Game of Thrones - The Trial of Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion Lannister: I did not kill Joffrey, but I wish that I had! Watching your vicious bastard die gave me more relief than a thousand lying whores!

Tyrion Lannister: I wish I was the monster you think I am! I wish I had enough poison for the whole pack of you! I would gladly give my life to watch you all swallow it!

Tywin Lannister: You admit you poisoned the king?

Tyrion Lannister: No. Of that, I'm innocent. I'm guilty of a far more monstrous crime. I'm guilty of being a dwarf.

Tyrion’s farce of a trial where he must stand accused for a crime he didn’t commit is very much like the ceremony after Joffrey’s marriage where he must endure further defamation and take it. Shae, of whom he cared for deeply, is called to testify against him and it is one lie after another, a true betrayal. Tyrion must take it. Varys testifying against him, even. Cersei repeating his words towards her about revenge before the Battle at Blackwater, holding onto them for just the right time to use against him. Tywin sitting at judgment, barely able to contain the grin, obviously reveling in what Tyrion must go through. Only Jaime comes to Tywin in Tyrion’s defense, willing to accept a post as heir at Casterly Rock so his brother might be spared punishment by execution for a trip to the Wall to spend the rest of his days of the Night’s Watch at Castle Black. Tyrion, no matter how this all turned out, was to suffer for something he did not do. Pycelle couldn’t wait to get up there on the stand and accuse Tyrion thanks to Dontos’ necklace, with poison residue, found, having been around Sansa’s neck. Sansa, “spirited away”, as Tyrion must stand in her stead, named as a co-conspirator thanks to Shae’s lies implicating him. Her tales of Tyrion just using her until Sansa became his new obsession. She lays it on thick as all stand in judgment of Tyrion when they aren’t laughing at him as Shae embellishes humiliating sexual details that further add embarrassment to the accused’s already compounding tribunal. Much like what Joffrey did to Tyrion, what couldn’t hurt any worse is Shae’s betrayal. Imagine when there is no one there to represent you, only Jaime who can no longer convince Tyrion to keep his mouth shut. Tyrion has waited to get off his chest just what he felt about Tywin, Cersei, Joffrey, and King’s Landing, how they all deserve to swallow the poison, and that the monster king he was glad to see dead although he wasn’t responsible. How Tyrion would love to have been the one who killed Joffrey, and because he is dwarf, that is his crime. That is his confession…not that he murdered Joffrey but that he was ever even born. Trial by combat, this will be Tyrion’s request after his “confession”. He bared his soul  to the scum during their guffaws and their shock and awe. That Tyrion should have allowed Stannis to kill them all instead of coming up with the wildfire idea that eliminated a great many of Baratheon’s men. As Shae stood not far from him, Tyrion’s heart breaking, and the Lannisters before him seemingly proud of what is happening, Jaime can do nothing but look on helplessly. Up until this point, we have looked on as Tyrion tolerates and stomachs each and every snide remark and gesture, ridicule and mistreatment. And now he’s on trial for his life and even those he considered the only allies available aren’t there for him. The one he truly loved—Shae—pointedly tells “the court” that he and Sansa planned the King’s execution. Varys admits reluctantly even saying that Tyrion was a hero in the victory of the Battle at Blackwater but everything else wasn’t in his favor. No one is there for him except a brother who needed him quiet in order to be rescued. Now a trial by combat—which, at the time, would have no doubt led to huge gulps and concern for his welfare—seems all but sure Tyrion would not have much longer to live.