Euron's crew - manufactured by Varys ? (a crackpot theory)

[Pod The Impaler]

Let me start by saying I am not one who believes Varys actually cuts out the tongues of his "little birds / mice".

However, I am aware of the arguments people have made (including citations of text) that support the idea that Varys does cut their tongues out so they can do his work.

Varys uses children as his little birds, and not full-grown adults. He has them in every place he operates, including across the Narrow Sea. They read and write and are chosen for their cunning.

Not much is known about what happens to the Little Birds when they grow up. (Assuming they survive to adulthood at all.)

There is only one other in the story who seems to cut out peoples' tongues for some purpose other than punishment: Euron Greyjoy. He has tongueless mutes crewing the Silence.

The question is, where does Euron get them ?

Perhaps Euron Greyjoy has collected the grown-up little birds, and made a ship's crew out of them. (And does not share in the tongue-cutting practices that Varys knows.)

If so, the question then would then be: Does Varys have some arrangement with Euron for this, or is Euron just collecting the discarded ones on his own?

If Euron and Varys have an arrangement, could this signal that Varys and Euron might be coorperating on a larger scale ?

If Euron does not have an arrangement with Varys, but is collecting up his cast-off "little birds", does this mean Euron has knowledge of Varys' larger goals, and perhaps is working against them ?

[Dany Girl]

I prefer the idea that Euron picks up the little birds without Varys knowledge if this is true. I don't like the idea that Varys magically has his fingers in every pie. I don't think he gives Euron much thought, or hope at least. Then Euron could kind of get the jump on Varys. I think it would be cool for there to be another master plotter outside Varys/ LF, one that neither of them suspects.

This is just opinion based, and I have no idea for sure if Euron's crew is former little birds. I'd assume Varys would kill his little birds when they get too big since they know too much.

[yolkboy]

Varys giving his spies (knowing what they know) to someone else makes no sense to me.

Euron probably gets them from slavers IMO. If he doesn't get the slavers to cut their tongues out, i doubt he'd have an issue doing it himself.

Cutting out tongues doesn't require some kind of rare magic, and I doubt it requires too much cash.

[The Bastard of Walton]

I think Euron is going to play a major role in WOW. I'm not sold on his crew having no tongues because they worked for Varys, more to keep them quiet to Eurons final goal. I think he has been to the lands of always Winter & is acting on the orders of the Others.

[Vaxis]

Varys giving his spies (knowing what they know) to someone else makes no sense to me.

Euron probably gets them from slavers IMO. If he doesn't get the slavers to cut their tongues out, i doubt he'd have an issue doing it himself.

Cutting out tongues doesn't require some kind of rare magic, and I doubt it requires too much cash.

Got to agree with this. Just because two people practice the same methods doesn't mean they're allied or even know about each other. I'm sure there are plenty of slave masters or even pirates that make use of mutes. For me, what's great about Euron is he is a total wildcard totally lacking any connections to the political intrigues of Kings Landing.

[Mad Monkey]

Got to agree with this. Just because two people practice the same methods doesn't mean they're allied or even know about each other. I'm sure there are plenty of slave masters or even pirates that make use of mutes. For me, what's great about Euron is he is a total wildcard totally lacking any connections to the political intrigues of Kings Landing.

This is what I prefer too. I really, really hate the tendency that we sometimes have on this forum of linking every single story and every single plot to the direct machinations of Varys or LF, as if no one else in the world has any desires or preferences of their own. It's quite possible that Euron came up with this idea on his own -- removing the tongues of people who want to keep silent isn't exactly a wildly innovative or unique concept.

[Mr Smith]

Interesting theory, but ultimately highly unlikely. As already suggested, Euron probably gets plenty of his crew from slavers, or perhaps has compelled his ironmen to do it in return for whatever gold and glory he can promise them from their many adventures. The biggest snag for this theory though is that I can't see Varys having any sort of voluntary affiliation with someone like Euron, who dabbles in the dark arts and is effectively an agent of chaos. Euron is the kind of guy Varys would want to see put down.

[40 Thousand Skeletons]

I had the same crackpot theory, but it goes a large step further:

Varys and Euron are both somehow in league with (or members of) FM, and the Silence is just a sort of "evil pirate" front to provide convenient transport for assassins among a crew of mutes (who would never be able to tell a FM their names for protection from that FM, like when Arya was Salty), as well as provide a non-lethal career path for the little birds.

[MyLittleFinger]

Euron pays the Iron Price. He's a Godly man.

[jet199]

While I can see that using mutes isn't a sure sign of a link between Varys and Euron I do wish people would see theories like this a a way to think about things in a different way rather than solely looking for reasons to shut them down. I don't know why so many people take Euron and Varys at face value either, they are both liars and show certain aspects of themselves to manipulate others. The idea that Varys love order and wants to save the world is as much BS as Euron's trip to Valyria.

It can't even be argued that Varys and Euron are obviously working against each other. Euron is causing chaos in the south and causing tensions between the Lannisters and Tyrells while also sending a fleet to Essos to bring Dany and her dragons over. These things are all in Varys's and team Aegon's interests.

I prefer the idea that Euron picks up the little birds without Varys knowledge if this is true. I don't like the idea that Varys magically has his fingers in every pie. I don't think he gives Euron much thought, or hope at least. Then Euron could kind of get the jump on Varys. I think it would be cool for there to be another master plotter outside Varys/ LF, one that neither of them suspects.

This is just opinion based, and I have no idea for sure if Euron's crew is former little birds. I'd assume Varys would kill his little birds when they get too big since they know too much.

If the crew are ex-birds who have been employed without Varys' knowledge then they may be anti-Varys. Euron may be getting involved in the "return of the dragon" plot as a way of stealing Varys' plan out from under him. Him could succeed as well if he gets the dragons and Varys only has the Griffs and the calamity-Martells.