HBO cut a lot from George R.R. Martin’s final Game of Thrones script

TYRION AND SHAE’S EVEN MESSIER BREAKUP

In “The Lion and the Rose,” Tyrion sends Shae away, fearful that Tywin will hang her if she stays in King’s Landing. On the show, he lies and says he doesn’t want to be with her anymore, driving her to tears. In Martin’s version, he’s more honest about why she can’t stay in the city, and things get confrontational:

"Tyrion is straight with Shae—reminding her that Ros, the last prostitute he slept with, ended up being beaten and murdhered. Martin also has Tyrion trying to knock some sense into Shae by throttling her as he explains that his father will “hang you. If the gods are good, the fall will snap your neck. If not, you’ll strangle slowly, swinging in the air, your face going black as you fight to breathe. An ugly way to die.” Shae responds to Tyrion’s violence by pulling a knife, lunging at him, and threatening: “I pray you die.”"

Why was it cut?

Honestly, I don’t love either version of this scene. What we got on TV seemed a little too cliche; Tyrion basically does to Shae what Arya does to Nymeria in the first season: throwing rocks at her until she leaves him alone, even though he still loves her. And why not just tell her the truth about the danger she’s in? But Martin’s version seems strangely violent, and maybe a little too blatant in foreshadowing what eventually happens between these two.

I think the best solution would have been to keep the TV version, but to add back in the deleted scene where Bronn comforts Shae following the break up, and plants the idea in her head about leaving Tyrion and trading up:

I’ll never get why they cut that scene. It’s not like the episode was running long.