Tyrion Literally Stabbing Dany in the Back Is the Only Acceptable 'Game of Thrones' Ending. Change My Mind.
Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8.
By now Daenerys Targaryen has just about completed her character downfall arc, laying waste to countless civilians in a Dresden-like bombing campaign of Kings Landing. After watching Dany crucify slave owners, torch POWs, and talk incessantly about avenging all her family ills by bringing fire to the Red Keep, the character turn isn’t all that surprising. Especially after all her sense-talking advisors have been killed: one stabbed by zombies, one beheaed by a Frankenstein zombie, and one set on fire by her own command. Oops.
So now that Daenerys has usurped the Night King who in turn usurped Cersei as the series’ ultimate antagonist, we can begin wildly speculating as to which hero might cathartically assassinate her. And I'm convinced that hero will be (and has always been) Tyrion. Tyrion will kill Dany. And this “twist” has been years in the making.
Why does Tyrion killing Dany make sense?
The most obvious anticipation to this killing can be found in Season 7 episode 4. Episode 4 saw Dany and dragons (then plural) obliterate a caravan of Lannister soldiers transporting gold on the Roseroad into King’s Landing. The scene is notable for the uncompromising destruction of the soldiers (and now, foreshadowing the destruction of King’s Landing) as well as both Tyrion and Jaime’s reaction to the violence.
This is the first use of dragons that Jaime observes and perhaps the closest one Tyrion has witnessed until that point. The camera cuts back and forth from Tyrion to Jaime in a moment of shared horror-the realization of the dragons’ ultimate destructiveness and Dany's potential reckless use of this destruction. Jaime then charges Dany, attempting to slay yet another mad Targaryen, as Tyrion whispers and then yells “flee, you idiot!” Bronn ultimately saves Jaime. Idiot!
Tyrion had before the battle voiced opposition to Dany's Burn King’s Landing Plan. She retorts back, “Enough of your clever plans. I have three large dragons. I’m going to fly them to the Red Keep.” (She was never not going to destroy King’s Landing).
But, backing up to that moment of camera-cutting shared horror, we see the birth, arguably, of Tyrion’s closeted mistrust of Dany's supposed judiciousness. We will see also see Tyrion’s ultimate act, an imitation of Jaime’s foolish move and of the man Tyrion had grown up wanting to become.
Tyrion and Jaime’s characters have been thematically linked since the first season. One is tall and handsome (and dumb), and one is written to be short and ugly (and smart). Both embodying various Lannister traits, the two share a particularly close sibling bond despite being so physically and characteristically different. That bond was recognized once more last night when Tyrion freed Jamie.
The brothers' relationship, however, has one final note left, one that will ultimately bring them thematically together: regicide. Jamie’s longest-lasting epithet “king slayer” will become Tyrion’s in a glorious moment of sibling similitude. Tyrion finishes the job. He becomes like Jamie. He, too, doesn’t flee.
This killing also works in relation to the show’s general structure. The inciting incident of the series was the killing of Jon Arryn. The death that fractured the regal landscape was the murder of Ned Stark soon after. Both are the reason for the events of the show. Ending the series with a killing is appropriate. Ending it with Dany's killing, completes her general downfall storyline and bookends the show with two downfalls: hers and Ned's. She suffers from the opposite fault of Ned: wanting the throne a little too much.
How will Tyrion kill Dany?
By literally stabbing her in the back. Duh.
Another option was hinted at during the very first episode, when Bronn was gifted a crossbow to kill Tyrion. The moment has an obvious “Chekhov’s Gun” air to it-the idea that if a rifle is onstage, it better go off at some point in the play (or in other words, props should be introduced without reason). Of course, Tyrion has used a crossbow to kill a character before (his father), a fact that might make his use of the object again somewhat redundant. Or symbolic.
Either way, it will happen from behind. In the back. And Tyrion (probably before he’s wasted by the last dragon) will be the King Slayer. No longer the Imp. But the savior of the realm. And the best Lannister of them all. Change my mind.
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