Theory: Darkstar works for Varys, and here's why

[Sweet-N-SourRobin]

Yeah, this could work.

Darkstar does have the chip on his shoulder about being from "the wrong branch" and Arthur getting all the fame and glory in the family. Sounds like the sort of man who'd be susceptible to Varys's promises of greater things. Or Littlefinger's for that matter.

Lord of Starfall OR The Kingsguard, either could be enough for Darkstar, we don't quite know which he'd want more, but if he has an inferiority complex next to Uncle Arthur the latter could well be as seductive as the former. Either way I hope he nicks the sword.

Poisoned Blade and/or that meaning He Didn't Miss, After All I'm not completely convinced but that seems plausible too. Dornish hawks want Myrcella dead to force a war on Doran.

“The one in her own den.” Ser Gerold drew his sword. It glimmered in the starlight, sharp as lies. “This is how you start a war. Not with a crown of gold, but with a blade of steel.”

Indeed. And yeah, this has me thinking he was planning on this from the start. He's the mole, but not necessarily Doran's mole, or at least ONLY Doran's mole.

[Skoboe]

OK - I'll ask the obvious again, and risk being flamed, again :)

How could a reknowned fighter and knight, with a dirty big sword, not manage to kill an unprotected, unsuspecting 8 year old girl outright? I'm no swordsman, but if it was a downstroke she would have been cut in half, if it was a sidestroke half her head would be on the ground...no, it was a careful cut to remove her ear.

Darkstar was feared and awed throughout Dorne...if he wanted to kill Myrcella her bones would already be on their way to KL.

I agree DS is working for someone, but I'd propose that someone is Littlefinger, and the order was specifically to maim and disfigure, not kill.

Why? Varys wants chaos in the Kingdoms. He would have got equal amounts of chaos from Dorne pushing Myrcella's claim on the IT as he would from having Myrcella killed. So why take the extra risk?

Secondly, it's clear to me that LF's grand plan is the destruction of the Lannisters, but on his terms. Without retyping it all it's here http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/99567-lord-petyr-reyne-the-valonqar/)

LF will make sure all the Lannister brats will die in spectacular fashion, with hundreds of witnesses. If Myrcella was stuck in Dorne how can he make a public show of it?

What better way to have Myrcella returned to KL than to have her maimed then play the 'good guy' to broker a deal to get her back?

[Ally Cat of the canals]

With Darkstar I never thought he meant to kill Mycella just by wounding her he could have accomplished a war we know that Cersei is mad, paranoid and fiercely protective of her children like a lioness. If Darkstar is in contact with Varys he would have known that Cersei is convinced that harm will come to her children, Varys got easily have overhead Cersei talking about Maggie the frog. I'm not sure about the poison theory, but any harm coming to Mycella would cause Dorne to be worried about the lannisters starting a war with them along with the fact the Viper has just be killed by one of their bannermen.

[Reek Da Villain]

Varys doesn't really strike me as the type to harm an innocent child. He seems more like the type that was taken advantage of in his youth.

[Sansa_Stark]

Varys doesn't really strike me as the type to harm an innocent child. He seems more like the type that was taken advantage of in his youth.

lol no.

Varys is full of shit.

He detongues his little birds.

[Ally Cat of the canals]

I was just thinking he removes the tongues of his little birds. I think Varys is capable if anything if it is in the good of the realm or his idea of what is good for the realm. He left Sansa get treated like shit by Joffery he could have removed her from KL and returned her to her family if he really wanted but then he would have had to give up his plan.

[Jon of the Dead]

Why? Varys wants chaos in the Kingdoms. He would have got equal amounts of chaos from Dorne pushing Myrcella's claim on the IT as he would from having Myrcella killed. So why take the extra risk?

Varys doesn't want chaos to rain on everyone, just on those who are threat to Aegon. Varys needs all the power of Dorne behind Aegon. Dorne crowning Myrcella would be such a setback for Varys on so many levels:

1. It would mean yet another contender with a claim to the IT for Aegon to fight

2. It would mean one less kingdom to declare for Aegon

3. It would mean Dorne engaging in a war against the Iron Throne or even amongst itself and thus weakening

Dorne is Aegon's best chance now and Varys knows it

What better way to have Myrcella returned to KL than to have her maimed then play the 'good guy' to broker a deal to get her back?

I see some things wrong with this:

1. LF is not in charge of brokering alliances for the IT anymore, at least not from somewhere as far from Dorne as the Vale

2. LF is done doing the Lannisters' bidding. He already got Harrenhal and the Vale from them, and now they are a sinking ship. What he needs to be doing now is controlling the Vale and watching the Lannisters self-destruct

3. If all he wanted was to return Myrcella back to KL, why maim her? Areo Hotah had already captured Arianne's party when DS attacked Myrcella

4. Returning Myrcella to Cersei and the Tyrells means giving them an extra life in case Tommen dies

In short, I think the perfect outcome for LF would have been the war Arianne was planning. He would have seen the Lannisters, Tyrells and Martells destroy each other in all-out war between Tommen and Myrcella.

That's why I think LF didn't do it. Varys, on the other hand, had every reason to prevent Myrcella from getting crowned

[Sansa_Stark]

Great theory.

Keep it up, I like your theories. Good and non pretentious.

[Jon of the Dead]

lol no.

Varys is full of shit.

He detongues his little birds.

I was just thinking he removes the tongues of his little birds. I think Varys is capable if anything if it is in the good of the realm or his idea of what is good for the realm. He left Sansa get treated like shit by Joffery he could have removed her from KL and returned her to her family if he really wanted but then he would have had to give up his plan.

This. And there was also an interesting thread by Roamin Ronin (I think) about how Varys left Barra and Rhaenys to die, but he did save Gendry and Aegon because it suited him.

And I think Varys knows that in order for Aegon to truly succeed Tommen and Myrcella have to die. He has spent who knows how long planning all this and I don't think he'll risk it by sending them to exile or something, at the risk of them making a comeback later

Great theory.

Keep it up, I like your theories. Good and non pretentious.

Thanks! :D

[Reek Da Villain]

Why would Varys teach his little birds to read and write if he detongues them?

That doesn't make sense.

[Sweet-N-SourRobin]

Why would Varys teach his little birds to read and write if he detongues them? That doesn't make sense.

Most people in Westeros -- even lords -- can't read. But they can hear.

That's why he does it. Almost as good as actual encryption.

[FaSome]

Doran is the true riddle when it comes to Darkstar, hell I'd wager Doran is the most underrated character of the series.

The question that must be asked if Darkstar is an agent of Doran is: If Doran wants a war with the iron throne immediately why put on such a fiasco with placing Darkstar in Arianne's childish plot? Why not just threaten to kill Myrcella?

The simple answer to this is that Doran is doing exactly what he is known for....OVERTHINKING things. He makes back up plans to his back plans just in case his secondary plans fall through.

"I am not blind, nor deaf. I know you all believe me weak, frightened, feeble. Your father knew me better. Oberyn was ever the viper. Deadly, dangerous, unpredictable. No man dared tread on him. I was the grass. Pleasant, complaisant, sweet-smelling, swaying with every breeze. Who fears to walk upon the grass? But it is the grass that hides the viper from his enemies and shelters him until he strikes.

I find this qoute from Doran very interesting given what Daemon Sand later says to Arianne of Gerold Dayne:

"Ser Gerold is more of a viper than your uncle ever was."

Martin has very quietly moved all POV's away from Doran and in his time off screen is when a lot of his plans will come to fruition.

[Nozlym]

In response to Skoboe

OK - I'll ask the obvious again, and risk being flamed, again :)

How could a reknowned fighter and knight, with a dirty big sword, not manage to kill an unprotected, unsuspecting 8 year old girl outright? I'm no swordsman, but if it was a downstroke she would have been cut in half, if it was a sidestroke half her head would be on the ground...no, it was a careful cut to remove her ear.

" Only Ser Gerold Dayne had escaped unscathed. Darkstar. If Myrcella’s horse had not shied at the last instant, his longsword would have opened her from chest to waist instead just taking off her ear"

from the sample chapter of Arianne in the Winds of Winter.

(dont know how to do the quote box thing)

[Skoboe]

Not disagreeing with you; I love your theories like most people - my comments are more 'what-ifs' based on the Petyr Reyne theory;

I see some things wrong with this:

1. LF is not in charge of brokering alliances for the IT anymore, at least not from somewhere as far from Dorne as the Vale

True for now...he was the golden child until Tywin took over as Hand. Now Tywin is dead, Kevan is dead, the High Septon is a new political force and Cersei is free and in a baaaad mood. It's a new game in KL now.

2. LF is done doing the Lannisters' bidding. He already got Harrenhal and the Vale from them, and now they are a sinking ship. What he needs to be doing now is controlling the Vale and watching the Lannisters self-destruct

Doing the Lannisters bidding has been a means to an end for LF, with the mini-powerplay between him and Varys, he needed to show he was the one to trust. Harrenhal and the Vale are immaterial to LF...it's his ancestral home of Castamere that he wants, and the ability to give everyone around him a big "FU".

3. If all he wanted was to return Myrcella back to KL, why maim her? Areo Hotah had already captured Arianne's party when DS attacked Myrcella

Myrcella was sent to Dorne to shore up an alliance and stop Dorne siding with Renly. Sending Myrcella back in one piece would send the message that the alliance was over. Given Cersei's superiority complex however, maiming her would just reinforce Cersei's view that Prince Doran is a timid, weak little man who doesn't want to upset such a wonderful Queen. End result - Cersei thinks she has scared Dorne to the point where they are not seen as a threat (this could also work for Varys).

4. Returning Myrcella to Cersei and the Tyrells means giving them an extra life in case Tommen dies

Only if the longevity of the Lannister line was of a concern to LF. It's not, he wants to destroy them. But he doesn't want anyone else to do it.

In short, I think the perfect outcome for LF would have been the war Arianne was planning. He would have seen the Lannisters, Tyrells and Martells destroy each other in all-out war between Tommen and Myrcella.

That's why I think LF didn't do it. Varys, on the other hand, had every reason to prevent Myrcella from getting crowned

Again - while he wants to see the Lannister go the way of the dinosaurs, he wants to control their demise...he's like a serial killer in that respect.

In short, he doesn't care who sits the IT, as long as his personal and well planned destruction of House Lannister becomes a song more widely sung than the Rains of Castamere.

[Skoboe]

In response to Skoboe

" Only Ser Gerold Dayne had escaped unscathed. Darkstar. If Myrcella’s horse had not shied at the last instant, his longsword would have opened her from chest to waist instead just taking off her ear"

from the sample chapter of Arianne in the Winds of Winter.

(dont know how to do the quote box thing)

Yep - I know it says that in the text. Even when I read that (well before joing this great forum!) I thought "no, no, no".

A knight who was probably been trained to fight from horseback and swing a sword from the time he was 5 simply does not miss an easy target, even if the horse shied.

If he didn't land a killing blow the first swing, the second one would have made up for it.

If his intentions were to kill Myrcella, she would be dead.

The line "If Myrcella’s horse had not shied at the last instant, his longsword would have opened her from chest to waist instead just taking off her ear" was reported to Doran by someone who assumed Darkstar meant to kill her. And in their mind, the horse shying the way it did is the only possible explanation for him failing to do so.

[Nozlym]

I think we just have to accept the fact that DS had one chance to kill her and missed. We don't know the exact details of what happened. For instance after Myrcella was cut maybe she fell from her horse and DS didnt have time to jump down and finish her off else he would have been caught.

[Lord_Tyrell]

I thought about LF as well. Darkstar fits the type of scum on his payroll: young, petty, amoral lords like Lyn Cobray

BUT, there are a couple of things:

1. The best thing that could happen for LF is that the Lannisters, Tyrells and Martells destroy each other because they are at the moment his biggest oposition. He could have benefitted a lot from a war between Myrcella and Tommen, so why stop Arianne's plot?

2. LF has nothing to give Darkstar as valuable as the chance to reach the level of fame of Arthur Dayne. LF is far away at the Vale, he has no power in Dorne. And his scheme with Sansa is still uncertain at best, while Aegon is already on Westeros.

1. I don't think he foresaw that Arianne would try to make Myrcella queen, and even if he did, he would know that Arianne succeeding and starting a war with the Lannisters would be iffy at best. It would be guaranteed war between the Lannisters and the Martells if Myrcella were to be killed by Doran's own bannerman. He'd go with the guarantee over the gamble.

2. Decent point, but I'm not sure if that's his motive.

[Tokando]

Nice theory, but I just assumed that DS wanted war with the IR. After getting rumbled at the boat, he knew their plans were not going to work so he enacted plan B! Kill the princess. I honestly believe that's the only reason, for war.

[Lord_Tyrell]

Secondly, it's clear to me that LF's grand plan is the destruction of the Lannisters, but on his terms. Without retyping it all it's here http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/99567-lord-petyr-reyne-the-valonqar/)

LF will make sure all the Lannister brats will die in spectacular fashion, with hundreds of witnesses. If Myrcella was stuck in Dorne how can he make a public show of it?

What better way to have Myrcella returned to KL than to have her maimed then play the 'good guy' to broker a deal to get her back?

Why would he want it to be in spectacular fashion? All that needs to be done is have Myrcella die while she's in the care of the Martells. What would it accomplish if Myrcella would be safe back in King's Landing and dies by some random person? That won't cause war. Killing Myrcella when she's under the protection of another is the way to go.

[Lord_Tyrell]

Varys doesn't really strike me as the type to harm an innocent child. He seems more like the type that was taken advantage of in his youth.

Varys is full of shit. He probably kills off his Little Birds once they grow to old, only keeping his favored ones.