Game of Thrones Season 4, Episode 7 - 8m30s wrote:
Cersei and Tommen stand in the middle of the Sept of Baelor, paying their respects to the late King Joffrey Baratheon who lies raised on a platform with painted rocks for eyes and Widow's Wail along his body. As Lord Tywin approaches, two of the Kingsguard man the exit while the High Septon, a few Silent Sisters and other clergy of the Seven look on in the background.
Tywin: Your brother is dead. Do you know what that means? [Lord Tywin steps closer as Tommen eyes him suspiciously] I'm not trying to trick you.
Tommen: It means I'll become king.
Tywin: Yes, you will become king. What kind of king do you think you'll be?
Tommen: A good king?
Tywin: Hm, I think so as well. You've got the right temperament for it. But what makes a good king? Hmm? What is a good king's single most important quality?—
Cersei: This is hardly the place or the time.
Tommen: [the cub ignores his mother with an expression of curiosity] Holiness?
Tywin: [the elder lion dismisses Cersei's input as well, keeping eye-contact with Tommen] Hmm. Baelor the Blessed was holy. And pious. He built this sept. [Tywin begins to pace as his tone shifts to mentoring condescension] He also named a six-year-old boy High Septon because he thought the boy could work miracles. He ended up fasting himself into an early grave because [Tywin mockingly bobs his head as he speaks] 'food was of this world, and this world was sinful'.
Tommen: Justice?
Tywin: [Tywin nods and grumbles in agreement] A good king must be just. Orys I (pronounced Orys the first) was just. Everyone applauded his reforms, nobles and commoners alike. He was murdered in his sleep after less than a year, by his own brother. Was that truly just of him, to abandon his subjects to an evil he was too gullible to recognize?
Tommen: No.
Tywin: [Tywin shakes his head in agreement] No.
Tommen: What about strength?
Tywin: [Tywin nods his head and grunts approvingly] Yes. Strength. King Robert was strong. He won the rebellion and crushed the Targaryen Dynasty. [Tywin's voice shifts again to sneering condescension] And he attended three small council meetings in seventeen years. He spent his time whoring, and hunting and drinking... until the last two killed him. So, we have a man who starves himself to death; a man who lets his own brother murder him; and a man who thinks that winning and ruling are the same thing. [Tywin looks directly at Tommen expectantly] What do they all lack?
Tommen: Wisdom! [It's not a question]
Tywin: Yes! [Tywin yells the word in a whisper, and almost smiles]
Cersei: [The lioness does not speak, but turns her head to completely face her son with eyes wide open]
Tommen: Wisdom is what makes a good king.
Tywin: Yes. But what is wisdom? Hmm?
Cersei: [The mother remains silent and slowly shifts her eyes to her father, and then cuts them back to her elder cub's corpse when Tommen fails to find his answer]
Tywin: A house with great wealth and fertile lands asks you for your protection against another with a strong navy that could one day oppose you. How do you know which choice is wise and which isn't?
Tommen: [The boy looks through Tywin blankly without uttering a reply]
Tywin: You've any experience with treasuries and granaries, or shipyards and soldiers?
Tommen: No. [the Prince admits defeatedly]
Tywin: No. Of course not. A wise king knows what he knows and what he doesn't. You're young. A wise young king listens to his counselors and heeds their advice until he comes of age. And the wisest kings continue to listen to them long afterwards. Your brother was not a wise king.
Cersei: [Still silent her face looks up and into the distance as she endures the Hand of the King's lecturing insults of her freshly dead firstborn over his own corpse]
Tywin: Your brother was not a good king. [Tywin's tone shifts to sneering condescension once more] If he had been, perhaps he'd still be alive.
Cersei: [Remaining forever silent, her eyebrow raises in question above teared eyes that follow Tywin and Tommen. She appears as if she wants to protest as the realization that The Hand has complete control over her royal son washes over her, but she neither speaks nor moves]
Tywin: [The Hand approaches his grandson and leads him by his arm to exit as they speak] Now, as the king you will have to marry. Do you understand why?
Tommen: The king needs a queen.
Tywin: Yes, but why? [Tywin does not wait for a reply] To further the family line.
Cersei: [Cersei ceases all protest and her attention returns to Joffrey]
Tywin: Do you know how that happens?
Tommen: Yes.
Tywin: Yes, but has anyone explained the details to you?
Tommen: Umm, I don't think so.
Tywin: It's all relatively straightforward— [Tywin's eyes meet Jaime's as he enters]
Jaime: [Looking his youngest child in the face] How are you?
Tommen: [the Prince regains his posture and speaks confidently] I'm alright.
Jaime: You are. You will be. [Jaime puts his hand on Tommen] I'll see to that.
Tywin: [The Hand shifts his hand to Tommen's opposite shoulder as they exit quietly]
We have some very interesting dynamics here. For one there is Cersei. When Robert died she felt nothing for him and had acted the swiftest to place her bastard incest-child on the Iron Throne. However now that that bastard king has died she is clearly not able to command the same cold, calculating precision to take control of her younger son. Tywin on the other hand seizes the opportunity without hesitation and she clearly finds his coldness shocking. Perhaps it is an offspring's submission to her father, or perhaps she's too grief stricken over Joffrey to protest. Either way, Tommen is in Tywin's hands.
Then you have the Jaime dynamic. It's very brief, but Jaime made the point that he's going to continue to protect Tommen in front of Tywin. The effect here was two-fold: He was reassuring his son that he is a safe in his hands... er, hand, even if Joffrey was not; and two, he is doing this directly in front of his father which is a direct insult to Tywin by reaffirming his commitment two episodes ago to act against his wishes and remain Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Oddly the Lord Commander is dressed in the long coat we saw him sport in Season 1, and he is completely unarmed while he passes by two fellow Kingsguard at the entrance who are armed, armored and even crowned with helmets indoors. So his demeanor really betrays his words, which could have been what made speaking them so necessary.
Now lastly we have Tywin's perspective. On one hand his bastard grandson died which he doesn't seem to mind, but pragmatically it makes their regime, if you will, look vulnerable. If that bothers him however he does not seem to express it, likely following his own advice he gave Jaime in Season 1: "The Lion does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep." Not only does he display no emotion he dismisses any feelings Cersei and Tommen could have for him as well by blatantly insulting his eldest bastard grandchild in his Socratic lecture to Tommen. He's completely thrown any courtesy and formality out the window, went over Cersei's head and grasped the boy who will be king (Tommen will need a coronation, meaning he's still a prince despite being heir) before anyone else can. In what appears to be Tywin's tutoring of Tommen to be a wise king, he is in practice taking advantage of Tommen's youth, inexperience and possible vulnerability in his grief over his brother to persuade him to let his grandfather rule or at least make all of Tommen's decisions for him. This is something Joffrey would never stand for, and it would effectively make the Hand king in all but name. Tywin's move is so subtle that Cersei doesn't even realize what he's doing until he begins escorting Tommen away from her.
These were six minutes of absolute brilliance.
