High Sparrow is in the payroll of Varys

[Mithras]

The OP is reworked and I reject my proposal that High Sparrow is Varys under glamor.

The last time we saw Varys was when he was leading Tyrion to a ship to carry him across the sea. He was disguised as a begging brother.

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.

Brienne crossed paths with the septon who will be the later High Septon (who calls himself High Sparrow) on her way to Maidenpool.

“Join us, friends,” urged a spare small man in a threadbare septon’s robe, who wore a crystal on a thong about his neck. “Westeros has need of every sword.”

“We were bound for Duskendale,” declared Ser Creighton, “but mayhaps we could see you safely to King’s Landing.”

“If you have the coin to pay us for this escort,” added Ser Illifer, who seemed practical as well as penniless.

“Sparrows need no gold,” the septon said.

Ser Creighton was lost. “Sparrows?”

“The sparrow is the humblest and most common of birds, as we are the humblest and most common of men.” The septon had a lean sharp face and a short beard, grizzled grey and brown. His thin hair was pulled back and knotted behind his head, and his feet were bare and black, gnarled and hard as tree roots.

Varys calls his informers little birds. This sparrow madness which started to haunt the realm does not look natural. After all, these atrocities in Riverlands are not new. The realm suffered worse. I think the original Faith Militant Uprising against Aenys, Storming of the Dragonpit, the riot at KL and this sparrow movement is not spontaneous. They are all by-design and manipulation.

When Brienne reached Maidenpool, a strange dwarf holy brother told her all she needed to hear.

By the time Brienne found the Seven Swords again, the common room was crowded. Four septas sat closest to the fire, in robes stained and dusty from the road. Elsewhere locals filled the benches, sopping up bowls of hot crab stew with chunks of bread. The smell made her stomach rumble, but she saw no empty seats. Then a voice behind her said, “M’lady, here, have my place.” Not until he hopped off the bench did Brienne realize that the speaker was a dwarf. The little man was not quite five feet tall. His nose was veined and bulbous, his teeth red from sourleaf, and he was dressed in the brown roughspun robes of a holy brother, with the iron hammer of the Smith dangling down about his thick neck.

We know that BR used dwarfs as informers. This dwarf man told her about a fool which Brienne thought Ser Dontos but it was actually Shagwell. He gave her the name of Nimble Dick and the name of the tavern to find him. In fact, his manners give me the idea that he is a spy.

Now let us return to KL and see what Cersei thinks of this High Sparrow.

The man’s beard was grey and brown and closely trimmed, his hair tied up in a hard knot behind his head. Though his robes were clean, they were frayed and patched as well. He had rolled his sleeves up his elbows as he scrubbed, but below the knees the cloth was soaked and sodden. His face was sharply pointed, with deep-set eyes as brown as mud. His feet are bare, she saw with dismay. They were hideous as well, hard and horny things, thick with callus. “You are His High Holiness?”

This HS outmaneuvered Cersei and Margaery. He delayed blessing Tommen for a long time. He tricked Cersei into undoing Maegor’s Law. These cannot be expected from a septon whose feet suggest that he roamed the realm for a long time like Septon Meribald. How did he learn to play such delicate games?

Therefore, I present my crackpot theory that High Sparrow is in league with Varys.

“This pains me, my lord. You do not deserve to die alone on such a cold dark night. There are many like you, good men in service to bad causes … but you were threatening to undo all the queen’s good work, to reconcile Highgarden and Casterly Rock, bind the Faith to your little king, unite the Seven Kingdoms under Tommen’s rule. So …”

This shows that Varys pays much attention to have the Faith curse Tommen. It is as important as to break the Lannister-Tyrell alliance. So, how can we expect Varys to stay indifferent to the affairs of the Faith? Varys takes no chances. It is a must that Varys be the one who pulls the strings of the Faith. That is why I think the Faith will find Margaery guilty no matter what. They will let Ser Robert win the trial and Cersei rule a while longer so they can reveal the truth of UnGregor whenever they like and Cersei becomes accursed in every person's eyes in the realm.

"The Swords and the Stars have been re-formed, and this new High Septon is not the puppet that the others were. Try and get close to him."

“Ser Osney shall taste of that sweet milk in the afterlife. In The Seven-Pointed Star it is written that all sins may be forgiven, but crimes must still be punished. Osney Kettleblack is guilty of treason and murder, and the wages of treason are death.”

He is just a priest, he cannot do this. “It is not for the Faith to condemn a man to death, whatever his offense.”

“Whatever his offense.” The High Septon repeated the words slowly, weighing them. “

That is where you err, my lady because he is more than a priest.

Cersei had no idea what Jaehaerys the Conciliator might have sworn. “He did,” she agreed, “and the High Septon blessed him and anointed him as king. It is traditional for every new High Septon to give the king his blessing... and yet you have refused to bless King Tommen.”

“Your Grace is mistaken. We have not refused.”

“You have not come.”

“The hour is not yet ripe.”

Are you a priest or a greengrocer? “And what might I do to make it... riper?” If he dares mention gold, I will deal with this one as I did the last and find a pious eight-year-old to wear the crystal crown.

“The realm is full of kings. For the Faith to exalt one above the rest we must be certain. Three hundred years ago, when Aegon the Dragon landed beneath this very hill, the High Septon locked himself within the Starry Sept of Oldtown and prayed for seven days and seven nights, taking no nourishment but bread and water. When he emerged he announced that the Faith would not oppose Aegon and his sisters, for the Crone had lifted up her lamp to show him what lay ahead. If Oldtown took up arms against the Dragon, Oldtown would burn, and the Hightower and the Citadel and the Starry Sept would be cast down and destroyed. Lord Hightower was a godly man. When he heard the prophecy, he kept his strength at home and opened the city gates to Aegon when he came. And His High Holiness anointed the Conqueror with the seven oils. I must do as he did, three hundred years ago. I must pray, and fast.”

Exactly. The HS will anoint fAegon with seven oils. The hour is not ripe yet because fAegon has some wars to win.

[Dorian Martell]

thats pretty effen crackpot. The problem with any glamour theory is that GRRM reveals it as magic quite quickly after it is first shown. This is why I doubt Varys uses sorcery. and not that the tv show is the books but in the third season Varys captures and the man who cut his peen off and binds the man's hands sews his mouth shut to prevent him from casting spells

[Mithras]

thats pretty effen crackpot. The problem with any glamour theory is that GRRM reveals it as magic quite quickly after it is first shown. This is why I doubt Varys uses sorcery. and not that the tv show is the books but in the third season Varys captures and the man who cut his peen off and binds the man's hands sews his mouth shut to prevent him from casting spells

Varys lies. In this thread, it is discussed that Varys is some kind of a sorcerer. There are numerous textual evidences suggesting that.

[Maester Pedant]

It's a bit crackpot, but I love it.

:thumbsup:

[Pod The Impaler]

I do not believe Varys is the High Sparrow, but I do suspect he engineered the rise of the High Sparrow to power.

[Good Guy Garlan]

One problem I see with this is something Varys tells Kevan in the epilogue. He says that Kevan was pretty close to binding the Faith to Tommen's cause (something like that) which would be a weird thing to say if Varys is the High Septon, which is to say, the Faith

[Disputatious]

One problem I see with this is something Varys tells Kevan in the epilogue. He says that Kevan was pretty close to binding the Faith to Tommen's cause (something like that) which would be a weird thing to say if Varys is the High Septon, which is to say, the Faith

Ah, a relevant fact. How rare such things are in threads like this. My thanks to you Ser.

[CrannogXninja]

One problem I see with this is something Varys tells Kevan in the epilogue. He says that Kevan was pretty close to binding the Faith to Tommen's cause (something like that) which would be a weird thing to say if Varys is the High Septon, which is to say, the Faith

Well, members of the Golden Company were saying how Varys plan has changed a number of times....

What if The idea of using the faith to come to a cause sounded enticing to Varys, as he might have never thought of it before. Once he heard that Kevan was going to do just that, he had Kevin killed and used Kevins Plan to serve his own (Varys) means. I was literally reading this chapter last night and so this post caught my eye....I for one believe Varys is a sorcerer. Theres just too many references to it.

[House Pintur]

I do not believe Varys is the High Sparrow, but I do suspect he engineered the rise of the High Sparrow to power.

This

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

I do not believe Varys is the High Sparrow, but I do suspect he engineered the rise of the High Sparrow to power.

[Disputatious]

This

Not this. Having a loose cannon and fanatic like the current High Septon to deal with? For a control freak like Varys? No way.

[Pod The Impaler]

Not this. Having a loose cannon and fanatic like the current High Septon to deal with? For a control freak like Varys? No way.

"Nothing so terrifying as a truly just man" ?

[House Pintur]

Not this. Having a loose cannon and fanatic like the current High Septon to deal with? For a control freak like Varys? No way.

How else is Varys going to cause enough havoc to destabilize KL to the point that Aegon can stroll in. He needs KL in to be in disarray and what better way then to have the High Septon getting everyone all worked up?

[Petyr Patter]

It is possible, though Varys is on record as hating sorcery.

Still, I don't like the theory. To me, the High Sparrow is important as an unintended consequence of the chaos Varys, Littlefinger, and Tywin created that they all thought they could control for their own ends. However, here's this man using sincere faith, incredibly intelligence, and implaccable conviction fighting back against the lords who treated the commoners like dirt.

For him to be just another con from the guys who have been conning everybody for the series really undermines his character.

[Mad Monkey]

It's a cool theory, but the only thing I don't like about it is that it plays into the whole 'great man' theory where every major event is deliberately engineered by a small group of 2-3 Important People. The High Sparrow's rise to power makes sense on its own; it's the kind of thing that happens in places like King's Landing that go through events such as those depicted in books 1 through 3. It doesn't need to have been engineered by a lone gunman on a grassy knoll -- it's something that could have happened -- has happened, actually -- throughout history in both our world and in Westeros (the Faith Militant isn't a new concept). I feel like it would diminish the world building if it turned out that even organic protest movements were really only the direct command of Varys.

But it is a cool theory.

[HMR]

Crackpot indeed.

[Disputatious]

Mad monkey: your last point is a good one, and one reason why our author is unlikely to do such a thing.

[Mithras]

One problem I see with this is something Varys tells Kevan in the epilogue. He says that Kevan was pretty close to binding the Faith to Tommen's cause (something like that) which would be a weird thing to say if Varys is the High Septon, which is to say, the Faith

Well that is exactly why Varys killed Kevan, isn't it? Kevan’s positive moves forced the High Sparrow to behave but Varys killed the man so the High Sparrow can continue his fanatic campaign. The TPatQ gave a clear example of a full scale uprising in the KL. I think that will be seen again. Besides Varys is one of the few characters who is aware of the effectiveness of PR campagin for a political leader. Since he wants to install fAegon, do you think he will take his chances and leave it to a religious fanatic to bless the young king? Even Aegon the Conqueror sought the blessing of the Faith to gain he hearts of the people.

Not this. Having a loose cannon and fanatic like the current High Septon to deal with? For a control freak like Varys? No way.

:agree:

"Nothing so terrifying as a truly just man" ?

:agree: Hence, Varys cannot leave fAegon's fate into a truly just man's hands.

It is possible, though Varys is on record as hating sorcery.

Still, I don't like the theory. To me, the High Sparrow is important as an unintended consequence of the chaos Varys, Littlefinger, and Tywin created that they all thought they could control for their own ends. However, here's this man using sincere faith, incredibly intelligence, and implaccable conviction fighting back against the lords who treated the commoners like dirt.

For him to be just another con from the guys who have been conning everybody for the series really undermines his character.

I really dont understand why people still think Varys hates magic. Neither his backstory nor Illyrio's backstory are not confirmed by any other source. And these two are master liars. How can you believe what these two say about themselves? And in the other thread, there were clear foreshadowing that Varys is a real sorcerer.

I give ZERO CHANCE that the current sparrow uprising can happen by itself. The realm suffered a terrible devastation from the Wot5K but the history is full of large scale wars, some which were far more devastating than Wot5K. We never heard of such a religious campaign.

It's a cool theory, but the only thing I don't like about it is that it plays into the whole 'great man' theory where every major event is deliberately engineered by a small group of 2-3 Important People. The High Sparrow's rise to power makes sense on its own; it's the kind of thing that happens in places like King's Landing that go through events such as those depicted in books 1 through 3. It doesn't need to have been engineered by a lone gunman on a grassy knoll -- it's something that could have happened -- has happened, actually -- throughout history in both our world and in Westeros (the Faith Militant isn't a new concept). I feel like it would diminish the world building if it turned out that even organic protest movements were really only the direct command of Varys.

But it is a cool theory.

In response to previous comment, I stated why I think the sparrow uprising cannot happen by itself.

[Starkfaithful85]

why does everyone assume that the HS is a fanatic? He may be extremely devout but I haven't seen him do anything that could be considered religiously fanatical at their time. The HS strict morality is a natural reaction of the church and people to the lannister's misrule. someone on this board said that cersei didnt do anything wrong enough to warrant her walk of shame, I would like to remind that poster that she ordered the assassination of the previous HS, engaged in incest while married to the king, and defiled baelor's sept by beheading Ned. the HS is not evil he is merely a supporter of the religious ideals that their society accepts

[Mithras]

why does everyone assume that the HS is a fanatic? He may be extremely devout but I haven't seen him do anything that could be considered religiously fanatical at their time. The HS strict morality is a natural reaction of the church and people to the lannister's misrule. someone on this board said that cersei didnt do anything wrong enough to warrant her walk of shame, I would like to remind that poster that she ordered the assassination of the previous HS, engaged in incest while married to the king, and defiled baelor's sept by beheading Ned. the HS is not evil he is merely a supporter of the religious ideals that their society accepts

The fanaticism of HS is not the subject of this thread or the walk of shame. Those discussions are done in other threads and they mean trouble.

When Varys disappeared from public sight, the ruling fell to Cersei. She tried to undo everything Tywin accomplished. Lannister-Tyrell alliance was breaking. But still Varys had to act fast because the GC and fAegon set on moving and the current government should be torn to pieces to welcome him.

Breaking the Lannister-Tyrell alliance only is not enough for Varys. He should also organize a Faith uprising, so that the Tyrells look highly alien and blasphemous which will make it much easier to rip their powerful bannermen from them.

This is his main game in the KL. To fuck things over as fast and as vile as he can. The HS tricked Cersei into undoing Maegor's Law so Faith has a military power now. Chekhov rule dictates that if there is a weapon in a story, that weapon has to be used. Cersei was already guilty of many things, so Varys didn’t have to do much to present her as what she is, a mad and corrupt bitch. But the accusation of Margaery though, that required the intervention of Taena of Myr. Now I am in favor of Taena being Varys' agent. Once everything is ready, Varys took action.

Mace left the Storm's End and returned to capitol. I think Margaery will be found guilty (a la Anne Boleyn) and there will be fighting between Tyrells and Faith. Blood will flow. The news of fAegon's successful campaign and Euron taking Highgarden will be heard. Hightowers, Redwynes, Tarlys will declare for fAegon. This is Varys' plan.