You can see him and Cersei, are kinda are on the same map regarding overall things, but deep down the essense is kinda different, Tywin is more cool in his thinking. Cersei often flares up. If you look at the Lannisters broadly, it’s like Cersei and Jamie are kind of with Tywin in the general ‚scheming' (but Cersei more so, I pick up a lot of underlying respect and admiration, her trying to be like her father). Jamie seems more ‚chill‘ idk. Tyrion is kinda out (and I mean also with cognition, how he goes about things, what he picks up etc., not just bc. he is the dwarf) and only through Jamie he still has some sort of family tie, but he clearly opposes his father. Tywin often vibes like ahead and trying to drag them all along for his quest for absolute power.
I mean he was really ‚head‘ of the family. After his death the whole family structure, everything is starting to fall apart. Like Baelish noted: Jamie has just one hand. Tyrion well... is who knows where. Cersei is only mother regent after Tommens marriage to Margaery and that title does not hold a lot of power. Tywin was really what held things together. I saw introvert and also doubts about him being E8. He is cold, sober, clear headed in his thinking. He kind of vibes more controlled and not really hot headed. Like if there is a problem coming up, he is not loosing his head. He was the hand of the mad king and as I recall it people where asking if he ‚shits gold‘, because he was good at mananging the realms finances and the comment on his death was: Lord Tywin Lannister did not, in the end, shit gold.
That colder, more sober tone actually reinforces my opinion of him leading with an rational function – Te. He is actually prallels LIE E8 NPA’s like Henry Ford and Joseph P. Kennedy for me. His cold assessment of the situation probably leads to him being a man, that people call to manage situations. So now why do I think E8 and not E1. I mean I see Stannis as E1 and yeah idk... you could say there are parallels or kinda similiar vibe (both on the quest for the iron throne) and you also could say Stannis is rather extreme and it's probably not fair to compare someone, who might be a little bit less extreme towards him, but for me it's like the motivations, that are not fitting. Dig deeper in their motivations and you get a completely different picture. I would have decided against E1, because Tywin Lannister is not in the compliant triad for me.
I mean that’s not his core like with Stannis. What broods below Tywin Lannisters more sober attitude is an undeniable thirst for power. He was hand of the old King (Aerys Targaryen). When it became clear that Robert is about to take the city and that Roberts rebellion is about to be a succesful one, Tywin changes sides. Like Jaime tells Brienne, his father is no idiot. In order to set himself up on a good footing with the new power on the throne, he orders the killing of Elia Martell and her kids, because her kids would have been next in succession line. Elia gets raped, slaughtered, same with her children. He presents the dead bodies to Robert Baratheon to convince him of his loyality. Then he arranges the marriage between his daughter and Robert – ‚getting his foot into the door‘ so to speak. His core is the ultimate quest for power, not anything super-ego driven.
Look at Stannis. He held a castle surviving on rats, because that was his duty to his brother. If Stannis would have another elder brother, he would go to war to place him on the throne. If Stannis is not one super-ego driven character on this show, then I’m sorry... nobody is. Look at what kind of person he chose to be his hand. Davos. No Lord, a smuggler. ‚Ser Davos reminded me of my duty...‘. Davos is like for Stannis the more ethical rational voice, he is kind of a counterbalance to bring him back on super-ego track. That’s Stannis core. Tywin Lannister is all about the power. I mean ‚The Rains of Castameare‘ is
the song about him. The Lannister hymn. It’s about a Lord, who questioned the power of House Lannister. Tywin eradicates/wipes out the whole house – stating an examplar.
I mean for me it’s difficult when you look at compliant triad in this universe- Davos, Catelyn, Jon (maybe I’m gonna write more on that after having finished with Season 5 now), Stannis and Ned. They all have something in common regarding their framework. I mean the rest is window decoration (I mean important individual differences, like not everybody from the same type is the same). But the framework is important. I have a hard time personally, to come up with an argumentation for Tywin Lannister to fit that core/that framwork of personality. It’s like you can chip away the decoration, but as soon as you get to the core/the framwork the structure of the personality starts to fall apart. Look what the writers did with Stannis, they made him burn his daughter. People where reeling, people where like this is totally out of character.
This is not Stannis. They were quoting the book non stop. People just could not see it. They sensed it was stepping too much out of the line/Stannis framework. Now try to do the same with Tywin Lannister. Dare to come near his quest for power. I mean srsly that guy has a gut power seeking energy, that takes dimensions... I mean he even takes himself out of the equation ‚someday I will be dead‘ and wants to build up a structure/dynasty, that lasts for thousands of years. That’s a thirst for power, that is unparalleled. It‘s really amped up in him. He hates his own father with a passion (because saw him as weak and destroying the family name). He schemes, kills, slaughters etc. for this one goal. Look at his background. Elia Martell. Robb Stark. The Rains of Castameare. If you take away all this, his personality would fall apart in itself. With his death the family structure/the Lannisters are starting to collapse.
And who are you the proud lord says, that I must bow so low? Only a cat of a different coat, that's all the truth I know. In a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws. And mine are long and sharp my lord, as long and sharp as yours. And so he spoke, and so he spoke, that Lord of Castameare. But now the rains weep o'er his hall, with no one there to hear. And now the rains weep o'er his hall, and not a soul to hear.