In Game of Thrones there are several truths, including that love is synonymous with betrayal and death. Jon Snow and Igritte, Shae and Tyrion… just two couples that exemplify that no matter the sincerity of hearts, opposing sides always prevail. Or almost always. But Shae and Tyrion’s story is very sad, different from the book, and one that changes the fate of everyone in Westeros. After all, it is because she betrays him in his farce trial that Tyrion decides the trial by combat, which leads to the death of Oberyn Martell, the near-death of the Mountain, and, most importantly, the death of Tywin Lannister.

In the book, Shae and Tyrion are much more dense and questionable than in the series. What many of us ‘bought’ was that Bronn ‘found’ Shae in the Lannister camp (in the first season) and gave her to Tyrion. He opened his heart, talked about his first marriage, and somehow he and the prostitute connected. There is a stable, complete, and honest relationship between them, but, due to his history with Tysha (we will go into detail later), he is panicked that Shae will be discovered by Cersei or Tywin.

When he is forced to marry Sansa Stark, Shae is appointed as the young woman’s servant, providing us with a very strange triangle: it is a fake union, but Sansa and Tyrion understand each other and Shae feels insecure about it. When the couple are wrongly accused of plotting Joffrey’s death, Sansa flees and Tyrion is left to pay the bill. In a series of distorted testimonies, he still has a chance to escape because Jaime sacrifices himself by making a deal with his father that if Tyrion is saved, Jaime will finally get married, taking over the Lannister house. The two agree that Tyrion will ask for forgiveness and be exiled to Castle Black. However, Tywin, being Tywin, changes plans by bringing Shae to testify against Tyrion, blatantly lying and making the outcome of the process difficult. What Tywin knew – and managed – is to reach Tyrion’s heart, who, in an act of emotion, cancels the agreement and asks for trial by combat as a sentence. So, it’s not officially Tywin’s fault that his son is going to die and yet Jaime has to keep his word. There has been no one as cruel or cunning as Tywin Lannister in the entire Game of Thrones franchise.

The question remains: why did Shae decide to betray Tyrion? The most common response is out of hurt, as he called her a whore and lied that he never loved her, only used her for sex. We know why he is doing this, he just wants her to leave King’s Landing for safety, and faced with her unwavering refusal, he aggressively decides to end any romantic hopes she has. In other words, he sacrificed himself for love, but she didn’t see it that way. To hurt him in kind, she lied at the trial and slept with Tywin. Faced with so much disappointment, Tyrion kills them both, never being the same again.

But… what if we weren’t paying attention to the details? There’s an old theory about Shae’s role in the entire Game of Thrones drama that deserves to be revisited, one that doesn’t change the facts, but transforms our view of this tragic love story.

A gift or a frame?

In Season 1, when Tyrion is already sure that his father wants him dead (after all, even without battle skills, he is the one who leads the first battalion in the battle of Green Fork), Shae is found by Bronn and given as a gift to Tyrion. In a game of truth and drinking, the three talk candidly about their lives, and Tyrion reveals his sad story with Tysha, how he met her when he saved her from being raped, fell in love and secretly married her, only to ‘discover’ that she was a prostitute paid by his brother, Jaime. When the truth came out, Twyin made Tyrion witness the Lannister army raping Tysha and she eventually dies poor, abandoned. Tyrion was understandably traumatized by the setup and since Tywin vowed to kill any other prostitute he’d ever become involved with, this information is crucial to understanding Tyrion’s motivation with Shae: he loves her, but she can never be discovered by his father or siblings. Tyrion cannot endure another betrayal, and he cannot put an innocent woman again in the middle of his toxic relationship with his family.

Obviously, in season two, Shae comes with Tyrion to King’s Landing where he acts as the Hand of the King and hides her in a tower. Still, she is ‘discovered’ by Varys, but to justify her presence, she is appointed as Sansa Stark’s maid. Sansa is snobbish towards her, but the two become attached and Shae is ostensibly protective of the girl, being with her at every possible moment. When Tyrion is forced to marry Sansa, Shae begins to act jealous of both of them, which seems childish because neither Tyrion loves Sansa nor does she consider him as her husband.

The situation continues until season 4 when increasingly fearful that their relationship will be discovered, Tyrion starts to reject Shae’s advances and mistreat her. No amount of money can convince her to leave and it is only after a more serious argument, where Tyrion calls her a whore and says he would never marry her, that Shae agrees to leave. Until…

Let’s stop here. There is a theory that Shae has always been in Tyrion’s life by the will and control of none other than Tywin Lannister. That’s right, Shae would have been planted in the dwarf’s life precisely because his father knew how to manipulate him all the time. And the proofs would be:

1) Shae was at the Lannister camp and Bronn took her from other men. Obviously, Twyin knew and was right, that Tyrion would want sex before his probable death. So it was just having her around that would get to him. And she did.

2) Just like with Tysha, Tyrion would fall in love if he was treated with compassion and affection. Exactly what Shae did.

3) Keeping a secret in King’s Landing was virtually impossible and both Littlefinger and Varys knew about Shae. Why wouldn’t they tell Tywin? And why wouldn’t the head of House Lannister, one of the best strategists in all of Game of Thrones, have this information before them? As we know, Tywin never acts thoughtlessly. He could wait to fulfill his promise if it was in his interest.

4) Not all of Tyrion’s warnings to be afraid of Cersei and Twyin seemed to phase Shae. Her confidence in her safety could be precisely because she was a person infiltrated by them, therefore she was never in danger. Just as no amount of money would buy her out, no amount of money would surpass what she already received from Twyin anyway.

5) The ‘protection’ of Sansa, so immediate and passionate, gained the girl’s trust, so Shae knew all of her secrets. Shae’s sole purpose was to gather information against Tyrion and Sansa, and neither of them ever suspected her dual role.

Don’t these points make sense?

What went ‘wrong’? Was it a betrayal for love or for money?

If Shae was always just a pawn in Tywin’s game, was she really hurt by Tyrion? Did she love him at some point?

The answer to all three questions is the same yes, one does not cancel the other. Tywin may have planted Shae to manipulate Tyrion, but when she learned of his history with Tysha, she considered herself a new potential bride for him, but one who wouldn’t be innocent like the first. She grew fond of Tyrion and the idea of being his wife, which is why she didn’t accept leaving with money and being his lover. In time, they would get married. Until Sansa…

In the book, Tyrion also marries out of obligation but considers union with Sansa as a real possibility. In the series, he refuses to force consummation but is saddened when his young wife claims that she would never fall in love or have sex with him of her own free will. He and Sansa, in their pain, understand each other and Shae witnesses the friendship they gradually form, becoming insecure and jealous. Not so much or just because she loves Tyrion, but because Sansa makes it clear how impossible her dream of marrying him is. And that’s what he rudely tells her, so that she finally leaves King’s Landing. Little did Tyrion know!

The Shae we see in court lying against Tyrion is, paradoxically, the real one. There she fulfills her role, that of Tywin’s informant, changing the game of the throne irreversibly. There it becomes clear that she doesn’t like Sansa, as she includes her in the lie, repeating what Cersei wanted to hear, word for word. And used against Tyrion what he wisely told her: she was just a whore.

Tywin’s blow to the heart of an already wounded Tyrion is fatal: he stops the suffering and accelerates the game of luck by determining that a trial by combat will be the final sentence: if his champion lives, he is free, but the improbability is gigantic that happen (pun intended). We see Shae’s expression worried about Tyrion’s decision, which humanizes her, if only briefly. Perhaps like Jaime, she imagined Tyrion’s punishment would be being sent to the Wall, not death. Another theory perhaps is that, being caught by Twyin as she was leaving Bronn, she ‘agreed’ to lie to ‘save’ Tyrion? We do know not what happens next and it jeopardizes those who believe in that.

Tywin: wins the game against Tyrion, but pays dearly

Tywin Lannister’s goal in his game with his children was to separate Cersei from Jaime and Tommen, marrying her to Loras Tyrell, thus also ensuring more fortune for his House. With Jaime away from King’s Landing, he would have to get married and have legitimate children, continuing the family. And Tyrion, whom he rejected all his life for being a dwarf, would die (which he preferred) or be exiled. As a father, Tywin wanted to avoid the stain of having someone of his own blood executed (Cersei never had a similar problem), so he left the deed to apparently be decided by others.

And that’s what he seems to have achieved: Tyrion decides on the deadly duel, lost by Oberyn Martell and thus determining his own execution, so Twyin gains everything he wants. Or so she thought. Jaime and Varys help Tyrion escape, but the dwarf decides to take a shortcut first, to confront his father. Once he arrives, he finds Shae in Tywin’s bed.

What everyone remembers is that, in the series, Shae attacks Tyrion first. She has hatred when she sees him, there is no sign of happiness or relief from realizing he is running away. She doesn’t even try to justify her double betrayal: of lying about Tyrion and having sex with his father. More so, she wants to kill Tyrion with her own hands. If we follow the double agent theory, here is the real cold Shae, the one who just wants power and who hates Tyrion. And he is the one who takes her life.

From the fifth season onwards, we deal with a broken Tyrion, drinking himself to death, risking anything to get out of his torpor, and disappointment with his father and the woman he thought he loved. Until he makes a mistake again because he falls in love with Daenerys Targaryen. A passionate Tyrion never reasons as he should.

What do you think? Does the theory make sense?

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