Oppo and Penny's joust

[FrostyDornishman]

Did Oppo actually mount his sister at the end of their joust at the Purple Wedding?

I don't mean to bring this up just to harp on something shocking.  But Tyrion's POV of the wedding really makes it sound like Oppo and Penny went all the way through with the "sword and sheath" joke that they made.

Why is this here?  Why didn't they fake it?  Can we assume this was a regular part of their performance?  How was this not considered "going a little too far" by any of the characters that had a big stake in making sure the marriage was a lavish, dignified affair (i.e. Cersei, Tywin, most of the Tyrells)?

[Maester of Valyria]

IIRC they didn't actually 'sheath the sword'. As everyone assumed that Penny was male, the guests probably were laughing at the 'funny little men trying to bugger each other'. I mean, Tyrion's experiences prove that dwarves aren't exactly considered 'full' people, no matter how obscene we might find the whole affair.

[CJ McLannister]

This is King's Landing not the Dothraki.  The sex was simulated.

[Seams]

Cersei and Tywin probably didn't put a stop to the dwarf act when it turned bawdy for several reasons.

• Joffrey called for the dwarf act. It was his big day and he was king, so it would have been awkward (or, perhaps, treason) to try to end it when it took a bawdy turn. It was also arranged in secret (probably with Littlefinger), so they didn't know it was coming ahead of time.
• People were enjoying the act. We learn from Penny and from the Dunk & Egg story that dwarves were often used in comical ways in mummer shows. It was expected that there would be double entendre and low humor.
• Cersei wanted Tyrion to suffer the indignity of being compared to ridiculous clowns.
• Tywin reportedly had kept dwarf acts away from Casterly Rock as a way of trying to sustain the high-born dignity of his dwarf son. So I'm not sure why he allowed this, except for the reasons already listed. I think he was described as smiling when the act began, so maybe he was in a good mood that day and decided it was pretty funny to see mock jousting that ridiculed the Stark and Baratheon houses. Who knows? Maybe he also appreciated the chance to remind Tyrion of how he was supposed to act, in contrast to these clowns. Tyrion had been drinking to excess and carrying on with a prostitute, and Tywin might have let the act continue with the hope of teaching him a lesson about how nice it was to be high-born and dignified.

Better minds than mine have done some great analysis of tournaments and jousting symbolism, to show that it carries deeper meaning and foreshadowing clues. (sweetsunray is the expert, to my knowledge.) So it's worth examining the details to see what hidden meanings are conveyed by the mummers' joust.

What does it mean that the tips of their lances are visible first, for instance, when they enter the hall? Why a dog and a pig? (A lot of pig imagery is linked to Tyrion throughout the books - pigs were witnesses at his wedding to Tysha, and he ends up riding the pig when he takes Groat's place in the act. Also, in Greek mythology, the goddess of magic, Circe, turns Odysseus's crew into pigs.) Why is there a moment when the riders fall off their mounts and it's not clear which rider is on which animal? How does the melon in the helmet link to the scene where Ser Dontos (as a fool) hits Sansa over the head with a melon? How does the "beheaded" melon in the helmet link to Ser Robert Strong?

Based on what we learn later from Penny, I don't think Groat and Penny actually engage in a sex act in front of the wedding guests; I think it's pretend. On the other hand, I think Penny and Groat are supposed to be grotesque (or maybe symbolic is a better word) versions of Cersei and Jaime, a brother and sister who do have sex with each other.

One of the things that intrigues me about the bawdy qualities of Penny and Groat's act is that, when we get to know her in Essos, Penny comes across as a sexual innocent. She doesn't know how to kiss passionately, or how to seduce a man. Tyrion keeps saying over and over how innocent she is and how she needs to be protected and cared for. How could she be so innocent after all her years of travel and show business and this sexy mummer show? Are her awkward attempts to kiss Tyrion all an act? Is she really a wise woman who has seen it all but wants to fool him into thinking that she is a sweet child? You know nothing, Tyrion Lannister. . .

[Raisin' Bran]

We must also take into account that it was Penny who was doing the mounting, not her brother.

The scene was that a wolf knight (Groat) on a pig jousted against a stag knight (Penny) on a dog. The wolf knight fell to the floor when the dog tried to mount the pig, the stag knight had also fallen to the floor.

The stag knight (Penny) then tried to "sheath the sword" in the wolf knight (Groat)

When Tyrion is learning to tilt with Penny in ADoD, Tyrion is wearing Groat's armor riding the pig. Penny always rode the dog.

[Sodd]

It is possible that this outcome was a planned part of Oppo and Penny's show.

In the Mercy sample chapter, Bobono the dwarf of the play has a penis made out of dyed leather as a prop, (“Mercy, something’s amiss with my laces, my cock keeps flopping out.”) so perhaps Penny's costume had one as well, just for this scene. In that case the act was faked obviously.