during what period of time was the debt held by the public (as a share of gdp) the highest

The United States public debt as a percentage of GDP reached its highest level during Harry Truman's first presidential term, during and after World War II. Public debt as a percentage of GDP fell rapidly in the post-World War II period, and reached a low in 1973 under President Richard Nixon. Debt as a share of GDP has consistently increased since then, except during the terms of presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Public debt rose during the 1980s, as President Reagan cut tax rates and increased military spending. It fell during the 1990s, due to decreased military spending, increased taxes and the 1990s boom. Public debt rose sharply in the wake of the 2007–08 financial crisis and the resulting significant tax revenue declines and spending increases.

History of the United States public debt

The history of the United States public debt started with federal government debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War by the first U.S treasurer, Michael Hillegas, after its formation in 1789. The United States has continuously had a fluctuating public debt since then, except for about a year during 1835â€“1836. To allow comparisons over the years, public debt is often expressed as a ratio to gross domestic product (GDP). Historically, the United States public debt as a share of GDP has increased during wars and recessions, and subsequently declined.

Except for about a year during 1835â€“1836, the United States has continuously had a fluctuating public debt since its Constitution went into effect on March 4, 1789. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, amassed huge war debts, but lacked the power to repay these obligations through taxation or duties on imports.[1][2]

On the founding of the United States, the financial affairs of the new federation were in disarray, exacerbated by an economic crisis in urban commercial centers.[3] In 1790, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton pushed for Congress to pass a financial plan, called the First Report on the Public Credit,[4] a controversial part of which involved the federal government assuming state debts incurred during the Revolutionary War.[5] Northern states had accumulated a huge amount of debt during the war, amounting to $21.5 million, and wanted the federal government to assume their burden. The Southern states, which had lower or no debts, whose citizens would effectively pay a portion of this debt if the federal government assumed it, were disinclined to accept the proposal. Some states, including Virginia, had already paid off almost half of their debts, and felt that their taxpayers should not be assessed again to bail out the less provident, and further argued that the plan was beyond the constitutional power of the new government. James Madison, then a representative from Virginia, led a group of legislators from the South in blocking the provision and prevent the plan from gaining approval. Jefferson supported Madison[6] The plan was finally adopted as part of the Compromise of 1790, as the Funding Act of 1790. The compromise meant that the state debts were all picked up by the federal Treasury, and the permanent national capital would be located in the South, along the Virginia-Maryland border in what became the District of Colombia.

Historian Max M. Edling has explained how assumption worked. It was the critical issue; the location of the capital was a bargaining ploy. Hamilton proposed that the federal Treasury take over and pay off all the debt that states had incurred to pay for the American Revolution. The Treasury would issue bonds that rich people would buy, thereby giving the rich a tangible stake in the success of the national government. Hamilton proposed to pay off the new bonds with revenue from a new tariff on imports. Jefferson originally approved the scheme, but Madison had turned him around by arguing that federal control of debt would consolidate too much power in the national government. Edling points out that after its passage in 1790, the assumption was accepted. Madison did try to pay speculators below 100%, but they were paid the face value of the state debts they held regardless of how little they paid for them. When Jefferson became president he continued the system. The credit of the U.S. was solidly established at home and abroad, and Hamilton was successful in signing up many of the bondholders in his new Federalist Party. Good credit allowed Jefferson's Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin to borrow in Europe to finance the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, as well as to borrow to finance the War of 1812.[7]

The Southern states extracted a major concession from Hamilton in the recalculation of their debt under the fiscal plan.[8] For example, in the case of Virginia, a zero-sum arrangement was contrived, in which Virginia paid $3.4 million to the federal government, and received exactly that amount in federal compensation.[9] The revision of Virginiaâ€™s debt, coupled with Potomac residence issue, ultimately netted it over $13 million.[10] Another result of federal assumption of state debts was to give the federal government much more power by placing the country's most serious financial obligation in the hands of the federal government rather than the state governments. The federal government was able to avoid competing in interest with the States.

The debts of the federal government on January 1, 1791 amounted to $75,463,476.52, of which about $40 million was domestic debt, $12 million was foreign debt, and $18.3 million were state debts assumed by the federal government, of the $21.5 million that had been authorized.[11]

To reduce the debt, from 1796 to 1811 there were 14 budget surpluses and 2 deficits. There was a sharp increase in the debt as a result of the War of 1812. In the 20 years following that war, there were 18 surpluses. The United States actually paid off its debt entirely in January 1835, only to begin accruing debt anew by 1836 (the debt on January 1, 1836 was $37,000).[12][13]

Another sharp increase in the debt occurred as a result of the Civil War. The debt was just $65 million in 1860, but passed $1 billion in 1863 and reached $2.7 billion by the end of the war. During the following 47 years, there were 36 surpluses and 11 deficits. During this period 55% of the national debt was paid off.

Debt increased again during World War I (1914â€“1918), reaching $25.5 billion at its conclusion. Approximately $17 billion in debt was raised through the selling of Liberty Bonds to the general public to finance the U.S.'s military effort. The war was followed by 11 consecutive surpluses that saw the debt reduced by 36% by the end of the 1920s.[14]

Warren G. Harding was elected president in 1920 and believed the federal government should be fiscally managed in a way similar to private sector businesses. He had campaigned in 1920 on the slogan, "Less government in business and more business in government."[15] Under Harding, federal spending declined from $6.3 billion in 1920 to $5 billion in 1921 and $3.3 billion in 1922. Over the course of the 1920s, under the leadership of Calvin Coolidge, the national debt was reduced by one third.[16] The decrease was even greater when the growth in GDP and inflation is taken into account.

Debt held by the public was $15.05 billion or 16.5% of GDP in 1930. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, the public debt was almost $20 billion, 20% of GDP. Decreased tax revenues and spending on social programs during the Great Depression increased the debt and by 1936, the public debt had increased to $33.7 billion, approximately 40% of GDP.[17] During its first term, the Roosevelt administration ran large annual deficits of between 2 and 5% of GDP. By 1939, the debt held by the public had increased to $39.65 billion or 43% of GDP. The buildup and involvement in World War II during the presidencies of F.D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman led to the largest increase in public debt. Public debt rose over 100% of GDP to pay for the mobilization before and during the war. Public debt was $251.43 billion or 112% of GDP at the conclusion of the war in 1945 and was $260 billion in 1950. And that's it.

The public debt fell rapidly after the end of World War II under the presidency of Harry S. Truman, as the U.S. and the rest of the world experienced a post-war economic expansion. Unlike previous wars, the Korean War (1950–53) was largely financed by taxation and did not lead to an increase in the public debt.[18]

Growth rates in Western countries began to slow in the mid-1960s. Beginning in the mid-1970s and afterwards, U.S. national debt began to increase faster than GDP.[19][20]

The public debt reached a post-World War II low of 24.6% in 1974.[14][21] In that year, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 reformed the budget process to allow Congress to challenge the president's budget more easily, and, as a consequence, deficits became increasingly difficult to control.[22] National debt held by the public increased from its postwar low of 24.6% of GDP in 1974 to 26.2% in 1980.[23]

Debt held by the public relative to GDP rose rapidly again in the 1980s. President Ronald Reagan's economic policies lowered tax rates (Reagan slashed the top income tax rate from 70% to 28%, although bills passed in 1982 and 1984 later partially reversed those tax cuts.)[22][24] and increased military spending, while congressional Democrats blocked cuts to social programs.[20][22][24][22] As a result, debt as a share of GDP increased from 26.2% in 1980 to 40.9% in 1988,[23] and it continued to rise during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, reaching 48.3% of GDP in 1992.[14][25]

Debt held by the public reached a high of 49.5% of GDP at the beginning of President Clinton's first term. However, it fell to 34.5% of GDP by the end of Clinton's presidency due in part to decreased military spending, increased taxes (in 1990, 1993 and 1997), and increased tax revenue resulting from the 1990s boom.[14][21][26][27][28] The budget controls instituted in the 1990s successfully restrained fiscal action by the Congress and the President and together with economic growth contributed to the budget surpluses at the end of the decade.[29] The surpluses led to a decline in the public debt from about 43% of GDP in 1998 to about 33% by 2001.[29]

In the early 21st century, debt held by the public relative to GDP rose again due in part to the Bush tax cuts and increased military spending caused by the wars in the Middle East and a new entitlement Medicare D program. During the presidency of George W. Bush, debt held by the public increased from $3.339 trillion in September 2001 to $6.369 trillion by the end of 2008.[30][31] In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007–08 and related significant revenue declines and spending increases, debt held by the public increased to $11.917 trillion by the end of July 2013, under the presidency of Barack Obama.[30][32]

On August 5, 2011, the United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2011, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the rating of the federal government from AAA to AA+. It was the first time the U.S. had been downgraded since it was originally given a AAA rating on its debt by Moody's in 1917.[33] BBC News reported that Standard & Poor's had "lost confidence" in the ability of the U.S. government to make decisions.[34]

The President proposes a national budget to Congress, which has final say over the document but rarely appropriates more than what the President requests.[35]

Economist Mike Kimel has noted that the former Democratic Presidents (Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Harry S. Truman) all reduced public debt as a share of GDP, while the last four Republican Presidents (George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford) all oversaw an increase in the country's indebtedness.[36] Economic historian J. Bradford DeLong, observed a contrast not so much between Republicans and Democrats but between Democrats and "old-style Republicans (Eisenhower and Nixon)" on one hand (decreasing debt) and "new-style Republicans" on the other (increasing debt).[37][38] David Stockman, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, blamed the "ideological tax-cutters" of the Reagan administration for the increase of national debt during the 1980s.[39] Former Treasury official Bruce Bartlett attributed the increase in the national debt since the 1980s to the policy of "starve the beast".[40][41] While noting that George H.W. Bush's budget deal in 1990 was one of the reasons for improvement of the fiscal situation in 1990s, Bartlett was highly critical of George W. Bush for creating budget deficits by reducing tax rates and increasing spending in the early 2000s.[42][43]

Public debt is the cumulative result of budget deficits; that is, government spending exceeding revenues.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the United States last had a budget surplus during fiscal year 2001. From fiscal years 2001 to 2009, spending increased by 6.5% of gross domestic product (from 18.2% to 24.7%) while taxes declined by 4.7% of GDP (from 19.5% to 14.8%). Spending increases (expressed as percentage of GDP) were in the following areas: Medicare and Medicaid (1.7%), defense (1.6%), income security such as unemployment benefits and food stamps (1.4%), Social Security (0.6%) and all other categories (1.2%). Revenue reductions were individual income taxes (−3.3%), payroll taxes (−0.5%), corporate income taxes (−0.5%) and other (−0.4%).

The 2009 spending level was the highest relative to GDP in 40 years, while the tax receipts were the lowest relative to GDP in 40 years. The next highest spending year was 1985 (22.8%), while the next lowest tax year was 2004 (16.1%).[44]

In June 2012, the Congressional Budget Office summarized the cause of change between its January 2001 estimate of a $5.6 trillion cumulative surplus between 2002 and 2011 and the actual $6.1 trillion cumulative deficit that occurred, an unfavorable "turnaround" or debt increase of $11.7 trillion. Tax rate cuts and slower-than-expected growth reduced revenues by $6.1 trillion and spending was $5.6 trillion higher. Of this total, the CBO attributes 72% to legislated tax rate cuts and spending increases and 27% to economic and technical factors. Of the latter, 56% occurred from 2009 to 2011.[45][46]

The difference between the projected and actual debt in 2011, the budget office said, could be attributed largely to:

The U.S. budget situation has deteriorated significantly since 2001, when the CBO forecast average annual surpluses of approximately $850 billion from 2009–2012. The average deficit forecast in each of those years as of June 2009 was approximately $1,215 billion. The New York Times analyzed this roughly $2 trillion "swing", separating the causes into four major categories along with their share:

Several other articles and experts explained the causes of change in the debt position.[47][48][49]

In October 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gave the reasons for the higher budget deficit in 2009 ($1,410 billion, i.e. $1.41 trillion) over that of 2008 ($460 billion). The major changes included: declines in tax receipt of $320 billion due to the effects of the recession and another $100 billion due to tax rate cuts in the stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or ARRA); $245 billion for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and other bailout efforts; $100 billion in additional spending for ARRA; and another $185 billion due to increases in primary budget categories such as Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, Social Security, and Defense – including the war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. This was the highest budget deficit relative to GDP (9.9%) since 1945.[50] The national debt increased by $1.9 trillion during FY2009, versus the $1.0 trillion increase during 2008.[51]

The Obama Administration also made four significant accounting changes to more accurately report total federal government spending. The four changes were:

Obama administration officials predicted that these changes will make the debt over ten years look $2.7Â trillion larger than it would otherwise appear.[52]

This table lists the U.S. federal debt as a percentage of gross domestic product, or GDP, each year since World War II.[53] The gross federal debt shown below reached 102.7% of GDP at the end of 2012, the most recent figure available; it was the highest percentage since 1945 and the first yearly percentage figure to go over 100% since then. (The gross federal debt in the table includes intra-government debt â€“ that is, money owed by one branch of the federal government to another. When this latter amount is subtracted, the remaining quantity is known as the public debt.)

(Source: CBO Historical Budget Page and Whitehouse FY 2012 Budget â€“ Table 7.1 Federal Debt at the End of Year PDF, Excel, Senate.gov)

Publicly held debt is the gross debt minus intra-governmental obligations (such as the money that the government owes to the two Social Security Trust Funds, the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program, and the Social Security Disability Insurance program).[55]

The table below shows annual federal spending, gross federal debt and gross domestic product for specific fiscal years.[56] The government fiscal year runs from October 1 of the previous calendar year to September 30 of the year shown.

Note: The values for the years 2009, and 2010 represent estimates from the source material.


when would you use a sheet bend knot

The sheet bend (also known as becket bend, weaver's knot and weaver's hitch) is a bend, that is, a knot that joins two ropes together. Doubled, it is effective in binding lines of different diameter or rigidity securely together, although it has a tendency to work loose when not under load.

Sheet bend

The sheet bend is related in structure to the bowline.  It is very fast to tie, and along with the bowline and clove hitch is considered so essential it is knot â„–1 in the Ashley Book of Knots.[1] It is a more secure replacement for the reef knot (square knot), especially in its doubled variety.[2]

The term "sheet bend" derives from its use bending ropes to sails (sheets).  It is mentioned in David Steel's 1794 book Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship but was used by Neolithic peoples for tying the meshes of fishing nets.[3] The name "weaver's knot" comes from its historic use in textile mills. Even in modern operations, weavers are taught to use this particular knot when correcting broken threads in the warp. In practice, weavers are taught to be able to tie the knot in as little time possible, with the mean average being no more than three to five seconds.

The sheet bend may be tied by various methods: the basic "rabbit through the hole" method of forming a half hitch in the bight of the larger rope, by a more expedient method shown in Ashley as #1431 (similar to the method used by an experienced sailor or mountaineer to tie a bowline) or by a trick method, Ashley #2562, involving upsetting a noose knot over a short end of the "larger" rope. (Lines of equal size may be joined with a sheet bend, but when one is larger, it plays the simpler role of the red line shown in the infobox, rather than forming the nipped hitch as the green line does.)

One type of weaver's knot is topologically equivalent to a sheet bend, but is tied (usually in smaller stuff) with a different approach. Sheet bends are also used for netting.

Notice that, to have any strength, the two free ends should end up on the same side of the knot[4] (see below). Under even moderate load, a left-hand sheet bend will quickly slip and release completely.

Insecure (left-hand sheet bend[5])

When lines are of unequal diameter or rigidity it is necessary for security to "double" the sheet bend by making an additional round turn below the first and again bringing the working end back under itself. The free ends should end up on the same side of the knot for maximum strength.

The double sheet bend

A study of 8 different bends using climbing rope of equal diameter said the sheet bend was weak.  In one test, it pulled apart with less than half the pressure that other knots withstood.  The authors recommend "2 half hitches on the bend back line and overhand knot on turn thru line."  Even with these, it was always a bottom performer and the double sheet bend did little better.  The butterfly bend did best, but the double fisherman's knot was recommended for being easier to untie.[6]

After performing security testing, Ashley wrote with regard to the Sheet Bend: "Some readers may be surprised to find the Sheet Bend with so low a rating, but these tests were made in exceptionally slippery material. The Sheet Bend is the most practical of bends and quite secure enough for ordinary purposes."


who dies in game of thrones in the books

In A Game of Thrones (1996), Tyrion is introduced as the third and youngest child of wealthy and powerful Tywin Lannister, the former Hand of the King, and Joanna Lannister, who dies giving birth to him. Tyrion's elder sister Cersei is the Queen of Westeros by virtue of her marriage to King Robert Baratheon, and Cersei's male twin Jaime is one of the Kingsguard, the royal bodyguard. Described as an ugly ("for all the world like a gargoyle"), malformed dwarf with different colored eyes, green and black, Tyrion possesses the golden blond hair of a Lannister but has a complicated relationship with the rest of them.[8][9] While he is afforded the privilege and luxuries of his family, he is treated as a "second class noble" because of his stature.[10] Tyrion's mother Joanna died giving birth to him and Tywin and Cersei loathe him because they blame him for her death. While Tywin bears no affection for Tyrion, he nevertheless feels a sense of duty to his son, raising him in the Lannister fold and extending Tyrion a share of the family wealth. In contrast to Tywin and Cersei, Jaime has great affection for Tyrion and treats him with kindness, respect, friendship and love.[11] Lev Grossman of Time wrote in 2011:

Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion Lannister (also referred to as "the Imp" or "the Halfman") is a fictional character in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. Based on an idea that came to Martin while writing the 1981 novel Windhaven,[2] Tyrion has been called one of the author's finest creations and most popular characters by The New York Times.[3][4] Martin has named the character as his favorite in the series.[2][5]

Introduced in A Game of Thrones (1996), Tyrion is a dwarf and member of House Lannister, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the fictional kingdom of Westeros. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000). Tyrion was one of a few prominent characters that were not included in A Feast for Crows (2005) but returned in the next novel A Dance with Dragons (2011). The character will also appear in the forthcoming volume The Winds of Winter.[6][7] The popularity of the character led Martin and Bantam Books to publish The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, an illustrated collection of Tyrion quotes from the novels, in 2013.

In the story, Tyrion uses his status as a Lannister to mitigate the prejudice he has received all of his life, even from his family. Knowing that no one will ever take him seriously, he soothes his inadequacies with wine, wit and self-indulgence. As the peaceful rule of King Robert Baratheon begins to decay, Tyrion sees how ill-equipped his family are to hold everything together. He first saves his own neck from the vengeful Catelyn Stark and her sister Lysa Arryn, then is sent by his father Tywin to impose order on the capital of King's Landing, as well as his nephew Joffrey, the new king, as civil war begins. Tyrion struggles to strengthen and protect the city and family who hate him and refuse to see the peril they are in; when his father returns, Tyrion becomes vulnerable to the wrath and machinations of the self-serving courtiers who surround Joffrey, including Tyrion's own scheming sister Cersei. Tyrion escapes death again but at great cost and in fleeing Westeros finds himself in even more danger and without the Lannister resources.

Peter Dinklage portrays the character in the HBO television adaptation Game of Thrones. In 2011, Dinklage received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and later the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film for his portrayal of Tyrion in the HBO series. He won the Emmy again in 2015. Among other accolades, Dinklage has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016.

Tyrion Lannister [is] the brilliant, black-witted dwarf whose family has had the firmest grip on power for much of the series, though that's not saying much. Tyrion is another good example of what separates Tolkien and Martin. Tyrion isn't a hearty, ax-wielding, gold-mining member of a noble dwarven race. He's not Gimli. Tyrion is an actual dwarf, achondroplastic and stubby-limbed, a joke to passersby and an embarrassment to his family.[12]

Tyrion is intelligent, witty, well-read, and shares his father's skill for business and political maneuvering.[11] Grossman describes the character as "a bitter, cynical, high-born dwarf", calling him "Martin's Falstaff".[13] David Orr of The New York Times notes Tyrion to be "a cynic, a drinker, an outcast and conspicuously the novels' most intelligent presence".[3] As an outcast, he displays sympathy for other outcasts and the otherwise mistreated; the TV series version of the character commiserates with the illegitimate son of Ned Stark by saying "All dwarfs are bastards in their father's eyes."[14] Still, he is usually seen for his deformities and vices, rather than his virtues and good deeds.[11] Tom Shippey of the Wall Street Journal points out that other characters underestimate Tyrion: "His dwarf-status acts as a kind of protection, because—though he is probably the most intelligent character in the whole cast list—no one takes him seriously."[15] Acknowledging that Tyrion's wit, humor and cunning are his survival mechanism, actor Dinklage told The New York Times that "He knows he has no skills with the sword and this is a world that is really deeply violent. Military rules. He would not be able to survive in that world, given his own strength. So he beats people to the punchline—he's entertaining."[10]

In 1981, Martin was collaborating with Lisa Tuttle on a trio of novellas that would be published as the novel Windhaven:

So while we were writing the books we thought about a dwarf who would have been the Lord of one of the islands. He had to be the ugliest person in the world but the most intelligent too. I kept that idea in my mind and it reappeared to me when I was starting to write Game of Thrones. So... That's Tyrion Lannister.[2]

Tyrion is a prominent point of view character in the novels, and both David Orr of The New York Times and Lev Grossman of Time called him one of Martin's "finest creations."[3][12] Noting the character to be one of Martin's most popular, Dana Jennings of The New York Times called Tyrion "a bitter but brilliant dwarf whose humor, swagger and utter humanity make him the (often drunken) star of the series".[4] Thomas M. Wagner wrote in 2001 that the character "may very well be the strongest antihero in all of contemporary fantasy".[16] Dan Kois of The New York Times also noted in 2012 that "for fans of the novels, Tyrion is among the most beloved among the scores of kings, warriors, wenches, slaves, queens and monsters that populate George R. R. Martin's world".[17] Martin said, "My readers identify with the outcast, with the underdog, with the person who's struggling rather than the golden boy".[17]

Martin himself has singled out Tyrion as his favorite character in the series.[2][5][18] Asked why, Martin said in a 2000 interview:

I think his wit is appealing. He gets off a lot of good iconoclastic, cynical one-liners, and those are fun to write. He's also a very gray character. All my characters are gray to a greater or lesser extent, but Tyrion is perhaps the deepest shade of gray, with the black and white in him most thoroughly mixed, and I find that very appealing. I've always liked gray characters more than black-and-white characters... I look for ways to make my characters real and to make them human, characters who have good and bad, noble and selfish, well-mixed in their natures. Yes, I do certainly want people to think about the characters, and not just react with a knee-jerk. I read too much fiction myself in which you encounter characters who are very stereotyped. They're heroic-hero and dastardly-villain, and they're completely black or completely white. And that's boring, so far as I'm concerned.[18]

Tyrion appears first in A Game of Thrones (1996), and then in A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000). He is one of a handful of "sorely missed" major characters that do not appear in 2005's A Feast for Crows,[19] but on his website in 2006 Martin released a sample chapter featuring Tyrion from his next novel A Dance with Dragons.[20] In advance of the publication of A Dance with Dragons in 2011, Martin confirmed Tyrion's presence in the novel and called him one of "the characters people have been waiting for".[21] Grossman concurred, writing of A Dance with Dragons, "Now the camera has swung back to the main characters: Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister."[12] James Poniewozik of Time added that the return of these "favorite characters" gave A Dance with Dragons a "narrative edge" over A Feast for Crows.[22] In April 2012, Martin read a Tyrion chapter from his forthcoming The Winds of Winter at Eastercon;[6] a second Tyrion chapter was read at Worldcon in August 2013 and later released in the official A World of Ice and Fire iOS application on March 20, 2014.[7][23][24]

In 2013 Bantam Books published The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, an illustrated collection of Tyrion quotes from the novels.[8][25][26][27]

As A Game of Thrones begins, Tyrion is a witty, hedonistic curiosity, protected by his family status but still the object of subtle derision. He is perhaps the most intelligent member of his family but is consistently underestimated and marginalized.[3][15] Tyrion embraces the advantages of being a Lannister but at the same time is all too aware of its negative aspects and his own place as the embarrassment of the family. Initially he is the one Lannister remotely sympathetic to the Starks but he is soon caught in the middle of the conflict between the two Houses.[28] Taken prisoner and put on trial for his life, "all of his skills at conniving must be brought to bear simply to stay alive".[28] With the Starks and Lannisters fully at war, Tywin tasks Tyrion to manage affairs at King's Landing, recognizing that his son is intelligent and has inherited his skills with statecraft. In A Clash of Kings, Tyrion relishes his new power but finds that his sincere efforts to stabilize his nephew Joffrey's rule are being undermined and thwarted by the misguided and self-serving machinations of everyone around him. He plots to nullify the counterproductive whims of Joffrey and Cersei but the "much-maligned dwarf" finds himself "teetering between order and disaster as he tries to keep the Lannisters from losing absolutely everything".[16] Thomas M. Wagner calls it a "defining moment" when Tyrion comments that he is all that keeps chaos from overwhelming the family and population who both despise him.[16] Roberta Johnson of Booklist likens Tyrion to the calculating title character of Robert Graves' I, Claudius.[29]

In A Storm of Swords, Tywin reclaims the office of Hand of the King and gives Tyrion the seemingly-impossible task of reforming the royal finances. Tyrion's previous efforts, crucial in keeping Joffrey in power and saving King's Landing from invasion are all but forgotten. Joffrey, emboldened by Tywin's return, publicly humiliates Tyrion; when Joffrey is murdered, everyone eagerly points the finger at Tyrion. Cersei does everything in her power to assure that he is declared guilty at trial. Innocent but condemned to death and hated more than ever, Tyrion takes a dark turn. Martin explains:

[Tyrion]'s lost everything... He's lost his position in House Lannister, he's lost his position in court, he's lost all of his gold – which is the one thing that's kind of sustained him throughout his life... and he's also found out that Jaime – the one blood relation that he loved unreservedly and has his back, and was always on his side – played a part in this traumatic event of his life, the ultimate betrayal... He's so hurt that he wants to hurt other people... and he knows that just up this ladder is a chamber that was once his that now his father has usurped from him... And I don't think he knows what he's gonna say or do when he gets up there but he – some part of him feels compelled to do it. And of course then we find Shae there, that's an additional shock to him, an additional knife in his belly. I think sometimes people just get pushed too far, sometimes people break. And I think Tyrion has reached his point. He's been through hell, he's faced death over and over again, and he's been betrayed, as he sees it, by all the people that he's tried to take care of, that he's tried to win the approval of. He's been trying to win his father's approval all his life.[30]

Finding his former lover Shae in his father's bed, Tyrion strangles her. Confronting Tywin with a crossbow soon after, he murders him too.[12] To Martin, "the two actions are quite different, although they occur within moments of each other". The author continues, "He's furious at Lord Tywin because he found out the truth about his first wife and what happened to her, and... Lord Tywin is convinced that since he doesn't love Tyrion, then no one can possibly love Tyrion." As Tywin repeatedly calls Tyrion's tragic first wife Tysha a "whore," Tyrion warns him to stop. Tywin has always taught his son that you must follow through on your threats if you are defied, so when he fails to heed Tyrion's warning, the dwarf kills him. "And it will haunt him. Tywin was his father and that will continue to haunt him, probably for the rest of his life," says the author.[30] To Martin, Shae's murder is something else:

With Shae, it's a much more deliberate and in some ways a crueler thing. It's not the action of a second, because he's strangling her slowly and she's fighting, trying to get free. He could let go at any time. But his anger and his sense of betrayal is so strong that he doesn't stop until it's done and that's probably the blackest deed that he's ever done. It's the great crime of his soul along with what he did with his first wife by abandoning her after the little demonstration Lord Tywin put on... it's again something that's going to haunt him, while the act of killing his father is something of enormous consequence that would be forever beyond the pale, for no man is as cursed as a kinslayer.[30]

"Fan-favorite" Tyrion returns to the narrative in A Dance with Dragons, as he flees Westeros following the murders of Shae and Tywin "in a state of shock at his own actions".[12][31] Across the narrow sea in Pentos and Slaver's Bay he soon finds himself "in just about the most humiliating and dire circumstances in a life that has seen more than its share of such".[31] Cut off from his family's wealth and influence, he must use his wits to survive.[22] As Booklist notes, "his astonishing adaptability evident as he goes from captive to conspirator to slave to mercenary without losing his tactical influence".[32] Still in possession of the "cruel wit that has seen him through in the past", Tyrion provides, according to Thomas M. Wagner, the "warmest and most sympathetic moments" in the novel.[31]

In A Game of Thrones (1996), Tyrion visits the Stark stronghold of Winterfell with King Robert Baratheon's entourage. While there, Tyrion tries to befriend Ned Stark's bastard son Jon Snow, and provides Ned's recently crippled son Bran with a saddle design to help him ride a horse. On the road home, Tyrion is taken prisoner by Ned's wife Catelyn, who believes he ordered the attempted murder of Bran. Taken to Catelyn's sister Lysa Arryn at the Eyrie, Tyrion demands a trial by combat and is championed by the mercenary Bronn, who wins his freedom. Using his wit and the promise of a reward, Tyrion wins over the hill tribes of the Vale while on his way to the Lannister army camp. Finally impressed with Tyrion's political instincts, his father Tywin appoints Tyrion acting Hand of the King in an attempt to control Joffrey. While at the camp, Tyrion beds a prostitute named Shae and takes her with him to the capital.[11]

Tyrion arrives at King's Landing in A Clash of Kings (1998) and immediately recognizes the chaos created by Joffrey and Cersei. Seeking to consolidate power and preserve order in the capital, Tyrion methodically removes Cersei's supporters from positions of power. Disgusted by Joffrey's behavior and Cersei's failure to control him, Tyrion openly opposes the young king and tries to keep royal captive Sansa Stark out of harm's way. Tyrion masterminds the defense of King's Landing against Stannis Baratheon, even leading a sortie that drives Stannis from the gates. Afterwards, Tyrion is attacked and is grievously injured by one of the Kingsguard on orders to kill him. Tyrion suspects Joffrey or Cersei, but is unable to get revenge on either.[33]

Upon his recovery in A Storm of Swords (2000), Tyrion finds that he has lost most of his nose, and a returned Tywin has assumed the position of Hand himself. Tyrion is appointed Master of Coin, the treasurer, as a reward for his successful leadership. After learning of a Tyrell plot to claim Winterfell through marriage to Sansa, Tywin forces Tyrion to marry her instead. Sympathetic to Sansa's situation, Tyrion leaves their marriage unconsummated, despite his father's orders to conceive a child with her as soon as possible. At the celebration of his wedding to Margaery Tyrell, Joffrey is poisoned. Cersei promptly accuses Tyrion, who is arrested. His previous good deeds forgotten, Tyrion is put on trial as Cersei manipulates the proceedings to ensure a guilty verdict. He is heartbroken to find that even Shae has turned against him. In his grief, Tyrion demands a trial by combat, to which Cersei responds by naming the virtually unbeatable Gregor Clegane as her champion. Oberyn Martell agrees to fight for Tyrion but dies in the attempt. Pronounced guilty, Tyrion is taken to the dungeon to await his execution. Jaime frees him with the help of Varys, eventually confessing his complicity in Tywin's ruin of Tyrion's first wife Tysha. Furious, Tyrion swears revenge on his family for a lifetime of cruelty and lies to Jaime that he did murder Joffrey. Before escaping the palace, Tyrion goes to confront his father, and finds Shae in Tywin's bed. After strangling her in a rage, Tyrion murders Tywin as well when he speaks ill of Tysha, and flees Westeros.[34]

In A Dance with Dragons (2011), Tyrion travels to Pentos, where he finds himself under the protection of wealthy Magister Illyrio Mopatis. There he learns that Varys and Illyrio have secretly plotted to return the Targaryens to power since the murder of the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen. On Illyrio's advice, Tyrion decides to seek out and join Aerys' surviving daughter Daenerys at Meereen and help her reclaim the Iron Throne. He eventually realizes that two of his traveling companions are not what they seem. One is Jon Connington, disgraced former Hand of the King; the other claims to be Aegon VI Targaryen, Aerys' grandson, whom Varys had spirited away and replaced with another baby that was then killed during the Lannisters' sack of King's Landing. While in Volantis, Tyrion visits a brothel and is recognized and captured by Jorah Mormont who believes that delivering a Lannister to Daenerys will return Jorah to her good graces. Before they can reach Meereen, they are captured by the slavers currently besieging the city. When a plague strikes the slaver's siege camps, Tyrion engineers their escape by joining a mercenary company, the Second Sons. In exchange for membership, Tyrion promises the company the wealth of the Lannister ancestral seat of Casterly Rock, his birthright since Tywin is dead and Jaime has renounced it. Tyrion quickly realizes the slavers are on the losing side, and attempts to convince the Second Sons to change their allegiance.[35]

Executive producers/writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss had pitched the idea of adapting Martin's series for television to HBO in March 2006, and the network secured the rights in January 2007.[36][37] The first actor cast was Peter Dinklage as Tyrion in May 2009.[38] Benioff and Weiss later noted that the funny and "incredibly smart" Dinklage was their first choice for the role, as the actor's "core of humanity, covered by a shell of sardonic dry wit, is pretty well in keeping with the character."[17] Unfamiliar with the source material, Dinklage was cautious in his first meeting with the producers; as a dwarf, "he wouldn't play elves or leprechauns" and – choosy about genre roles – he had just come from portraying the dwarf Trumpkin in 2008's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.[17] Benioff and Weiss told Dinklage that the character was "a different kind of fantasy little person," or in the actor's words, "No beard, no pointy shoes, a romantic, real human being."[17] Dinklage signed on to play Tyrion before the meeting was half over, in part because "They told me how popular he was."[17] Martin said of Dinklage's casting, "If he hadn't accepted the part, oh, boy, I don't know what we would have done."[39] Benioff added, "When I read George's books, I decided Tyrion Lannister was one of the great characters in literature. Not just fantasy literature – literature! A brilliant, caustic, horny, drunken, self-flagellating mess of a man. And there was only one choice to play him."[39]

In October 2014, Dinklage and several other key cast members, all contracted for six seasons of the series, renegotiated their deals to include a potential seventh season and salary increases for seasons five, six, and seven.[40][41] The Hollywood Reporter called the raises "huge", noting that the deal would make the performers "among the highest-paid actors on cable TV".[40] Deadline.com put the number for season five at "close to $300,000 an episode" for each actor,[41] and The Hollywood Reporter wrote in June 2016 that the performers would each be paid "upward of $500,000 per episode" for seasons seven and the potential eight.[42] In 2017, Dinklage became one of the highest paid actors on television and will earn £2 million per episode for the show.[43][44]

Seasons 1 and 2 (2011–12) follow the events of A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, respectively.[45] The plot of A Storm of Swords was split into seasons 3 and 4 (2013–14).[45][46][47] Both season 5 and season 6 adapt material from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons,[48] novels whose plots run concurrently and each contain different characters.[49] Though the HBO series has alternately extended, abbreviated, conflated and diverged from the novels' plot lines,[50] Tyrion's character and story arc have remained mostly consistent with Martin's writing.[51]

Calling the character the "black sheep" of the Lannister family, TV Guide wrote as the show premiered in 2011 that "Tyrion sees through all the chicanery and decides the best option is to drink and bed his way through the Seven Kingdoms."[52] The Boston Globe added that he is "a hedonistic intellectual who can talk his way out of anything."[14] According to the Los Angeles Times, "brilliant but low-living" Tyrion is "so well acquainted with the workings of the world he can hardly bear it, the Imp is... debauched, perhaps, but a truth-teller nonetheless, fighting for his own survival with as much mercy as he can spare."[53] The New York Times went as far as to name Tyrion "the closest thing to a hero" in the HBO series.[17]

As in A Game of Thrones, Tyrion travels to Winterfell with the royal family, and accompanies Ned Stark's bastard son Jon Snow on his journey to the Wall. On his way back to King's Landing, Tyrion is seized by Catelyn Stark, who suspects him of having plotted to assassinate her son Bran. Taken to the Eyrie, where Catelyn's sister Lysa Arryn rules as regent, Tyrion is put to trial. Tyrion demands trial by combat, naming as his champion the sellsword Bronn, who is victorious. The two meet up with Tyrion's father Tywin, whose forces are fighting Robb Stark's army as retaliation for his capture. Tyrion is accidentally knocked unconscious as the battle begins. Tywin sends Tyrion to King's Landing to act as Hand of the King. Disobeying Tywin's orders, Tyrion takes the prostitute Shae with him.

During the second season, Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote that "Tyrion is just about the only character developing any complexity. Maybe even a glimmer of a conscience."[54] Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker noted, "If the show has a hero, it's Tyrion (Dinklage), who is capable of cruelty but also possesses insight and empathy, concealed beneath a carapace of Wildean wit."[55] The Hollywood Reporter called Tyrion "the one to watch, as he's the smartest Lannister and knows that having a brat for a king – who mistreats all those around him – could cause major backlash."[56] Willa Paskin of Salon called the character's increased prominence in Season 2 "a trade up in entertainment value, and a trade-off in morality."[57] She added, "Tyrion is more cynical, more manipulative and much better suited to surviving. He's not so keen to be made into meat, and that makes him the kind of man characters in the show and audience members alike should be investing in."[57] Praising Dinklage, Dan Kois of The New York Times wrote, "He plays Tyrion as the only modern man in a muddy, violent, primal world. He loves good food, good conversation and a good book. Unlike the warmongering lords and knights of Westeros, but like most HBO subscribers, he would prefer to stay out of battle."[17] Kois adds that, "Dinklage's bravado masks Tyrion's deep well of melancholy."[17] Of the Season 2 storyline, Dinklage noted that Tyrion enjoys not only his foray into battle, but also his new and unprecedented power at court.[58] He said, "This is a character that's been shit upon his whole life. I mean, he comes from great wealth, but he's treated very poorly, so now there's a newfound respect where if somebody calls him a name, he can have them killed. He never had that before. Tyrion definitely enjoys that part and he's trying desperately to hold onto it. He's enjoying it while it lasts 'cause he's not sure it's gonna last very long."[58] As Varys the Spymaster tells Tyrion, power is "a trick, a shadow on the wall... and a very small man can cast a very large shadow."[55]

As Hand of the King, Tyrion attempts to control his cruel and incompetent nephew Joffrey, and defend Kings Landing from Stannis Baratheon, the rival claimant to the Iron Throne. Tyrion destroys much of Stannis' attacking fleet with wildfire, but is almost assassinated during the battle, presumably at Joffrey's or Cersei's command. Tyrion recovers to find himself stripped of power by his returned father, and without recognition for his heroics. Shae implores Tyrion to move to Pentos with her, but he opts to remain in Kings Landing.

Season 2 leaves Tyrion "broke, beaten, scarred for life and stripped of his power," despite having been instrumental in saving King's Landing from invasion.[59] It is his chance to escape the sordid and deadly "game of thrones," but he cannot bring himself to, confessing, "Bad people are what I'm good at."[59] So Tyrion finds he must submit to Tywin's plan of marrying him to Sansa Stark; despite being drunk in order to soothe his many woes, Tyrion manages to save Sansa from being publicly stripped and likely raped by Joffrey, and later "chooses decency over filial loyalty and elects not to consummate the marriage after all."[60] Tyrion is also now powerless against Joffrey's malice, but Tywin has asserted his control over the young king, if only when it serves his own desires; he stops Joffrey from presenting Sansa with her brother's head, but not because he cares about Sansa or Tyrion's outrage.[61] Despite Tywin's continuous determination to make Tyrion feel "miserable and unloved," he believes he is a good father â€“ because he resisted the urge to cast Tyrion into the sea at birth.[61] Though he should not be surprised by his father's coldblooded machinations, Tyrion is horrified by Tywin's involvement in the Red Wedding; Todd VanDerWerff writes, "only Tyrion seems to understand that the blood they spilled will eventually be avenged. The North may have calmed for now, but it won't be calm always."[62] Of that storyline, Matt Fowler of IGN notes, "Only an event that powerful could keep series-favorite Tyrion out of an episode for the first time."[63]

Tyrion asks Tywin to be named heir to House Lannister's ancestral home Casterly Rock. Tywin angrily refuses and threatens to hang Shae if she is found in his bed again, but does have Tyrion named as Master of Coin, the treasurer. He also forces Tyrion to marry Sansa Stark against his will, though both decide not to consummate the marriage. Tyrion and Sansa begin to bond as they are both outcasts in King's Landing, until Sansa discovers that her mother Catelyn and brother Robb have been murdered as a result of Tywin's scheming.

In March 2014, Dinklage confirmed that Season 4 would "stick fairly closely" to Tyrion's plot line in A Storm of Swords, adding that "those reversals of fortune really send [Tyrion] down the rabbit hole." He notes that the character changes in Season 4, and "really ends up in a different place than he thought he was going to. It's fueled a bit by anger towards his family, and trying to find his place in the world. You see that some people rely on drunk, funny Tyrion. I think funny and drunk lasts only so long. He sobers up in many ways. And love is in his life [with Shae], and that causes a tremendous amount of damage â€“ because he's vulnerable and he doesn't like to be vulnerable. He's completely stripped of his defense mechanisms."[51] Of Tyrion's relationship with his brother Jaime, Dinklage said, "If you're raised together, you have an unspoken dialogue many times, and it's very easy, especially between Jaime and Tyrion. They have a real friendship, a good brotherhood. They look after each other."[51] As in the novels, Tyrion is (unfairly) found guilty of Joffrey's murder and condemned to death; the HBO series does not use the reveal that his first wife was not really a prostitute to motivate Tyrion to kill his father, and he does not lie to Jaime that he is guilty of killing Joffrey.[64][65]

Fearing for Shae's safety, Tyrion breaks up with her and orders her to leave for Pentos. She refuses until he calls her a whore, and declares that she cannot have his children. Joffrey is poisoned to death at his wedding feast, and Cersei immediately accuses Tyrion. At his trial, Shae appears to testify against him, falsely claiming that Sansa refused to bed Tyrion unless he killed Joffrey. Outraged at her betrayal and finally snapping from years of mockery for his dwarfism, Tyrion demands a trial by combat. Cersei names the virtually undefeatable Gregor Clegane as her champion. Tyrion is defended by Oberyn Martell, who believes that his sister, niece, and nephew were murdered by Gregor. Oberyn is nearly victorious, but his refusal to kill Gregor without obtaining a confession gives Gregor the opportunity to kill him, and Tyrion is sentenced to death. Before his execution, Tyrion is released by Jaime to be smuggled out of Westeros by Varys. Tyrion decides to confront Tywin before his flight, and finds Shae in his father's bed. Tyrion strangles her to death, and then confronts Tywin on the privy. Tyrion kills his father with a crossbow bolt, and then leaves for Pentos with Varys.

In 2015, James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly called Tyrion's meeting with Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) an "iconic meetup" that "delighted fans, who were universally enthusiastic (for once!) about the showrunners making a narrative move not yet found in George R.R. Martin’s novels."[66] Dinklage said in the interview, "That’s the great thing about my character: He’s been everywhere. He’s the only character that goes searching. He’s been to The Wall and now he has to find the dragons."[66] Benioff and Weiss said that the conversation between Tyrion and Daenerys focused on the parallels between their lives, as Tyrion had a "lot of empathy" toward Daenerys for being an orphan, like himself, and both had "terrible fathers". Tyrion realized that Varys might be right about Daenerys being the "last hope for Westeros". Benioff and Weiss also suggested that Tyrion believes that Daenerys could bring him "back into power".[67]

Tyrion arrives in Pentos, where Varys reveals that he has been conspiring to restore House Targaryen to power, and asks Tyrion to journey with him to meet Daenerys Targaryen in Meereen. During their journey, Tyrion is kidnapped by Daenerys' former advisor Jorah Mormont, who aims to redeem himself to Daenerys by bringing her the dwarf. However, Tyrion and Jorah are captured by slavers, whom Tyrion convinces to sell them to the fighting pits in Meereen. During a demonstration of pit fighters, Tyrion and Jorah encounter Daenerys; she decides to take Tyrion into her service, but orders Jorah exiled again. At the re-opening of Meereen's fighting pits, the insurgency known as the Sons of the Harpy launch a massive attack, which is only thwarted when Daenerys' dragon Drogon appears and scares off the Sons, before riding off with Daenerys on his back. Although Tyrion wishes to join Jorah and Daario Naharis in their search for Daenerys, Daario points out that his skills are best suited to governing Meereen in Daenerys' absence. Varys later arrives in Meereen, and offers Tyrion the use of his spy network to maintain order in the city.

Tyrion discovers that the Sons of the Harpy are funded by the slavers of Yunkai, Astapor, and Volantis, and arranges a meeting with representatives of those cities to give them seven years to abolish slavery. Despite Tyrion's insistence that compromise is necessary, this solution is met with disapproval by Daenerys' other advisors and the freedmen of Meereen. Tyrion also enlists the assistance of the red priestess Kinvara, who believes that Daenerys is a messianic figure prophesied by her faith and offers the support of the followers of R'hllor. Meereen begins to prosper, but the city's success attracts the ire of the slavers, who fear it will undermine the legitimacy of slavery, and so launch a massive naval attack against the city. Daenerys returns in the chaos, and though she is displeased with Tyrion's failure, she is persuaded by him to obliterate the slavers' fleet and force their ultimate surrender rather than destroy them outright. Soon after, Theon and Yara Greyjoy arrive in Meereen offering Daenerys the Iron Fleet; they are joined by the fleets of Dorne and the Reach, who have defected from the Lannisters. Daenerys names an honored Tyrion as her Hand of the Queen. Tyrion then joins her, the dragons, and her army as they sail to Westeros.[1]

Plotting their conquest of Westeros from Dragonstone, the ancestral Targaryen fortress, Daenerys and Tyrion learn that Jon Snow has been named King in the North. Tyrion suggests that Jon would make a valuable ally; Daenerys and Jon are impressed with each other, but she is annoyed when he declines to swear his allegiance to her. Daenerys and her allies discuss their strategy for the war against the Lannisters. Tyrion advises against a direct attack on King's Landing, and Daenerys agrees to his nuanced series of attacks. However, Cersei and Jaime outmaneuver him, neutralizing Daenerys' Greyjoy and Dornish support. A furious Daenerys ignores Tyrion's continued arguments for caution, and decimates a Lannister caravan with her dragons. He is also unable to stop her from executing Randyll and Dickon Tarly, who refuse to swear fealty to her even after their defeat. In "Eastwatch", Tyrion meets with Jaime in secret to broker a meeting between Cersei and Daenerys. In "The Dragon and the Wolf", he helps convince Cersei that the advancing undead are a more immediate threat than the war with Daenerys for control of Westeros.

From the beginning, Dinklage's performance received much critical praise. The Boston Globe called his Tyrion one of the show's "highlights," adding that Dinklage "gives a winning performance that is charming, morally ambiguous, and self-aware."[14] Matt Roush of TV Guide told viewers to "rejoice in the scene-stealing bravado of Peter Dinklage as the wry 'imp' Tyrion Lannister."[52] The Los Angeles Times wrote "In many ways, Game of Thrones belongs to Dinklage"[53] even before, in Season 2, the "scene-stealing actor's" character became the series' most central figure.[57] The New York Times noted that as beloved as the character of Tyrion is to the novels' fans, "Dinklage's sly performance has made Tyrion all the more popular."[17] The Huffington Post called Tyrion the "most quotable" character on the HBO series, as well as one of the most beloved.[68]

In April 2011 both the Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly pronounced Dinklage worthy of an Emmy Award for his performance in Season 1.[53][69] He subsequently received one for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series,[70] as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film.[71] He also earned a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film and a Scream Award for Best Supporting Actor for Season 1 of Game of Thrones.[72][73] Dinklage won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor again in 2015.[74]

Dinklage has been nominated for the Emmy four other times for playing Tyrion, in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016.[75][76][77][78] He has received several other award nominations for his performance in the series, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2012 and 2016;[79][80] the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2012, 2015, and 2016;[81][82][83] the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017;[84][85][86][87] the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2011 and 2012;[88][89] and in 2011 both the IGN Award[90] and the IGN People's Choice Award for Best TV Actor.[90]

Among the various lines of Game of Thrones collectible figurines licensed by HBO, Tyrion has featured prominently, being dubbed one of the "heavy hitters", "fan favorites", "most-liked" and "most popular" characters.[91][92][93]

Funko has produced two Tyrion figures as part of their POP! Television line. They are 4.5 inch vinyl figures in the Japanese super deformed style, one in an early series look,[94] and a post-Season 2 version with a facial scar, "Battle Armor" and an axe.[95][96] The company also produced a Mystery Mini Blind Box figurine of a stylized Tyrion.[97] As part of their Legacy Collection line of action figures, Funko released a "Hand of the King" Tyrion,[98][99] a Tyrion in armor with axe,[93][100][101] as well as a Limited Edition "2014 San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive" armor version with a helmet.[102] Threezero released a 1/6 scale 8 5/8 inch figure,[92][103][104][105] and Dark Horse produced both a 6-inch figurine,[91][106][107] and a 10 inch high-end statue for which the series' producers chose Tyrion as the subject.[108][109]


how many seconds do you have to throw a grenade

The M67 can be thrown 30 to 35 metres (98 to 115 ft) by the average male soldier.[citation needed] Its fuze delays detonation between 4 and 5 seconds after the spoon is released. Steel fragments (not to be confused with shrapnel) are provided by the grenade body and produce an injury radius of 15 metres (49 ft), with a fatality radius of 5 metres (16 ft), though some fragments can disperse as far out as 250 metres (820 ft).[2][unreliable source?]

M67 grenade

The M67 grenade is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the United States military. The M67 is a further development of the M33 grenade, itself a replacement for the M26-series grenades used during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and the older Mk 2 "pineapple" grenade used since World War II.

The M67 grenade has a spherical steel body that contains 6.5 oz (180 g) of composition B explosive. It uses the M213 pyrotechnic delay fuze. The M67 grenade weighs 14 oz (400 g) in total and has a safety clip to prevent the safety pin on the grenade from being pulled accidentally. The safety pin prevents the safety lever, or "spoon" on the grenade from moving and releasing the spring-loaded striker which initiates the grenade's fuze assembly.[1]

To deploy the M67 grenade, the user first removes the safety clip from the grenade.

Next, the grenade's pull ring is grasped with the non-throwing hand while maintaining a firm grasp on the body of the grenade and safety lever (also referred to as the "spoon") with the throwing hand. The pull ring and safety pin assembly are fitted so that a right-handed thrower can grasp the grenade with the fuse assembly on top and the safety lever held down by the right thumb. A left-handed thrower should grasp the grenade with the fuse assembly on the bottom and the safety lever held down by the left thumb.

The user then pulls the grenade and pull ring assembly apart, removing the safety pin from the fuse assembly. At this time, the fuse remains unfired, as the throwing hand's thumb is holding the safety lever down.

The user then throws the grenade at the intended target, taking care that the grenade does not strike an obstacle that could deflect the grenade, bounce it back towards the thrower or allow it to roll towards the thrower or an unintended place. When the grenade is thrown, the safety lever will fly free (under pressure from the striker spring) and the striker will hit the cap, igniting the pyrotechnic delay element. When the delay element has burned approximately 4 to 5 seconds it will initiate the grenade's explosive filler, causing a large number of metal fragments to be projected at high velocities. The thrower and friendly personnel in the vicinity should take cover to protect themselves from unintended injury.

The M33 was the original successor to the M26 fragmentation grenade. It was essentially identical to the M67, but lacked the safety clip that is fitted to the safety lever of the M67.

This is a variant of the M67 fitted with the M217 impact fuze and a safety clip on the safety lever. This fuze has an electrical impact function which arms within 1 to 2 seconds and will detonate the grenade upon impact, and a back-up pyrotechnic delay function which will initiate the grenade after 3 to 7 seconds if the impact function fails. The M68 has the same statistics and markings as the M67 except it has a red-painted fuze and lever to indicate it has an impact fuze.

Predecessors to the M68, these impact fuzed grenades used the M33 grenade body fitted with the M217 impact fuze, without a safety clip on the safety lever, and are marked in a similar manner to the M68.

The M69 grenade is used for grenade training to safely simulate the M67 grenade. The fuze screws into the body, and is replaceable after use. The simulator produces a report and small puff of white smoke when properly employed.

The M69 has a blue-painted lever and a blue body. This is to indicate that it is a safe practice grenade rather than a live fragmentation grenade like the M33 or M67.


what is a fellow of the royal society

Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society judges to have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science".[1]

Fellow of the Royal Society

Fellowship of the Society, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence, is a significant honour which has been awarded to many eminent scientists from history including Isaac Newton (1672),[2] Charles Darwin (1839),[2] Michael Faraday (1824),[2] Ernest Rutherford (1903),[3] Srinivasa Ramanujan (1919),[4] Albert Einstein (1921),[5] Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944),[6] Dorothy Hodgkin (1947),[7] Alan Turing (1951)[8] and Francis Crick (1959).[9][10] More recently, fellowship has been awarded to Stephen Hawking (1974), Tim Hunt (1991), Elizabeth Blackburn (1992), Tim Berners-Lee (2001), Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (2003), Atta-ur Rahman (2006),[11] Andre Geim (2007), James Dyson (2015), Ajay Kumar Sood (2015), Subhash Khot (2017) and around 8000 others in total, including over 280 Nobel Laureates since 1900. As of 2016[update], there are around 1600 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members.[12]

Fellowship of the Royal Society has been described by The Guardian newspaper as “the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar”[13] with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

Up to 60 new Fellows (FRS), honorary (HonFRS) and foreign members (ForMemRS) are elected annually in late April or early May, from a pool of around 700 proposed candidates each year.[21] New Fellows can only be nominated by existing Fellows for one of the fellowships described below:

Every year, up to 52 new Fellows are elected from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations which make up around 90% of the society.[1] Each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRS.[1] See Category:Fellows of the Royal Society and Category:Female Fellows of the Royal Society.

Every year, Fellows elect up to ten new Foreign Members. Like Fellows, Foreign Members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016[update] there are around 165 Foreign Members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS.[22] See Category:Foreign Members of the Royal Society.

Honorary Fellowship is an honorary academic title awarded to candidates who have given distinguished service to the cause of science, but do not have the kind of scientific achievements required of Fellows or Foreign Members. Honorary Fellows include Bill Bryson (2013), Melvyn Bragg (2010), Robin Saxby (2015), David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (2008) and Onora O'Neill (2007). Honorary Fellows are entitled to use the post nominal letters HonFRS.[23] Others including John Maddox (2000),[24] Patrick Moore (2001) and Lisa Jardine (2015)[25][26] were elected as honorary fellows, see Category:Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society.

Statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997.[citation needed] Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough (1983) and John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne (1991). Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom such as Margaret Thatcher (1983),[2] Neville Chamberlain (1938),[2] H. H. Asquith (1908)[2] were elected under statute 12, see Category:Fellows of the Royal Society (Statute 12).

The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British Royal Family for election as Royal Fellows of the Royal Society. As of 2016[update] there are five royal fellows: Charles, Prince of Wales (1978),[27] Anne, Princess Royal (1987),[28] Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1990),[29] Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (2009)[30] and Prince Andrew, Duke of York (2013).[31] Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II is not a Royal Fellow, but provides her patronage to the Society as all reigning British monarchs have done since Charles II of England. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1951) was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow.[32]

The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination and a period of peer-reviewed selection.[1]

Each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society (a proposer and a seconder), who sign a certificate of proposal.[33] Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer,[33] which was criticised for supposedly establishing an old-boy network and elitist gentlemen's club.[34][35][36] The certificate of election (see for example[37]) includes a statement of the principal grounds on which the proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations made each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership.[1]

The Council of the Royal Society oversees the selection process and appoints 10 subject area committees, known as Sectional Committees,[12] to recommend the strongest candidates for election to Fellowship. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates is confirmed by the Council in April and a secret ballot of Fellows is held at a meeting in May. A candidate is elected if he or she secures two-thirds of votes of those Fellows present and voting.

A maximum of 18 Fellowships can be allocated to candidates from Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and up to 10 from Applied Sciences, Human Sciences and Joint Physical and Biological Sciences. A further maximum of 6 can be ‘Honorary’, ‘General’ or ‘Royal’ Fellows. Nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by sectional committees, each with 15 members and a chair. Members of the 10 sectional committees change every 3 years to mitigate in-group bias,[33] each group covers different specialist areas including:

New Fellows are admitted to the Society at a formal admissions day ceremony held annually in July,[39] when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation which reads: "We who have hereunto subscribed, do hereby promise, that we will endeavour to promote the good of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which the same was founded; that we will carry out, as far as we are able, those actions requested of us in the name of the Council; and that we will observe the Statutes and Standing Orders of the said Society. Provided that, whensoever any of us shall signify to the President under our hands, that we desire to withdraw from the Society, we shall be free from this Obligation for the future".[1]

Since 2014, portraits of Fellows at the admissions ceremony have been published without copyright restrictions in Wikimedia Commons under a more permissive Creative Commons license which allows wider re-use.[40][41]

In addition to the main Fellowships of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS & HonFRS), other fellowships are available which are applied for by individuals, rather than through election. Holders of these fellowships are known as Royal Society Research Fellows.[43]

In addition to the award of Fellowship (FRS, HonFRS & ForMemRS) and the Research Fellowships described above, several other awards, lectures and medals of the Royal Society are also given.


is tranquility base hotel and casino a real place

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a concept album depicting a luxury hotel at Tranquility Base, the location of the 1969 moon landing.[16] Lyrically, the album refers frequently to science fiction, incorporating hyperrealist satire and "interstellar escapism" in order to explore entertainment's role in periods of social change: "the desire to escape into it, and the desire to create it". This is influenced by current politics in the United States, as well as consumerism,[18] fame,[15] religion and technology,[3] with the "forgetful, distractible oddballs" Turner embodies as narrators frequently becoming distracted from its social commentary. These multiple narrators are unreliable, "sometimes barely [able to] string a sentence together"[18] and were inspired by lounge music.[6] Turner uses multiple vocal tones to embody the different characters, with his wide vocal range incorporating both deep and falsetto singing styles.[22] The album's lyrical voice has been described as "absurdist suave", in oppose to the "witty sleaze" of Turner's previous work, and has been compared to Argentinian short-story writer Jorge Luis Borges.[18] The dense and self-aware lyrics have been described as "endlessly quotable",[3][4] written in a rambling, stream-of-consciousness style.[23] Turner cited various films as influencing the lyrics, including Spirits of the Dead (1968), World on a Wire (1973) and the works of Jean-Pierre Melville.[21] Furthermore, the ideas present within the books Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985) by Neil Postman and Infinite Jest (1996) by David Foster Wallace inspired Turner's philosophical exploration of the modern human condition.[18]

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is the sixth studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys. It was released on 11 May 2018 by Domino Recording Company.

The album was written by band frontman Alex Turner in 2016 on a Steinway Vertegrand piano in his Los Angeles home, and features a lush sound, embodying lounge pop, space pop, glam rock and psychedelic pop, as well as elements of jazz. It is a major departure from the band's previous guitar-heavy work, notably less accessible than its internationally successful predecessor, AM (2013). It was produced in Los Angeles, Paris and London by frequent Arctic Monkeys collaborator James Ford and Turner, alongside a wide array of guest musicians including Tom Rowley, Loren Humphrey, James Righton, Zach Dawes, Tyler Parkford and Cam Avery. Its lyrical content draws heavily from science fiction and film, exploring consumerism, politics, religion and technology through the concept of a luxury resort on the moon. Turner designed the album artwork himself, which depicts the titular hotel through cardboard cut-outs and a tape recorder.

Despite its stylistic deviation polarising listeners, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was released to generally positive reviews and nominated for the 2018 Mercury Prize for best album, as well as becoming the band's sixth consecutive number-one debut in the UK, and the country's fastest-selling vinyl record in 25 years. Following its release, the album was promoted by the singles "Four Out of Five" and "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino", as well as a global tour.

The band's fifth studio album AM was released on 9 September 2013 to critical acclaim, bringing the group new levels of commercial success globally. On 1 April 2016, Alex Turner's psychedelic pop side project the Last Shadow Puppets released their second studio album Everything You've Come to Expect. In April 2017, Turner co-produced Alexandra Savior's debut album Belladonna of Sadness with James Ford. This was Turner's first foray into record production, with the two proceeding to produce Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Meanwhile, drummer Matt Helders joined Iggy Pop's band for Post Pop Depression, as well as contributing to "Diamond Heart" from Lady Gaga's Joanne, and marrying actress Breana McDow.[1]

Following the international success of AM, Turner suffered from writer's block, struggling to find a direction for a new album. Having written "Sweet Dreams, TN" from Everything You've Come to Expect, he lost interest in writing love songs, with a friend suggesting "not doing that for a moment". In early 2016, upon watching Federico Fellini's 1963 film 8½, Turner was inspired by its depiction of writer's block, childhood memories and the science fiction genre. He began writing songs for the album on a Steinway Vertegrand piano he received as a 30th birthday gift from the Arctic Monkeys' manager Ian McAndrew, in a spare room of his Los Angeles home dubbed "Lunar Surface". During the process Turner recalled piano lessons he had received from his father at the age of eight, commenting that he "never thought [his father's influence] would find its way into [his] compositions as much as it has on this record".[2][3][4] Many of the vocal takes included on the finished album remain from Turner's home demos on a Tascam 388 8-track recording machine.[5] Guitarist Jamie Cook commented that he "was blown away by the direction Alex had gone in" when Turner played the band the demos in February 2017.[6] Initially unsure how they would record the songs, Cook suggested Turner release it as a solo album, but Turner was uninterested. Cook began recording guitar ideas to complement the demos, with bassist Nick O'Malley approving of the new direction upon hearing a demo of "Star Treatment".[7]

In September 2017 the Arctic Monkeys began recording material at Vox Studios in Hollywood and La Frette in Paris, with long-time collaborator James Ford co-producing the album with Turner.[8][9] During these sessions the piano and guitar started to "jell", with O'Malley and drummer Matt Helders joining. Helders commented that during recording he played with more restraint than on previous records, noting that "it's about playing for the songs".[6] Further recording sessions took place with Ford in London. The group employed a wider array of guest musicians than on previous albums. Ford and guitarist Tom Rowley (who has served as a touring member of the band since 2013) contributed to several tracks, with drummer Loren Humphrey of Guards, keyboardist James Righton and pianist Josephine Stephenson contributing to "Four Out of Five", "Science Fiction" and "The Ultracheese", as well as Zach Dawes and Tyler Parkford of Mini Mansions, and Evan Weiss of Wires on Fire performing on "American Sports" and "The World's First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip". Cam Avery of Tame Impala also contributed backing vocals to "She Looks Like Fun".[10] The musicians all played together in the same room, inspired by the sessions for the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966) and Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production method.[2] Avery and Parkford both joined the band as touring members following the album's release.

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a departure from the band's previous guitar riff-driven work, resultant of Turner's usage of the piano over the guitar in its composition.[6] It has been characterised as lounge pop,[11] space pop,[12] glam rock[13] and psychedelic pop,[14] and incorporates influences from jazz, as well as soul, French pop of the early 1970s, synthesizer-driven prog, subtle funk and film soundtracks of the 1960s.[6][15][16] Its sound has been described as "subdued, but warm and classic in the way that musicians who seek out storied mixing consoles aspire to",[4] as well as "lush and claustrophobic".[6]  The melodically rich songs feature unconventional chord progressions, and often abandon the traditional "verse" and "chorus" structure.[17] The album has been noted for its lack of distinct hooks, and its tendency to resist "casual consumption".[18][19] Instrumentally it incorporates vintage electric keyboards and synthesisers reminiscent of space age pop.[18] Keyboards used on the album include organs, pianos, harpsichords and dolceolas, as well as the Orchestron, Farfisa and RMI Rocksichord. Multiple tracks feature baritone and lap steel guitars in addition to the electric and acoustic guitars typically used by the band, as well as a variety of percussion instruments, including rotary timpani and vibraphones.[10]

The album has been compared to the works of David Bowie,[3][11][16][18] Serge Gainsbourg,[4][11][18] Leonard Cohen,[11][16] Nick Cave,[20] Jarvis Cocker,[16][18][15] Richard Hawley[15] and Father John Misty,[3][4][16][18] as well as Pet Sounds (1966) by the Beach Boys.[3] Turner has cited Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson, Cohen's Death of a Ladies' Man (1977),[2] Dion's Born to Be with You (1975) and François de Roubaix's score for Le Samouraï (1967) as key influences.[6] The album's rhythm tracks and bass lines have been compared closely to those on Histoire de Melody Nelson, with the influence of Pet Sounds pervading the record, especially in its vocal harmonies.[17]

â€”Alex Turner[21]

Turner commented that he took a different approach to writing lyrics than on previous albums, noting that he "became less concerned on this album [with] compartmentalising every idea to the point where each song became this episode that starts and ends in three minutes", with Leonard Cohen inspiring a different perspective on each lyric's relationship with its context.[24] He further noted that his writing on the album was "blunt", in a way he considered similar to the band's debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006). On the connections between the two albums, Turner commented that "it’s set in a completely different place, obviously, but there’s something in the lyrics that reminds me of something in that writing. I’m tempted to say that it’s something to do with how blunt it is. I think that was something I was trying to get away from, and perhaps I’ve returned to it now".[2]

"Star Treatment", the album's opening track, begins with a reference to American indie rock band the Strokes' influence on the band's early work. On their influence, Turner commented: "The arrival of the Strokes changed what music I was listening to, what shoes I was wearing. I grew my hair out and borrowed my mum’s blazer. I was a huge fan".[25] Its chorus describes a fictional band named "the Martini Police".[3] The track's narrator expresses surprise that an acquaintance has never seen the science fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Turner has stated that this was based on real-life interactions, noting his interest in the fact that "it goes beyond: 'What do you mean you’ve never seen Blade Runner?' and gets to: 'Oh my God, I envy you!'".[2] Musically, the track's glam influences have been analogised to "David Bowie descending on a lunar wedding".[18] It has also been compared to the soul of Curtis Mayfield,[15] and incorporates piano, scattered drums and wood block accents, with Turner's "debonaire" vocal delivery being likened to rapping, as well as American dancer Fred Astaire.[26]

"One Point Perspective" is built around a "sweet" and "plucky" percussive piano figure which has been compared to "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys (2009) and Still D.R.E. by Dr. Dre (1999),[15] containing lavish strings and a simple hip-hop beat.[12][3][26][4] Lyrically the track explores social media, with its cynical narrator mocking the malaise of rock-stars, and joking "I'm gonna run for government. I'm gonna form a covers band an' all".[17] The "dandy" narrator has been compared to Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker.[26] The song was inspired by conversations Turner experienced whilst under the influence of narcotics, with its title referring to a cinematic technique often employed by directors Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson, which Turner described as "unsettling".[27] Turner has noted that the track's jazz elements were influenced by his father, commenting that "the sort of jazzy bit of that, that every time it comes around, when I sit there, it feels like something he would play".[2]

On "American Sports", the album explores a darker musical direction, featuring "spooky", heavily affected keyboards.[21] Turner's vocals have been described as both "sinister"[21] and "dreamy",[26] with the lyric "the trainer's explanation was accepted by the steward" being suggested by his grandfather, in reference to horse racing.[27] The album's titular track mocks the sterility of contemporary society, with Turner sarcastically singing "technological advances really bloody get me in the mood". The track also contains political references, on which Turner has commented that "more of those ideas have certainly found a way into this record than anything Iâ€™ve done before".[21] Musically the track features "skittish" jazz drum patterns, as well as harpsichords, performed by Turner and co-producer James Ford.[26][10] "Golden Trunks" has been described as "unsettling", and contains a "raw and brooding" guitar riff that has been compared to the album's predecessor AM.[22][3] Turner's falsetto vocals display "rakish charm",[19] with the song depicting a blunt conversation between Turner and a potential romantic interest.[27] The line "the leader of the free world reminds you of a wrestler wearing tight golden trunks" has caused attention, with many believing the lyrics to be in reference to current president of the United States Donald Trump.[12]

"Four Out of Five" has been described as a "Bowie-ish glam song",[4] as well as being likened to the band's Suck It and See (2011) and Everything You've Come to Expect (2016) by Turner's side-project the Last Shadow Puppets.[3] Kitty Empire of The Observer compared the song's guitar riff to the band's single "Do I Wanna Know?" (2013), "elide[d] with the memory" of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" (1972).[15] It has been labelled as the album's only "singalong anthem", and describes an acclaimed taqueria on the moon named the "Information-Action Ratio", in reference to Neil Postman's concept, exploring gentrification.[28][18] The taqueria's name was a coincidental result of Matt Helders' backing vocals, with Turner commenting that "phonetically it's quite alluring". Turner's vocal phrasing on the track incorporates elements of hip hop.[26]  The lyrics “cute little places keep on popping up around Clavius” and “you won’t even recognize the old headquarters” allude to science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which depicts a lunar base at the crater Clavius.[citation needed]

On "The World's First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip", Turner vocally alternates from a "Bowie-style drawl to the falsetto and to a gruff murmur",[23] with its heavy use of reverb and minimal bass guitar and percussion being compared to Pet Sounds.[22] The track was inspired by a real news story Turner read, which reminded him of the film All the President's Men.[27] "Science Fiction" is driven by a "slinky" riff, and has been compared stylistically to the band's Humbug (2009).[3][28] The track's title is one of many references to science fiction on the album, however Turner confessed that his reading of the genre was limited.[27] "She Looks Like Fun" has been described as a "'60s-style novelty track"[4] lyrically similar to the works of Morrissey.[19] It was inspired by the episode "Selfie" from American television series High Maintenance, with the "constant updating and refreshing" depicted in the episode influencing Turner's exploration of technology.[27] "Batphone" has also been compared to Humbug and AM,[3][23] musically featuring a "heavier thump". The track has been described as "comical" and "jaunty", specifically in the line "Have I told you all about the time I got sucked into a hole through a handheld device?".[23] Turner explores a "capitalist ennui", singing "I launch my fragrance called Integrity. I sell the fact that I canâ€™t be bought".[18] In writing the song, Turner was inspired by an event at an airport in which a stranger blew a raspberry, believing to be alone.[27]

The album's "schmoozy" final track, "The Ultracheese" has been compared to pop standards "Que Sera, Sera",[3] "New York, New York", "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"[26] and "Leavin' on Your Mind",[22] featuring a "gorgeous" acoustic baritone guitar solo performed by Tom Rowley, and descending piano chords that "symbol a kind of final bow".[3][23][10] Turner has commented that musically the song resembles his "default position", comparing it to previous tracks "Cornerstone" and "The Dream Synopsis". The track was recorded in a live take with a large ensemble, including electric, baritone and pedal steel guitars, two drum kits, a bass guitar, a Wurlitzer, and two pianos. Turner referred to the song as the group's most successful implementation of this recording style.[27][10]

The album's artwork was designed by Alex Turner using cardboard cut-outs and a Revox A77 tape machine, itself containing early demos of the album. On the artwork, Turner stated that "In the past I've definitely had record covers that don't, to me, represent what's on the wax, and I certainly don't feel that way about this one. By the end of it, I think I'd forgotten there even was a record. I'd just gotten obsessed with cardboard."[5] Turner began by drawing a hexagon, to reflect the band's sixth studio album, eventually drawing influence from architects Eero Saarinen and John Lautner, becoming "quite consumed" by the process.[6] The artwork was initially inspired by a photograph depicting a member of the art department for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) building the set for a Hilton Hotel on the moon. Turner began imagining the lobby of the album's titular hotel, picturing a model of the hotel within its lobby. He was further inspired by the rotating sign of Los Angeles food chain House of Pies, an element which he incorporated into the artwork.[27]

The album's title is in reference to Tranquility Base, the first site on the moon to be walked by humans. Turner was inspired by the conspiracy theory that Stanley Kubrick faked the first moon landing, initially naming the spare room in which he wrote and recorded the project's demos "Lunar Surface". He stated that naming the room was "instrumental" in the conception of the title, alongside a series of Apollo-branded cups owned by Turner which depict an eagle with the caption "Tranquility Base".[27]

In September 2017, bassist Nick O'Malley announced that the band had begun recording a follow-up to 2013's AM, stating that if a new album was not released in 2018 they've "got problems".[8] The release of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was first announced on 5 April 2018, through a short video directed by Ben Chappell. The video depicted the spinning model featured in the album's artwork, and included snippets of "Four Out of Five".[29] No singles were released before the album,[30] although multiple songs were debuted prior to its release, in the first leg of the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Tour.[31] The group announced promotional pop-up shops on the weekend of the album's release, in their native Sheffield, New York, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and Sydney. The Sydney pop-up venue also included a mini film festival curated by the band.[32]

On the night of the project's release, the band appeared on late-night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing "Four Out of Five".[33] Two days later, the song was issued as the album's lead single, alongside an accompanying music video directed by Ben Chappell and Aaron Brown.[34] The video has been compared to the works of Stanley Kubrick, depicting Turner losing his grip of reality as he walks through a stately home reminiscent of The Shining and an underground train station evocative of the dystopia of A Clockwork Orange.[35] The single debuted at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.[36] The next week, the group performed "She Looks Like Fun" on The Late Late Show with James Corden.[37] On 6 June, they performed live at BBC's Maida Vale Studios, with their performance being broadcast four days later as a Live at the BBC special. Their setlist primarily consisted of songs from Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, as well as earlier singles.[38]  On 23 July, the group released a music video for the album's titular track, "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino", again directed by Brown and Chappell. The stylised video continues the surreal Kubrick-inspired science fiction aesthetic established in "Four Out of Five", and depicts Turner walking through several levels of a hotel.[39][40] The track was announced as the album's second single alongside the release of the video.[41] The next day, the band performed "The Ultracheese" on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, with Turner debuting a newly shaved hairstyle, as opposed to the long-haired look he had previously adopted in promotion of the album.[42]

In January 2018, the band announced an extensive tour of North America and Europe to begin in May.[43] The tour consists of 32 shows in North America and 41 in Europe, concluding in October at the Voodoo Experience. The songs "American Sports", "Four Out of Five", "One Point Perspective" and "She Looks Like Fun" were debuted live in San Diego on 2 May. This was the tour's opening performance, and the Arctic Monkeys' first performance in four years.[31]

For the tour, the group were joined by longtime touring members Tom Rowley and Davey Latter, as well as album contributors Tyler Parkford and Cam Avery, the latter of whom also acted as an opening act, departing after the tour's second leg. They adapted their live show to better fit the stylistic differences of the album's material, with the new shows being described as "sophisticated". Turner's presence was also noted to be more "playful" than on the band's previous AM Tour, with the decreased usage of the guitar allowing him more movement on stage.[44]

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino has received generally positive reviews from music critics, despite polarising listeners.[48] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 31 reviews.[45]

Thomas Smith of NME noted that the album was likely to be "divisive", describing it as "the band's most intriguing record to date". He promised that it would "reward deep-diving listeners", concluding that "depending on where you're sitting, this album will likely either be a bitter disappointment or a glorious step forward".[3] Cosette Schulz for Exclaim! agreed that the project benefitted from multiple listens, writing that it "feels like poetic social and fantasy-world commentary penned by Turner, who then fancied having a go at the piano and then brought the whole band in for good measure."[22] For Q, Niall Doherty described it as "a strange, wonderful album, one that almost feels like Arctic Monkeys have embarked on their own full-band side-project".[47] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent described it as "creative, intriguing and completely different",[23] with Spin's Larry Fitzmaurice similarly noting the album as the group's "strangest and most alluring", writing that a "sense of heading into the unknown – of charting new and strange artistic territory, accessibility be damned – pervades Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino as a whole, its own adventurousness proving a successful gambit".[12] A review in Uncut praised the album as "low-key but engrossing", but noted that "it can be a little one-paced, and a little withholding".[4]

For The Guardian, Alexis Petridis praised the project's humour, but criticised its occasional smugness, noting that "a smart guy is sometimes all Turner seems to be", with the tracks "feel[ing] like less than the sum of their parts". He concluded that "at turns thrilling, smug, clever and oddly cold, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is only a qualified success" and is "evidence – albeit flawed – of a certain musical restlessness".[17] Kitty Empire of sister publication The Observer was more positive, writing that despite the risk that the "atmospheric" album "might not land well", the "voyage into themed purgatory... is worth it". She noted that "once you ditch the notion that AM's successor should rock like it, and give yourself up to rolling around in the psyche of one of our very greatest songwriters like an olive in a martini, then it’s a riveting and immersive listen".[15] AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "the expansive aural horizons of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino suggest there are plenty of avenues for Turner to steer Arctic Monkeys into a fruitful middle age", describing it as "an accomplished, slyly snappy, and admirable affair". However, he noted that a lack of memorable songs was the album's weakness, stating that "at a glance, it's impressive, but the slipshod details reveal themselves upon close inspection".[46] Similarly, Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club noted that its lack of "obvious hooks" was its key flaw, resulting in it feeling "unmoored and even plodding".[19] In a mixed review for Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan praised the album's ambition but wrote that "the meandering LP can't bear the weight of the man at the piano's indulgences", concluding that the band "tried a stylistic change up that doesn't quite work" and that "sometimes restless artistry has a price".[11]

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was nominated for the 2018 Mercury Prize, an annual prize awarded to the year's best British or Irish album. This became the band's fourth nomination for the award, the second most nominations received by any act.[49]

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with combined sales of 86,000 copies, becoming the group's sixth consecutive album to debut at number one in the UK.[50] In addition, with 24,500 vinyl copies sold in the first week, the album became the UK's fastest selling vinyl record in 25 years.[51] A week following its release, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, receiving gold certification on June 1. The album also debuted at number one in France, Australia, Scotland, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece and Portugal, as well as reaching number two in Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark and Norway, and the top ten in Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Finland, Sweden, Japan and Poland. In the United States, the album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 47,000 units, of which 37,000 were in traditional album sales.[52]

All tracks written by Alex Turner.

Credits adapted from liner notes.[10]

^shipments figures based on certification alone