'Game of Thrones' Series Finale Reveals Fate of Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion Lannister played a major role in the Game of Thrones series finale Sunday night, pushing [...]

Tyrion Lannister played a major role in the Game of Thrones series finale Sunday night, pushing Jon Snow to make a major decision before his final fate was sealed. In the end, Tyrion takes a job that's very familiar to him.

Throughout the series, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) tried to pull the strings behind the scenes for his own survival. By the time of the final season, he was still Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) hand and most trusted advisor, even as his sister Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) betrayed them by not helping to destroy the Night King in the Winterfell. After the events of "The Bells," Tyrion became the last Lannister sibling standing, since Cersei and Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) died in each others' arms during Dany's sack of King's Landing.

Dany's shocking actions during the invasion helped Tyrion understand why Varys (Conleth Hill) began having doubts about her ability to rule.

In the finale, Tyrion told Jon Snow (Kit Harington) he needed to betray Dany because the Stark family will never be safe with Dany on the Iron Throne. Dany already felt betrayed by Jon after he told his siblings his true identity and that he had a rightful claim to the Iron Throne. Considering Jon was also uneasy with Dany's earlier actions, he agreed with Tyrion. Jon visited Dany in the throne room, where he killed her.

Grey Worm took Jon and Tyrion as his prisoners and put them before the council, possibly weeks after Dany's death. The council now includes Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). Sansa told Grey Worm to release Jon and Tyrion, but Grey Worm refused because the Unsullied claim King's Landing was still theirs. The council argued over Jon's fate. Davos pleaded with Grey Worm, but he refused. Tyrion began to talk, suggesting a new King or Queen should decide what Jon's fate is. Tyrion told the council to pick a new king.

Later, the council voted to pick Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) as the new King of Westeros, after Tyrion nominated him. Bran's first action was picking Tyrion as his hand. Grey Worm insists it is a bad idea and he has to pay for his crimes, but Bran says he will spend the rest of his life paying for his mistakes.

However, Jon still faced a punishment, and was sent back to the Wall with the Night's Watch. Grey Worm reluctantly accepted Jon's punishment, but he took the Unsullied and remaining Dothraki to free slave cities without bending the knee before Bran.

In the end, Tyrion ended up leading the council, which also includes Sam, Davos, Bronn, Brienne, Yara Greyjoy, Robin Arryn, Gendry Baratheon and Yohn Royce.

While the final season of Game of Thrones has been met with criticism by fans, Peter Dinklage has stood by showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff.

"There are no better writers in television than [showrunners] Dan Weiss and David Benioff. They ended it brilliantly. Better than I could have imagined, and you people are in for it," he told Entertainment Tonight. "It ends beautifully for my character, whether it be tragic or not."

Dinklage has been busy in Hollywood since the mid-1990s, making his debut in 1995's Living in Oblivion. However, his role as Tyrion on Game of Thrones has been career-defining, even winning him a Golden Globe in 2012. He was nominated for the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Emmy every season of the show, winning in 2011, 2015 and 2018. It's been reported that his next movie will be Mel Gibson's remake of The Wild Bunch.

Photo credit: HBO

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