There was a fair bit of manipulation in the original sequence, where Tyrion was essentially negging Jon - insulting him to make him vulnerable, then snapping back with a positive message to make Jon grateful and take advantage of his moment of hurt. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.” From the start, these two have had common cause, and Tyrion’s way of expressing it has been rough, wry, and offensive, but still sincere.īut Tyrion is also a master strategist, and he isn’t just reminding Jon of old times because he’s feeling nostalgic. He’s also drawing on some insights about Jon’s vulnerability and rawness, and suggesting how he should defend himself: “Never forget what you are. In constantly, pointedly calling Jon a bastard, Tyrion’s being a bit of a bastard himself. Here’s the season 1 scene where Tyrion points out what he has in common with Jon. More significantly, however, it’s a specific call to remember what they have in common: how they both know what it’s like to be rejected by family and by the world, and how they bonded over it.
It’s an invitation for Jon to come swear fealty to Daenerys Targaryen on Dragonstone, but Tyrion adds a personal touch, ending the message with “…for all dwarves are bastards in their fathers’ eyes.” It’s a clever bit of business - as Jon notes, it’s a reference to something Tyrion said to him when they were alone at Winterfell (back in the series’s first season, which “Stormborn” references liberally and often), so it proves the message is from Tyrion himself. In “Stormborn,” the second episode of Game of Thrones’ seventh season, there’s a sequence dissecting the contents of a message Tyrion Lannister sends to Jon Snow via a raven.
Spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones season 7, episode 2