Game Of Thrones: 10 Lesser Known Fan Theories (That Might Actually Be True)

9. Tywin Knew About The Joffrey Murder Plot

Tywin Lannister, one of the all-time great characters in both book and show, didn't let an awful lot get past him. He was one of the best, shrewdest players of the game around, and tended to know even more than he let on (and he let on that he knew quite a lot).

So could Joffrey's death have really gotten past him? It wasn't a spur of the moment thing, but carefully plotted out, and while the people involved wouldn't have told Tywin, there's a good chance he would've gotten wind of it... except, of course, for the fact that he doesn't do anything to prevent it from happening, so surely he can't have known.

And yet... Joffrey was something of an embarrassment as King, and increasingly unstable. Tywin had already likened him to both Robert and Aerys II, two Kings he knew well and detested for their style. The War of the Five Kings was largely done by this point, and Joffrey's madness was only likely to become a bigger obstacle than anything positive for the realm and the Lannisters.

Tommen, on the other hand, is a much different character. A far kinder boy, he's also much more manageable, the kind Tywin could use however he wanted - while he does have some control over Joffrey, he's also unpredictable in a way Tommen isn't.

Thus he can allow the plot to go ahead, without having a hand in it himself - thus not dirtying his name by being a kinslayer (although there are rumours he killed his own father, which would nicely link him and Tyrion). It'd take care of a few problems: Joffrey gets replaced with a better king, one who can be better managed and is less likely to ruin the relationship with the Tyrells, and the blame can be pinned on Tyrion, who Tywin has long been disgraced by.

On the flip side of this, there's the question of whether Tywin would really allow a member of his family to die (after all, he didn't kill Tyrion), because of the damage to the family name and the chance of harm it could do to the Tyrell relationship. There's also the unforeseen circumstance of Oberyn championing Tyrion, and of course Tywin's death that comes of it.

But if Tywin did realise Joff was an unsolvable problem, then it's certainly within the realms of possibility that he allowed this to happen, because the death would do less damage to the name (and the realm) than Joffrey being alive would.