1. Killing Shae and Tywin
After making a visit to his father’s quarters at the end of A Storm of Swords, Tyrion is shocked to see that his paramour Shae is naked in his father’s bed. For years, Tywin scolded Tyrion about sleeping with prostitutes and forbade him from bringing Shae to King’s Landing for fear of tainting the family name. Nobody suspected that Tywin would even dare think about being with a low-born girl, which is why this revelation blindsides Tyrion and drives him to kill both Shae and his father.
Tyrion may be justified in killing his father Tywin. After all, Tywin was unbelievably cruel to his son for years, not to mention a hypocrite. Back in the day, Tyrion fell in love with a low-born girl named Tysha, but things ended badly. Tywin ended their marriage and ordered his guards to assault the girl. He also convinced Tyrion that Tysha was actually a prostitute and was only with Tyrion for the money, and forced Jaime to join in on the gaslighting. Oh, and let’s not forget that Tywin had just sentenced Tyrion to death for a crime he didn’t commit. So yeah, I honestly think it’s hard to argue that Tyrion doesn’t have a good reason to kill Tywin.
However, killing Shae is a bit more heinous, and is pretty brutal in the books. In the show, Shae grabs a knife and lunges at Tyrion, and they struggle for a while. But in the books, Tyrion murders her while she pleads her innocence and begs for mercy. This event basically solidifies Tyrion’s heel turn, and there’s no going back. Even George R.R. Martin calls this Tyrion’s “blackest deed that he’s ever done. It’s the great crime of his soul.”
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