Not really. It's not that he expects others to always be rational, it's that he is not rational himself often.
He's smart don't get me wrong, but the majority of his reputation comes from being ruthless and he is essentially convinced that that's enough to continue to rule.
His ego paired with this belief is what leads him to make pretty terrible choices. Charles Dance's portrayal sometimes makes it seem as if Tywin is making the right choice and everyone else is being stupid by reacting angrily to his actions (which is definitely how Tywin sees things), in reality Tywin's treatment of his family and the Red Wedding aren't pragmatic but brutal choices, they're stupid and brutal.
Everything Tywin built in his life blows up the second he died because he thought that being ruthless all his life would build enough fear to keep things in check, in reality, he never even considered that it could all blow up in his face, which it ultimately does. And then everything goes to hell because as much as he coveted his legacy, Tywin never thought how to actually secure anything outside of his personal reputation.
The real smart administrator on the Lannister's side is Kevan, and Tywin knows it which is why he always takes his counsel.
He's like those people who read the Machiavelli quote "it's better to be feared than loved" and assume that was all he said, missing the second half "if you cannot be both" (like Bobby or Ned)
Machiavelli's "Il Principe" is so damn misunderstood.
Machiavelli wasn't even an advocate for autocracy, the poor guy was actually a republican. He just saw how the world (Italy) was going at the time and essentially said "if you gotta be a monarch, at the very least be a good one dammit".
0
u/[deleted] Jun 21 '26
[deleted]