5 Ways Game of Thrones Has Us Convinced That Tyrion Is a Targaryen

Although Tywin raised Tyrion as his own (albeit begrudgingly), a number of fans believe that King Aerys II — a Targaryen — raped Tywin's wife, Joanna, on their wedding night and maintained a secret relationship with her for years. This illicit union supposedly resulted in baby Tyrion, who Joanna died giving birth to. It's no secret that Tywin hated his youngest son for killing the woman he loved so deeply, but maybe he hated Tyrion even more because he knew that Aerys was his father. This theory would also support Tywin's decision to join Robert Baratheon's fierce rebellion against the Targaryens that nearly wiped out the entire Targaryen line.

It's worth noting that Tywin's grudge against the Mad King can also be explained away by saying that Aerys was extremely paranoid and out of his damn mind (hence his nickname) and had a habit of embarrassing Tywin publicly. Tywin was ruthlessly loyal to his own family, so if he thought for a second that delivering King's Landing to Robert would serve them better than defending it with Aerys, it wouldn't have been out of his character to do so.

In the first book, A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin describes Tyrion as someone with hair so blond that it verges on white. While Lannisters are fair-haired, the Targaryens are known for their shockingly blond, almost silver hair (ex: Daenerys). Some assume this description alludes to the fact that Aerys is Tyrion's father.

Although he raises Tyrion alongside Cersei and Jaime (which many think he only does because he can't bear to destroy something his beloved wife created), Tywin makes his distaste for Tyrion plain on a number of occasions, especially in a scene in the season three episode "Valar Dohaeris." "You are an ill-made, spiteful little creature full of envy, lust, and low cunning," he tells Tyrion. "Men's laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors since I cannot prove that you are not mine." Taken literally, that last line seems like an obvious clue that Tywin is well-aware that Tyrion is not entirely a Lannister.

At the end of season four, Tywin brings Tyrion's lineage into question yet again when he says "You're no son of mine," just after Tyrion shoots him in the stomach with an arrow. To be fair, Tywin is probably only saying that given the circumstance (read: bleeding out on a toilet), but it could also be his final declaration of Tyrion's illegitimacy.

Tyrion proves time and time again throughout the series that he's able to sweet talk his way into just about anything, and this apparently includes convincing Dany's dragons not to turn him into a grilled chicken nugget. Is this because he's a member of the Targaryen family, who's known for being able to tame and ride dragons? So far, no one else has been able to do anything remotely close to what Tyrion is able to in the Meereen basement where Dany locks up her dragons (remember this guy?). By acknowledging the fact that the dragons — Rhaegal and Viserion — are incredibly smart and probably understand what he's saying, they allow Tyrion to remove their chains.

On top of the dragons's clear acceptance of Tyrion, it's mentioned that Tyrion is fascinated with dragons in general. In the scene with Rhaegal and Viserion, he tells a story about how he begged his uncle for a dragon on his Nameday as a child, and the books hint that Tyrion has had dragon dreams (which is something Targaryens frequently experience).

When Daenerys is in the House of the Undying, she hears a prophecy that states "the dragon has three heads." This is widely assumed to mean the "three heads" are the three riders meant to fly on Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal, and those riders are thought to be Dany (for obvious reasons), Jon Snow (because his parents are rumored to be Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen), and Tyrion. All three of their mothers died in childbirth (assuming you buy into the "Lyanna is Jon Snow's mother" theory), and we'd be very, very surprised if such a strong connection like that ended up being merely a coincidence.