22 replies to this topic

[Roderick the notdead]

Tyron asked bronn would you kill a baby torn from its mothers arms without question
Na I ask how much first. Don't remember if that was tv or not but it said it all about sellsords just saying ......

[King.In.Yellow]

It's not a riddle, per se. It's a method.
What would a person answer? If he chooses the rich man (like Shae and Bronn), that person wants money. If he chooses the priest, that person wants some spiritual or religious fulfillment (not always religious). If he chooses the king, that person might want honor, or social standing.
When you pose this riddle to people, watch their answers. Or, try to guess what this answer will be. You'll know what people want.
That's how Varys does his magic and that's why I'm quite successful in my career. Thanks GRRM!

[Prince of the North]

Yes, Varys obviously knows the "answer" to the riddle.  He's the one posing it, after all.  However, Tyrion shows that he knows the "answer" as well when he tells Shae that "it depends on the sellsword".

As King.In.Yellow says above, when someone actually chooses one of the three to be spared they are projecting their own values onto the sellsword.  What Varys and Tyrion both know is that you really have to figure out what the sellsword wants, what motivates them, in order to know what they would do

ETA: Also, knowing people's desires and what motivates them could enable one to manipulate them - as any good players of the Game would know

Edited by Prince of the North, 18 November 2012 - 08:36 PM.