Tyrion Lannister just showed why he's a fan favorite on 'Game of Thrones'

Cersei may be arbiter of "The Queen's Justice" on Game of Thrones, but not for the first time her younger brother outshone her.

It's Tyrion, not Daenerys, who summons Jon Snow to Dragonstone, and it's Tyrion -- not Daenerys -- who welcomes the King in the North when he arrives.

"The bastard of Winterfell," Tyrion says stoically.

"The dwarf of Casterly Rock," Jon replies. They each crack a smile and shake hands.

Jon and Tyrion haven't seen each other since Season 1, when Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon shared a similar reunion; they started even more serious and broke it with laughter and an embrace.

As Jon and Daenerys' first meeting goes south (no pun intended), Tyrion does what he needs as liaison. He's trusted by both leaders, convincing Dany of Jon's rationality and Jon of Daenerys' compassion and power. Tyrion alone is, to use his own word, "reasonable" -- a reasonable man caught between two idealistic leaders with separate god complexes.

And then there's the battle of Casterly Rock -- a battle we don't see, for the most part, but Peter Dinklage narrates it with the charisma that made Tyrion a fan favorite from day one. He shares a painful anecdote about Tywin making his youngest son work in the sewers of their home -- a degrading and difficult task, but one that Tyrion turns into an advantage on the battlefield.

MVP for "The Queen's Justice": Tyrion Lannister

Finest Moment: Sharing the secret of the sewage systems.

Best Line: "You look a lot better brooding than I do." Excessively meta, but who else could pull that off?