Game of Thrones theory corner: Is Tyrion going to lose his tongue?

Tyrion’s a talker. His facility with words has gotten him out of many sticky situations, whether he’s saving Jon from getting beaten up by Night’s Watchmen in season 1 or convincing pirates to take him and Jorah to Meereen. He also uses it in his job — as chief advisor to Daenerys Targaryen, most of what he does is talk to her, as when he convinced her to give the King in the North a chance, and we all know how important that turned out to be.

But could Tyrion one day lose his biggest asset? A new theory from Alt Shift X supposes Tyrion’s wit might lead to the loss of his tongue. Gross.

Alt Shift X notes that despite Tyrion having some of the best lines throughout the series, Tyrion’s words land him in trouble as often is they save him. And while there are only a few notable examples of characters losing their tongues on the show (Ilyn Payne, Marillion the singer), the novels by George R.R. Martin have far more. So there is precedent. Anyone wishing to punish Tyrion or take revenge on him could do no better than to take his tongue.

The list of characters threatening to cut out Tyrion’s tongue is long, especially in the novels. Everyone from Joffrey to Jorah makes the threat, and even Tyrion himself jokes to Oberyn Martell in A Storm of Swords that Tyrion should cut it out himself for all the trouble it has caused him. But the list of people who might actually make good on the threat is shorter. Cersei ranks at the top of the list due to her long standing hatred for her littlest brother. Characters like Varys (in the interest of keeping a secret) or Euron (just because) could also do the deed.

Whoever does the deed, Alt Shift X makes the point that the Lannister siblings have a history of losing what’s most important to them. Jamie loses his sword hand, and Cersei has her beauty and status stripped from her by the High Sparrow’s walk of atonement, not to mention her children. Tyrion losing his ability to speak would be in that vein. Those losses forced Jamie and Cersei to evolve.

Forcing Tyrion to evolve into someone who does not depend on his ability to speak certainly sounds like an intriguing storyline. But therein lies the most glaring evidence against the theory. Other characters who have experienced loss on Game of Thrones, from Jaime to Cersei to Theon or Bran, have had multiple seasons to evolve afterwards. This late in the story, it seems unlikely that any character, including Tyrion, might experience such a loss.

Of course, anything is possible in Martin’s novels, where there is more room for a character to go on a soul-searching journey. With only six episodes left, we might be spared Tyrion’s brutal maiming, but nothing can be ruled out.

But more importantly, how cold is the North? YouTuber Theoretically Empirical uses high brow concepts like fluid dynamics and physics to bring us his best guess. The stunning conclusion? The North is really cold.

Mind blown.

Next: Costume Designer Michele Clapton talks leaving and returning to Game of Thrones

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