If there is one character who has most benefited from their on-screen portrayal, it is Tywin Lannister. In the books, he is stone cold. We only ever get to see Tywin being the ruthless, unfeeling pragmatist he's just so good at being. Sure, there are hints of the humanity underneath that pristine armor; of the tragedy and pressure that molded him into the man he has become, but it is never allowed up to the surface. The show keeps these qualities in tact, and in fact could be argued to be all the greater thanks to a commanding performance from Charles Dance that would make his book counterpart tremble in his boots. His is a captivating and imposing performance, and it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. But while the books only allowed the reader to see Tywin as a lord, or a general, or as the patriarch of House Lannister; the show lets the audience see Tywin as a man. This is achieved through the superb interactions between Tywin and Arya in season two. Pretending to be his cup-bearer, Tywin has no idea (or does he?) that she is really the daughter of his enemy. As he starts to admire her tenacity and spunk, he begins to open up to her, and we start to see who he really is and what drives him. It turns out that there is more to Tywin than his icy exterior would have you believe, making a character that is terrifyingly one-note in the books more human. Best of all is that this doesn't detract from his imposing nature; the two aspects work in tandem to create a more multifaceted character than in the books. Got a book character you think is better on the tv show? Let us know in the comments.
