Winter Is Coming

What.

The.

I believe that Tyrion will be one of the survivors of the ASOIAF story.

There will be so much destruction in Westeros --there's already a lot-- and if Oldtown fails, the kingdoms will need someone who has already proven he is able to think of engineering to help others.

I'm really thinking about the scene where he was the one who gave Bran a saddle to horseriding again. It was after Jon Snow asked him to offer "any help",

"Rickon can't read yet. Bran …" He stopped suddenly. "I don't know what message to send to Bran. Help him, Tyrion." "What help could I give him? I am no maester, to ease his pain. I have no spells to give him back his legs." "You gave me help when I needed it," Jon Snow said. "I gave you nothing," Tyrion said. "Words." "Then give your words to Bran too." "You're asking a lame man to teach a cripple how to dance," Tyrion said. "However sincere the lesson, the result is likely to be grotesque. Still, I know what it is to love a brother, Lord Snow. I will give Bran whatever small help is in my power." "Thank you, my lord of Lannister." He pulled off his glove and offered his bare hand. "Friend." Tyrion III - AGOT

This is such a powerful scene, even if it's so short and simple. Their sides are already broken, even if both of them are unaware of how bad they truly are, as they are both family to people who hate each other, and it will get worse later, but Jon offers Tyrion honest friendship.

Love.

There are different kinds of love. Jon and Tyrion lack the love they miss, but Jon at least had his family's love to raise him with a good heart despite the discrimination he suffered as a bastard.

And when Tyrion helps Jon, Jon offers his friendship.

In his famous dialogue, Symposium, Plato describes a platonic bond as a "ladder of love". You start by deeply appreciating a single beautiful individual, but instead of stopping there, you channel that affection outward, ultimately inspiring each other to grow, seek truth, and pursue the highest forms of goodness together.

Jon and Tyrion started with a slight that was forgotten by the time they reached Castle Black. As Jon stated, Tyrion offered words of encouragement to help him and be better. There was no interest or gain on Tyrion's part, except that he viewed himself in Jon and wanted to help him. Tyrion could have ignored Jon and let him brood and become a prat in Castle Black, but he offered his words of advice, which helped Jon to create strong bonds among his new family. He gave him hope in his new, dark, broody future at the Night's Watch.

Tyrion saw goodness in Jon, and Jon saw goodness in Tyrion. They saw each other without house names or insulting definitions. They saw each other as just honest, good people.

And it was that goodness that turned into a friendship, and when Tyrion appeared again in Winterfell, he didn't just give Bran words.

He gave Bran legs. He drew those plans for a new saddle. Those things are not something you make in a few hours in a day. Tyrion thought about Bran's problem and found a solution. He did what he told Jon would be impossible. He gave Bran hope. A promise of a better future as a cripple in an ableist world. And a step on the ladder of a future friendship.

Yes, Tyrion is later severely hurt. By Catelyn Stark (who was lied! she is harmful if people don't tell her the truth!), by every lord in the whole of Westeros, and of course his family keeps being the worst to him, as much as he tries to earn, if not their love, their respect. He only has a little respect, but all with some sort of interest. Bron expects money. The mountain clansmen expect help for their war. Shae expects protection. All of them end up betraying him when he is useless to them.

And so, when he is judged for being an Imp, accused of being born disabled, he is bloodthirsty and is going to bring fire & blood to Westeros with Daenerys Targaryen.

How he will survive the ice and fire is impossible to know. Of course, after all the problems Tyrion managed to survive, I'm sure he will think of a way.

Maybe it's like the ending of the series, and he ends up being imprisoned.

And Jon and Bran, who were once the closest thing he had to real friends, forgave him. Because Tyrion was the one who was kind to them first.

And I find an interesting theme in the myth of Ares and Aphrodite, associated with Jaime and Cersei, while Hephaestus is incarnated by Tyrion.

In contrast to the myth, War & Lust will be dead, and only the Mind will remain. The master craftsman of the gods. The creator through hard work and resilience. Associated with fire and volcanoes, these natural phenomena symbolise his fiery nature, raw, transformative creativity, and the duality of destruction and rebirth. Hephaestus is a god not of dazzling beauty or strength but of perseverance and skill.

Ares and Aphrodite constantly humiliated Hephaestus, and he always sought revenge. But when Jaime and Cersei are gone, what will Tyrion do?

"You gave me help when I needed it," Jon Snow said. "I gave you nothing," Tyrion said. "Words." "Then give your words to Bran too." "[...] I will give Bran whatever small help is in my power." "Thank you, my lord of Lannister." He pulled off his glove and offered his bare hand. "Friend."

He will do whatever small help is in his power. Words. A new special saddle to walk again.