Tyrion Kills Shae: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Author George R.R. Martin Insists That Shae Loved Tyrion
In “The Children,” Tyrion sought out Tywin only to find Shae in his father’s bed. It was heartbreaking enough until Shae grabbed a knife on the nightstand and tried to stab Tyrion with it, but Tyrion won in the ensuing struggle, strangling her, and apologizing to her dead body.
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In the books, Shae was much less ambiguous in her affection; she was clearly in her relationship with Tyrion for the money and the status, but in the show, she was much more complex — even George R.R. Martin agrees!
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“Shae is one of the characters that really has changed significantly from the books to the TV show,” George told EW. “I think that [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] wrote Shae very differently, and a symbol to Sibel Kekilli — the incredible girl playing her. Shae is much more sincere in her affections for Tyrion. […] with the Shae in the TV series, you can tell she actually has real feelings for Tyrion — she challenges him, she defies him.
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“The Shae in the books is a manipulative camp-follower prostitute who doesn’t give a sh** about Tyrion any more than she would any other john, but she’s very compliant, like a little teenage sex kitten, feeding all his fantasies.”
Sibel Kekilli: ‘Don’t Hate Shae!’ She ‘Loved, Truly, Tyrion. I Really Mean It!’
Furthermore, while it certainly seemed like Shae sailed Tyrion down the river at his trial out of spite, or just to attach herself to more powerful entities — Cersei and Tywin — Sibel thinks that “In that trial scene, how she’s talking, searching for words, she’s looking at Tyrion’s sister, his father, when she says her lines,” she told Vulture. “It’s like, okay, she had to say that. I understood it like that.”
About the trial, she justified Shae’s actions further to The Hollywood Reporter, saying that “Shae is low-born. This is after Tyrion said, ‘Go away. You’re a whore.’ She was thinking, ‘I’m again where I was before I met Tyrion. Once again I’m a prostitute. Again, I’m by myself, on my own. I have to take care of myself. I have to survive.'”
“Don’t hate Shae!” Sibel told TVLine (on a seemingly endless press tour). “She’s a poor girl, low-born, and she’s not a victim — but in this kind of world, the life is tough. [Laughs] And she loved, truly, Tyrion. I really mean it!”
What do you think, HollywoodLifers? Did Shae have it coming, or was her situation understandable? Do you think that she really loved Tyrion, as Sibel says? Let us know!
— Amanda Michelle Steiner
Follow @AmandaMichl
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