#varys

[azulolivart]

An unequal marriage in Westeros.

[wodania]

stole this and drew it with asoiaf characters

[georgescitadel]

George R.R. Martin on power and Varys' riddle

Interviewer: I think one of the things that is so involving about the story is that the people who start out with power might be quite limited in some ways and lose it while the people that are allegedly powerless with the right kind of cunning and guile and smarts and heart can find a way out of situations that seem hopeless. Did you intend to examine this idea of power and hierarchy and how these things are not as fixed as people think that they are?

George: Definitely! The whole subject of power is fascinating to me! How does power work? What’s it based on? In Varys’ riddle - which I was very glad they included (in the show), I think it’s one of the most important parts of the book – he asks Tyrion who has the real power in that situation. The rich man, the priest and the king are each telling the sellsword to kill the other people… It’s actually the sellsword who has the power since he's the one who has a sword in his hand. He has the power of life and death over the other three, but he’s going to obey one of the other three because of some allusion of power… When I see that scene played out in my mind’s eye, these are three old fat guys and none of them can do anything themselves to the sellsword and yet they command him because they can summon other sellswords… Well, why do all of those other sellswords obey? Our societies are built on this structure of sand and you see that periodically with the falls of great empires and nations… The Soviet Union, it looked solid and eternal and one day it just blew away – “we're not going to follow those guys anymore, let's get rid of them and we'll bring in some new guys.” and suddenly the Soviet Union was gone overnight. Why does that happen?... I was reading a book a couple months ago about the history of Jerusalem and this one particular crazy sultan or caliph. At one point he decided his doctors were trying to kill him so he had all of his doctors killed… okay. Then he decided that the women of the court were conspiring against him, but he liked women as they had babies and other uses, sexually and stuff like that, so he commanded his guards to cut off the hands of all of the women in the court, not only his own wives and concubines, but evidently their wives and concubines as well, and they did it! Now… what the hell was going on there? Why doesn’t the captain of the guard say to the sergeant: “this guy is fucking nuts! We have swords!!! Why don’t we kill him instead of cutting off our wives’ hands?”. I don’t really know where the matter comes from, but it’s a fascinating issue to explore and huge drama comes out of that. Don’t be surprised if sometime in ASOIAF I have a crazy king cutting off the hands of a bunch of people!

- George R.R. Martin, Chicon 7

[allovesthings]

Arya, after outspying accidentally the master of whisper at age 9 and hiding under the nose of Roose Bolton at age 10:

[glussy]

when Tyrion comes into Varys room to fuck Shae and instead is met with Varys in full drag with a curly brown wig, dress, and beat face and saying "Is something amiss?" like asoiaf is a comedy

[stormborns]

GAME OF THRONES 1.09, Baelor

[barelyanartblog]

Say what you will but at least Cersei and Tyrion have never sunk low enough to try to kill each other.... yet

[groundrunner100]

Upon seeing this poll & voting, reblogs are sincerely appreciated. Let as many people as you possible see this poll.

The 5 year anniversary of one of the BIGGEST tragedies in entertainment history deserves more recognition this time around.

Lastly, go in detail in reblogs as to why you voted for a certain character.

(This is the last time I ever do a poll on this subject.)

[claudraws34]

they're gay

[wyattabernathyus]

[warsofasoiaf]

We know that Varys tried to convince Aerys to keep the gates closed the Lannister army and that Pycelle encouraged Aerys to open them wide. That indicates that they were both present in KL during the final days of the Rebellion. My question is this, do you think once the doors were open and the Lions started sacking the city, that both the master of Whispers and Grand Maester simply ‘vanished’ until the dust had settled?

I believe Pycelle probably went to his apartments, barricaded the door, and waited until Lannister troops came to escort him safely to Tywin's forces. The Grand Maester, as a position, benefits from "maester neutrality," so that does assist him in not being seen as an Aerys loyalist, even if Northern troops happened to get to him first.

Varys though, almost certainly disappeared into the labyrinth of secret passages honeycombing the Red Keep to ensure the safety of his person. He perceived that he would have probably been killed in the sack. and so he'd look for a place no one knew until he could arrange to surrender himself to Robert. Robert's legendary status as those who pardoned his former foes probably worked in Varys's favor there.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[robynnnn311]

i like varys as a character but if i ever interacted with him and he starting asking if i like riddles instead of just telling me the information i would hit him round his bald head im afraid

[goodqueenaly]

Hello! I love your meta about Aegon VI (I initially wondered what the point of him was and your meta really helped). I was wondering what you think Varys’ plan is for his perfect king in the long run? It won’t happen but if Aegon has a son and dies of old age, how can Varys guarantee that this son will also be a good king? Even if it’s successful, won’t Varys’ experiment only last one generation??

I don’t think Varys has a strict plan in place for every single king who would (so he hopes) succeed his Aegon, nor do I think it would be realistic to do so. Rather, I think Varys’ idea is less about guaranteeing the personality of every successive king and more about rethinking the training system of the (Targaryen) Westerosi monarchy itself. The focus of Varys’ speech to the dying Kevan (besides the propaganda elements) was to highlight the differences in education and experience between Tommen and his Aegon - with the key thesis being that “Tommen has been taught that kingship is his right”, while “Aegon knows that kingship is his duty”. This argument specifically undermines the importance of heredity as the driving developmental factor for a future king; in Varys’ ideal princely mode” (or at least the one he’s created for Aegon), the perfect king is one who is raised as a pseudo-commoner - not unaware of his great royal destiny, but more immediately aware of the struggles of his people.

So while Varys may not have specific ideas about how Aegon’s son or grandson or distant descendants would be raised to be good kings in their turn, I think he would believe that he’s reshaped the way in which princes are made more generally. If Varys’ theory proves him right, his training mode will have created the ideal king - a king, so Varys may hope, who would pass along such beneficial training to his own heir in time. (Of course, Aegon (and Arianne) will almost certainly not live long enough to have a song on which to test such a theory would hold true in a second generation.)

[allovesthings]

I will never get over the fact that 9 years old Arya freaking Stark actually heard accidentally information she wasn't supposed to hear from Varys: the master of whispers. The literal master of spy was kinda outspyed by a 9 year old being what is essentially a little bird.

And same thing with Bolton. Arya Stark was right here. He had her and the signs were here if he had just taken any interest in the Smallfolks he had in captivity and in his service.

I don't know which is funnier though. That Varys still doesn't know his conversation with Illyrio was overheard or that Bolton realized it was Arya after the fact (probably...unclear).

I love that little girl so much.

[catofoldstones]

I know Varys has his own agenda, Catelyn ‘mislikes’ the guy, he has no loyalty, employes children etc etc but I love him. Was struggling in the dregs of the smallfolk social strata and still managed to win an important seat in the royal court. In a world where the powerful only care about power, this man wants peace. Saved a baby from psycho killers only to raise him to be a worthy ruler. Mourns the loss of another baby, a girl barely mentioned. Still understands the smallfolk and has no empathy for lordly violence. Varys, you’ll always be the mvp for me.