House of the Dragon: How Are Tyland and Tywin Lannister Connected?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 8, “The Queen Who Ever Was.”

A running gag in House of the Dragon Season 2’s finale sees Admiral Lohar repeatedly call Ser Tyland Lannister “Tywin” – the name of House Lannister’s formidable patriarch in Game of Thrones. This begs the question: how are Tyland and Tywin Lannister related, exactly?

Related: House of the Dragon: Who Is Abigail Thorn’s Admiral Sharako Lohar?

Tyland and Tywin Lannister’s Connection, Explained

The obvious conclusion most viewers will jump to is that Tyland Lannister is Tywin’s great-great-great-granddaddy. After all, they’re both clearly from the same house, and Lohar constantly calling Tyland “Tywin” seemingly foreshadows a direct lineage between them. That’s not the case, though. According to House of the Dragon‘s source text, Fire & Blood, Tyland Lannister isn’t Tywin’s grandfather – or anyone‘s grandfather, for that matter. Indeed, the book makes it clear that Tyland dies without having any children (legitimate or otherwise).

Related: House of the Dragon: Brynden Rivers’ Season 2 Cameo, Explained

So, who is Tywin Lannister’s ancestor in House of the Dragon, if not Tyland? Fire & Blood is a little vague on the subject (as is the wider A Song of Ice and Fire canon), however, Tywin’s probably descended from Tyland’s twin brother, Jason Lannister. He’s pretty much the only viable candidate, given Tyland had no other siblings! As such, Tyland is Tywin Lannister’s great-great-great-great-uncle. So they’re related, but in a somewhat distant way.

Will Tywin Lannister Appear in Future House of the Dragon Seasons?

Nope, unless it’s as part of another trippy vision sequence. As alluded to above, Tywin Lannister isn’t alive in House of the Dragon Season 2 – and won’t be born for a while yet, either. Working backwards from information supplied in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, we know that Tywin’s birth year is 242 AC. Meanwhile, House of the Dragon‘s source text, Fire & Blood, positions the events of Seasons 2-4 over 100 years earlier, in 129-131 AC. Even allowing for discrepancies between the timeline of the books and show, a Tywin cameo doesn’t work.

Related: How Many Seasons of House of the Dragon Will There Be?

What about time jumps, you ask? After all, House of the Dragon Season 1 infamously zipped forward in Westerosi history on more than one occasion. No dice, Tywin fans; showrunner Ryan Condal has already confirmed that House of the Dragon‘s remaining seasons won’t feature time jumps. So, if you want to see live-action Tywin, you’ll just have to rewatch Game of Thrones!

House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently streaming on HBO and Max.