Examining ADWD: Epilogue and Ser Kevan's assumed death

[The Bedding]

He demonstrated that Aegon is the mummer's dragon.

[Lord Freypie]

I just don't believe there's anything else in this scene than a try by GRR Martin to give a chance to readers to finally understand Varys.

Some years ago GRRM said in an interview that the two most misunderstood characters in the whole serie were Mellisandre and Varys (IMO because the two are "serving the realm/humanity" in their mind but are probably misleaded about how they should do that, and finally doing horrors for that "higher goal").

Then he included in ADWD a Mellisandre POV, and that Varys speech, to finally help readers understand how they see things a little, that's all.

[Father of Hosts]

On Kevin's resurrection as an Aegon supporter:

Isn't the huge glaring flaw that it could have to opposite effect on Kevin? Or that Kevin redoubles his effort to root out Aegon? Dispatches Tarly immediately to siege Storms End. Tarly, the guy who knows more about a siege at Storm's End than any man on the planet. Vary's isn't taking that chance, its way too large of a risk for him.

This only was this works is if Vary's has some sort of magical control over him but the only control we have seen over resurrected characters are the wights and Robert Strong, who pretty much seems like a wight at this point. Also, they don't talk.

[The Fourth Head]

I just don't believe there's anything else in this scene than a try by GRR Martin to give a chance to readers to finally understand Varys.

Some years ago GRRM said in an interview that the two most misunderstood characters in the whole serie were Mellisandre and Varys (IMO because the two are "serving the realm/humanity" in their mind but are probably misleaded about how they should do that, and finally doing horrors for that "higher goal").

Then he included in ADWD a Mellisandre POV, and that Varys speech, to finally help readers understand how they see things a little, that's all.

you may well be right, though I personally think the penny dropped for everyone once we saw the interplay between Varys Illyrio and Aegon. What this scene suggests is that Varys has gone down a long and dark path whilst still believing he is on the good side, but after so many games and so much mummery, it's hard to tell at this stage what he genuinely thinks and what he want's people to think.

[The Fourth Head]

On Kevin's resurrection as an Aegon supporter:

Isn't the huge glaring flaw that it could have to opposite effect on Kevin? Or that Kevin redoubles his effort to root out Aegon? Dispatches Tarly immediately to siege Storms End. Tarly, the guy who knows more about a siege at Storm's End than any man on the planet. Vary's isn't taking that chance, its way too large of a risk for him.

This only was this works is if Vary's has some sort of magical control over him but the only control we have seen over resurrected characters are the wights and Robert Strong, who pretty much seems like a wight at this point. Also, they don't talk.

I'm proposing that, same as the wights, the power to decommission and reanimate is always there, so assuming Varys, through these daggers, were to reanimate Ser Kevan, the power to shut him down would be there too. Still, Varys exerts total control over his pale children despite having removed their tongues. You would imagine there was a major risk it could backfire when arming them with 6 daggers, alone, and getting them to stab a vulnerable man, yet somehow, his power holds. I think Varys knows what he's doing here. I'm suggesting he's attempting to make Ser Kevan a more willing thrall to make his life easier, by giving a speech, but that if Ser Kevan takes it profoundly personally and tries to involve the lannisters and his family in his vendetta, Varys can simply shut him down, or use him entirely as a puppet.

[Father of Hosts]

I'm proposing that, same as the wights, the power to decommission and reanimate is always there, so assuming Varys, through these daggers, were to reanimate Ser Kevan, the power to shut him down would be there too. Still, Varys exerts total control over his pale children despite having removed their tongues. You would imagine there was a major risk it could backfire when arming them with 6 daggers, alone, and getting them to stab a vulnerable man, yet somehow, his power holds. I think Varys knows what he's doing here. I'm suggesting he's attempting to make Ser Kevan a more willing thrall to make his life easier, by giving a speech, but that if Ser Kevan takes it profoundly personally and tries to involve the lannisters and his family in his vendetta, Varys can simply shut him down, or use him entirely as a puppet.

Seems sort of flimsy, especially since the only resurrected people we have seen that talk also retain there autonomy. I never got the impression Thoros could just decommission Beric or Cat. Essentially you are assuming that there is a third resurrection power out there. Or a third player in the Ice and Fire dynamic. If you count Qyburn and Robert strong, maybe?

We don't really know what's up with Robert strong, but he seems pretty wight-like. Completely devoid of personal will.

[Bonifer Tasty]

Essentially you are assuming that there is a third resurrection power out there. Or a third player in the Ice and Fire dynamic. If you count Qyburn and Robert strong, maybe?

I'm in a group of friends/readers who are speculating about the worlds elemental magics - not just ice and fire, but eight of them, or maybe more. Each of these elemental magics may in theory have reanimation as a possibility. And it seems, given the differences between fire undeads and ice undeads, that these reanimations would vary. The four elements all seem to have some evidence for reanimation:

1) air magic (practiced by the warlocks of Qarth, who mention the "spirits of the air" explicitly had (had?) "undying" undead);

2) fire magic (kiss of R'hllor types and shadow babies(?), the latter not really sticking around after mission accomplished);

3) water magic (the ancient magic that lies behind the Iron Islands religion, and although Martin has stated in interviews that Damphair and the 'drowned men' are still living humans, we have been wondering if Patchface is a "water-zombie" in that vein;,

and 4) earth magic (the victims of the type of Greyscale that turn you into a "stone man" - although possibly these men are not undead, we don't really know);

In addition to those four standard elementals there are other elemental magics at play: ice, blood, animals, and wood/plant, (making at least 8 elemental magics, though perhaps there are more).

5) ice magic (very clearly with the wights);

6) animal magic (skinchangers can live "second lives" in their animals, although they fade);

7) blood magic (death can be purchased with life, as the undead Drogo was);

8) wood/plant magic (the children of the forest can enter the weirnet and remain, rather like skinchangers in their animals).

Coldhands seems to be an ice wight with consciousness, true, but perhaps he is necromanced in another way? Perhaps their is a body-parts elemental magic, such as created Robert Strong? Coldhands and Robert Strong may be similar that way? Coldhands can talk because he still has a head. Not sure about this, of course.

[The Fourth Head]

Seems sort of flimsy, especially since the only resurrected people we have seen that talk also retain there autonomy. I never got the impression Thoros could just decommission Beric or Cat. Essentially you are assuming that there is a third resurrection power out there. Or a third player in the Ice and Fire dynamic. If you count Qyburn and Robert strong, maybe?

We don't really know what's up with Robert strong, but he seems pretty wight-like. Completely devoid of personal will.

I'm not sure whether the lack of evident talking blue eyed wights is:

1) a fundamental limitation of ice magic

2) a temporary limitation of ice magic in Autumn prior to the onset of truly cold temperatures in winter, where their powers then increase. this would explain Qyburn's experiments and Varys arrival on the stroke of winter.

3) they could talk, but felt disinclined to.

4) they could talk, but weren't permitted to, in case they cried out a warning as the rest of their body was being moved against their will.

We know Coldhands just...goes away after leading Bran to the Cave. He may have found a new mission, but its equally feasible he was just switched off by Bloodraven. He was clearly a servant bent on a single task, and if he had full autonomy, Bloodraven staked an enormous amount of faith in him.

There is also the suspicion that just as Bran can sit idly within Summers' consciousness and think steering thoughts, so Bloodraven is doing so with Bran when Bran starts to question where the meat came from and suddenly we get italics stating he killed a pig or however it was phrased. Where did that sudden, inexplicable conviction come from? The same when he starts to think about Jamie and is told to bury it away, that he didn't need that memory now. To me it seems as if co-occupation of the mind, and dormant, gentle, manipulation without detection is possible- and not just with the dead, but the living- as evidenced with Summer at the very least. Bran doesn't take over Summer, or fight for control like he does with Hodor. He sits in Summers' subconsciousness, and at the very least, I think a necromancer would be able to do this with a sentient wight, the less sentient, the easier it is, but the more mental energy is needed to make it function fully. the more sentient and willing, the easier it is to control multiple beings, or ideally, have them fully willing to begin with. This is all building on the Prologue to ADWD with Sixskins and the relationships he had with varying animals and their personalities- it's a partnership, but he was a bit of a nasty guy who dominated or fought for control rather than sharing, and was detected instantly as a result.

I'm pretty sure Thoros doesn't knows the full potential, or whether he simply facilitated the process as a channel. i think Varys either knows his full potential or knows who he's serving and what purpose they have for those he kills, and he was simply prepping ser kevan.

[Father of Hosts]

I'm not sure whether the lack of evident talking blue eyed wights is:

1) a fundamental limitation of ice magic

2) a temporary limitation of ice magic in Autumn prior to the onset of truly cold temperatures in winter, where their powers then increase. this would explain Qyburn's experiments and Varys arrival on the stroke of winter.

3) they could talk, but felt disinclined to.

4) they could talk, but weren't permitted to, in case they cried out a warning as the rest of their body was being moved against their will.

We know Coldhands just...goes away after leading Bran to the Cave. He may have found a new mission, but its equally feasible he was just switched off by Bloodraven. He was clearly a servant bent on a single task, and if he had full autonomy, Bloodraven staked an enormous amount of faith in him.

There is also the suspicion that just as Bran can sit idly within Summers' consciousness and think steering thoughts, so Bloodraven is doing so with Bran when Bran starts to question where the meat came from and suddenly we get italics stating he killed a pig or however it was phrased. Where did that sudden, inexplicable conviction come from? The same when he starts to think about Jamie and is told to bury it away, that he didn't need that memory now. To me it seems as if co-occupation of the mind, and dormant, gentle, manipulation without detection is possible- and not just with the dead, but the living- as evidenced with Summer at the very least. Bran doesn't take over Summer, or fight for control like he does with Hodor. He sits in Summers' subconsciousness, and at the very least, I think a necromancer would be able to do this with a sentient wight, the less sentient, the easier it is, but the more mental energy is needed to make it function fully. the more sentient and willing, the easier it is to control multiple beings, or ideally, have them fully willing to begin with. This is all building on the Prologue to ADWD with Sixskins and the relationships he had with varying animals and their personalities- it's a partnership, but he was a bit of a nasty guy who dominated or fought for control rather than sharing, and was detected instantly as a result.

I'm pretty sure Thoros doesn't knows the full potential, or whether he simply facilitated the process as a channel. i think Varys either knows his full potential or knows who he's serving and what purpose they have for those he kills, and he was simply prepping ser kevan.

It's possible I guess. But then we get into that they are being warged and constantly at war internally with there masters. Plus the blue eyes. If he's using ice magic, then the blue eyes have to be there. It's a real cop-out by the author for them to not be this one time with Kevan.

The only way this works if they make Kevan the equivalent Beric-Style and then warg him, which appear to be diametrically opposed. Unless there's another power we haven't seen which, this late in the game I have a hard time believing will be introduced. Like, "Suprise! The real threat is actually us, over here!" It would be like a super bad guy with the powers of everyone.

BR sending Bran thoughts is a stretch from actually warging him. Plus, Bran is also magically inclined and connected to this stuff. Kevan is not.

Cold Hands doesn't square as a good example, unless there is another equally if not more powerful person like BloodRaven, and now we are in Vary's is a servant of the Dark Lord/Great Other type stuff. Is the story really going to introduce another incredibly powerful warg that is opposed to...(who? I honestly can't think of someone that powerful that would care about KL) at this point? And that Vary's is in league with him? So Kevan can help Aegon?

The only evidence we have for what you would need for puppet-Kevan, is Robert Strong. But we honestly don't know enough about his state or what was even used to make him.

You're points are based mostly on "We don't know enough about it so this is possible." Also they just don't fit logically into the story. It seems like an incredibly difficult process to have Kevan do what Cersie will do just fine on her own Besides, having Cersei keep all eyes on KL and not on Aegon seems like a better plan, instead of having a puppet-Kevan try to do it. How does it square with everyone when Kevan is suddenly pro Aegon? Why take the risk of puppet-Kevan all of a sudden being the one causing strife in KL, when Cersei could just as easily do it. There's no giant price to be paid for the latter.

There just isn't really any incentive to create a puppet-Lannister or Tyrell. Their cause is bound to Tommen. If all of a sudden they switch to Aegon it would be incredibly odd. A puppet-Tarly would serve him better by just having Tarly defect to Aegon.

I just don't see the point in Kevan "living" as some sort of person to destabilize the realm or help Aegon's cause. You say he's prepping Kevan but for what?

[Father of Hosts]

<snip>

Coldhands seems to be an ice wight with consciousness, true, but perhaps he is necromanced in another way? Perhaps their is a body-parts elemental magic, such as created Robert Strong? Coldhands and Robert Strong may be similar that way? Coldhands can talk because he still has a head. Not sure about this, of course.

Yeah, I've read some of these thoughts before. The only way it works is if he is necromanced in a different way. Maybe blood magic? But there is no purpose for Kevan to remain alive in some fashion.

I would think that Robert Strong is blood magic. What with all the people Qyburn had in the black cells. But he needed like 30 people just to have Robert Strong walk around and heal the poison (if I'm right). The other blood magic (king's blood, by the way) kept Drogo alive but in a coma.

ColdHands seems to be some sort of fluke. Or BR intervened in his turning process. Or he was some sort of magical when they tried to turn him. Maybe he's just a renegade Other... Like the last time they tried turning a full grown human who was alive as opposed to babies.

[Deep Like Davos]

ColdHands seems to be some sort of fluke. Or BR intervened in his turning process. Or he was some sort of magical when they tried to turn him. Maybe he's just a renegade Other... Like the last time they tried turning a full grown human who was alive as opposed to babies.

Or maybe Coldhands has the blood of the dragon and that prevented him from becoming a wight during resurrection.

[Bonifer Tasty]

The only way this works if they make Kevan the equivalent Beric-Style and then warg him, which appear to be diametrically opposed. Unless there's another power we haven't seen which, this late in the game I have a hard time believing will be introduced. Like, "Suprise! The real threat is actually us, over here!" It would be like a super bad guy with the powers of everyone.

There are at least eight (seven if you're being picky, and don't count "stone men") ways of resurrecting/preserving the lives of the dead. I listed them all in an earlier post. All of them given in-story, and none of them coming in "this late in the game."

Mind you, I'm not saying that Kevan is going to be resurrected by ANY of these means, or at all. What I'm saying is there are lots of ways it could be done, depending on what magic the person doing it has control over.

[JTaylor]

Hodor hodor

[Father of Hosts]

There are at least eight (seven if you're being picky, and don't count "stone men") ways of resurrecting/preserving the lives of the dead. I listed them all in an earlier post. All of them given in-story, and none of them coming in "this late in the game."

Mind you, I'm not saying that Kevan is going to be resurrected by ANY of these means, or at all. What I'm saying is there are lots of ways it could be done, depending on what magic the person doing it has control over.

I mean, you're post says "in theory could have a reanimation..." We have 3 confirmed ways of reanimating or resurrecting someone because I'm calling blood magic on Gregor. The other few are ways of preserving the life but not the body of the people, which is what the Op says Varys' is doing.

I'm not saying they aren't out there but we have 3 confirmed and maybe a 4th if you count Qarth undying, ways of resurrecting the dead. My point was more that in-story, would it really make sense, that after establishing these 3 or 4 it would be illogical for some sort of combo of warging and blood magic or Rhollor kiss to make Kevan some sort of puppet for Varys.

Lastly, the list of people with the control to actually physically take over Kevan and have him do what the OP is suggesting is short and distinguished. Maybe BR. That's it. Introducing some other equivalent of BR that Varys is working for at this point in the story doesn't make sense.

[The Fourth Head]

It's possible I guess. But then we get into that they are being warged and constantly at war internally with there masters. Plus the blue eyes. If he's using ice magic, then the blue eyes have to be there. It's a real cop-out by the author for them to not be this one time with Kevan.

The only way this works if they make Kevan the equivalent Beric-Style and then warg him, which appear to be diametrically opposed. Unless there's another power we haven't seen which, this late in the game I have a hard time believing will be introduced. Like, "Suprise! The real threat is actually us, over here!" It would be like a super bad guy with the powers of everyone.

BR sending Bran thoughts is a stretch from actually warging him. Plus, Bran is also magically inclined and connected to this stuff. Kevan is not.

Cold Hands doesn't square as a good example, unless there is another equally if not more powerful person like BloodRaven, and now we are in Vary's is a servant of the Dark Lord/Great Other type stuff. Is the story really going to introduce another incredibly powerful warg that is opposed to...(who? I honestly can't think of someone that powerful that would care about KL) at this point? And that Vary's is in league with him? So Kevan can help Aegon?

The only evidence we have for what you would need for puppet-Kevan, is Robert Strong. But we honestly don't know enough about his state or what was even used to make him.

You're points are based mostly on "We don't know enough about it so this is possible." Also they just don't fit logically into the story. It seems like an incredibly difficult process to have Kevan do what Cersie will do just fine on her own Besides, having Cersei keep all eyes on KL and not on Aegon seems like a better plan, instead of having a puppet-Kevan try to do it. How does it square with everyone when Kevan is suddenly pro Aegon? Why take the risk of puppet-Kevan all of a sudden being the one causing strife in KL, when Cersei could just as easily do it. There's no giant price to be paid for the latter.

There just isn't really any incentive to create a puppet-Lannister or Tyrell. Their cause is bound to Tommen. If all of a sudden they switch to Aegon it would be incredibly odd. A puppet-Tarly would serve him better by just having Tarly defect to Aegon.

I just don't see the point in Kevan "living" as some sort of person to destabilize the realm or help Aegon's cause. You say he's prepping Kevan but for what?

Most of these points have been addressed previously, but this is a long thread and a complex theory. I like Tormund Giantsbane , and your title makes me chuckle, so I'll recap :)

What I'm proposing is for Ser Kevan to lie dead, cold as ice, like Othor, or Royce. Cersei will find him and accuse the Tyrrels, Tyrion etc of killing him- chaos reigns. The upcoming trial with Robert Strong is, IMO, largely in-hand (so to speak) from Varys' POV. He's allowed Qyburn the slack to get so far for a reason and I think therefore, that Strong plays into his hands, if only if it involves tipping off a Dornishman to openly question whether he is Gregor when he appears in public to fight the faith. Of course, a necromancer could see this as a golden opportunity to destroy the alliance, but this is going off on a tangent and assumes Varys personally wields that power as opposed to someone who merely facilitates the sacrifice of people in a certain way than enables another person, or another power, to animate them. With Ser Kevan lying dead/cold in a wintry open grave for mourning, Cersei and Mace will contrive to bring the alliance down and Varys does not want Ser Kevan's diplomacy or loyalty to Tommen getting in the way. All this fits well.

However, the likelihood of Tommen being declared a bastard or euthenised by Cersei out of spite in the next few days is high. If and when the alliance ends and if Varys has any necromancer powers, Ser Kevan could then be an asset, because he still needs the Houses of Westeros to declare for Aegon.

if he were to awake and slip out of KL, or if he had been left under Qyburn's care only for Qyburn a-la-Gregor to miraculously "heal" him then he would be an active again. As we have seen with the BWB, they all saw Beric die and they all accepted his posthumous leadership. The same with Catelyn despite her dreadful appearance. She was known to have died and been resurrected, and that was just fine by them, so I really don't see his assumed death in KL being a deal-breaker when it wasn't for anyone else. The eyes? Well, if Ser Kevan were to return to Casterly Rock with odd coloured eyes acting sentient and normal, i don't think Martyn would have his dad imprisoned or that Daven would contest Ser Kevan's authority. If you still aren't happy, we never saw Coldhands' eyes- he was hooded. Winter has fallen, and I'm assuming the following book will be conducted entirely in pitch darkness, moonlight, or firelight. Therefore, staying hooded to keep warm, and concealed faces makes perfect sense, enabling an entirely acceptable public image.

With regards to what colour, and what that means? Well, i'm not going to commit. The dark eyes of his pale faced children, the missing eye of Royce and BR and Euron, the red eye of BR- the assumed normal coloured eyes of Beric and Cat?- it's a riddle and trying to invent limitating rules when new phenomena keeps springing up is a doomed exercise, particularly on the stroke of the long night. I'm willing to bet there are a range of people practicing necromancy to various levels - Thoros at the most benign end - who source different energies to resurrect people for their own reasons, and once they have done so, have then gone on to explore to different degrees the extent of control they have over them- an area Thoros has no clue about - he just wanted his friend back. In the north, there is at least one master of this operating on a grand scale, IMO, and I'm fairly sure Bloodraven and Coldhands operated on a cooperative mental basis, where Coldhands was already willing, but Bloodraven could intervene, or help by entering his consciousness to give advice or orders.

Would Ser Kevan cooperate as an exclusively sentient being with little to no intervention? Well as the text already explains, Ser Kevan was seriously contemplating the possibility Aegon was real in the Council meeting, and as he knows Tommen is a bastard and could be declared illegitimate, that makes sense- I think he was thinking ahead. He witnessed the bodies, he can state categorically that the baby's body is not proof that this Aegon is fake. Varys then confided in him that he, master of whisperers, was serving Aegon, leading him further towards seeing Aegon as real. (though this is obviously not proof of identity) And to push it one step further, Varys gives Ser Kevan a run down of the lad's history, painting an image of a perfect king. When faced with a condemned bastard, Tommen, Harry Hardyng, Dany, or Aegon Targaryan- a just, reasonable lad, it makes sense that a lightly manipulated Ser Kevan would do the right thing by his family, and plug for a well brought up lad quite likely to be Rhaegar's son in the absence of their own legitimate cause post-trial.

Now the recurring question I keep getting which for me, is more a question of personality is, wont Ser Kevan take it really badly? And the obvious counter is, why hold Aegon responsible for the actions of some creep in the Red Keep? Why risk your wife's life, your son's life, your lords and small-folk's lives, in winter, fighting the Golden Company, and potentially, Dorne and half the Reach when you know, more than most, that he could be legitimate and Westeros' best bet? Ser Kevan throughout the chapter endorses prudence, modesty, wisdom, and a lack of greed. Pursuing a personal vendetta against Aegon to spite Varys and dragging the whole realm into it is a Cersei thing, not a Ser Kevan thing.

Finally, the trauma of being stabbed by multiple daggers before losing consciousness is likely to cause amnesia if he does awaken. Bran oh so conveniently couldn't remember who pushed him and whether by luck or design, Bran has been protected from that for several books. The mind protects itself and whilst Varys talking about Aegon and acting nicely is benign, Varys shooting him and the Children stabbing him are things a resurrected person questioning their mortality are more likely to block out. And if all else fails? What is to say mind erasing or memory "blotting" is not possible, like a film editor cutting selected scenes? As I say, Bran's convenient amnesia is probably an example of this, as is the possible intervention when Bran's thoughts started straying off course. he killed a pig. BR wanted Bran to reach him alive and to eat- he detected the danger that Bran may worry the meat was human, and intervened IMO- doing the thinking for Bran and allowing Bran and us to go along with it, assuming the thought was Bran's not Bloodraven's. What I'm proposing is along the same vein. Aegon is a dutiful boy. He would make the best king.

Who else but a master manipulator, a master of whisperers, would seek to master the ability to whisper thoughts inside someone elses head and divorce themselves from being identified as the source? Bran has already been seen whispering thoughts to Summer, and Bloodraven- the former master of whisperers- has been doing this with Bran, at least, when Bran was dreaming, but probably when conscious too.

It seems the kind of art Varys would want in on, and is the kind of art that explains the obedience of his pale faced dark eyed children, despite snipping their tongues and then arming them with 6 daggers. I think they are un-dead, and he can co-occupy their minds to see what they see- they don't write every last detail down and leave Varys to read accounts of everything- that would be exhausting, but I'm not sure like Bran, he has mastered the art of doing it on a conscious living person- just on the reanimated undead.

[Elessar]

While I refuse to comment on the "Kevan as a controllable wight" nonsense, (OP should leave that theory in the dust where it belongs as there is zero evidence for it) I can say that it's easy to explain the appearance of the "little birds".

They basically live in the corridors and hiding places of the red keep, doubtful they ever get much sun. Have you seen people who live as such? Pale skin, dark areas around the eyes, exactly like THE children with THE daggers.

[butterbumps!]

ok, so as per our pms, I looked it over. If I'm not mistaken, the crux of the theory is that Kevan isn't actually dead (or won't stay dead), but will become Varys' puppet in order to advance an Aegon agenda? I'm not so much concerned with whether this is "possible," but rather how counter-intuitive this would be for that purpose. There's considerably less to gain from controlling Kevan as a puppet than there is in just completely crippling the Lannister cause by taking him out. Can you maybe more precisely outline exactly why you believe Varys would have a stronger motive to puppeteer him rather than just kill him? You spoke more to whether making Kevan a puppet is possible in post #195, so could you talk more about motive? I mean, reanimating someone as a puppet is kind of the sort of thing establishing a motive for is pretty critical.

Question: What was the purpose of Varys speech to Ser Kevan in the Epilogue to A Dance With Dragons? Why would Varys bother convincing Ser Kevan that Aegon is Rhaegar's son?

4) Perhaps other informants were listening in the walls and Varys either wanted them to be listening, or couldn't prevent them from doing so.

This would require you to believe that Varys does not have full control over those in the walls - which is possible, though unsupported by any compelling argument. Weighing against this, he does not seem sufficiently worried to make haste if he suspected a rogue concealed listener was lurking in the walls. He had the time and confidence to kill Pycelle, send a messenger, fetch Ser Kevan, and prattle on. In theory, a rogue spy could have had time to inform Qyburn- the Master of Whisperers- that they had seen Pycelle brutally killed, and Qyburn could have arranged some pretext to send soldiers to Pycelle's study. Instead, Varys prattles on like a silly old woman, talking about windows, fishing nets, and Pycelle's bowel movements. The fact that a rogue agent hadn't already informed on Varys casts grave doubts as to whether any such person existed.

Perhaps, then, he knew the person they served, knew they would not intervene, but wanted to persuade them to change loyalties to Aegon? Perhaps. But who else could be his recipient but Qyburn? As a man with little clear conscience, encouraging Cercei to give him live healthy female test subjects, I hardly think fishing nets would stir Qyburn's heart. Indeed, an idealistic king would be less likely to permit Qyburn to continue his experiments. But what if, (and this is getting desperate) Varys' eloquent speech was for an informer to tell Qyburn who would in turn, tell Cersei?

Again, this would not explain the speech. Cercei will not follow anyone, nor care about Aegons' swimming capacity and purity of heart. In fact, Qyburn claiming he overheard Varys explaining how good Aegon is to anyone: Tarly, Mace, Rowan, even the High Septon, would not be a very convincing way to get the message across. The whispers from the words of a murderous whisperer vouching for the value of a boy they don't want to believe is real?

I think we can bury this one now.

Actually, the HS or someone from Dorne would make a lot of sense as an invited observer. The HS is one of those "for the people" guys who'd be very interested in hearing that Aegon was trained to be "for the people," and would take Varys' whole performance as both veiled threat and venture opportunity. It's basically a speech telling someone (not Kevan) to start backing this horse since there's no where else to turn, and as a side point, hey Aegon is an Enlightened Despot. And someone from Dorne would appreciate the fact that Pycelle was done in like baby Aegon (both were bludgeoned over the head) while Kevan was stabbed Rhaenys fashion.

[Farwynds Oceanseer]

I'm half sold on the theory that Kevan will not die, though I'm less than half-sold that he'll be a wight. The echoes of the GoT prologue just aren't enough to convince me that Varys is a secret wizard. There are a number of ways Varys could keep Kevan alive and work toward Aegon's coup without doing necromancy.

First, let's suppose Varys is attempting to make Kevan think he's survived an assassination attempt. Varys could have an expert crossbowman hiding in the shadows and retreating into the secret passages while Varys himself distracts Kevan with his showmanship. The crossbowman knows how to put a man in shock without puncturing vital organs (he may or may not have FM training, and it's also possible that Varys himself has enough knowledge of anatomy and skill with a crossbow to hit a debilitating but non-lethal shot. He might have trained at the HoBaW himself). While Varys has shown little evidence of being a sorcerer, he has demonstrated an extensive knowledge of drugs and poisons (telling Ned about the Tears of Lys, etc); so it is plausibly within his abilities to shoot Kevan unconscious with a drugged quarrel. A drugged quarrel is arguably more consistent with Kevan's numbness and lethargy than cold and shock.

Either (A) Kevan dies from a shot more lethal than intended (in which case, Varys sows suspicion and infighting among (f)Aegon's opponents), or (3) he succeeds in making Kevan think he has heard (1) an accurate description of (f)Aegon, (2) confidence in (f)Aegon's authenticity from a devoted follower, and (3) a hint that Tyrion was not Tywin's murderer. Varys' apparent lack of a motive for lying serves as evidence for these assertions in Kevan's mind.

Suppose Cercei wins her trial and Kevan lives. having evidence that (f)Aegon will be pardon those who bend the knee, Kevan then has reasons to accept terms from (f)Aegon when Cercei begins a second reign of terror and a second anti-Lannister coup looms. If Tyrion is in Aegon's camp, Kevan might now doubt his nephew's guilt enough to let him inherit the Rock for the sake of peace and an end to his weariness over upholding Cercei's doomed cause.

If Cercei wins and Kevan dies, the Tyrells, Lannisters, and Martells will all suspect each other of scheming for the throne, just as Varys said.

If Cercei loses and Kevan lives, he will be more disposed to bend the knee to (f)Aegon. Tommen and Myrcella will be illegitimate in the eyes of the faith, Cercei will lose her head (or at least go to the Silent Sisters), and the politics marriages that hold the Tyrells and Martells as allies will lose their power to do so. Indeed, Arianne and Margaery (whose marriage to de-legitimized Tommen is unconsummated) could seek to marry Aegon while Kevan bends the knee to avoid fighting on behalf of a doomed cause with either reluctant supporters or none at all. He also can harbor doubts about Tyrion's guilt in this scenario, again letting him be a player or a piece for Varys.

If Cercei loses her trial and Kevan dies, dissension still arises between the Martells, Tyrells, and surviving Lannisters. Aegon still comes to King's Landing with less organized opposition.

While I don't think Varys is a necromancer--it would have been foreshadowed more in the past 5 novels--I do think he is rolling a die here. On some roles he wins, and on others he wins more. All he needs is skill with drugged crossbow quarrels or an agent to employ the skill from the shadows on his behalf.

The cold and the six children with daggers look like creepy portents of the Long Night, but I think they are part of varys' staged assassination attempt. They are part of what convinces him that he is hearing the truth about (f)Aegon's qualities and lineage. The quarrel also might be a step toward rehabilitating Tyrion's reputation; Masters of whisperers have more leeway to stalk and kill, especially when they aren't shooting their own kin. Varys' pragmatic motive is to make (f)Aegon's campaign for King's Landing as easy and bloodless as possible. Worst case scenario, he swoops in on quarreling factions; best case, Kevan has the Lannisters bow out entirely because Cercei is gone, or he has lost confidence in her if she is alive, and (f)Aegon (possibly with Dany and Tyrion in his camp, Varys might hope) now seems the best hope for Kevan to hold on to his estates, the Lannisters to keep control of the Rock, and Westeros to come under stable, competent rule.

[Hangover of the Morning]

I've read this entire thread and I have no fucking clue what the OP is ultimately getting at.

Is it that Kevan isn't dead? Will be brought back as a wight?

Sorry, but the "connections" you've made don't exist. Farts in the wind.

Kevan is dead, crossbow and knives, Cersei will learn about it and become even more convinced Tyrion is still within the walls, will become even more unhinged, commit even more folly, just as Varys intends. Why did he bother telling Kevan anything at all? To have him die knowing that all he had and his beloved brother Tywin wrought would be undone. No sixty page essay required to analyze it.

I've said it many times, the biggest reason I want the series finished, aside from closure of the story for my own personal satisfaction is to put an end to this type of meandering nonsense.

I agree. Varys' speech was for his own benefit not Kevan's or anybody else's. He felt that i) Kevan was a worthy opponent and deserved to know why he died and ii) he got satisfaction from telling someone how he bested him and watching his reaction.

On top of that, the author uses this well-established trope to fill us readers on important details that we otherwise wouldn't be privy to. There's really no need for any magical element to it. Varys doesn't know anything about Bloodraven and if he does, it's probably well under his radar.

[Clegane'sPup]

I also agree that Varys' speech was for himself. Kevan is dead.

Varys was at one time trained as a mummer. He is perfumed, powdered, softly spoken and (publicly) shys away from violence. The man who knows what people do and say.

No one would suspect him of slashing Pycelle. No one would suspect him of shooting Kevan with a crossbow.

Varys worked hard to bring his plan to fruition. Rarely receives accolades for a job well done.

Kevan is unknowingly getting in Varys' way. I see the pep talk as telling Kevan, "I didn't want to do you harm, you got in my way." So Varys tells Kevan the story as a way of saying, "This is what is happening and you are powerless to stop it."

If I had not read that Varys was responsible for the death of Pycelle & Kevan, it would not have occured to me that Varys did the deed. I would have thought Cersi, after all Kevan was trying to send her away from KL.

The death of Kevan & Pycelle will definately bring more discord, confusion and back stabbing to KL.