One of the most mysterious characters in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones is
Varys, the “master of whisperers” – or “spymaster” – at King’s Landing, also
called “the Spider” for his “vast web of informers”. Varys is a schemer and a
manipulator , a master of disguise and illusion, and a keeper of secrets. Whenever anything
important happens at court, he’s there – watching, whispering, “spin[ning] his secret webs”.
What’s this guy up to? Who is he, really, and what does he want?
Let’s start at the beginning. Varys was born not in Westeros, but in a city called
Lys , as “an orphan boy”, and apparently a slave . He tells us that he grew up with
a “troupe of mummers” – mummers are actors, or performers – but one day in Myr,
he was sold to a sort of a sorcerer, who cut off Varys’ cock and balls and burned them
in a magic ritual. Varys was left for dead on the streets, but he managed to survive
and became a great thief . When he was driven from Myr, he went to Pentos, and formed a
“criminal partnership” with a young Illyrio Mopatis. Varys trained children to work for
him as thieves, like a sort of a Fagin without balls , and came to learn that “Secrets
are worth more than silver or sapphires” – so Varys’ thieves stole information,
which eventually made Varys and Illyrio rich and powerful. Meanwhile, in Westeros, King
Aerys Targaryen was going mad, convinced that everyone around him was plotting against him
– so when Aerys heard about Varys’ “talents”, he brought him to King’s Landing to serve
as his “spymaster” . In the following years, Varys “crouch[ed] at the king’s
side, whispering in his ear” like Grima Wormtongue, feeding Aerys’ paranoia , which
probably contributed to Aerys’ madness, and ultimate downfall in Robert’s Rebellion.
It doesn’t seem that Varys intended this, though, because he apparently tried to stop
Aerys from opening his gates to the Sack of King’s Landing . Anyway, Varys continued
in his role as master of whisperers under the new king, Robert Baratheon. He learned
all the secret passageways around the Red Keep , he built up his network of spies – mostly
mute children who he calls “little birds” , and he solidified his power, by making people
need him, convincing them that he’s on their side , making sure he’s too useful – and
knows too much – to be gotten rid of . And eventually the series begins. Varys’
actions, as seen through the eyes of Eddard and Tyrion and others – are… confusing.
In Book 1, Varys warns Ned that the Lannisters want to kill Robert , he reports on Daenerys
Targaryen to the small council using Jorah as his spy , though we later find out Varys
also protects Dany . Varys suggests the dismissal of Barristan Selmy from the Kingsguard , and
he tries to save Eddard from execution . In Clash, Varys is helpful and almost friendly
with Tyrion , helping him run the city, and protect his relationship with Shae, but in
Storm he testifies against Tyrion in his trial , but then he helps save Tyrion from execution
and leads him to kill Tywin before sending him to Pentos. Then Varys disappears from
King’s Landing , leaving a coin in the dungeons that makes Cersei mistrust the Tyrells , and
he’s gone for all of Feast, but at the end of Dance, he turns up out of nowhere, and
murders Pycelle and Kevan Lannister . What’s he trying to achieve with all this, what’s
the goal here? It’s really hard to see Varys’ motivations, because he does everything indirectly,
and secretly, and subtly, but it is possible to piece together his grand plan.
Back in the very first book, we see that Varys is conspiring with his “old friend” Illyrio
Mopatis, who arranges the marriage between Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo. We’re
told that the plan at this point is to use Drogo’s Dothraki army to invade Westeros
and crown Dany’s brother Viserys as King . But Viserys dies, then Drogo dies, and Daenerys
ends up the queen of Meereen, so in the show, the plan now seems to be to help Daenerys
take over Westeros . But in the books, it’s more complex. There’s this boy called Young
Griff, who Varys and Illyrio claim is actually Aegon Targaryen, the son of Prince Rhaegar,
and nephew of Daenerys, widely believed to have been killed as an infant during Robert
Rebellion . Varys and Illyrio say they secretly rescued Aegon from the war , and have been
raising him ever since to be a perfect king for Westeros .
Which raises the question of what they were planning to do with Viserys – Viserys and
Aegon can’t both be king. One likely explanation is that Varys and Illyrio lied , and never
actually intended for Viserys to be King – and why would they? He’s crazy , and cruel,
and would obviously make a bad ruler . Aegon, on the other hand, seems a pretty decent kid,
and has a better claim to the Throne, and has been “shaped for rule since before he
could walk” by Illyrio and Varys’ people – they clearly want Aegon, not Viserys,
on the Throne. So why do they try to give Viserys a Dothraki army, why tell him to invade
Westeros? The plan seems to have been to use Viserys’ Dothraki invasion of Westeros as
a way of destabilising and distracting Westeros, making it easier for Aegon to turn up later
and take over. Compared to crazy Viserys and his “savage” foreign army, Aegon would
look like the good guy – “A savior come from across the sea to bind up the wounds
of bleeding Westeros” . Of course, after Viserys dies, the plan changes – for a while,
they try to get Aegon and Daenerys together, to marry, and join their forces, and invade
Westeros together , but that doesn’t work out and Aegon ends up invading Westeros without
her, landing in the Stormlands with an army called the Golden Company in Dance. So the
plan has changed a lot throughout the series , but the overall goal seems to have remained
the same – to make Aegon Targaryen the King of Westeros.
This really helps to understand Varys’ actions throughout the series. Early on, he’s trying
to “delay” any conflict in Westeros until Viserys is ready to invade – so he tries
to protect Robert and Ned from the Lannisters, and he maintains an appearance of loyalty
by informing on Daenerys, while on the downlow he’s supporting her, not only by protecting
her from assassination, but by sending useful people like Ser Barry, and later Tyrion, to
help her. By the end of Storm, Varys changes his strategy, trying to destabilise and weaken
the Lannister regime in preparation for Aegon’s invasion – so he leads Tyrion to kill Tywin,
he drives apart Cersei and the Tyrells, and he kills Kevan Lannister, the last person
at this point who’s really holding the realm together. All throughout the series, Varys
is working to pave the way for Aegon’s invasion . But – why?
Varys endlessly says that he “serve[s] the realm”, that he’s “a loyal servant of
the realm” , and the realm needs peace” . If that’s true, why does he create conflict
and chaos and try to start a war to install Aegon as King? If Varys wants a good Targaryen
king, he should have just supported Prince Rhaegar, all those years ago – Rhaegar sounds
like he would have been a great ruler , and since he was Aerys’ rightful heir, there
would have been no war required to make him King. But Varys actively worked against Rhaegar,
by warning the Mad King against him , possibly even urging Aerys to disinherit him, so that
crazy kid Viserys would get the Throne instead . If Varys really wants a good king and a
peaceful realm, why did he undermine Rhaegar? And later, under King Robert, the realm enters
a period of peace and prosperity – the World of Ice and Fire calls it a “golden era”
. Admittedly, there is that massive debt , probably cause of Littlefinger, but still, the realm’s
doing really well. So why does Varys spend this time plotting to ruin the peace, start
a war, and install a new king? After Robert dies, things do get bad in the War of the
Five Kings – which again is mostly Littlefinger’s fault – but the war does end, and the realm
starts getting back into pretty good shape under Tommen. Varys says himself that Kevan
Lannister does a good job of starting to “make peace” and “unit[e] the Seven Kingdoms
under Tommen’s rule” . But instead of supporting what could have become a peaceful,
stable regime, Varys again undermines the peace by killing Kevan, creating conflict,
and continuing the plot of Aegon’s invasion . That’s three potentially peaceful and
prosperous regimes that Varys has actively undermined. If Varys really just wants a peaceful
realm, why does he keep doing this? What possible reason could he have to support this kid Aegon
above all others? Varys suggests that Aegon would be a great
king. He says he’s been trained, educated, instilled with good values, “shaped for
rule since before he could walk” . But isn’t it extremely naïve to believe that training
can guarantee that someone will be great king? Aegon is just a teenager, with little experience
of the real world – he’s barely even been to the realm he intends to rule. Even if Aegon
does turn out to be a great king, what’s stopping his heir or successor from being
just as bad as Mad Aerys? Within just a generation, Varys’ grand plan could easily leave Westeros
in a worse position than it was in in the first place. And that’s if the plan even
works – if Aegon is defeated, thousands would lose their lives for nothing . And the
original plan, sending Viserys in first, is even more risky – loosing thousands of Dothraki
“savages” on Westeros would be terribly destructive and cause lots of long term problems.
And what if Viserys actually succeeded in taking over Westeros? He could do all sorts
of damage and it’s not like he’d happily hand over the crown when Aegon showed up.
Varys’ supposed plan for peace involves an awful lot of war and destruction and risk,
and he’s actively sabotaged several other much safer opportunities for a peaceful realm
to pursue it. It seems obvious that Varys and Illyrio’s
true goal isn’t just a peaceful realm, but a realm ruled by Aegon. But why? Why does
a eunuch from Myr and a merchant from Pentos, men with no apparent connections to Westeros
or the Targaryens , work so hard to put Aegon Targaryen on the Iron Throne? Tyrion asks
this of Illyrio in Dance, and Illyrio says he hopes to get money out of it, but Tyrion
thinks he’s a “Liar”, that “There is something in this venture worth more to
[him] than coin or castles”, and Illyrio admits that “even fat old fools like [him]
have friends, and debts of affection to repay” . What are these “debts of affection”,
who are these friends? Could they explain the real reasons why Varys and Illyrio want
Aegon on the Throne? The answers may lie in a theory called the Blackfyre theory.
To cover some history real quick – bout a hundred and twenty years ago, the King of
Westeros was Aegon the Fourth Targaryen, called “the Unworthy” (waynew) because he was
one of the worst Kings the realm had ever had. He was corrupt, and cruel , full of greed
and lust . He fathered dozens of bastards, including Brynden Rivers, or “Bloodraven”,
now known as the “three-eyed crow”, and Shiera Seastar, who may be related to Quaithe,
and Aegor Rivers, called “Bittersteel”, and Daemon Rivers, who took the name Blackfyre,
and a black dragon as his heraldry. On King Aegon’s deathbed, he legitimised all his
bastards , which gave them some claim on the Throne . Aegon’s trueborn son Daeron still
should have been the rightful heir, but that was disputed by Daemon, who called himself
King, and fought a war with Daeron for the Throne. Daemon was killed in this First Blackfyre
Rebellion, but Bittersteel, who supported him, fled Westeros, founded a mercenary company
called the Golden Company, and swore to put a Blackfyre on the Iron Throne . Over the
next fifty years, there were five more Blackfyre rebellions, some led by Bittersteel and his
Golden Company, until finally, in the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion, a young Ser Barristan
Selmy killed Maelys the Monstrous – “the last Blackfyre”. Or at least, we’re told
that Maelys is “the last Blackfyre” – but he was apparently only the last of the male
line of House Blackfyre , which might imply the female line is still alive. Many fans
believe that Aegon is a descendant of that female line – that he’s not really a Targaryen,
but a Blackfyre. And there’s strong evidence supporting this idea.
And we’re repeatedly warned in visions and prophecies of a “false” dragon , or “the
mummer’s dragon” – a mummer’s dragon is a cloth dragon on poles used in performances
. And of course, Varys is closely linked to mummers – he was raised by them, taught
by them, and constantly uses their skills of acting and illusion. So the idea here is
that Aegon is the mummer’s dragon, the “false” black dragon who Varys presents as a Targaryen
even though he’s actually a Blackfyre. Which fits perfectly with Varys’ talk of power
and belief and perception – he says that “Power resides where men believe it resides”
– and men believe that power resides in Targaryen blood – no matter if the boy is
actually a Blackfyre. Another little symbolic hint is a story we’re told about a black
iron dragon that was used as the sign for an inn, until someone broke it and threw it
away because it looked like the Blackfyre dragon, but “many years later”, part of
it washed up, and the black iron had gone “red with rust”. This alludes to the story
of Aegon – the black dragon, House Blackfyre, was seemingly destroyed years ago, but a survivor
has now emerged, disguised as a red dragon – a Targaryen.
But probably the strongest evidence for the Blackfyre theory concerns the Golden Company,
the army that joins Aegon in his invasion of Westeros in Dance. It is super fuckin weird
for the Golden Company to fight for Aegon Targaryen, because the Golden Company was
founded by Bittersteel to fight against the Targaryens, for the Blackfyres – they fought
in the Blackfyre Rebellions, they were led by Blackfyres . They are “A brotherhood
of exiles … united by the dream of Bittersteel” – and the dream of Bittersteel was to defeat
the Targaryens and put a Blackfyre on the Iron Throne . So why would the Golden Company
fight for Aegon Targaryen? Tyrion questions Illyrio about this , and Illyrio “brushe[s]
away the objection as if it were a fly”, saying eh, Blackfyre, Targaryen, tomato tomato,
all the Company really wants is to go home to Westeros . Which is, like, maybe, but that
seems to contradict Illyrio’s earlier claim that the Golden Company fights for Aegon because
of a contract “writ in … blood” – which sounds like it refers to the Golden Company’s
history with the Blackfyres. So there is a lot of uncertainty and secrecy here, but given
what we know about the Golden Company, and given all these hints about the Blackfyres,
and the “mummer’s dragon”, it seems likely that the Golden Company fights for
Aegon Targaryen because they know he’s secretly a Blackfyre.
Some versions of the theory go further, suggesting that Aegon might not only be a Blackfyre,
but that he might be Illyrio’s son. Illyrio clearly has affection for Aegon – he’s
really sad that he doesn’t get to spend time with him , he praises him , gives him
little gifts of his favourite food , he even has a chest of children’s clothes in his
home , that may have been Aegon’s when he was younger. Maybe Illyrio treats Aegon like
this cause Aegon’s his son. Aegon’s Blackfyre blood would come from Illyrio’s now-dead
wife, Serra – who had “pale golden hair streaked by silver”, like a Blackfyre, and
a name that sounds like a Targaryen or Blackfyre name . Serra may be this Blackfyre survivor
through the female line, and the mother of Aegon Blackfyre with Illyrio. The evidence
for this idea isn’t very strong, but it would go a long way in explaining why Illyrio
wants Aegon to be King. Illyrio deeply loved Serra, he sacrificed a lot of political power
and status to be with her , and after she dies of greyscale, he keeps her petrified,
stony hands as a keepsake – which is quite creepy, but it’s also a clear expression
of passionate love. Maybe Serra wanted for her son Aegon what all her Blackfyre ancestors
had failed to claim – the Iron Throne of Westeros. It might even have been a “Promise
me, Ned” sort of a situation – maybe as Serra was slowly dying of greyscale, she got
her husband Illyrio to swear to honour her memory by granting her son his – perceived
– birthright – the Throne. This also could give Varys a pretty good person
reason to support Aegon Blackfyre – Varys is a close friend to Illyrio, and may also
have been close with Serra, so it makes sense that he might want to help support Aegon.
Some people even suggest that Varys and Serra might be related – brother and sister, perhaps.
After all, they both happen to come from Lys, and they both happen to end up with Illyrio
in Pentos. Maybe Varys shaves his head to hide the pale blonde hair that he may share
with Serra. There’s a hint for this in that another character who shaves his head bald
is Egg, in Dunk and Egg. Egg shaves his head to hide his Valyrian-blonde hair, and when
Varys is introduced in the first book, he is “plump, perfumed, powdered, and as hairless
as an egg”. Also, having Blackfyre blood might explain why Varys was castrated in a
magic fire ritual – we know that fire magic in this series sometimes requires king’s
blood , and if Varys is a descendent of the Targaryens and Blackfyres, he has king’s
blood – maybe that’s why he was bought by the sorcerer in the first place. One more
thing is that we’re told that “Only the blood of the dragon would ever know the secrets
of the [Red Keep]” – specifically its secret passageways, and as it happens, Varys
knows those secrets very well . So it’s possible that Varys is Serra’s Blackfyre
brother. But even if he’s not, even if he’s only a close friend of Serra and Illyrio,
these connections could help make Varys and Illyrio’s grand plan make a whole lot more
sense. Because the story we’re told, that Varys
“serves the realm” and just wants peace, doesn’t make sense – Varys has actively
undermined three potentially peaceful regimes, and he’s taken huge, dangerous risks, orchestrated
whole wars, all to crown a teenager who might not actually make a good king. Could this
really be the ultimate goal of this master player of the game of thrones? All this stuff
about “debts of affection”, and the Blackfyres, and familial connections, hint that there
might be a deeper layer to Varys as a character. Cause all this time, Varys has seemed to be
so dispassionate, so cold and calculating . People see him as creepy , almost inhuman
– not as a man, but a sinister, all-seeing Spider , and a eunuch besides – Cersei says
that the reason why Varys is “so dangerous” is that “He doesn’t have a cock” – implying
that he lacks the passions, and desires, and weaknesses, that motivate other people . And
Varys plays this up, saying oh, “no one loves a eunuch”, “they sing no songs for
spiders”, and in the show it’s suggested clearly that he has no “desire”, which
leaves him free to work towards higher, rational goals like a peaceful realm. But maybe there’s
more to Varys than this cold, rational exterior . After all, he grew up with actors , he’s
a master of disguise , he talks endlessly about the power of illusion , and he says
quite explicitly that his role as a “sly” unscrupulous spy is an act . Maybe behind
the act, behind the illusions, and the lies , is a man, just a man, with human passions
– someone who works out of love for his friends and family. George Martin says the
only thing worth writing about is “the human heart in conflict with itself” . A cold,
rational, scheming Spider who manipulates politics and orchestrates wars for purely
cold, rational reasons is not “the human heart in conflict with itself”. A much better
story is that of a man who was born alone into the world , who was betrayed at a young
age , who was cut , and beaten , and suffered, and so learned to cherish the family he had
. A man who used illusion and deception to play the part of a passionless eunuch who
only “serve[s] the realm”, all the while secretly working, over years and years, out
of love for his family – Illyrio, Serra, and Aegon. Maybe this could be revealed in
a climactic, dramatic scene where Varys’s plans come crashing down, perhaps even the
scene of Varys’ death, imagine – a sudden, tragic, bittersweet realisation that this
evil scheming spider, who stole, and lied, and started wars, and killed good men, who
turned the whole damn realm into his puppet show – did what he did out of love.
Either that, or he’s a merman. Thanks for watching. This video has drawn
from the ideas of the Song of Ice and Fire fan community. There are links in the description
to relevant essays and posts – the series by BryndenBFish of Wars and Politics of Ice
and Fire was especially influential on this video. Thanks also to all the Patrons supporting
this channel on Patreon. If you’d like to support this channel, please pledge at patreon.com/AltShiftX.
Cheers.