Tywin Lannister is literally one of my favorite characters of all time. The dude is ruthless and fierce, cunning and smarter than everyone in the room, with few exceptions such as Littlefinger and perhaps is son Tyrion as well. We all know that Tywin Lannister was responsible for the Red Wedding even though the Freys were sacked with all the blame, so I wondered, what would Lord Tywin's initial response to Robb Stark's death be? Especially considering that I feel he maybe thought of Robb as a worthy opponent of sorts. This is my introspective piece exploring just that thought.
Quote of the day:
"But there is neither East nor West, nor Border nor Breed nor Birth, when two strong men come face to face, though they come from the ends of the Earth."
— Rudyard Kipling, Ballad of East and West
Robb Stark was dead.
The Red Wedding they were calling it, and as Tywin Lannister sat alone in his Chamber of the Hand, the letter from Walder Frey resting on the desk in front of him, he supposed that it was a suitable enough name for what the smallfolk and High Lords alike were calling an atrocity. It was true that Robb Stark was an oath breaker, lacking the famous honor of his father when he broke his sacred vow to marry Walder Frey's daughter, but he had been given the Guest Right, and by the laws of gods both Old and New, he and all his people were to be protected. Oh, Robb and his Northmen had been received in song and story, this much Tywin had known would happen, but the song was The Rains of Castamere, and the story was the reminder that every generation needed that the Lannisters pay their debts.
In truth, part of him had a queer sort of admiration for Robb Stark that surprised even Tywin himself. The boy had been young and green, whose martial skill up until the War of the Five Kings had undoubtedly been at most friendly duels between his bastard brother and the Greyjoy lad, but the Young Wolf had proven himself far more dangerous than anyone would have ever expected, taking every single victory in every single battle that they fought. Robb Stark had a mind for warfare when he was alive, and not even the mighty Tywin Lannister could deny that fact, even if every Lord in the South and the West insisted on calling the King in the North a child. Nor would he deny it, the Warden of the West mused, bringing a goblet of wine as golden as the lion on his banner to his lips, all the while remembering that the Reynes and the Tarbecks had once said the same about him.
Tywin Lannister and Robb Stark had more in common with one another than anyone in the Seven Kingdoms would ever dare to admit, but Tywin himself could admit it with ease, setting down his wine, all the while his eyes trailed to the sheet of parchment resting on his desk. Robb Stark had marched South to avenge his father after the man had been executed by the young and stupid Joffrey. Likewise, when Tywin was at an age not much older than Robb, he too marched against the Reynes and the Tarbecks when both of those Houses dared to raise their banners against his father Tytos. The soldiers that fought for the King on the Iron Throne spoke of the Young Wolf as being more a legend than a man, while in the same breath both the Northmen and the River Lords whispered Tywin's name only in hushed voices, the Lord of Casterly Rock being more a force of nature than a simple enemy. For all their similarities though, for all the ways that one could conceivable compare the two, there was one key difference between Tywin Lannister and the late Robb Stark, and that was the knowledge that it took more than swords to win a war.
He supposed that the Young Wolf had learned as much when Roose Bolton shoved a blade into his heart, but by then it had been too late. Robb Stark broke his oath to marry Walder Frey's daughter in favor of some foreigner who brought nothing to the War of the Five Kings or to House Stark. Meanwhile, House Lannister became larger and more powerful with every passing day, and with every passing marriage. Robb Stark personally executed Rickard Karstark when the Young Wolf had charged him with treason, taking the Lord's head while losing half his forces in the process. At the same time Mace Tyrell and the Lords of the Reach bent the knee to King Joffrey, and Tywin pardoned them all, House Tyrell in particular becoming their most valuable ally in the War. Robb Stark may have won every battle with his sword, but Tywin won the most important battle of all: the battle of the pen. He had heard it said before that the pen was mightier than the sword, and it was something that proved very true, all it taking for Tywin to win the War of the Five Kings being a series of letters, and a handful of promises.
Still, there was something inside of Tywin that couldn't exactly be fully content with Robb Stark's death. The Red Wedding was something that needed to happen, and he would do it again in another life in another world without hesitation, but Robb Stark had been a strong enemy, and if nothing else, the Lion of Lannister could at least respect that. With that in mind, he raised his golden cup once again, the howling of Northern wolves stirring in his heart all the while.
"To the King in the North!" Lord Tywin toasted out loud in his empty chamber, with nothing but the shadows of old memories to keep him company, the Young Wolf being the most worthy opponent that the Warden of the West had ever faced.
He took a long drink, and his thoughts drifted to the Wedding bathed in Red that had won the War of the Five Kings for him. The wine tasted bitter as he drank it, despite it being the best that the Arbor had to offer, and a familiar tune came to mind when Lord Tywin closed his eyes, the Lion of Lannister in that instant remembering the day that rain wept over the halls of Castamere, with no one there to hear. It was a song that defined who he was and what his family stood for, and for a moment Tywin wondered what songs the bards would sing now, about the Night that Winter Fell.
"Yes, now the rains weep o'er his hall," Tywin Lannister sang softly, his victory being just as bitter as his wine, "and not a soul to hear."
Have a nice day.