Quote Originally Posted by Vivi22 View Post
And Tyrion is Tywin 2.0? I'm not seeing it. He may have his political savvy and intelligence (for the most part though he may actually be better at all of that than Tywin), but he's got a conscience. Quite a well calibrated moral compass in fact all things considered. He's set out to be nothing like Tywin in that regard because he sees through all the self centered bulltrout and political games and he wants something better for the people and from their leaders. Sure Tyrion is like him in some ways, but there are differences there that are extremely important to showing how he is, in almost every way that matters, nothing like Tywin. It's possibly one of the most important aspects of his character.
I think your Tyrion views would be accurate for A Clash of Kings/Season 2 but he's changed quite drastically. Re-read his chapters in ADWD and you'll see what I mean.

Book spoilers. The show is ahead of the books but in case anyone wanted to read them and hasn't yet
The whole of Tyrion's arc as Hand has him trying to do as you've described - trying to achieve the best outcomes while trying to remain a good person. He compares himself to his father repeatedly and mirrors his acts, both overtly and unintentionally. GRRM does love a good foreshadow. One of my favourite parts is when Tyrion is asking his father what on earth he was doing employing people like Gregor Clegane and Armory Lorch, and Tywin simply responds that this sort of brutality is needed and he thought Tyrion knew this as he has Bronn and the Clansmen. The Clansmen, incidentally, are currently wrecking the Vale's smallfolk armed with the steel Tyrion gave them because he was annoyed at Lysa Arryn for capturing him.

Tyrion learns the valuable lesson that you have to follow through on your threats and where before he showed mercy, starts to have people killed. The threats idea reaches a head with his father when he threatens to kill him if he says whore again, and so he does.
"You... you are no... no son of mine."

"Now that’s where you’re wrong, Father. Why, I believe I'm you writ small."
This is where the change happens. Indeed, it's a lovely rebuttal to the Tyrion = Targ theory too

One of the best characteristics of Tyrion is his unrelenting love of the underdog. Cripples, bastards, and broken things. And whores. Tysha and Shae are the obvious ones, but he gets really fired up when injustice happens to Alayaya and to the mother of one of Robert's bastards who ends up killed on Cersei's orders and does his best to seek justice.

After he kills his father his attitude towards them seems to mirror him. I overlooked this stuff the first time I read it because I'm a Tyrion fanboy and fair smurfing play to Martin for making me like a character so much I wrote it off, but he actually does some really vile things to the whores he encounters from then on. The first one I'll just quote the wiki summary:
she asks Tyrion if he wants her after he has eaten with Illyrio. He tells he no but he thinks the girl takes that disappointment too well for his liking, this angers him and he changes his mind and tells her to wait for him in bed naked and to keep her mouth shut and her thighs open. He gives her a leer, hoping for a taste of fear, but all she gives him is revulsion. Tyrion threatens to strangle her and then he gets the fear he wants.
The second one he meets in Volantis is completely horrible. I just did a search looking for the quotes and found an analysis of it that says it better than I could. Link - it's NSFW and pretty grim reading. The moral compass you mentioned Vivi? It just got smashed.

He also becomes obsessed and motivated by revenge at this point, much like his father and the Casterlys. He indeed makes it his stated aim to rape and kill Cersei. Who else do we know uses rape and murder as weapons of revenge? Hint: Ask Elia Martell.

The big one is his relationship with Penny and I don't think there's enough time to fully go into it, but she obviously represents good and innocence and Tyrion wrestles with a combination of revulsion and pity for her. He's had both dreams and thoughts where he kills her and at some point I think that's what's going to happen, signifying his abandonment of good.

As for what the future holds, well, here's a nice quote for what we can expect.
The fact that there were any good wells at all within a day’s march of the city only went to prove that Daenerys Targaryen was still an innocent where siegecraft was concerned. She should have poisoned every well. Then all the Yunkishmen would be drinking from the river. See how long their siege lasts then. That was what his lord father would have done, Tyrion did not doubt.
His empathy is long gone and Dany is going to get herself some Tywinesque advice.

I'll finish this off with Tywin's sister, Genna, expressing her fears to Jaime after Tywin's death.
She gave a sigh. “Who will protect us now?”
Jaime kissed her cheek. “He left a son.”
“Aye, he did. That is what I fear the most, in truth.”
That was a queer remark. “Why should you fear?”
[…] “Tyrion is Tywin’s son, not you.”
Wouldn't it be a nice little twist? The Lannister brother we see as evil becoming good and the Lannister brother we see as good becoming evil.