tywin's derogatory view of prostitutes is his father's relationship with a woman who was "a common born woman, daughter of a candlemaker". Lord Tytos was not a strong lord, and this woman took liberties that according to Tywin shamed house Lannister. He therefore upon his father's death punished her by stripping her naked and running her out of town.




"I was made to suffer my father's follies. I will not suffer yours."
-- Tywin to Tyrion



If one pays close attention to an earlier Tyrion chapter, where Tyrion and Varys discuss a hidden entrance to the brothel that Tyrion uses as cover:



[Tyrion:] "How is it a brothel happens to have a secret entrance?"


[Varys:] "The tunnel was dug for another King's Hand, whose honor would not allow him to enter such a house openly. Chataya has closely guarded the knowledge of its existence."



We do not know for sure, of course, but Tywin was Hand of the King for a good long time, during Aerys' reign.



With all this in mind, it does look as though Tywin has a rather warped relationship to prostitutes. He takes every chance to humiliate and punish them in public -- like he whipped Alayaya because he thought Tyrion had slept with her -- while in private, they are his guilty pleasure.


But of course, the only real evidence is that we know he slept with Shae.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more