Game Of Thrones: 5 Winners And 5 Losers In 'The Laws Of Gods And Men'
1. Tyrion
There is no cash prize for guessing this weeks ultimate loser, and although Peter Dinklage puts himself in the running for another Emmy with his performance, nothing but a desperate gamble can save Tyrion from the trial he was born to lose. Everything about this trial has been orchestrated with one purpose: to find Tyrion guilty of regicide for the murder of King Joffrey, evidence be damned. The motivations of the various parties may differ Cersei fully intends to see Tyrions execution carried out, whilst Lord Tywin needs a guilty verdict to manipulate Jaime but the result is still the same: a parade of bought witnesses casting wildly biased accusations against Tyrions character and credibility. There is truly no way that Tyrion was ever going to win a trial by the courts, which is why he does the only thing he can do: he demands a trial by combat.
From a certain perspective, this may seem like a win for Tyrion since he avoids a certain guilty verdict, and he is one of those entrants that could have appeared on either side of this list, but his chances of conviction are still very much real. Despite the potential of victory in the combat trial, he still only stands a fifty-fifty chance of winning, and when youre gambling with your life, thats not exactly a safe bet. It is also unclear as to whether Tywin will be able to uphold his deal with Jaime in light of the new development. As we understand it, a trial by combat is a trial to the death, and though a champion may fight in his place, the death sentence must be carried out on Tyrion if his champion should lose. So does Tywin have the power to overrule this law? Tyrion knew that Jaime had struck a deal with their father, so he knew a guilty verdict in the trial would not have meant his death. This means he has traded a hard life on the Wall for a gamble at freedom or death, which is perhaps not the wisest decision, considering the odds.
We are yet to see the conclusion to the trial, as the episode ended on this cliffhanger, but as things stand, Tryion is going to be hard pressed to come out of this as anything but the loser.