(Spoilers all) Tyrion and eye color .

There's a theory that Jaime and Cersei are secret bastards of Aerys, whilst Tyrion is Tywins only true born child, and the reason why he's deformed is due to Tywin having some kind of condition. There's a lot more poetry in that, I think.

Most obvious is that Tyrion is treated like a bastard by Tywin, despite Tyrion being the only real Lannister. Jaime is hailed as the favourite son, and a true Lannister, and whilst Tywin is aware Cersei is a crazy bitch she's still a Lannister, and he holds her in far far higher regard than Tyrion. Yet neither are actually his. They are Targaryens by blood, if not name. But I think we can agree that anything significant or magical about the Targaryen family is derived from the blood, not the name.

Lannister children are often referred to as 'Golden Sons/Daughters' in the books. And Jaime and Cersei are treated like gold by Tywin, but according to this theory are not his anyway. Meanwhile Tyrion is a real Golden Son, but in Tywins eyes he's a letdown, a monster, a bastard. So Tywin only made one real Golden Son, but in his eyes it's shit? "Tywin Lannister shits gold?" Hmm....

It is somewhat unconventional for Targaryens to marry outside of the family line. Rhaegar didn't have a sister of age, and so was due to wed Cersei. Funnily enough, she was his sister and was of age. In response Jaime later joined the kingsguard. So Tywin and Tyrion, the two real Lannisters, are now in Casterly Rock, their ancestral seat. Meanwhile, Jaime and Cersei, the secret Targaryens, are unwittingly in their ancestral seat, The Red Keep.

Of course, Rhaegar didn't marry Cersei, he married Elia Martell due to politics between Tywin and Aerys. Then Roberts Rebellion happened over Lyanna, as we all know. Come the end of it, all the Targaryens are dead or exiled. The death of interest, however, is Aerys. He was stabbed in the back by Jaime, who if not for being a bastard would have been his heir at the point. There's a parallel there too, between Jaime killing Aerys and Tyrion killing Tywin. Aerys is killed by the heir he didn't know about whilst Tywin is killed by the heir he refused to acknowledge. This is also reflected in the manner of their death, Aerys was stabbed in the back and couldn't see Jaime, whilst Tyrion was right in front of Tywin the whole time. Not the Kingslayer Brothers, but the Kinslayer Brothers.

And then after the rebellion Robert sits the throne, having usurped it from the Targaryens. He decrees all Targaryens to be exiles and enemies of the realm, and spends most of his time enraged whenever someone says Targaryen. Unbeknownst to him, he has a Targaryen guarding his bedchamber and another in his bed. Cersei gives him three children, but as we know they are Jaimes, not Roberts. Another layer of irony, since the Targaryens wed brother to sister for generations.

This means Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are all Targaryens by blood, just not by name. All that war, all that bloodshed, all of Roberts hatred - all it achieved was keeping the Targaryens off the throne for a single generation. Hell, Jaime even 'kept it warm for him' at one point. The only non-Targaryen to sit the throne, including Jaimes brief time up there, has been Robert. And when he died fifteen years later, Joffrey, a Targaryen by blood, madness and all, took up the throne.

I don't necessarily believe it all to be true, but as I say there is so much irony and poetry in there that it would make for a great little side note to the story. I'm sure there are plotholes I've left in my write up too, but hopefully overall it was a good read!

/r/asoiaf Thread Parent