ASoIaF Meta: The Heir to Casterly Rock
Mar. 1st, 2019 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuranaRepost from tumblr
As I already said Tywin’s arrogance is one of his biggest flaw. When you look at him on a personal level there are worse things about him, that make him a horrible person (like being an abusive parent). As a leader it might just be the worst aspect of his personality and what ultimately leads to his downfall. It leads directly to his death by crossbow and every bad decision during the War of Five Kings can be traced back to this: His basically starting the war by invading the Riverlands, his refusal to take Robb seriously as a military opponent, the fact that King’s Landing had almost no defense against Stannis until the last minute, his refusal to take serious the threat that Cersei and Jamie relationship pose to the stability of the kingdom… and what I think is his greatest failing as a ruler: His refusal to make sure that there is clear succession in the Lannister family after his death.
I’m telling you nothing new when I say that succession is incredibly important in Westerosi society. The Dance of Dragons, the Blackfyre Rebellion(s) and the War of the Five Kings were all fought over questions of succession. From a modern perspective I think we sometimes forget that succession is not just about bruised egos and the patriarchal need to have a son sitting on his father’s throne and bearing his father’s sword (though the is certainly a big part of it). Without clear lines of succession you have societal instability to the point of civil war.
I have recently finished listening to the excellent podcast “The History of Rome”. One point that became really clear in this podcast was that truly great emperors of Rome usually had one thing in common: They made sure they had a capable person they appointed as heir. If they did not have a son they would often adopt someone who was able to do the job. If things went well, power changing hands would not even look like power changing hands. The heir to the throne already was part of the everyday business of ruling. If things did not go well because the heir was incapable or (even worse) the lines of succession were unclear, that almost always lead to civil unrest of some kind.
From this perspective it makes sense why “There always has to be a Stark in Winterfell.” beyond it just sounding awesome or why Randyll Tarly send his son to the Wall. (Randyll Tarly is still a horrible father, though. He had every opportunity to send his son to the Measters instead of mentally scaring him. However, needing a competent person as his heir is understandable)
So what has all this to do with Tywin? Tywin fails spectacularly at establishing a clear succession. To quote tcarve who already put this well:
I’m saying that Tywin has given no indication of who should succeed him when he dies (and that turns out to be much sooner than he hopes). Jamie should be his heir, but he’s a kingsguard, can’t inherit and doesn’t want to leave (a la Barristan). Legally Tyrion comes next, but Tywin obviously hated that idea (even though Tyrion has proved himself able to play the game) even before Tyrion killed him. Cersei’s next in line, and she’s utterly incompetent. Her children are (ostensibly) royal, so can’t inherit, so Kevan’s next in line, a natural second fiddle. His heir is Lancel, a weak-willed born again fanatic (and as a Warrior’s Son he can’t inherit either), Willem’s dead, which leaves Martyn. A child and a younger son, another Tytos. House Lannister has to go through a lot of bad leaders before they get to anyone comparable to Tywin, or suffer a succession crisis. Tywin is holding together a tenuous web of alliances by the skin of his teeth (keeping the Tyrells and the Martells happy) and he has made no preparations whatsoever for if he happens to die. That’s either arrogance of incompetence, take your pick.
Personally I think it is a bit of both. Now, I know what fans of Tywin will say: Tywin had no idea he would die and no one could foresee that both of his son’s wouldn’t be able to inherit. Except… you kind of could. For one, someone like Tywin should always have preparations in place in case he dies. Especially if the legacy of his house is as important to him as he claims. Death could happen at any time, even more when you are currently at war with half of the country. That’s the first point where you see arrogance and/or incompetence: Tywin apparently felt he didn’t need to make preparations; he wouldn’t die until he was good and ready.
Tywin made it very clear that he would not let Tyrion have Casterly Rock. So whom will he give it to? Well, we know whom he wants to give it to: Jamie. And the problem there is obvious. Jamie can’t inherit anything. He is a member of the Kingsguard after all. That is the second point were we see Tywin’s arrogance on full display. He thinks the rules don’t apply to him. Once he declares that Jamie should now rule, Jamie will do so and breaking his vows would not cause any problems. Tyrion’s absolutely legitimate claim would just somehow disappear because Tywin wants it to. Because after all he is Tywin Lannister and he does what he wants. This is the only reason I can come up with to explain why in all the years since Jamie joined the Kingsguard, Tywin did absolutely nothing to ensure a clear line on succession within the Lannister House. He did not disinherit Tyrion. He did not petition Robert to release Jamie from his vows (even after Jamie became the Kingslayer). He did not pick some promising Lannister cousin to groom for succession. He had years to do any or all of the things and he did none of them. And that is the reason why, now that Tywin is dead, House Lannister will fall apart completely. In the end none of his victories matter, because there is no one left to carry on his legacy. In my opinion, that is Tywin Lannister’s greatest failing as a ruler.
As I already said Tywin’s arrogance is one of his biggest flaw. When you look at him on a personal level there are worse things about him, that make him a horrible person (like being an abusive parent). As a leader it might just be the worst aspect of his personality and what ultimately leads to his downfall. It leads directly to his death by crossbow and every bad decision during the War of Five Kings can be traced back to this: His basically starting the war by invading the Riverlands, his refusal to take Robb seriously as a military opponent, the fact that King’s Landing had almost no defense against Stannis until the last minute, his refusal to take serious the threat that Cersei and Jamie relationship pose to the stability of the kingdom… and what I think is his greatest failing as a ruler: His refusal to make sure that there is clear succession in the Lannister family after his death.
I’m telling you nothing new when I say that succession is incredibly important in Westerosi society. The Dance of Dragons, the Blackfyre Rebellion(s) and the War of the Five Kings were all fought over questions of succession. From a modern perspective I think we sometimes forget that succession is not just about bruised egos and the patriarchal need to have a son sitting on his father’s throne and bearing his father’s sword (though the is certainly a big part of it). Without clear lines of succession you have societal instability to the point of civil war.
I have recently finished listening to the excellent podcast “The History of Rome”. One point that became really clear in this podcast was that truly great emperors of Rome usually had one thing in common: They made sure they had a capable person they appointed as heir. If they did not have a son they would often adopt someone who was able to do the job. If things went well, power changing hands would not even look like power changing hands. The heir to the throne already was part of the everyday business of ruling. If things did not go well because the heir was incapable or (even worse) the lines of succession were unclear, that almost always lead to civil unrest of some kind.
From this perspective it makes sense why “There always has to be a Stark in Winterfell.” beyond it just sounding awesome or why Randyll Tarly send his son to the Wall. (Randyll Tarly is still a horrible father, though. He had every opportunity to send his son to the Measters instead of mentally scaring him. However, needing a competent person as his heir is understandable)
So what has all this to do with Tywin? Tywin fails spectacularly at establishing a clear succession. To quote tcarve who already put this well:
I’m saying that Tywin has given no indication of who should succeed him when he dies (and that turns out to be much sooner than he hopes). Jamie should be his heir, but he’s a kingsguard, can’t inherit and doesn’t want to leave (a la Barristan). Legally Tyrion comes next, but Tywin obviously hated that idea (even though Tyrion has proved himself able to play the game) even before Tyrion killed him. Cersei’s next in line, and she’s utterly incompetent. Her children are (ostensibly) royal, so can’t inherit, so Kevan’s next in line, a natural second fiddle. His heir is Lancel, a weak-willed born again fanatic (and as a Warrior’s Son he can’t inherit either), Willem’s dead, which leaves Martyn. A child and a younger son, another Tytos. House Lannister has to go through a lot of bad leaders before they get to anyone comparable to Tywin, or suffer a succession crisis. Tywin is holding together a tenuous web of alliances by the skin of his teeth (keeping the Tyrells and the Martells happy) and he has made no preparations whatsoever for if he happens to die. That’s either arrogance of incompetence, take your pick.
Personally I think it is a bit of both. Now, I know what fans of Tywin will say: Tywin had no idea he would die and no one could foresee that both of his son’s wouldn’t be able to inherit. Except… you kind of could. For one, someone like Tywin should always have preparations in place in case he dies. Especially if the legacy of his house is as important to him as he claims. Death could happen at any time, even more when you are currently at war with half of the country. That’s the first point where you see arrogance and/or incompetence: Tywin apparently felt he didn’t need to make preparations; he wouldn’t die until he was good and ready.
Tywin made it very clear that he would not let Tyrion have Casterly Rock. So whom will he give it to? Well, we know whom he wants to give it to: Jamie. And the problem there is obvious. Jamie can’t inherit anything. He is a member of the Kingsguard after all. That is the second point were we see Tywin’s arrogance on full display. He thinks the rules don’t apply to him. Once he declares that Jamie should now rule, Jamie will do so and breaking his vows would not cause any problems. Tyrion’s absolutely legitimate claim would just somehow disappear because Tywin wants it to. Because after all he is Tywin Lannister and he does what he wants. This is the only reason I can come up with to explain why in all the years since Jamie joined the Kingsguard, Tywin did absolutely nothing to ensure a clear line on succession within the Lannister House. He did not disinherit Tyrion. He did not petition Robert to release Jamie from his vows (even after Jamie became the Kingslayer). He did not pick some promising Lannister cousin to groom for succession. He had years to do any or all of the things and he did none of them. And that is the reason why, now that Tywin is dead, House Lannister will fall apart completely. In the end none of his victories matter, because there is no one left to carry on his legacy. In my opinion, that is Tywin Lannister’s greatest failing as a ruler.
