Tytos Lannister

"He was a good man. But a weak man... a weak man who nearly destroyed our House and name."

- Tywin Lannister

Tytos Lannister is an unseen character in Game of Thrones. He is deceased when the events of the series begin. He is not expected to appear in the series. He was the Lord of Casterly Rock and head of House Lannister. He is the grandfather of the major characters Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion Lannister.

Background
He was once Lord of Casterly Rock and head of House Lannister, one of the Great Houses of Westeros. The Lannisters are the richest and one of the most influential families in Westeros. He is the father of Tywin Lannister, and grandfather of Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion.

Lord Tytos raised the kennelmaster of Casterly Rock to knighthood after the latter saved him from a lioness that tried to kill him. He also granted him lands, a keep, and the kennelmaster's son was taken as a squire. Thus House Clegane was born.

Tytos presided over a period of decline for the House. He frittered away much of their fortune on poor investments and allowed himself to be mocked at court creating a perception of weakness.

This reputation led the Lannister vassals of House Reyne of Castamere to eventually rise in rebellion. Tytos' successor, Tywin, put down the rebellion personally, extinguishing their house and re-establishing the fearsome reputation of House Lannister. His ruthlessness gave darker meaning to the common phrase "A Lannister always pays his debts" and was immortalized in the song "The Rains of Castamere".

Season 1
When arriving at his father's encampment with a number of hill tribe leaders, Tyrion Lannister introduces his father to them, calling him "Tywin, son of Tytos".

Season 2
At Harrenhal, Tywin recalls watching Tytos growing old to his cup-bearer. Tywin believes that his father loved him and was a good man but weak. He blames Tytos for endangering their house and name.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Lord Tytos was called a kind but weak man. He loaned money to lords who never bothered to repay him and his vassals openly ignored his orders, mocking him in open court. This made his son Tywin mistrust laughter, and become a hard and cold man.

Tytos's father was Gerold the Golden, who appears in the Tales of Dunk and Egg prequel novellas set 90 years before the events of the main series. Gerold had at least four sons: the twins Tywald and Tion, then Tytos, then Jason. As a third son, Tytos was not initially expected to rule, but both of his older brothers died without issue while their father was still alive, meaning that Tytos directly succeeded Gerold. Tywald died in the same battle against an outlaw lord in which King Maekar Targaryen died. He had been betrothed to Ellyn Reyne, so to maintain the alliance she was married to Tion. For a time Ellyn dominated Casterly Rock, but their marriage proved childless, and Tion later died in the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion. Gerold rid the castle of Ellyn by marrying her off to old lord Walderran Tarbeck - but she then proceeded to have numerous children by him. Tytos himself had married Jeyne Marbrand, and there came to be a bitter rivalry between the two women. Ellyn Tarbeck named her children after dead Lannister relatives, to spite them. Tytos and Jeyne had four sons: Tywin, Kevan, Tygett, and Gerion, as well as one daughter, Genna. Jeyne died only one month after giving birth to Gerion. Jason, meanwhile, was married off to Marla Prester, by whom he had five children, including Stafford and Joanna. Tywin would later marry Joanna, his own first cousin, and she bore him Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion.

Tytos's daughter Genna states that growing up as a younger son made Tytos eager to please those around him, particularly men who were older than him. Tytos was even eager for the acceptance of older men who were his own vassals, or minor vassals of other Houses. Tytos agreed to marry Genna to Walder Frey's son Emmon, who was his second son and thus not even his heir, simply to please Lord Frey. Despite being only ten years old, Tywin was the only one who spoke out against this, pointing out how drastically uneven the match was. Even if Walder had offered his eldest son and heir in marriage, it would still have been marrying beneath Genna's station, as the Freys were only vassals of House Tully, not another Great House like the Lannisters. Years later when Tywin came to rule House Lannister, he became insulted at the prospect of Cersei settling for anything less than a royal marriage.

According to Kevan, Lord Tytos allowed his mistress - a woman scarcely one step above a whore - to move into their castle after his wife's death, act as if she was mistress of the Rock, demanded and wore his late wife's jewels, and even spoke for Tytos when he was sick. She grew so influential that it was said in Lannisport that any man who wished for his petition to be heard should kneel before her, for Tytos's ears were between her legs. After Tytos died of a heart attack while climbing stairs to see her, Tywin sent her naked and penniless out the front gate. For further humiliation, she was forced to walk naked through the streets of Lannisport for two weeks, and to confess to every man she met that she was a thief and a whore. Although no man laid a hand on her during this humiliation (as Tywin had threatened to punish any who physically harmed her), that was the end of her power.

Tytos once imprisoned an unruly bannerman, Lord Tarbeck. Lady Ellyn Tarbeck responded by capturing three Lannisters, including Stafford, and demanded the release of her husband, otherwise the three hostages would be killed. Young Tywin suggested his father to oblige by sending back Lord Tarbeck in three pieces, but gentle Tytos complied to the threat and released the prisoner. Some time afterward, the Tarbecks joined with House Reyne in rebellion against House Lannister. Tytos's son Tywin led the armies of House Lannister to deal with the upstart Houses, and in the end he annihilated both the Tarbecks and the Reynes. Tytos was so indecisive that he would not grant Tywin leave to send their army against their rebellious vassals, but Tywin led out their army anyway in defiance of his father. The extinction of House Reyne marked the first major step in the return to glory of House Lannister, in which Tywin almost singlehandedly rebuilt the fortunes and strength of his House after the very weak position his father Tytos had left it in.