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Why did Tyrion go with King Robert to Winterfell?


Magog

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I am new to this forum, but this baffles me.

Tyrion was not the man of the king, he was never the man his sister would gladly invite, there is no reference he did it on anyone's order, he had no interest in crypts (or eggs in them), he hated the long sexless journey, he wanted to piss from the wall only when he came to Winterfell so it's not the wall either, he could have had sex with a northern girl without being there with king and co.

His presence becomes very important only after Cat captures him and it was obviously essential storywise that he goes and that he stays behind, but he had no reason to go with the king that i can think of.

What am i missing?

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Wow, you REALLY wanted to know why Tyrion went to Winterfell.

My guess is: remember how Tyrion always wanted to go on his Grand Tour of Essos, but Tywin forbade him and told him he couldn't go and act a fool for a cheesemonger (irony!). Well, I imagine going to the North was a way for him to ease his wanderlust a lil bit. 

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To see some more of Westeros. He had never been to the North, after all.

 

This raises a good question- did Tyrion live at court? If so, why?  If not, indeed his going to Winterfell seems odd.

He appears to have lived at Casterly Rock, but had been at KL for Joffrey's nameday, and appears to have stayed behind (can't blame him, since joining the party going to CR would have meant joining Tywin, Cersei and Joffrey, and staying in KL could prevent that, and give him some more time with Jaime) when Tywin left. Since Jon Arryn died a fortnight after Joffrey's nameday, and Robert quickly made the decision to go to Winterfell, Tyrion was still in KL at court when the decision was made, and thus in place to join the royal court for the trip.

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I'm with Good Guy Garlan on this. Tyrion has wanted to see Lomas Longstrider's Wonders of the World for the last ten years, at least, and his father forbade him.

The Wall is (probably, if Harrenhal doesn't count) the only Man Made Wonder in Westeros, and if the King would have Tyrion travel in his retinue, Tywin would not say no. The fact that Tywin wouldn't like it and Cersei loathes her other brother, might make a drunk Robert more inclined to invite Tyrion, just because he can. I think Cersei could make Robert change his mind about anything, if she really cared. But she doesn't have any really strong reason to object to his tagging along, and Tywin has her to monitor any wenchings and pre-empt any marriage Tyrion might contract, at least until they are at Winterfell. 

I'm guessing he saw the opportunity when Jon Arryn died: either travel with his sister and his King to Winterfell, where he could check out the famous old library for Dragon texts, and where there was a good chance his sister would let him slip away to the Wall (if Tywin had any say in it, that would never have happened) ... or return from Kings Landing to Casterley Rock immediately (no way Tywin would let Tyrion stay in Kings Landing if not in the King's retinue)

After Winterfell, in the company of Yoren and Benjen, there is no real danger of Tyrion getting into trouble with a woman (at least, not until he has seen the Wall and made his return to the capital - and even then, thanks to Yoren, the King promptly knew who abducted him and where).  Thinking about it,  I have more sympathy for Tywin's view: it does seem that whenever he lets Tyrion out of his sight, the kid gets into some kind of sticky situation with a woman.

P.S. Welcome to Westeros.

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I am new to this forum, but this baffles me.

Tyrion was not the man of the king, he was never the man his sister would gladly invite, there is no reference he did it on anyone's order, he had no interest in crypts (or eggs in them), he hated the long sexless journey, he wanted to piss from the wall only when he came to Winterfell so it's not the wall either, he could have had sex with a northern girl without being there with king and co.

His presence becomes very important only after Cat captures him and it was obviously essential storywise that he goes and that he stays behind, but he had no reason to go with the king that i can think of.

What am i missing?

Robert brought 300 people with him.

 

"The visitors poured through the castle gates in a river of gold and silver and polished steel, three hundred strong, a pride of bannermen and knights, of sworn swords and freeriders. Over their heads a dozen golden banners whipped back and forth in the northern wind, emblazoned with the crowned stag of Baratheon."

 

So Robert was hardly going to refuse his brother-in-law tagging along. Tyrion went to see one of the most spectacular structures in the known world, the Wall. This was an opportunity to see it as well as Winterfell, one of the of most famous Castles in the Kingdom. And then there was the library which would have had some rare books not found in many places in the realm.

 

Going North was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity and travelling with the Royal court would have been as luxurious and as safe an escort as he was ever likely to get. It was a no-brainer.

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He should have remained in CR normally. 

He was not always at Casterly Rock.

"Tyrion had known the Lady Lysa slightly during her years at King's Landing, and did not look forward to renewing the acquaintance."

 

We also know he regularly bet on his brother at royal tourneys and when we first see him in AGOT he was familiar enough with his 12 year old nephew that he could slap him twice and share insults with the Hound.

 

It is pretty evident that he spent much time in the Royal Court, most likely joining them as they travelled the kingdom going to various Tourneys.

 

He was not in the court. And he would not be invited to join king and queen either. 

He would tag along. Neither Cersei or Robert would go out of their way to stop him. Royal courts were huge, Robert took half of his court (300) North. He is not going to like every one of them and he is not going to tell his brother-in-law that he could not come.

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Re: Tagging along

Tyrion has a strong reason to want to go to Winterfell, Cersei has only her dislike of him to say no, and in itself it won't bother Robert one way or the other.

I'm thinking if going North mattered to Tyrion (and there is a good chance it did) he could have Jaime put in a good word for him with Cersei (as Tyrion would be company for Jaime, and entertain the kids, give Cersei a chance to slip away sometimes...) - it would be no use Jaime petitioning Robert for an invite to Tyrion, as whatever he was likely to want, Robert was likely to object to. While Cersei would be naturally more inclined to deny Tyrion than invite him, if it got her more one-on-one time with Jaime, and Robert seemed inclined to refuse her, I can see how she would  perceive it as a slight to her family, how Cersei's paranoia and lust could be manipulated to ensure that she requested Tyrion and no-one attempted to refuse him coming.

Jaime is the natural channel for Tyrion's invite because the rules of precedence very much throw them together, which suits them both.  When Eddard first sees them "There came Ser Jaime Lannister with hair as bright as beaten gold, and there Sandor Clegane with his terrible burned face. The tall boy beside him could only be the crown prince, and that stunted little man behind them was surely the Imp, Tyrion Lannister."(GoT, Ch.4 Eddard I) and in Ch.5 Jon "was more interested in the pair that came behind him: the queen’s brothers, the Lannisters of Casterly Rock. The Lion and the Imp" (AGoT, Ch.5 Jon I)

While Tyrion is a curiosity, viewed with interest, nobody is surprised to see him next to his brother in the King's retinue, nobody thinks it odd that he is there. (I doubt anyone would think it odd that he was absent, if he was at Casterley Rock, but if he were left in the court at Kings Landing without his family, or sent to Casterley Rock because the King refused to invite him along,  that might cause gossip or create offence.)

It isn't a big deal for Robert, and if it looked like Cersei was going to get her back up,  I think he would issue an official written decree rather than put up with that crap. By making a point of having Tyrion come along (because it would be a slight to Cersei if he didn't), Cersei can justify including Jaime in the Kingsguard that accompanies them to Winterfell (to keep Tyrion company), when Robert would be far more inclined to leave him to watch the empty throne instead. And Robert can't suspect her of inviting Tyrion along for any reason unconnected with propriety and family honour.

(Incidentally, who was looking out for the realm while Robert was absent? We know that Barristan and Renly rode out and  joined the King's retinue for at least a fortnight, before they returned to the capital. Just think, the realm a whole fortnight in the hands of Varys, Baelish, Pycelle,  protected by goons like Mandon Moore, Meryn Trant, and Boros Blount  Preston Greenfield, (and slightly less goonish but still feckless) Arys Oakheart with only each other for oversight. I can't imagine Varys or Baelish wasting such an opportunity.)

In any case, we know that Tyrion was not just passively allowed to tag along as one among the many in the King's retinue.  Robert had included Tyrion to the extent of specifically informing his hosts that the Queen's brothers would be among the guests of honour, in a note written in his own hand.

"How many in his party, did the message say?”
“I should think a hundred knights, at the least, with all their retainers, and half again as many freeriders. Cersei and the children travel with them.”
...“The queen’s brothers are also in the party,” she told him... “Well, if the price for Robert’s company is an infestation of Lannisters, so be it. It sounds as though Robert is bringing half his court.”(AGoT, Ch.2 Catelyn I)

So we can't say Robert didn't or wouldn't invite Tyrion - we have proof that he did (or that someone did on his behalf, and he took their dictation).

Also, there is an early hint that Tyrion has travelled beyond Casterley Rock and King's Landing:

 “What, me, celibate? The whores would go begging from Dorne to Casterly Rock." (AGoT, Ch.09 Tyrion I)

The TV show also makes a point of including that line (S1E2 "The Kings Road"), so we know Tyrion has travelled to Dorne previously, although not to the Martells.

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Isn't it less realistic for Cersei and Jaime to have traveled to the North?

They would have had a Robert-free Kings Landing for months.  That seems ideal for them.

 

With Robert wanting to ask Ned to be his Hand, and with him wanting to betroth Joffrey to Sansa, Cersei had two reasons to go. Firstly, Robert wanted to do Ned a huge honour by travelling all the way North, and might have felt Cersei's presence was required for that. Secondly, wanting to betroth his eldest child, Robert would want to bring Joffrey along, and I doubt Cersei would have allowed to be separated from one of her children for that long voluntarily, while she just as easily could have come along.

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