One thought I had to contribute - when discussing Young Griff in the inevitable "Aegon - Real or Fake" article, don't forget to include Illyrio's description of what he and Varys "do".
Varys spied on lesser thieves and took their takings. I offered my help to their victims, promising to recover their valuables for a fee. Soon every man who had suffered a loss knew to come to me, whilst the city's footpads and cutpurses sought out Varys...half to slit his throat, the other half to sell him what they'd stolen. We both grew rich and richer still when Varys trained his mice
They basically con both sides by being in the middle. To me this is kind of what they are doing now - Varys has stolen the Targaryen heir(s) out of KL (I bet he had some involvement with helping Viserys and his pregnant Mom smuggled out to Dragonstone) and Illyrio is helping sell the stolen 'goods' back to those who were robbed - the people of Westeros. Both stand to profit enormously. However, in Illyrio's tale there is no mention of counterfeit - they bartered in the real thing. I think GRRM is giving a clue here about Aegon's legitimacy. As to why keep Aegon separate from Vis & Dany all this time, two reaasons:
1) Always good to have a failsafe plan.
2) Ser Willem Darry (if I'm remembering the name) took V&D from Dragonstone - I would imagine that means they were out of Varys/Illyrio's control for a time until Darry died and Viserys begged his way to Pentos. So there may have only been a Plan A (Aegon) at first.
This raises the question that maybe (probably) Viserys was the backup plan (and, if you knew both youths, wouldn't you back Aegon over Viserys?). Sooooo, why give the dragon eggs to Dany? Maybe because no one really knew they could potentially hatch and Illyrio just though they would be a nice gift.
[ADwD Spoilers] Updating the Citadel
in A Dance with Dragons
Posted
LOVE the Citadel. You guys do awesome work.
One thought I had to contribute - when discussing Young Griff in the inevitable "Aegon - Real or Fake" article, don't forget to include Illyrio's description of what he and Varys "do".
They basically con both sides by being in the middle. To me this is kind of what they are doing now - Varys has stolen the Targaryen heir(s) out of KL (I bet he had some involvement with helping Viserys and his pregnant Mom smuggled out to Dragonstone) and Illyrio is helping sell the stolen 'goods' back to those who were robbed - the people of Westeros. Both stand to profit enormously. However, in Illyrio's tale there is no mention of counterfeit - they bartered in the real thing. I think GRRM is giving a clue here about Aegon's legitimacy. As to why keep Aegon separate from Vis & Dany all this time, two reaasons:
1) Always good to have a failsafe plan.
2) Ser Willem Darry (if I'm remembering the name) took V&D from Dragonstone - I would imagine that means they were out of Varys/Illyrio's control for a time until Darry died and Viserys begged his way to Pentos. So there may have only been a Plan A (Aegon) at first.
This raises the question that maybe (probably) Viserys was the backup plan (and, if you knew both youths, wouldn't you back Aegon over Viserys?). Sooooo, why give the dragon eggs to Dany? Maybe because no one really knew they could potentially hatch and Illyrio just though they would be a nice gift.