A couple thoughts

[Dorian Martell]

Idiomatic, not literal.

But we had no idea until you stated it

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

I guess it just made my brain itch, a bit, that the value of the eggs was made evident without an equally clear reason as far as I understood as to why he gave up such a priceless commodity. As I recall, they were not really the type of thing which would have been all that valuable to the Dothraki.

I always saw it this way: If he did expect Dany to die, he might have believed that he could have gotten the eggs back, one way or another. The Dothraki would have worked for Viserys, and during war, it might have been easy for Varys' birds to steal the eggs back.. as soon as the Dothraki were in Westeros.

No idea how close to the truth my idea is though.

[Arya Weinergaryen]

I always saw it this way: If he did expect Dany to die, he might have believed that he could have gotten the eggs back, one way or another. The Dothraki would have worked for Viserys, and during war, it might have been easy for Varys' birds to steal the eggs back.. as soon as the Dothraki were in Westeros.

No idea how close to the truth my idea is though.

I guess he might have been able to get the back. Particularly given the Dothraki's apparent ignorance of their significance.

[Snow Dottir]

I guess he might have been able to get the back. Particularly given the Dothraki's apparent ignorance of their significance.

Seems odd to give such a gift just to steal them back.

Even more odd to give them to someone who hatches them.

I'm leaning more towards the idea there's a method to the madness here.

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

Seems odd to give such a gift just to steal them back.

Even more odd to give them to someone who hatches them.

But no one expected them to hatch. The eggs had turned to stone, after all.

[Snow Dottir]

But no one expected them to hatch. The eggs had turned to stone, after all.

Right.

I still dont think he'd part with them expecting to get them back.

How many dragon eggs can one guy have laying around??

It could be just an amazing set of circumstances that led to the first hatched dragons in a very long time - or- a plan to try and bring back dragons. Cant be both.

where most people in the world see them as very expensive rocks wouldn't someone know more details about the lore? Someone like Marwyn or another wizard/maester type??

I just haven't seen Illyrio or Varys involved in anything that's not extremely calculated. Planning to give them away just to steal them back (especially from a Dothraki horde) doesn't seem like a good plan for a couple master manipulators .

[John Suburbs]

The Wall was originally intended to keep Others, Giants, et al from encroaching on the realms of men, and probably the other way around if, as I suspect, it was part of a peace deal between the First Men, the CotF and the Others. Over the centuries, the Others and CotF passed from reality to legend, so few in the south saw any real threat from the frozen north, other than the wildlings, so that's why noble houses stopped sending their sons to man it and it became a dumping ground for thieves and rapers. Simply put, no one took it seriously anymore.

But with the wildings growing more numerous and having nowhere to go but north, the Others are forced to move south to reclaim their land, sparking the current conflict.

I never got the sense that Varys had any knowledge of the Others. I don't think he ever mentions them, but I could be wrong. But it does seem clear that his and Ilyrio's primary plan was Aegon, with Dany and Viserys as secondary at best. Now that Dany has dragons, the calculus has changed, which is why Illyrio was trying to get Dany to come to Pentos, so she could hook up with her nephew (some might even say brother, but that's a whole other theory) and then bring Westeros back under Targaryen rule.

Littlefinger being the mover behind Ned's death is interesting, and probably even true given LF's ability to manipulate Joff in other ways, but I don't think there's even been a hint to that effect in the text.