Also, this is a stretch, but I think if they'd left in the deleted scene of Tywin fishing during his "leisure time", the idea of him consorting with Shae fits better. We'd have seen him doing something other than being all business; a sense of what he was like in private. (Even in his first scene, where he butchered…

"Fucking Disqus won't work if you try to read the oldest comments first."

Agreed about Tyrion… however, it does kind of follow in line with him shield bashing that hill tribesman in S1. I'd say he doesn't want to kill, but when the time comes he makes sure he finishes the job.

Yes, Your Grace. We are VERY happy.

I think this is all exactly right. And "Killed by Lannister gold" is brilliant.

If it comes down to Varys and Littlefinger trying to out-mastermind one another while a mess of dragons, ice zombies, witches, assassins and sorcerer children smoke it out on an epic battlefield, I will probably be satisfied.

" I assume the mystery is intentional."
I like this interpretation a lot, and I think the show has trained us to watch it that way. For example, the suggestion in S1 that Cersei/Jaime poisoned Jon Arryn, but without anything solid to prove it, and the way that left things open for the great reveal by Lysa.

Good point — that's a weird contrast between Tywin's death and those others.

Yes, I think that's what Varys was alluding to when he said, "You'll have to trust me."

Crap, I'll have to go back and watch that! Was that during Jaime and Brienne's hot tub scene, or when Jaime tells Tywin that the Mad King wanted his head?

She sure celebrated on a few of those skeletons!

I think she was loyal to Tyrion until he rejected her. The theory that Bronn escorted her to the ship, but Tywin's order got there before the ship could leave port seems to fit. After that, she jumped to Tywin — the next safest landing spot — just as she did when Tyrion took her from that Lannister general. (Perhaps…

Unless S5 starts with Thoros of Myr rushing into Tywin's privy and bringing him back to life, or a White Walker popping out from under his bed and turning him into a blue eyed zombie, I'm betting he's dead for good.

Good point. Seems like he could have avoided the fight with Brienne altogether.

Yes. I loved how fast and agile they were, and they way they popped up out of the ice was crazy.

Somewhat ironically, the show needs an Experts version that skips the previouslies, for Newbs who have been paying attention and want to be surprised.

That makes sense, but it still seems like Tywin would have at least kept his side of that trapdoor bolted shut.

Aside from cleverly manipulating people so he can kill them, I'm not sure we've seen much evidence that Jaime's all that smart. He's impulsive, reckless and used to getting his way because of his famous name, wealth and (former) world-class skills in battle. I think jumping back into bed with Cersei fits the rest of…

I expected Tyrion to escape, and even guessed Jaime would help. I didn't see Tywin's death coming at all. But in retrospect, his vulnerability was implied in Ep8, where he was sitting out in the open and, potentially, within range of Oberyn's spear, hinted it was coming.

I think all Varys's commitments are conditional, so I agree that he's playing a long game. And this episode shows that he knows when to switch horses when the time comes.