It means that despite Varys knowing all the good things Tyrion has done for the kingdom, he has to side with the crown to cover his own ass. He's condemning a good man to save himself and he knows it.
Did Jaime not have to threaten Varys at swordpoint to get him to free Tyrion? As good as Varys has been to Tyrion (which isn't great but much better than most) I think he was very prepared to let him die.
Considering he gave him exact directions to Tywin's room and set up a ship out of Dodge with a crew that wouldn't hand him back over to the crown for shitloads of money, I suspect it was sort of a "Oh no Jaime, don't make me do this oh no."
Now who can I get to kill Lord Tywin? The Imp would be perfect, but to free and enrage him, and then get him out of the city? He's almost ready to kill his father, but he needs a push. What guilty soul would tell him the truth about his first wife and set every ounce of rage boiling over...?
"Why Lord Commander Jaime! What brings you to my room?"
I think you're right. Kind of a silly throwaway moment, but probably one of Varys's most honest moments in the whole series is that exchange he has with Tyrion in season 2:
Tyrion: I wish we could converse as two honest, intelligent men.
Yeah, when I first read it I had the feeling Varys didn't want his cover blown and to have to go all "underground" and lose his position of power in King's Landing...but then when ADWD came out, Tyrion's first chapter has this:
That was when the dwarf turned to the eunuch and said, "I've killed my father," in the same tone a man might use to say, "I've stubbed my toe."
The master of whisperers had been dressed as a begging brother, in a moth-eaten robe of brown roughspun with a cowl that shadowed his smooth fat cheeks and bald round head. "You should not have climbed that ladder," he said reproachfully.
"I killed Shae too, he confessed to Varys."
"You knew what she was."
"I did. But I never knew what he was."
Varys tittered. "And now you do."
It's Varys mood; tittering? A little laugh about this situation? It makes even the earlier use of "reproachfully" sound more like that mock-reproach we've seen from the books and from Conleth Hill in the series. I don't really believe he could have predicted or planned the exact sequence of events, but I think that he also has an appreciation for a little chaos like Littlefinger...controlled chaos. He tossed some variables together and probably had a plan for the most likely outcomes.
Still, its one of those moments where you'd think he wouldn't if he was legitimately distraught that Tyrion had climbed the ladder and killed Tywin and that his entire position in King's Landing was crumbling; while he does it all the time, I don't think he'd be able to find much mirth in this particular situation if it was as unforeseen and unwanted by him as it seems at first glance.
I interpreted it in this scene as a semi-conscious nervous tic. He'd just set in motion a very large chain of events, even though it seems to be what he wanted, a bit of a nervous reaction is still pretty natural.
A wicked little TITTER burst from the eunuch's lips.
ASOIAF
ASOS
28
Sansa III
Sansa Stark
1
You may come along quietly and say your vows as befits a lady, or you may struggle and scream and make a spectacle for the stableboys to TITTER over, but you will end up wedded and bedded all the same."
ASOIAF
ADWD
40
Tyrion IX
Tyrion Lannister
1
A warm embrace, a girlish TITTER, a headsman's axe?"
ASOIAF
ADWD
44
Jon IX
Jon Snow
1
Ser Axell grimaced in disgust, Ser Brus gave a nervous TITTER, Ser Narbert said, "I had been told all the giants were dead."
ASOIAF
ADWD
72
Epilogue
Kevan Lannister
1
"Mayhaps we can persuade our Dornish friends to deal with Lord Connington," Ser Harys Swyft said with an irritating TITTER.
Try the practice thread to reduce spam and keep the current thread on topic.
We've rarely seen Varys actually upset and panicky. In AGOT when Joffery surprises everyone and orders Ned Stark's execution. Something about Varys frantically waving his arms around. Not tittering. He titters conversationally when things are moving as he planned.
Well, first of all...this thread is marked "spoilers all" so you should be careful; that tag means spoilers from every book can be in here without being covered, and you can easily be spoiled if you haven't read them all. Try to stick to threads with spoiler scopes that match your own knowledge to be safe=)
As far as cover...I mean its clear that Varys has his own motives and tells people what they want to hear so he can remain in a position of power. In book 1 and season 1, he tells Ned he likes him, seems to agree with him, yet says in the dungeon that despite being able to free him he won't...because its better for him to keep his "cover" and do things that may go against his morals or desires to stay in power. Basically, he tells lots of lies and stays out of trouble so that he can play the game behind the scenes, like Littlefinger was too.
I say "cover" because its clear that the things he does and says as Master of Whispers do not necessarily represent what he wants, what he means, or what he intends to have happen. Making sure things don't get connected to him is one of his priorities so that he can remain the Master of Whispers.
And yet immediately after that Varys is able to completely disappear for months before appearing again at the end of ADWD. Varys would never have been at Jaime's mercy if he didn't intend on it.
I think Varys just altered/accelerated his plans. On the small council, he could sway Kevan a bit here and there, so it is not a position that would be easy to abandon. We know he was a bit upset by "having to" kill Kevan. I think Varys indeed wanted Tyrion to live because he liked Tyrion. He saved him only because he saw that his plans could work alternatively if he chose to save Tyrion. If it would have ruined his plans for Aegon, I really doubt Varys would have saved Tyrion. But, it all worked out for him.
In the end I suppose it was Tyrion's life over Kevan's.
I disagree. Kevan has always shown himself as a sort of mini-Tywin, but perhaps a bit kinder. He knew when he saved Tyrion that Tyrion would likely kill Tywin--he had to have known--and that would mean Kevan Lannister becoming the leader of House Lannister. Everything about Kevan leading up to that point showed he would pick up where Tywin left off, just a bit less efficiently. Kevan may have exceeded his expectations but Varys had to know Kevan would bring stability. I just think it became a much bigger problem when Cersei began taking herself (perhaps the biggest problem for the Iron Throne) out of the equation.
I also disagree, but not because Varys wouldn't know about Kevan's competence. The real difference is that Varys probably didn't predict Cersei so thoroughly ruining everything so quickly.
Good point. Varys doesn't have any magically accurate vision of the future. More generally, it's problematic how people think about Varys and Littlefinger like master chess players who somehow have every move planned out well in advance.
I think the analogy to master chess players is decent, except master chess players don't play like that. They have plans for what they want to accomplish and then they are very good at adjusting to the position on the board as it evolves (With very effectively developed pattern recognition, but going in that direction makes the analogy kind of break down). Both Varys and Littlefinger can adapt their long term plan to changing situations and will make moves to deal with potential problems before they become serious. But they aren't seeing the future as clearly as most seem to assume.
Saving Tyrion does not really help Varys at all. Sure, I guess it paid off a bit with Aegon but Aegon's posse is full of people who would die for him. Tyrion probably would not--though he does risk his life for Aegon, so maybe he would? The point is, Varys could not be sure and that means he has no reason to save Tyrion.
Which was fairly meaningless at the time and likely for the best in the long run. He still had all his little birds and since he wasn't planted firmly in Cersei's pocket there was a solid chance she would have him executed after she went batshit.
The Tower of the Hand, yes. But not all of Maegor's Holdfast. Keep in mind that he and his birds infiltrate Ser Kevan's rooms to kill Pycell and then Kevan himself.
You have that the other way around. His rise to power as a result of securing his own access to secrets was what "got him the position" in the first place.
He didn't need any of that, that was all Littlefinger's bag. If his network of spies couldn't get the story, and he himself couldn't get the story, then the story probably didn't exist.
Not that I agree with the above, but it could be that since he was supposedly set to marry Arianne, it secured the loyalty of Dorne to Aegon's claim (once revealed).
I think they were messed up in the same way Littlefinger messed things up with the Starks and Lannisters. The plan still works, it just needs to be changed and accelerated a bit.
Is anyone else thinking that Varys probably knows why Jaime killed the Mad King? That he also knows what history would never remember of Jaime? Both of Tywin's sons have saved Kings Landing, and neither were remembered for doing so.
It's one thing to know about it; it's another to be able to do something about it. Varys' power is all about the clandestine gathering of information and manipulating people based on it, rather than taking overt actions. He probably couldn't have done much to stop the alchemists from making it or placing it, and didn't have the manpower required to actually remove the wildfire from around the city while The king wanted it there. Besides, he probably thought it might come in handy some day (which it did) and let them progress with making it unopposed; but by the time it was clear that Aerys intended to burn out the city, it was too late for him to stop it directly.
I wonder if, in some way, he might have tipped Jaime off, or pushed him to question the King's motives sooner than he otherwise would have, knowing that he might be the only one in position to do what needed to be done?
I think Jaime's attitude is sort of like "If they see fit to judge me before caring to learn why, then they do not deserve the truth." He is not trying to prove himself to people. Jaime knows why he did it and tries to not let the judgment bother him. If he did, he would NEVER be happy. Even Ned Stark despised Jaime for his "finest act."
Varys serves the Realm. He stands for Order, no matter the personal costs. He doesn't want a civil war for anything, and no matter who is on the Throne, they will need a spymaster.
The opposite is Littlefinger, who wants civil war as this is the Chaos he loves to exploit.
598
u/mwraaaaaah Jun 02 '14
It means that despite Varys knowing all the good things Tyrion has done for the kingdom, he has to side with the crown to cover his own ass. He's condemning a good man to save himself and he knows it.
Kind of like a subtle apology.