[Book Spoilers] Who was that dude Varys and Tyrion were looking at?

[JMJ]

The show seems to like spending more time on Varys than the books did - Conleth Hill is awesome, and I don't blame them. Makes me think, how are they going to talk about the Illyrio/Varys backstory? It also begs the question that none of us (except GRRM presumably) know, which is what is Varys' end game?

[The Dragon King]

Has anyone ever CONFIRMED that Varys is indeed a eunuch?

Varys wants Tyrion to think it's the sorcerer for across the sea but how do you know he's not playing him? The guy in the box could be some random guy from Westeros. Also, did it appear that his mouth was sewn shut? If so I'd imagine he'd die very quickly from dehydration and likely not survive a journey from Essos.

[Mike McDee]

Pretty sure the Ros scene last season where Varys gains her as a whisperer proved there was nothing going on downstairs.

[Theda Baratheon]

I was actually really pleased with this scene. I totally did a ''holy shit'' moment.

[Iotun]

The scene was rather cool, but if you really stop to think about it, rather unrealistic. Tyrion just happens to walk into Vary's room just as he's opening up a box containing a sorcerer, right in the middle of his chambers, and the topic of conversation is close enough to something that Varys an link with his story about being cut. More than that, Varys would NEVER expose himself quite like that even to Tyrion. Tell him the story of him being cut, yes, but to show him that he secretly has people shipped to him bound and gagged from across the seas?

[Dr. Pepper]

It was a really odd scene at first, but I liked the foreshadowing. Foreshadowing of Tyrion's murderous spree, shipping Tyrion. And also illustrating that Varys is a man who plays a long and slow game. Was a good adaptation.

[Darth Pipes]

So Varys just found him on eBay?

Maybe Varys found him on Craigslist.

I liked the scene a lot. It was a surprise.

[WiDMNDBAMMD]

Has anyone ever CONFIRMED that Varys is indeed a eunuch?

Varys wants Tyrion to think it's the sorcerer for across the sea but how do you know he's not playing him? The guy in the box could be some random guy from Westeros. Also, did it appear that his mouth was sewn shut? If so I'd imagine he'd die very quickly from dehydration and likely not survive a journey from Essos.

I think Ros confirmed Varys had "nothing there" last season.

Also if the guy is a sorcerer then he can survive for quite awhile without food or water, there's other examples of this in the books...

Melisandre, Moqorro etc.

[chris999]

This definately was not in the books, but he did mention the magician, and what he did to him.

It looks to me like the over seas part of the story with merchant Illyrio and Varys' secret friends and plots may get fleshed out more than the books have let on so far. Maybe this means that Aegon's coming story line may be more important than the books have led us to believe so far.

All I know is that supossedly GRRM has given the producers a version of the end of the story in cause he gets sick or dies, so maybe the producers feel the need to get into more details so that future storylines will make more sense and be easier to adapt to screen later on?

[stiff_pirates]

People keep saying that Varys keeps this guy in a box. I did not interept it this way at all.

I thought rather the sorceress had just been shipped there, and this was the first time Varys had opened said crate.

As for why this dude is even in the show I do not know, perhaps just to show how serious a man Varys really is.

Agreed. It was definitely a plot device to show that Varys has serious convictions and a darker plotting side to his usual 'whispers'.

SPOILER:

Don't forget at the end of the third book, Varys is no longer a small council member and isn't too stressed by the amount of main character deaths occuring around him. Also, after his disappearance from KL, he doesn't show until the end of ADWD, where he very capably controls more murders (of Kevan Lannister).

[Ororo727 Jon Snow Fangirl]

Was dudes lips sewn together? They king of looked like maggots on his mouth, but he wasn't screaming.

[mediterraneo]

I saw in this scene an attack to the Lannister's family unity, an attempt to pull Tyrion away, ready to be used after being found guilty of the Purple Wedding.

Things are marching, and the only one in the court that wouldn't feel better if something happened to Jeoffrey is his mother.

Varys's scene is so well planned of (was the old man in the box with his lips sewn, wasn't him?) that I find it difficult to believe that, right now, with the war, the things happening.... Illyrio found the way and the time to send him the warlock.

I took it as another one of Varys's charades, with an old man from flea bottom in the box for Tyrion to be impressed.

But yet, I'm one of the bookreaders not convinced by the often and very high voice stated "public interest" tendences of Varys's.

This man coldblodedly starts civil wars, planning for years from the foreign with other known enriched criminals and scammers (Illyrio), and then tries to sell to you that he did "for the good of the Realm and the smallfolk?"

Maybe his birdie are motivated by that believe. Until he has to kill them because they know too much, and to replace them with newer ones, as we know (book 1) that he does.

[Ser Desmond Wine's Bane]

There was a lot in this scene.

a) It demonstrated Varys's reach and as others have said, his slow game.

b.) It was as a lesson for Tyrion to not be hasty

c) Give a and b: it was a warning for Tyrion too

I really like what they are doing with Varys. Its all gelling far better than Baelish thus far. The only thing I thought was a little out of character was how open Varys was with the QoT so early after meeting.... unless he really felt there was urgency and haste required.

[sennahoj]

It looks to me like the over seas part of the story with merchant Illyrio and Varys' secret friends and plots may get fleshed out more than the books have let on so far. Maybe this means that Aegon's coming story line may be more important than the books have led us to believe so far.

That's what I thought. We haven't seen Illyrio since the first season, so there's a need to reestablish that connection so that it makes more sense later on when Varys ships Tyrion off. The sorcerer, being yet another priest of the Red God, could also serve for more exposition on the agenda of the red priests which neither Mel nor Thoros would openly divulge on the show. Especially, the importance of royal blood to some of their magic could be emphasized, and this could work to drop some hints about little Aegon and his importance later on.

[Walder Waters]

Many questions.

Was the theory about Marwyn being the blood mage wrong or did (only) the show change this part of the story? Is the theory true nevertheless and it is actually Marwyn? Is it possible he somehow gets back to the Citadel? But he should already be there in that timeframe?

[bent branch]

Many questions.

Was the theory about Marwyn being the blood mage wrong or did (only) the show change this part of the story? Is the theory true nevertheless and it is actually Marwyn? Is it possible he somehow gets back to the Citadel? But he should already be there in that timeframe?

I don't know. Was Marwyn mentioned as the person who taught MMD about medicine in Season 1? Here are what I think are the possibilities:

1. The theory is wrong.

2. Marwyn is not going to be a character in the show.

3. If Marwyn is the guy in the books who cut Varys, then it is not an important part of the story and D&D are not going to use it (obviously).

They have had to make changes to the way the story is told for tv, so it is hard to say which of these changes are telling something new or different from the books and not just to make the story easier to tell on tv.

[protar]

Thought this was a pretty bad scene. It was pointless, wasted time and was detrimental to Varys' character. He's never been that sort of vengeful figure. Like a few things last episode this is just D+D pointlessly trying to stretch their creative muscles at the wrong time.

[Peptalk]

Loved that scene. It emphasizes how dangerous Varys is.

[Walder Waters]

I don't know. Was Marwyn mentioned as the person who taught MMD about medicine in Season 1? Here are what I think are the possibilities:

1. The theory is wrong.

2. Marwyn is not going to be a character in the show.

3. If Marwyn is the guy in the books who cut Varys, then it is not an important part of the story and D&D are not going to use it (obviously).

They have had to make changes to the way the story is told for tv, so it is hard to say which of these changes are telling something new or different from the books and not just to make the story easier to tell on tv.

Yes, you are right, it is very difficult to conclude anything for that reasons.

[Joyful Union]

Thought this was a pretty bad scene. It was pointless, wasted time and was detrimental to Varys' character. He's never been that sort of vengeful figure. Like a few things last episode this is just D+D pointlessly trying to stretch their creative muscles at the wrong time.

Pointless? You must have been watching a different scene. it clearly was showing his reach and influence, and also foreshadowing Tyrion's shipping across to Pentos in a crate, and his wishes for revenge against Cersei in aDwD. We also got some back story for Varys. None of this is pointless, though you may not like the scene.

How do you know he isn't a vengeful figure? He sounds pretty mad at the man who cut him in the books, and he hates all magic because of that event.