Varys

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Varys
Conleth Hill as Varys

Aliases
  • The Spider
  • The Eunuch
  • Rugen
Title Master of Whisperers
Books

Played by Conleth Hill

Lord Varys, called "the Spider", is the enigmatic member of the small council and Master of Whisperers, or spymaster, for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. Varys usually affects a fawning, effeminate personality to hide his true feelings and motives. In keeping with this act, he often refers to spies as his "little birds". Many nobles he associates with find him distasteful and untrustworthy. He knows many secret passages within the Red Keep. In the TV series he is played by Conleth Hill.[1]

Appearance

Varys is a completely bald fat eunuch of stylish dress. He is however a master of disguise and can easily change his appearance, walk, smell and clothes to become unrecognizable.

History

Though nothing that Varys says can be completely trusted, Varys has claimed to have been a mummer as a child in Pentos, and his skill at disguises supports this claim. Grand Maester Pycelle claimed he was born a slave in Lys. [2] He also claimed to have been castrated by a sorcerer who used his male parts to cast a spell, leaving Varys with a hatred for magic.[3]

In his youth, Varys became king of thieves in Myr until a rival forced him out and he fled to Pentos. In Pentos, Varys befriended a poor sellsword named Illyrio Mopatis and they started a business where Varys would steal objects from lesser thiefs and Illyrio would get the objects back for their original owners for a small fee. Soon every man and woman in Pentos who ever had valuables stolen from them, all knew who to go to to get there valuables back. In addition the thieves in Pentos soon began to seek Illyrio and Varys out, half to try (and failing) to kill them the other half to sell them the objects they stole in order to prevent Varys from stealing them back, soon both Varys and Illyrio grew very rich.

Varys came to the realization that information was much more valuable then gold and gems and began training his "little mice" (they became known as "little birds" when he went to Westeros). The "mice" were orphans Varys purchased, he chose the smallest, the ones who were quick and quiet, Varys taught them to climb walls and slip down chimneys, he also taught them how to read and write. The "mice" would find information, letters, ledgers and charts then read them and leave them where they found them so there owners would think nothing amiss. The secrets gathered increased Varys and Illyrio's wealth tenfold. Varys became infamous and his talents reached the ears of a certain King across the narrow sea who no longer trusted his son, his wife or his hand.[4]

He started his career as a spymaster under Aerys II, who relied more heavily on Varys the more paranoid he became. Ser Barristan Selmy stated that the rot in Aerys reign began with Varys. Varys knew many of the secret passages within the Red Keep (doubtless shown to him by Aerys). Varys had his "little birds" memorize the passages and whenever one heard or discovered something of importance they brought it to Varys. Varys even alerted Aerys to the possibility that his son Rhaegar was using attending the tournament of Harrenhal as a pretext to rally Lords to his cause in removing his father as King, this was the only reason Aerys attended the tournament when he had not left the Red Keep in years since the Defiance of Duskendale.

Following the Battle of the Trident during Robert's Rebellion, Varys counseled Aerys to close his gates to Tywin Lannister as he could not be trusted. Aerys however listened to Grand Maester Pycelle and opened the gates to the Lannister forces. Ser Jaime Lannister who was present at this event, thought it ironic that the one time Aerys really should have heeded Varys he didn't.

Though he continued in his post for King Robert and his heirs, Varys seems to remain loyal to the Targaryens. He kept a secret arrangement with Illyrio Mopatis, who seeks to put a Targaryen back on the Iron Throne. In fact, it was revealed that Varys switched the baby Aegon with that of a peasant baby. So with the realm and Robert falsely believing him dead, Varys had Aegon smuggled across the Narrow sea to be raised by Rhaegar's friend and exiled Hand of the King Jon Connington. To conceal Connington's activities, Varys created the false story that Connington had drank himself to death after being caught stealing from the Golden Company.

Connington was angry about that lie, but Varys claimed it was necessary as Men who die in battle are remembered, but those who steal and drink themselves to death are quickly forgotten.

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

Varys eventually goes to Eddard Stark after he takes the office of Hand of the King warning him of the danger to King Robert.[5]

Varys meets Illyrio below the Red keep where they discuss how to delay a war between Stark and Lannister at least till the right time. [6]

When King Robert is slain, Joffrey wanted someone to blame for his father's death, Varys suggested Ser Barristan Selmy. Joffrey and Cersei dismissed Selmy, a move many outside the council saw as a folly.[7] Selmy later joined Daenerys Targaryen in the east as a result of his dismissal.[8], suggesting this was Varys's plan all along when he suggested Selmy be dismissed.

After Eddard Stark was imprisoned, Varys visits him disguised as a jailor and persuades Ned that for the sake of his daughter Sansa's life he must falsely confess to crimes and Cersei will allow him to take the black, thus delaying a war between Stark and Lannister. When Ned Stark asks who Varys truly serves, in a rare moment of apparent honesty, Varys claimed that the purpose of his machinations was not for personal power, honor, or loyalty, but simply the best intentions for the realm as a whole.[9]

Despite Varys's intentions to spare Eddard Stark's life, Joffrey going against the council's wishes decides at the last minute to have Ned Stark executed instead of allowing him to take the black much to the shock of Varys and the other onlookers.[10]

A Clash of Kings

Varys gives his services to Tyrion Lannister when he becomes acting Hand of the King. Varys revealed to Tyrion the origins of how he became castrated while the two worked together, Varys also assisted Tyrion in protecting Shae and keeping her true identity secret from Cersei.[11] It was also revealed that Varys was the one who sent Gendry with Yoren to join the Night's Watch, so the boy would not be killed by Cersei's agents simply for the crime of being Robert's bastard.

A Storm of Swords

Varys gave the aid of his intelligence to many players in the game of thrones. Many of these people later suspected that, rather than help them, Varys only gave them enough information to manipulate them. Indeed, most of the people Varys "helped" suffered dramatic downfalls, including Eddard Stark and Tyrion Lannister. Indeed Varys testified against Tyrion Lannister during his trial. When Tyrion was condemned to die, Jaime forced Varys to assist him in freeing his brother. Varys was forced to agree but also showed Tyrion Lannister the way into his fathers chambers where Tyrion killed Tywin.

A Feast for Crows

Varys's reign as Master of Whisperers ended after he was forced to help Tyrion escape execution and murder his father, Tywin. Though Cersei put a reward on his head, Varys had vanished without a trace. Also reportedly a turnkey from the dungeon named "Rugen" disappeared also on the night Tyrion was freed. In Rugen's living space near the dungeon, an old Tyrell coin was found by Qyburn and later shown to Cersei. Many readers suspect that "Rugen" was an alias of Varys (after all the jailors description matches the description of Varys when he was in a turnkeys disguise to visit the imprisoned Ned Stark in A Game of Thrones) and that the coin was planted there by Varys to cause discord in the Tyrell/Lannister alliance.

After taking Varys's post, Qyburn noted that spies with secrets to sell were quite common and easy to come by. This proved to Cersei that Varys had always oversold his value to make people dependent on him and more vulnerable to his schemes, however Qyburn is not as well informed as Varys and lacks many of Varys most important contacts.

A Dance with Dragons

Varys via secret passages kills Pycelle in the Grand Maester's chambers. Varys then dispatches one of his "little birds" to fetch Ser Kevan, now Lord Regent after Cersei's disgrace, under the pretext that the Grand Maestar had a message for him.

Upon entering the rookery, Varys shoots Kevan Lannister with a crossbow. Varys stated to Kevan that he did this to prevent Kevan from repairing the damage Cersei did to the Iron Throne's alliances. Varys tells Kevan that Cersei will suspect Tyrion and possibly the Tyrells, the Tyrells will suspect Cersei and along the way somehow the Dornish will earn the blame. Doubt and mistrust will eat away at Tommen's alliances. As Kevan lay dying, Varys apologised to him and said he bore him no ill will, he did it for the realm and King Aegon VI.

Varys then summoned several of his "little birds" and told them to end Ser Kevan's suffering.

Quotes

  • 'The storms come and go, the waves crash overhead, the big fish eat the little fish, and I keep on paddling.' - Varys to Tyrion [12]
  • “Why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?” —Varys, to Ned Stark[13]

References and Notes

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Characters from A Song of Ice and Fire.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Characters from A Song of Ice and Fire.
As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

See Also