According to Peter Dinklage, Tyrion Lannister has feelings for Daenerys Targaryen beyond those of a Hand to his Queen. How could this affect season 8?
Throughout Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen has always inspired reactions — if not stronger feelings — in the men around her. From Khal Drogo to Jorah Mormont to even Jon Snow, those reactions have been closer to love. Apparently, not even Tyrion Lannister is immune to those kinds of feelings when it comes to Daenerys, though.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Peter Dinklage shed some light on what the Hand of the Queen feels for the Mother of Dragons. “He loves her — or thinks he does,” he revealed, noting that “it’s complicated.” (Is there anything on Game of Thrones that is actually simple?)
EW contextualizes these in light of the season 7 scene where Tyrion witnesses Daenerys taking Jon Snow into her bedroom, but it seems as though those feelings could color most of Tyrion’s interactions with his queen. Yes, he understands political workings, but he does have a hopeful streak to him. We’d hesitate to say that it’ll get as awkward as, say, most of Jorah’s conversations with Daenerys, but it definitely might affect how he tries to get her to change certain behaviors.
In our post-season 7 analysis, we noted that drawing connections between Tywin and Tyrion might be a possible path for season 8. With this note from Dinklage, we can instead juxtapose the two in a new way by looking back at the history between Tywin, King Aerys, and Joanna Lannister. As the Wiki of Ice and Fire notes, in the books, it is known that there were rumors about Aerys and Joanna. This isn’t the exact same situation. In fact, it’s neatly reversed, with Tyrion on the outside looking in instead of wedding the woman in question.
Whether or not that connection will matter in season 8 is up to the writers for Game of Thrones. But all the same, with the knowledge that these feelings are going into affectionate territory for Tyrion makes us wonder about how he’ll behave towards Daenerys and Jon both.