Game of Thrones: Here's Why Shae Betrayed Tyrion For Tywin (2024)

In Game of Thrones Shae was thought to have loved Tyrion Lannister until she betrayed him for his manipulative father, Tywin. Shae served as Sansa Stark's handmaiden while living in King's Landing, but her connection to Sansa only added to her paranoia when it came to trusting Tyrion. Tywin caught wind of Tyrion and Shae's relationship, complicating matters by forcing his youngest son into a marriage with Sansa. Tyrion had no choice but to follow through with the arrangement, despite having no romantic feelings toward his bride. A Shae Game of Thrones assassination looked increasingly likely, so Tyrion decided it was best to send her away.

To ensure she left, Tyrion labeled Shae a "whor*" before ensuring that she boarded a ship to leave. Shortly after Shae's departure, Tyrion was put on trial for the murder of Joffrey Baratheon. To his surprise, in Game of Thrones' Shae appeared as the final witness for the crown, claiming that Tyrion kidnapped her, forced her to become his mistress, and that Tyrion and Sansa secretly plotted Joffrey's murder. While it was clear that Tywin and the rest of the Lannisters made a deal with Shae, the reasons Shae betrayed Tyrion aren't quite as clear.

Shae's Trust Issues Caused Her Downfall In Game Of Thrones

Shae's Paranoia Led Her To Betray Tyrion

In Game of Thrones, Tyrion showed how deeply and genuinely he loved Shae, but he was aware that it would take a lot for her to agree to leave King's Landing. To keep her safe, he cut deep, calling her a "whor*" because he knew it would upset her and encourage her to leave. The plan worked, but unfortunately, Shae never fully understood Tyrion's intent. Her hurt feelings eventually transformed into anger, which made it easy for the Lannisters to bargain for her return to serve as a fake witness. Rather than confront Tyrion directly, Shae retaliated by joining Tywin's side, knowing that it would greatly affect Tyrion's mindset.

There was also Shae's enormous amount of jealousy when it came to Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark. Though Tyrion made it clear that his relationship with Sansa was strictly platonic, Shae struggled with the notion of their marriage. With the increasing trust issues and obvious insecurities, Shae knew that by aligning with the rest of the family, she would crush Tyrion. Having an affair with Tywin was just the cherry on top of the horror that Tyrion faced. Shae's Game of Thrones betrayal, of course, ended up setting off a chain of events that ultimately led to Tywin's death and Tyrion's separation from House Lannister.

Did Shae Love Tyrion?

Shae And Tyrion's Romance Was One Of The Most Complex In Game Of Thrones

In Game of Thrones, Shae really did love Tyrion despite betraying him in the end. If she didn't have any romantic feelings toward him, Shae wouldn't have become jealous of his relationship with Sansa. She also wouldn't have been so hurt after he called her a whor* and tried to send her away from King's Landing. In many ways, Shae was trapped between a rock and a hard place, but there was no doubt of the passion, love, and adoration she felt for Tyrion before everything went south. Shae's love for Tyrion, and vice versa, is why the Game of Thrones season 4 finale is so difficult to watch.

Why Shae Was Working For Tywin

Shae Chose To Side With Tyrion's Father To Make Her Betrayal Hurt

Shae wanted to hurt Tyrion after what he did. If Tyrion told her the truth about why he wanted her to leave King's Landing, it's possible the accusations against him and his trial could have been avoided. Like Tyrion, Shae was ultimately looking out for her own interests and trying to survive in a world where she had little influence. From her perspective, that meant betraying Tyrion for forcing her out of King's Landing when she didn't want to go.

What's more, Tywin had his hands in all things, and Shae knew how much Tyrion hated his father. What better way to get back at her former lover than to strike a deal with Tywin? Shae was put in a situation that made it hard for her future; she also didn't want to give up the meager privileges she had amassed during her time in King's Landing. Aligning with Tywin was perhaps the only way forward for her in Game of Thrones, especially if she could no longer be with Tyrion due to his arrangement with the future Queen in the North, Sansa.

Shae Books Vs. Show: The Main Difference Explained

HBO Added Many Layers To The On-Screen Shae

Like all characters in Game of Thrones, Shae in the HBO show is different than Shae in George R.R. Martin's novels, with the key difference between the two being their true feelings towards Tyrion Lannister. Shae clearly has some kind of feelings for Tyrion. She loves him (or gets as close to loving him as is possible in a show like Game of Thrones), and her ending up with Tywin is an act of spite and jealousy. It's not callous or cold; it's done with deliberate intent. The line between love and hate is thin, after all, and Shae going to such lengths to hurt Tyrion so deeply suggests that, at one point, her affection was genuine.

This isn't the case with Shae in the Game of Thrones novels. On the night of her death in A Storm of Swords, Shae is disappointed more than anything else when Tyrion finds her in bed with Tywin. She claims that she had been overpowered by Tywin and blackmailed by Cersei, but the astute and observant Tyrion doesn't believe it and strangles her with a gold chain (one he'd previously worn while the Hand of the King, the only thing Shae had been wearing).

Shae in the books is portrayed as opportunistic and ultimately self-serving, with book-Tyrion's doubts about their relationship a theme throughout her time with him. This is starkly different from their relationship in Game of Thrones, in which Shae is a source of genuine fulfillment for Tyrion and her betrayal/death powerfully symbolizes the ultimate futility of aspiring for happiness while seeking out life as a resident of Westeros.

Game Of Thrones Didn't Know How To Handle Shae

Shae Is One Of The Show's Most Misunderstood Characters

The Shae almost felt as if she was being handled by different directors, because her arc on Game of Thrones was all over the place. Throughout her short time on the show, it was often difficult to understand what Shae's motivations were and how she truly felt about Tyrion. The argument could be made that this is because she's a complex and complicated character.

However, this doesn't really seem to be the case, given how shocking her betrayal was. Shae suddenly appearing on Tywin Lannisters side to testify against her former lover, lying through her teeth about how she was kidnapped, felt so unlike Shae that the moment was notably criticized by viewers at the time. No one saw Shae's betrayal coming, and this is in part because of how Game of Thrones handled the character. If Shae had been portrayed as her character actually was in the books, her betrayal would've made much more sense since she's supposed to be cold and self-serving.

However, Game of Thrones decided not to go that route, making Shae's betrayal one of the many shocking twists of the series. When Shae first appeared she was caring and insightful — as well as Tyrion's intellectual match when it came to understanding how people tick. The fact she didn't see Tyrion's true intentions, and that she went to such lengths to wrong him in kind for his "betrayal" don't feel like they aligned with the Shae Game of Thrones introduced viewers to in season 1.

Shae's Betrayal Marked A Change For Tyrion's Arc

Tyrion's Broken Heart Was A Turning Point For His Game Of Thrones Narrative

There is no character in Game of Thrones who finishes the show without significantly changing from who they were when introduced, and Tyrion is no exception. While there are several crucial points of character development in Tyrion's journey before he's betrayed by Shae, none had as much of an impact on his personality. After having his heart broken and subsequently killing his own father, Tyrion becomes almost an entirely different character.

Prior to Shae's betrayal, Tyrion was always portrayed as someone who understood the harsh realities of life but bore their burden with a sense of humor. This side of him was all but eradicated by what Shae did to him. She was someone Tyrion had allowed himself to trust and believe, for just a moment, that he'd found some semblance of happiness in the chaotic world of Westeros. That's why Shae's betrayal hurt him so much — it represented not only the end of a romance, but any faith Tyrion had left that there was some sense of fairness in the world.

After Shae betrays Tyrion, he becomes much more jaded and, for a time, depressed. However, this moment also seems to mark the point that he actively begins to take the burden of bringing genuine change to the Seven Kingdoms on his shoulders. Prior to murdering Tywin, Tyrion had been something of a morally neutral character. He was never cruel, but he also didn't see himself as having any kind of responsibility for the fate of the realm and the wellbeing of the people in it.

Shae's betrayal seemed to change all this. While it took him some time to get there, Tyrion eventually reached a place where he realized that, unless something was done, the moral decay that King's Landing is rife with would continue to fester. It's for this reason he sides with Daenerys, ultimately believing her to be the best way to remove the poison that is House Lannister from the Iron Throne, and with it their corrupting influence on anyone who comes into contact with them.

Tyrion saw Shae as someone who he could trust. While she shattered that trust, he seems to have ultimately blamed Tywin. Shae represented what Tywin and the ambition of men like him did to the ordinary people of the Seven Kingdoms, that their constant politicking led otherwise good people to commit terrible acts out of desperation. Had Shae never betrayed Tyrion, it's entirely possible he would never have found himself as the one who helped put Bran the Broken on the Iron Throne at the end of Game of Thrones season 8.

How George R.R. Martin Explained The Shae And Tywin Tyrion Betrayal

The Author Hinted At Further Ramifications For Tyrion

The answer to why Shae betrayed Tyrion on Game of Thrones can likely be best answered by Martin himself. However, the author's explanation (via EW) of Shae's motivation in the books once again highlights just how different the two versions of Shae are, as Martin reveals that the Shae he wrote her doesn't care about Tyrion at all while he admits "Shae in the TV series, you can tell she actually has real feelings for Tyrion." It further suggests it was a broken heart that led Shae to betray Tyrion on the show whereas it was simply an opportunity in the books.

Another reason for the change being made in the motivations and details of Shae's betrayal could be how it would change Tyrion in the eyes of the audience. When Tyrion finds Shae in his father's bed, she is the one who shows anger and hate first, attacking him which leads to Tyrion killing her. However, in the books, Martin describes Tyrion's killing of Shae that "it's a much more deliberate and in some ways a crueler thing." Seeing Tyrion kill her in this way, rather than in self-defense, likely would have ruined the fan-favorite character.

Interestingly, when asked about the hypocrisy of Tywin Lannister sleeping with Shae after chastising Tyrion for such behavior, Martin revealed "that's something I don't really want to talk about because there's still aspects of it I haven't revealed that will be revealed in later books." This tease is something that did not come into play before the end of Game of Thrones but suggests some more intrigue into this whole betrayal plot. Perhaps it is something that will be revealed in more detail with the release of Martin's planned future books.

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Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game of Thrones is a TV series based on the book “A Song of Ice of Fire” by George R. R. Martin. It tells the story of the ongoing battle between the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros - as they fight for control of the coveted Iron Throne. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the far north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, led by House Stark's Jon Snow, is the first to encounter icy horrors that threaten all realms of men. The series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and quickly became one of the biggest event series in the "Golden Age" of TV. Winner of 38 Primetime Emmy Awards, Game of Thrones has attracted record viewership on HBO and has a broad, active, international fan base.

Release Date

April 11, 2011

Cast

Emilia Clarke , Lena Headey , Richard Madden , Michelle Fairley , Kit Harington , Maisie Williams , Alfie Allen , Peter Dinklage

Seasons

8

Writers

D.B. Weiss , George R.R. Martin , David Benioff

Streaming Service(s)

HBO Max

Franchise(s)

Game of Thrones

Directors

David Nutter , Alan Taylor , D.B. Weiss , David Benioff

Showrunner

David Benioff , D.B. Weiss