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Taena Merryweather is an Agent of Varys, Not the Tyrells: A Case of Coins


BryndenBFish

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Hi everyone! I posted this earlier onto my blog, but I wanted to leave it here in its fullness for your enjoyment! Flay the theory or like it, I leave it up to you. :)



Varys and the State of Affairs in King's Landing at the Start of A Feast for Crows



Cersei's opening chapter in A Feast for Crows seemingly kicks off about 30 minutes after the death of Tywin Lannister. In it, the Lannisters & Tyrells learn of Tywin's murder, Tyrion's escape and a certain missing gaoler named Rugen. Varys' fingerprints are all over everything that's just occurred in King's Landing. A few individuals know parameters of Varys' involvement, though the only one at King's Landing at present is Jaime Lannister. Jaime knows that Varys spirited Tyrion out of his cell precisely because Varys did so at the behest of Jaime's swordpoint. But only Varys & Tyrion know who murdered Tywin, at least initially.



Thus, with Tywin dead, The Handship is vacant. And with Varys and others now gone from King's Landing, key positions in the Small Council are open and need to be filled. Fortunately, Cersei has friends to fill them.


For Varys, the political scene in King's Landing was now rife to spread chaos and dissension. Aegon and the Golden Company would land soon (hopefully with Daenerys, her army and most importantly her dragons in tow), and Varys had played a key role in planning the invasion. Removing Tywin Lannister from the equation was a necessary step in upsetting the political order.



But to give Aegon & company a better chance of success, Varys needed to break the Lannister/Tyrell alliance altogether. To do that from the shadows, he would need to clandestinely set the two against each other. He would need agents. Enter Taena Merryweather.



What Do we Know About Taena Merryweather?



“Do you have many friends across the water?”


“In Myr, many. In Lys as well, and Tyrosh. Men of power.” (AFFC, Cersei II)





Although not introduced by name, Taena Merryweather is first introduced in A Storm of Swords at Joffrey's wedding feast. There, she's described by Sansa Stark this way:




Lady Merryweather, the Myrish beauty with the black hair and the big dark eyes, spun so provocatively that every man in the hall was soon watching her. (ASOS, Sansa IV)




In Taena we are immediately introduced to her most prominent feature: her seductive physicality. It's important that Martin introduces us to Taena that way as her seductive quality is her most prominent physical and emotional trait. Jaime Lannister picks up on this as well.



Jaime could not help but note the way the Myrish woman moved her hips as she walked. Every step is a seduction. (AFFC, Jaime II)


And given Taena's coming interactions with Cersei & the Tyrells, both Sansa & Jaime are not wrong in describing her as a seductress. But what do we actually know of Taena's past? Not much. She is married to Lord Orton Merryweather, a noble house from the Reach. Lord Merryweather was appointed Hand of the King under Aerys II, but his Handship was short-lived.





His sister laughed. “Not you. Have no fear on that count. Perhaps Taena’s husband. His grandfather was Hand under Aerys.”


The horn-of-plenty Hand. Jaime remembered Owen Merryweather well enough; an amiable man, but ineffectual. “As I recall, he did so well that Aerys exiled him and seized his lands.” (AFFC, Cersei IV)




Exiled to Essos, Orton Merryweather met and married Taena, a noblewoman from the free city of Myr. After the Targaryens were ousted from rule, Orton & Taena Merryweather were given pardons and returned to the Reach. But supporting the losing side had costs. House Merryweather lost much of their land as it is reported that Orton is not nearly as wealthy as his grandsire: Owen Merryweather.



Our earliest mentions in the main series of Taena Merryweather come from the aforementioned Purple Wedding where Taena Merryweather dances with several lords and is described as seductive. During Tyrion's trial, Taena Merryweather testifies against Tyrion stating that she personally witnessed Tyrion dropping poison into Joffrey's cup (More on this later). This wins the confidence of Cersei Lannister.


As AFFC opens, Taena continues to worm her way into Cersei's confidence. First, she gives assurances to Cersei that she will use her contacts in Essos to hunt Tyrion down. At the same time, Cersei's suspicions about the Tyrells start to flower. She suspects the Tyrells of having a hand in the death of Tywin & Tyrion's escape. And thereafter, Taena begins feeding Cersei information about the Tyrells. Here's a full list of information that Taena feeds Cersei:


  • Lady Olenna Redwyne is riding back to the Reach with a chest full of coins with the imprimatur of the Gardener Kings on them.
  • Senelle, one of Cersei's Ladies-in-Waiting, is a Tyrell spy.
  • Margaery Tyrell lost her virginity to Renly Baratheon.
  • Margaery & Loras Tyrell are potentially involved in an incestuous love affair.
  • That Margery does not believe that Loras will die after his wounding at the Siege of Dragonstone
  • Planting the idea that the Blue Bard is involved sexually with Margaery Tyrell

But what was in it for Taena? Cersei thinks it involves power & wanting to see her son rise high in the world.


When Cersei is imprisoned by the Faith in King's Landing, Taena & Orton Merryweather fled from King's Landing back to Longtable. Cersei breathes a sigh of relief as Taena is both her agent as well as her confidant.




“Robert gave them back. Some, at least. Taena would be pleased if Orton could recover the rest.” (AFFC, Cersei IV)



“I know she is a mother, with a young son that she wants to rise high in this world. She will do whatever is required to see that he does. Mothers are all the same. Lady Merryweather may be a serpent, but she is far from stupid. She knows I can do more for her than Margaery, so she makes herself useful to me." (AFFC, Cersei V)




However, fans think there's good reason to doubt Cersei's judgment on Taena. Fans think that Taena is not playing it straight with Cersei. In fact, many fans believe that Taena is an agent of the Tyrells involved in something fans have termed The Grand Tyrell Conspiracy. For a long time, I shared this judgment on Taena as an agent of the Tyrells, but my last re-read of the series cast significant doubt on this theory. And when I re-read Cersei chapters from AFFC/ADWD, I came to a completely different conclusion based on some circumstantial evidence, but there's also a tantalizing clue that moves beyond circumstantial into concrete evidence.


Why Taena as an Agent of the Tyrells Doesn't Make Sense but Taena as an Agent of Varys Does



The Grand Tyrell Conspiracy Theory has this to say about Taena's identity as a Tyrell agent:



Taena's mission is to infiltrate Cersei's confidence, find some high crime that they can expose and if nothing else, entrap Cersei. She might even be specifically be looking for proof of the incest between Jamie & Cersei. If nothing else, she would be in a position to entrap Cersei by enticing her to commit some crime that would topple the queen.



It's an interesting theory, but there's something off about it. While Taena's actions ensnare Cersei and give the Faith evidence for Cersei's guilt in a number of activities, they also endanger Margaery Tyrell too. Consider that through Taena's actions, Margaery is now facing a Trial by the Faith. Though the evidence is weak against the Margaery (so much so that the Faith remands her to the custody of Randyll Tarly), she is certainly in danger, made much more so by the fact that the current High Septon is nothing if not a misogynist.



There's also the not-so-insignificant matter of the Merryweather flight from King's Landing after Cersei's arrest. Here's how Qyburn describes it:



Merryweather has resigned his seat on the council and fled back to Longtable with his wife, who was the first to bring us news of the... accusations... against Your Grace.”


“They let Taena go.” That was the best thing she had heard since the High Sparrow had said no. Taena could have doomed her. (AFFC, Cersei X)




Why would the Merryweathers flee King's Landing if they were Tyrell agents? At the end of ADWD, two large Tyrell armies sit outside of King's Landing while Tyrells & Tyrell bannermen are in power. So, the Merryweather flight from King's Landing is suspicious. Could the Merryweather flight be based off their fear on the Tyrells more than the Lannisters? Yes, and they probably had help getting out of the city in time.



Between A Storm of Swords and the epilogue of A Dance with Dragons, Varys has been conspicuously absent from the narrative. We know that he did not take ship with Tyrion for Pentos. So where was he? I think the most common belief is that Varys was within the walls of the Red Keep. We know his little birds are likely active within the walls of the Red Keep as Cersei hears noises within the walls of the Red Keep in AFFC. The assumption is that Varys himself is within the walls as well, listening, waiting and watching. But more than that, I think there's reason to believe that Varys is also meetings clandestinely with his agents, including one Taena Merryweather.



Now, this gets into some speculative territory, but in A Storm of Swords, Varys is reported to be gathering witnesses for Tyrion's trial. One of those witnesses happens to be Taena Merryweather. It's at this point that I believe that Varys recruited Taena. I'd wager that he used a shared Essosi identity to gain her trust and then used other means to recruit her as an agent of chaos.


You have to figure that Varys' role in AFFC is to sow chaos into the Lannister/Tyrell alliance and to give the coming invasion by Aegon a fighting chance. It's likely that he identified a tension point in the alliance was the rivalry between the two queens.




"The two queens are squabbling over Tommen like bitches with a juicy bone." (ADWD, The Watcher)




And making that tension point a breaking point would require a few pushes. And that's just what occurred in King's Landing. The Lannisters and Tyrells are tied up in their own intrigues that the invasion by Aegon & the Golden Company and the threat they pose to King's Landing is a sideshow to the main event.



But to be honest, all of the above evidence is circumstantial at best and assumption/head-cannon at worst. So, what's the concrete evidence for Taena as an agent of Varys?



A Case of Coins



If we dial our timeline back to the start of AFFC, we find utter shock in the court at Tywin's death & Tyrion's escape. But at the micro level, something else is off: Rugen, the undergoaler is missing as well. Now, who is Rugen? Jaime has this to say about him?



Rugen was the man’s name. An undergaoler who had charge of the black cells. The chief undergaoler describes him as portly, unshaven, gruff of speech. He held his appointment of the old king, Aerys, and came and went as he pleased.


"As it matters, though, I have more pressing concerns than your lineage.”


Longwaters inclined his head. “The lost prisoner.”


“And the missing gaoler.”


“Rugen,” the old man supplied. “An undergaoler. He had charge of the third level, the black cells.”


“Tell me of him,” Jaime had to say. A bloody farce. He knew who Rugen was, even if Longwaters did not. (AFFC, Jaime II)




So, Jaime knows about the identity of Rugen, but do we conclusively know? Well, yes. It's Varys. Jaime likely knows this due to the fact that Jaime used Varys to break Tyrion out of the Black Cells. As for us, Rugen's get-up as described by Longwaters is identical to how Ned describes Rugen in AGOT.




The eunuch’s plump cheeks were covered with a dark stubble of beard. Ned felt the coarse hair with his fingers. Varys had transformed himself into a grizzled turnkey, reeking of sweat and sour wine. (AGOT, Eddard VII)




And finally if you're not convinced, GRRM himself confirmed Rugen's identity as Varys in the commentary track to HBO's Game of Thrones S01E08's "The Pointy End."



Now that Rugen is conclusively proved to be Varys, we turn our attention to a certain coin discovered in Rugen's chamber in the Black Cells. During the investigation into Tywin's murder & Tyrion's escape, Qyburn reports something interesting found in Rugen's cell.




“Aye, Your Grace,” said Qyburn, “but did you know that under that stinking chamber pot was a loose stone, which opened on a small hollow? The sort of place where a man might hide valuables that he did not wish to be discovered?”


“Valuables?” This was new. “Coin, you mean?” She had suspected all along that Tyrion had somehow bought this gaoler.


“Beyond a doubt. To be sure, the hole was empty when I found it. No doubt Rugen took his ill-gotten treasure with him when he fled. But as I crouched over the hole with my torch, I saw something glitter, so I scratched in the dirt until I dug it out.” Qyburn opened his palm. “A gold coin.”


Gold, yes, but the moment Cersei took it she could tell that it was wrong. Too small, she thought, too thin. The coin was old and worn. On one side was a king’s face in profile, on the other side the imprint of a hand. “This is no dragon,” she said.


“No,” Qyburn agreed. “It dates from before the Conquest, Your Grace. The king is Garth the Twelfth, and the hand is the sigil of House Gardener.” (AFFC, Cersei II)




So, a Reacher coin dating to the reign of Garth XII Gardener is discovered in Rugen's cell, leading Cersei to make her own special move on her very own jump to conclusions board.




What treachery is this? Mace Tyrell had been one of Tyrion’s judges, and had called loudly for his death. Was that some ploy? Could he have been plotting with the Imp all the while, conspiring at Father’s death? With Tywin Lannister in his grave, Lord Tyrell was an obvious choice to be King’s Hand, but even so... (AFFC, Cersei II)



When he was gone, Cersei poured herself a cup of strongwine and drank it by the window, watching the shadows lengthen across the yard and thinking about the coin. Gold from the Reach. Why would an undergaoler in King’s Landing have gold from the Reach, unless he were paid to help bring about Father’s death? (AFFC, Cersei II)




Varys planted the coin in his cell, and it was almost certainly done in order to sow discord between the Lannisters and Tyrells. Moreover, it fed Cersei's paranoia of the Tyrells and their plot to place Cersei out of power, but then Cersei does something interesting. After Qyburn tells her of the coin, Cersei tells Qyburn:




You will not speak of this with anyone,” she commanded.


“Your Grace may trust in my discretion. Any man who rides with a sellsword company learns to hold his tongue, else he does not keep it long.” (AFFC, Cersei II)




So, now we know that only 3 people know about the coin in Rugen's cell: Varys, Cersei & Qyburn. But where does Taena come into all of this? Well, later, Taena shares some very interesting information with Cersei -- information that ties directly into Rugen's coin.




"And Taena tells me everything Maid Margaery is doing.


“Does she? How much do you know about this woman?”


“I know she is a mother, with a young son that she wants to rise high in this world. She will do whatever is required to see that he does. Mothers are all the same. Lady Merryweather may be a serpent, but she is far from stupid. She knows I can do more for her than Margaery, so she makes herself useful to me. You would be surprised at all the interesting things she’s told me.”


“What sorts of things?”


Cersei sat beneath the window. “Did you know that the Queen of Thorns keeps a chest of coins in her wheelhouse? Old gold from before the Conquest. Should any tradesman be so unwise as to name a price in golden coins, she pays him with hands from Highgarden, each half the weight of one of our dragons. What merchant would dare complain of being cheated by Mace Tyrell’s lady mother?” (AFFC, Cersei IV)




This little bit of a reveal is quickly dropped in the conversation between Jaime and Cersei, but it's very pregnant with possibility. If Varys, Cersei & Rugen are the only individuals who know about the Highgarden coin, it's very convenient that Taena would drop this information bomb on Cersei -- leading her to connect the dots.




"Perchance Your Grace has forgotten that our friends of Highgarden are inside the walls?”


“I forget nothing,” she told him, thinking of a certain gold coin, with a hand on one face and the head of a forgotten king on the other. How did some miserable wretch of a gaoler come to have such a coin hidden beneath his chamber pot? How does a man like Rugen come to have old gold from Highgarden? (AFFC, Cersei V)




I suppose this connection is also circumstantial. However, it fits very neatly with all of the other circumstantial evidence. Varys plants a Gardener coin, Qyburn discovers and brings to the attention of Cersei and then Taena plants evidence of the Queen of Thorns using Gardener coin (since the Gardeners would have had their imprint on gold coins from the Reach before the Conquest). It fits nicely that this piece of leaked information was at the behest of Varys in that it furthers the idea of a Tyrell Conspiracy against the Lannisters.



Conclusion


Taena's role as an agent of Varys' is not confirmed, but I believe that GRRM left very tantalizing clues as to her true identity. With her now fled to Longtable with Orton, I am not sure that we will ever see Taena again in the story, but it would be a shame if GRRM left a compelling character out of the remaining two books.



But in the end, Varys likely achieved his objective of setting the Tyrells & Lannisters against each other through seduction. And by luring them to animosity, Varys set the stage well for the coming of the Aegon and the Golden Company. This success will have definite ramifications for the future of the story. Aegon and the Golden Company are coming, and Varys' setting the Tyrells & Lannisters in opposition to each other by using agents such as Taena will likely lead to their success.


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I agree, the Tyrell conspiracy never made much sense. The only alternative to Varys could be that she belongs to littlefinger(she could have met him during the Tyrell-Lannister-alliance negotiations) or to doran martell (who claims to have friends at court).


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Good research. However, you could have also argued that Qyburn is under Varys' command as well.



My take on Taena is highly complicated. We are sure that she is playing double. She sells the Tyrells to Cersei and Cersei allows her to act like a Tyrell pet to feed them choice whispers. You made a good case about why in fact she works for Varys too. But I think she is LF's agent as well. I am not sure whether her true allegiance lies with LF or Varys though.



George has this technique called name-dropping. A name is mentioned seemingly out-of-context but it is a hint that something related to name is going on.



Let us see these two cases: Cersei/Jaime reflects on something and they recall LF making a jape which looks a bit like out of the place. But I take this as LF is pulling some strings in the events being discussed and Jaime/Cersei cannot see this.



1st Part



“He was my father’s ward. We grew up together in Riverrun. I thought of him as a brother, but his feelings for me were… more than brotherly. When it was announced that I was to wed Brandon Stark, Petyr challenged for the right to my hand. It was madness. Brandon was twenty, Petyr scarcely fifteen. I had to beg Brandon to spare Petyr’s life. He let him off with a scar. Afterward my father sent him away. I have not seen him since.”



Littlefinger carries the scar of his duel with Brandon, as we learn from Cat.



“Tell me, Alayne—which is more dangerous, the dagger brandished by an enemy, or the hidden one pressed to your back by someone you never even see?”


“The hidden dagger.”


“There’s a clever girl.” He smiled, his thin lips bright red from the pomegranate seeds. “When the Imp sent off her guards, the queen had Ser Lancel hire sellswords for her. Lancel found her the Kettleblacks, which delighted your little lord husband, since the lads were in his pay through his man Bronn.” He chuckled. “But it was me who told Oswell to get his sons to King’s Landing when I learned that Bronn was looking for swords. Three hidden daggers, Alayne, now perfectly placed.”


“So one of the Kettleblacks put the poison in Joff’s cup?” Ser Osmund had been near the king all night, she remembered.


“Did I say that?” Lord Petyr cut the blood orange in two with his dagger and offered half to Sansa. “The lads are far too treacherous to be part of any such scheme . . . and Osmund has become especially unreliable since he joined the Kingsguard. That white cloak does things to a man, I find. Even a man like him.”



Kettleblacks are the pets of LF. However, they are not entirely reliable. LF pairs his unreliable agents together and bid them to spy on each other secretly (e.g. Lothor Brune and Oswell Kettleblack watching each other). That way LF remains sure of their loyalty. So who spies the Kettleblack brothers for LF in KL secretly?



Lady Merryweather’s dark eyes shone with mischief. “Just so. Scars make a man look dangerous, and danger is exciting.”


“You shock me, my lady,” the queen said, teasing. “If danger excites you so, why wed Lord Orton? We all love him, it is true, but still...” Petyr had once remarked that the horn of plenty that adorned House Merryweather’s arms suited Lord Orton admirably, since he had carrot-colored hair, a nose as bulbous as a beetroot, and pease porridge for wits.


Taena laughed. “My lord is more bountiful than dangerous, this is so. Yet... I hope Your Grace will not think the less of me, but I did not come a maid entire to Orton’s bed.”


You are all whores in the Free Cities, aren’t you? That was good to know; one day, she might be able to make use of it. “And pray, who was this lover who was so... full of danger?”


Taena’s olive skin turned even darker as she blushed. “Oh, I should not have spoken. Your Grace will keep my secret, yes?”



In this passage above, the jape of LF does not look so necessary when you think about it first. But if you read the bolded words and reflect on how LF can be involved in this scheme, I think it becomes clear that the man who took the maidenhead of Taena cries like PEEEEEETYR. What LF said about Lord Orton misses something. Horn of plenty suits Lord Orton mostly because of the plenty of horns LF and Taena gave him.



2nd Part



Jaime could not be certain who had convinced his sister that Ser Bonifer should be named castellan of Harrenhal, but the appointment smelled of Orton Merryweather. Hasty had once served Merryweather’s grandsire, he seemed to recall dimly. And the carrot-haired justiciar was just the sort of simpleminded fool to assume that someone called “the Good” was the very potion the riverlands required to heal the wounds left by Roose Bolton, Vargo Hoat, and Gregor Clegane.



But he might not be wrong. Hasty hailed from the stormlands, so had neither friends nor foes along the Trident; no blood feuds, no debts to pay, no cronies to reward. He was sober, just, and dutiful, and his Holy Eighty-Six were as well disciplined as any soldiers in the Seven Kingdoms, and made a lovely sight as they wheeled and pranced their tall grey geldings. Littlefinger had once quipped that Ser Bonifer must have gelded the riders too, so spotless was their repute.



All the same, Jaime wondered about any soldiers who were better known for their lovely horses than for the foes they’d slain. They pray well, I suppose, but can they fight? They had not disgraced themselves on the Blackwater, so far as he knew, but they had not distinguished themselves either. Ser Bonifer himself had been a promising knight in his youth, but something had happened to him, a defeat or a disgrace or a near brush with death, and afterward he had decided that jousting was an empty vanity and put away his lance for good and all.



The decision of appointing Ser Bonifer Hasty as the castellan of Harrenhal to heal the wounds of the war sounds good as Jaime pointed. However, we can be certain that such a subtle decision cannot be designed by Cersei alone. Since there is the jape of LF in this passage again, which also looks not so necessary, we can be sure that this decision was actually LF’s alone. After all, he is the Lord of Harrenhal and since the war in Riverlands looks like mostly over, he surely wants a good man to clear the mess for him.



Since Jaime thinks that this decision smells Orton Merryweather, we can be sure that this was not his call. I think Taena gave this idea to Cersei under the command of LF.



There is another parallel we can draw from this passage to LF. Bonifer loved Queen Rhaella but he was much too lowborn to be a match for her. So he gave up jousting and dedicated himself to the Faith. Similarly, LF loved Cat but he was much too lowborn to be a match for her. He challenged Brandon but he was humiliated. So he gave up brute force and dedicated himself to the Game of Thrones.



Just before the scar dialogue between Taena and Cersei, there is the mention of Osney (who is LF’s spy) and how the servant girl likes his scars. LF is indirectly involved in this part of the conversation too. Just like Dorcas likes Osney's scars, Taena likes the scar of Osney's boss.



“Dorcas, fetch me Ser Osney Kettleblack.”


Dorcas blushed. “As you command.”


When the girl was gone, Taena Merryweather gave the queen a quizzical look. “Why did she turn so red?”


“Love.” It was Cersei’s turn to laugh. “She fancies our Ser Osney.” He was the youngest Kettleblack, the clean-shaved one. Though he had the same black hair, hooked nose, and easy smile as his brother Osmund, one cheek bore three long scratches, courtesy of one of Tyrion’s whores. “She likes his scars, I think.”



There is also the curious mention of one of Tyrion’s whores who gave those scratches to Osney. We know that the Kettleblacks captured Alayaya and Cersei had her whipped. I think this must be one of the girls in Chataya’s brothel.



Outside a cold wind was rising. They stayed up late into the morning, drinking Arbor gold and telling one another tales. Taena got quite drunk and Cersei pried the name of her secret lover from her. He was a Myrish sea captain, half a pirate, with black hair to the shoulders and a scar that ran across his face from chin to ear. “A hundred times I told him no, and he said yes,” the other woman told her, “until finally I was saying yes as well. He was not the sort of man to be denied.”


“I know the sort,” the queen said with a wry smile.

“Has Your Grace ever known a man like that, I wonder?”

“Robert,” she lied, thinking of Jaime.


Taena got drunk and told Cersei that her scarred lover was a Myrish captain. Cersei told she knew the sort but she lied about it. I think it is very clear that the story of that Myrish captain is BS, i.e. Taena lied just like Cersei while she was thinking of another person (LF).

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Well written theory, 1 minor error is that Margery was released to Ranyl Tarly not her father.

Thanks much for the correction! It's now corrected on the blog and on the OP.

Good research. However, you could have also argued that Qyburn is under Varys' command as well.

My take on Taena is highly complicated. We are sure that she is playing double. She sells the Tyrells to Cersei and Cersei allows her to act like a Tyrell pet to feed them choice whispers. You made a good case about why in fact she works for Varys too. But I think she is LF's agent as well. I am not sure whether her true allegiance lies with LF or Varys though.

George has this technique called name-dropping. A name is mentioned seemingly out-of-context but it is a hint that something related to name is going on.

Let us see these two cases: Cersei/Jaime reflects on something and they recall LF making a jape which looks a bit like out of the place. But I take this as LF is pulling some strings in the events being discussed and Jaime/Cersei cannot see this.

1st Part

“He was my father’s ward. We grew up together in Riverrun. I thought of him as a brother, but his feelings for me were… more than brotherly. When it was announced that I was to wed Brandon Stark, Petyr challenged for the right to my hand. It was madness. Brandon was twenty, Petyr scarcely fifteen. I had to beg Brandon to spare Petyr’s life. He let him off with a scar. Afterward my father sent him away. I have not seen him since.”

Littlefinger carries the scar of his duel with Brandon, as we learn from Cat.

“Tell me, Alayne—which is more dangerous, the dagger brandished by an enemy, or the hidden one pressed to your back by someone you never even see?”

“The hidden dagger.”

“There’s a clever girl.” He smiled, his thin lips bright red from the pomegranate seeds. “When the Imp sent off her guards, the queen had Ser Lancel hire sellswords for her. Lancel found her the Kettleblacks, which delighted your little lord husband, since the lads were in his pay through his man Bronn.” He chuckled. “But it was me who told Oswell to get his sons to King’s Landing when I learned that Bronn was looking for swords. Three hidden daggers, Alayne, now perfectly placed.”

“So one of the Kettleblacks put the poison in Joff’s cup?” Ser Osmund had been near the king all night, she remembered.

“Did I say that?” Lord Petyr cut the blood orange in two with his dagger and offered half to Sansa. “The lads are far too treacherous to be part of any such scheme . . . and Osmund has become especially unreliable since he joined the Kingsguard. That white cloak does things to a man, I find. Even a man like him.”

Kettleblacks are the pets of LF. However, they are not entirely reliable. LF pairs his unreliable agents together and bid them to spy on each other secretly (e.g. Lothor Brune and Oswell Kettleblack watching each other). That way LF remains sure of their loyalty. So who spies the Kettleblack brothers for LF in KL secretly?

Lady Merryweather’s dark eyes shone with mischief. “Just so. Scars make a man look dangerous, and danger is exciting.”

“You shock me, my lady,” the queen said, teasing. “If danger excites you so, why wed Lord Orton? We all love him, it is true, but still...” Petyr had once remarked that the horn of plenty that adorned House Merryweather’s arms suited Lord Orton admirably, since he had carrot-colored hair, a nose as bulbous as a beetroot, and pease porridge for wits.

Taena laughed. “My lord is more bountiful than dangerous, this is so. Yet... I hope Your Grace will not think the less of me, but I did not come a maid entire to Orton’s bed.”

You are all whores in the Free Cities, aren’t you? That was good to know; one day, she might be able to make use of it. “And pray, who was this lover who was so... full of danger?”

Taena’s olive skin turned even darker as she blushed. “Oh, I should not have spoken. Your Grace will keep my secret, yes?”

In this passage above, the jape of LF does not look so necessary when you think about it first. But if you read the bolded words and reflect on how LF can be involved in this scheme, I think it becomes clear that the man who took the maidenhead of Taena cries like PEEEEEETYR. What LF said about Lord Orton misses something. Horn of plenty suits Lord Orton mostly because of the plenty of horns LF and Taena gave him.

2nd Part

Jaime could not be certain who had convinced his sister that Ser Bonifer should be named castellan of Harrenhal, but the appointment smelled of Orton Merryweather. Hasty had once served Merryweather’s grandsire, he seemed to recall dimly. And the carrot-haired justiciar was just the sort of simpleminded fool to assume that someone called “the Good” was the very potion the riverlands required to heal the wounds left by Roose Bolton, Vargo Hoat, and Gregor Clegane.

But he might not be wrong. Hasty hailed from the stormlands, so had neither friends nor foes along the Trident; no blood feuds, no debts to pay, no cronies to reward. He was sober, just, and dutiful, and his Holy Eighty-Six were as well disciplined as any soldiers in the Seven Kingdoms, and made a lovely sight as they wheeled and pranced their tall grey geldings. Littlefinger had once quipped that Ser Bonifer must have gelded the riders too, so spotless was their repute.

All the same, Jaime wondered about any soldiers who were better known for their lovely horses than for the foes they’d slain. They pray well, I suppose, but can they fight? They had not disgraced themselves on the Blackwater, so far as he knew, but they had not distinguished themselves either. Ser Bonifer himself had been a promising knight in his youth, but something had happened to him, a defeat or a disgrace or a near brush with death, and afterward he had decided that jousting was an empty vanity and put away his lance for good and all.

The decision of appointing Ser Bonifer Hasty as the castellan of Harrenhal to heal the wounds of the war sounds good as Jaime pointed. However, we can be certain that such a subtle decision cannot be designed by Cersei alone. Since there is the jape of LF in this passage again, which also looks not so necessary, we can be sure that this decision was actually LF’s alone. After all, he is the Lord of Harrenhal and since the war in Riverlands looks like mostly over, he surely wants a good man to clear the mess for him.

Since Jaime thinks that this decision smells Orton Merryweather, we can be sure that this was not his call. I think Taena gave this idea to Cersei under the command of LF.

There is another parallel we can draw from this passage to LF. Bonifer loved Queen Rhaella but he was much too lowborn to be a match for her. So he gave up jousting and dedicated himself to the Faith. Similarly, LF loved Cat but he was much too lowborn to be a match for her. He challenged Brandon but he was humiliated. So he gave up brute force and dedicated himself to the Game of Thrones.

Just before the scar dialogue between Taena and Cersei, there is the mention of Osney (who is LF’s spy) and how the servant girl likes his scars. LF is indirectly involved in this part of the conversation too. Just like Dorcas likes Osney's scars, Taena likes the scar of Osney's boss.

“Dorcas, fetch me Ser Osney Kettleblack.”

Dorcas blushed. “As you command.”

When the girl was gone, Taena Merryweather gave the queen a quizzical look. “Why did she turn so red?”

“Love.” It was Cersei’s turn to laugh. “She fancies our Ser Osney.” He was the youngest Kettleblack, the clean-shaved one. Though he had the same black hair, hooked nose, and easy smile as his brother Osmund, one cheek bore three long scratches, courtesy of one of Tyrion’s whores. “She likes his scars, I think.”

There is also the curious mention of one of Tyrion’s whores who gave those scratches to Osney. We know that the Kettleblacks captured Alayaya and Cersei had her whipped. I think this must be one of the girls in Chataya’s brothel.

Outside a cold wind was rising. They stayed up late into the morning, drinking Arbor gold and telling one another tales. Taena got quite drunk and Cersei pried the name of her secret lover from her. He was a Myrish sea captain, half a pirate, with black hair to the shoulders and a scar that ran across his face from chin to ear. “A hundred times I told him no, and he said yes,” the other woman told her, “until finally I was saying yes as well. He was not the sort of man to be denied.”

“I know the sort,” the queen said with a wry smile.

“Has Your Grace ever known a man like that, I wonder?”

“Robert,” she lied, thinking of Jaime.

Taena got drunk and told Cersei that her scarred lover was a Myrish captain. Cersei told she knew the sort but she lied about it. I think it is very clear that the story of that Myrish captain is BS, i.e. Taena lied just like Cersei while she was thinking of another person (LF).

I agree that Qyburn could be an agent of Varys', though I think he more fits the mad scientist role as opposed to one controlled by Varys. You could argue that since all the whisperers started talking with Qyburn again that he has some connection with Varys, but I more view it as Varys feeding Qyburn information through his own intelligence network.

Per Taena being an agent of LF's: Maybe. Littlefinger remarks about Cersei stumbling from folly to folly, so he's receiving information from someone in KL, perhaps Taena is his source. I'm not so sure on the connection between the Holy Hundred and Littlefinger. LF's people (at least the ones known or suspected of being his people) come from the Riverlands, Crownlands & Vale primarily. I guess I'd like to know more of a motive for bringing the Holy Hundred to Harrenhal especially given LF's reputation & need for morally suspect people in his employ.

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I agree that Qyburn could be an agent of Varys', though I think he more fits the mad scientist role as opposed to one controlled by Varys. You could argue that since all the whisperers started talking with Qyburn again that he has some connection with Varys, but I more view it as Varys feeding Qyburn information through his own intelligence network.

Qyburn finding that gold sounds highly unlikely to me. Jaime and his men had searched Rugen's cell completely but they could not find the coin. Yet we see Qyburn coming with the coin. Note that such an information cannot be fed by a whisperer to Qyburn. A little bird cannot come and say "I heard that there is a hidden coin in Rugen's cell".

There is also this suspicious box Qyburn prepared to contain Gregor's skull which was sent to Dorne.

“Have you attended to that little task I set you?”

“I have, Your Grace. I am sorry that it took so long. Such a large head. It took the beetles many hours to clean the flesh. By way of pardon, I have lined a box of ebony and silver with felt, to make a fitting presentation for the skull.”

“A cloth sack would serve as well. Prince Doran wants his head. He won’t give a fig what sort of box it comes in.”

“Dorne still has friends at court. Friends who tell us things we were not meant to know.”

As a rule of thumb, what Cersei ignores in her folly should be highly important. Qyburn took initiative and sent Gregor’s skull in a special box to make a fitting presentation. Doran learned the plan to kill Trystane through his friend at court just after receiving Gregor’s head. All these look not much suspicious but if we recall the secret message sent by Lysa to Cat in AGoT, we can really suspect a secret message had been embedded into the box made by Qyburn.

The maester waited until the door had closed behind him before he spoke. “My lord,” he said to Ned, “pardon for disturbing your rest. I have been left a message.”

Ned looked irritated. “Been left? By whom? Has there been a rider? I was not told.”

“There was no rider, my lord. Only a carved wooden box, left on a table in my observatory while I napped. My servants saw no one, but it must have been brought by someone in the king’s party. We have had no other visitors from the south.”

“A wooden box, you say?” Catelyn said.

“Inside was a fine new lens for the observatory, from Myr by the look of it. The lenscrafters of Myr are without equal.”

Ned frowned. He had little patience for this sort of thing, Catelyn knew. “A lens,” he said. “What has that to do with me?”

“I asked the same question,” Maester Luwin said. “Clearly there was more to this than the seeming.”

Under the heavy weight of her furs, Catelyn shivered. “A lens is an instrument to help us see.”

“Indeed it is.” He fingered the collar of his order; a heavy chain worn tight around the neck beneath his robe, each link forged from a different metal.

Catelyn could feel dread stirring inside her once again. “What is it that they would have us see more clearly?”

“The very thing I asked myself.” Maester Luwin drew a tightly rolled paper out of his sleeve. “I found the true message concealed within a false bottom when I dismantled the box the lens had come in, but it is not for my eyes.”

Ned held out his hand. “Let me have it, then.”

Luwin did not stir. “Pardons, my lord. The message is not for you either. It is marked for the eyes of the Lady Catelyn, and her alone. May I approach?”

Catelyn nodded, not trusting to speak. The maester placed the paper on the table beside the bed. It was sealed with a small blob of blue wax. Luwin bowed and began to retreat.

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Good research. However, you could have also argued that Qyburn is under Varys' command as well.

My take on Taena is highly complicated. We are sure that she is playing double. She sells the Tyrells to Cersei and Cersei allows her to act like a Tyrell pet to feed them choice whispers. You made a good case about why in fact she works for Varys too. But I think she is LF's agent as well. I am not sure whether her true allegiance lies with LF or Varys though.

George has this technique called name-dropping. A name is mentioned seemingly out-of-context but it is a hint that something related to name is going on.

Let us see these two cases: Cersei/Jaime reflects on something and they recall LF making a jape which looks a bit like out of the place. But I take this as LF is pulling some strings in the events being discussed and Jaime/Cersei cannot see this.

1st Part

“He was my father’s ward. We grew up together in Riverrun. I thought of him as a brother, but his feelings for me were… more than brotherly. When it was announced that I was to wed Brandon Stark, Petyr challenged for the right to my hand. It was madness. Brandon was twenty, Petyr scarcely fifteen. I had to beg Brandon to spare Petyr’s life. He let him off with a scar. Afterward my father sent him away. I have not seen him since.”

Littlefinger carries the scar of his duel with Brandon, as we learn from Cat.

“Tell me, Alayne—which is more dangerous, the dagger brandished by an enemy, or the hidden one pressed to your back by someone you never even see?”

“The hidden dagger.”

“There’s a clever girl.” He smiled, his thin lips bright red from the pomegranate seeds. “When the Imp sent off her guards, the queen had Ser Lancel hire sellswords for her. Lancel found her the Kettleblacks, which delighted your little lord husband, since the lads were in his pay through his man Bronn.” He chuckled. “But it was me who told Oswell to get his sons to King’s Landing when I learned that Bronn was looking for swords. Three hidden daggers, Alayne, now perfectly placed.”

“So one of the Kettleblacks put the poison in Joff’s cup?” Ser Osmund had been near the king all night, she remembered.

“Did I say that?” Lord Petyr cut the blood orange in two with his dagger and offered half to Sansa. “The lads are far too treacherous to be part of any such scheme . . . and Osmund has become especially unreliable since he joined the Kingsguard. That white cloak does things to a man, I find. Even a man like him.”

Kettleblacks are the pets of LF. However, they are not entirely reliable. LF pairs his unreliable agents together and bid them to spy on each other secretly (e.g. Lothor Brune and Oswell Kettleblack watching each other). That way LF remains sure of their loyalty. So who spies the Kettleblack brothers for LF in KL secretly?

Lady Merryweather’s dark eyes shone with mischief. “Just so. Scars make a man look dangerous, and danger is exciting.”

“You shock me, my lady,” the queen said, teasing. “If danger excites you so, why wed Lord Orton? We all love him, it is true, but still...” Petyr had once remarked that the horn of plenty that adorned House Merryweather’s arms suited Lord Orton admirably, since he had carrot-colored hair, a nose as bulbous as a beetroot, and pease porridge for wits.

Taena laughed. “My lord is more bountiful than dangerous, this is so. Yet... I hope Your Grace will not think the less of me, but I did not come a maid entire to Orton’s bed.”

You are all whores in the Free Cities, aren’t you? That was good to know; one day, she might be able to make use of it. “And pray, who was this lover who was so... full of danger?”

Taena’s olive skin turned even darker as she blushed. “Oh, I should not have spoken. Your Grace will keep my secret, yes?”

In this passage above, the jape of LF does not look so necessary when you think about it first. But if you read the bolded words and reflect on how LF can be involved in this scheme, I think it becomes clear that the man who took the maidenhead of Taena cries like PEEEEEETYR. What LF said about Lord Orton misses something. Horn of plenty suits Lord Orton mostly because of the plenty of horns LF and Taena gave him.

2nd Part

Jaime could not be certain who had convinced his sister that Ser Bonifer should be named castellan of Harrenhal, but the appointment smelled of Orton Merryweather. Hasty had once served Merryweather’s grandsire, he seemed to recall dimly. And the carrot-haired justiciar was just the sort of simpleminded fool to assume that someone called “the Good” was the very potion the riverlands required to heal the wounds left by Roose Bolton, Vargo Hoat, and Gregor Clegane.

But he might not be wrong. Hasty hailed from the stormlands, so had neither friends nor foes along the Trident; no blood feuds, no debts to pay, no cronies to reward. He was sober, just, and dutiful, and his Holy Eighty-Six were as well disciplined as any soldiers in the Seven Kingdoms, and made a lovely sight as they wheeled and pranced their tall grey geldings. Littlefinger had once quipped that Ser Bonifer must have gelded the riders too, so spotless was their repute.

All the same, Jaime wondered about any soldiers who were better known for their lovely horses than for the foes they’d slain. They pray well, I suppose, but can they fight? They had not disgraced themselves on the Blackwater, so far as he knew, but they had not distinguished themselves either. Ser Bonifer himself had been a promising knight in his youth, but something had happened to him, a defeat or a disgrace or a near brush with death, and afterward he had decided that jousting was an empty vanity and put away his lance for good and all.

The decision of appointing Ser Bonifer Hasty as the castellan of Harrenhal to heal the wounds of the war sounds good as Jaime pointed. However, we can be certain that such a subtle decision cannot be designed by Cersei alone. Since there is the jape of LF in this passage again, which also looks not so necessary, we can be sure that this decision was actually LF’s alone. After all, he is the Lord of Harrenhal and since the war in Riverlands looks like mostly over, he surely wants a good man to clear the mess for him.

Since Jaime thinks that this decision smells Orton Merryweather, we can be sure that this was not his call. I think Taena gave this idea to Cersei under the command of LF.

There is another parallel we can draw from this passage to LF. Bonifer loved Queen Rhaella but he was much too lowborn to be a match for her. So he gave up jousting and dedicated himself to the Faith. Similarly, LF loved Cat but he was much too lowborn to be a match for her. He challenged Brandon but he was humiliated. So he gave up brute force and dedicated himself to the Game of Thrones.

Just before the scar dialogue between Taena and Cersei, there is the mention of Osney (who is LF’s spy) and how the servant girl likes his scars. LF is indirectly involved in this part of the conversation too. Just like Dorcas likes Osney's scars, Taena likes the scar of Osney's boss.

“Dorcas, fetch me Ser Osney Kettleblack.”

Dorcas blushed. “As you command.”

When the girl was gone, Taena Merryweather gave the queen a quizzical look. “Why did she turn so red?”

“Love.” It was Cersei’s turn to laugh. “She fancies our Ser Osney.” He was the youngest Kettleblack, the clean-shaved one. Though he had the same black hair, hooked nose, and easy smile as his brother Osmund, one cheek bore three long scratches, courtesy of one of Tyrion’s whores. “She likes his scars, I think.”

There is also the curious mention of one of Tyrion’s whores who gave those scratches to Osney. We know that the Kettleblacks captured Alayaya and Cersei had her whipped. I think this must be one of the girls in Chataya’s brothel.

Outside a cold wind was rising. They stayed up late into the morning, drinking Arbor gold and telling one another tales. Taena got quite drunk and Cersei pried the name of her secret lover from her. He was a Myrish sea captain, half a pirate, with black hair to the shoulders and a scar that ran across his face from chin to ear. “A hundred times I told him no, and he said yes,” the other woman told her, “until finally I was saying yes as well. He was not the sort of man to be denied.”
“I know the sort,” the queen said with a wry smile.
“Has Your Grace ever known a man like that, I wonder?”
“Robert,” she lied, thinking of Jaime.
Taena got drunk and told Cersei that her scarred lover was a Myrish captain. Cersei told she knew the sort but she lied about it. I think it is very clear that the story of that Myrish captain is BS, i.e. Taena lied just like Cersei while she was thinking of another person (LF).

Interesting..

but Taena´s actions aren´t what Littlefinger needs right now..

He did not hold her kiss against her. “You would not believe half of what is happening in King’s Landing, sweetling. Cersei stumbles from one idiocy to the next, helped along by her council of the deaf, the dim, and the blind. I always anticipated that she would beggar the realm and destroy herself, but I never expected she would do it quite so fast. It is quite vexing. I had hoped to have four or five quiet years to plant some seeds and allow some fruits to ripen, but now . . . it is a good thing that I thrive on chaos. What little peace and order the five kings left us will not long survive the three queens, I fear.”

Taena is clearly working for someone that wants to break the Lannister-Tyrell alliance.. therefore bringing donw the current regime..

That doesn´t sound like the four or five years littlefinger expected and wanted Cersei to rule..

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Interesting..

but Taena´s actions aren´t what Littlefinger needs right now..

Taena is clearly working for someone that wants to break the Lannister-Tyrell alliance.. therefore bringing donw the current regime..

That doesn´t sound like the four or five years littlefinger expected and wanted Cersei to rule..

Yes, that is why Taena is more likely to be the pet of Varys but LF might not be aware of that.

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I think she is one of LFs women.The reason for her being not Varys's spy: Varys trusted noone about his plan other then Illyrio in all these years all his spies came from him, although he knew about the secret pact between Dorne and Targeryans about the marriage he didn't mention Aegon to his "mother"s family so Varys trusting to a shifty character like Taena is highly unlikely and it doesn't fit his plan.Varys wants Cersei on the throne to mess things up worse but the trial is a risky move that could have removed Cersei from the play altogether.


On the other hand LF would like Mutual destruction of Tyrell and Lannisters.He already destroyed three ancient houses (Stark, Tully, Arryn), Lannisters are a spent force ruling all in name, Tyrells are stupid, Dorne is the only one remaining.Damaging Lannisters more, creating a rift between their aliance benefits LF.Who has all the money and Vale and Harrenhal in his pocket(Sansa too).


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yes sure, she could be a triple agent..

the Varys pet makes the most sense to me, yet it doesn´t explain the pirate lover thing..and that seems important.

BTW, Any thoughts on the theory that her son is actually one of Robert bastards?

Russell Merryweather was allegedly born at Longtable in 293/294 per the wiki. He could be one of Robert's bastards, but I'm not sure that Robert ever journeyed out to Longtable, made more so by the fact that Robert's presence there would go for ill among the Merryweathers given that he took some of their lands and incomes. But anything is possible I suppose. Is there a link to this theory?

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