The 30 most heartwarming moments on Game of Thrones

10. Shae visits Tyrion’s sickbed (“Valar Morghulis”)

SARAH: To be blunt, Tyrion and Shae had a godawful breakup. Their relationship couldn’t have ended on an uglier note, but as with any failed relationship, it was good before it got bad. Despite how things ended between them, they once shared a love that was very real.

Following the Lannister victory at the Blackwater in Season 2’s “Valar Morghulis,” Tyrion was secluded away in a dark bedchamber with an ugly wound on his face. Shae comes to visit him. Disgusted by his appearance and drowning in self-pity, Tyrion tries to rebuff her, calling himself a monster. Shae isn’t having it. With characteristic bite, she gives him a piece of her mind and reminds him that he’s not as alone as he thinks.

Oh, I’m a poor little rich man and nobody loves me, so I make jokes all the time and pay them to laugh. Fuck your money. Let’s leave.

At this point, all Shae wants is for Tyrion to leave King’s Landing and go to Pentos with her, where she believes he will be safe and happy. Of course, Tyrion refuses, knowing that he’s not suited to a life of idleness when he could be pitting his wits against the best of them in King’s Landing. Essentially, he chooses the game of thrones over their relationship. If Shae had chosen to leave Tyrion for safer pastures at this point, it would have been understandable.

Instead, she makes it clear to Tyrion that her place is by his side, no matter the cost to her own safety. It is at this moment that Tyrion knows for certain that he is loved by a woman who, until now, he could not have been sure of. Shae’s devotion shines a brilliant light onto the gloom that has been cast by Lord Tywin’s arrival, and the mistreatment Tyrion is sure awaits him.

I believe that Tyrion’s relationship with Shae is one of the few improvements that Benioff and Weiss made to the source material. In the books, Tyrion was perfectly aware that Shae did not love him, but allowed himself to be deluded by the fantasy. By fleshing out Shae’s character and allowing her to love Tyrion as she did, Tyrion’s feelings for her felt weightier and more believable. It also allowed this scene, one of the best of the episode, to happen.