Game Of Thrones Finale: How Each Major Character Ending Was Setup (& Why They Work)
5. Tyrion Becoming The Hand Of The King
“I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel…”
The punchline to Tyrion's favourite joke is itself Game of Thrones' favourite joke, and while people may have figured it out, it doesn't really matter for his endgame. The purpose is only in part to call back to Tyrion attempting to tell the joke in Seasons 1 and 6, but to also highlight that he, like Bran, is a keeper of stories. And if it makes for a good King, it should make for a pretty good Hand as well.
Tyrion was at his best when he was the Hand of the King back in Season 2: he was joking, plotting, and drinking his way around King's Landing. He was having a great time doing it, and we were having a great time watching it. In that sense, it's quite nice that he gets the job again, even if he's reluctant to take it. But it also speaks to his broader desires about power and recognition for who he is. His father and sister both loathed him, but now he stands here, the last of the Lannisters, presumably Warden of the West and Lord of Casterly Rock, the seat he always wanted because it was his by right, but was never allowed to have.
In the finale, Tyrion refers to Varys as his best friend. Varys was someone who always did what was best for the realm, and now Tyrion is honouring that legacy too by taking on the role of Hand. He himself has always served, whether it was defending King's Landing during the Battle of Blackwater, or aiding Dany because he believed in the better world she wanted to create. The great irony of Tywin's hatred of Tyrion is that he was more like his father than either of his other two siblings. He is cunning, smart, perceptive, ambitious, and knows how to play the game, much like Tywin did. Tywin was never a King, he was always the Hand - the one whispering in the King's ear but without so much of the responsibility. That Tyrion ends up like his father, but a much more compassionate and decent version, is a fitting fate.