Varys's connections with the Hound, Dontos, and Shae

[Blue-Eyed Wolf]

TL:DR:  Dontos is actually informing for Varys as well as LF, which allows Varys to make connections to the Hound to protect Sansa (heir to a major house) in his competitive moves against Littlefinger's agenda.  Also connections with Tyrion and Shae.

From the Tyrion chapter where Jaime and Varys are breaking Tyrion out of his cell and smuggle him out of KL.  In conversation between Tyrion and Varys:

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   The eunuch sighed.  "The faithful dog is kicked, and no matter how the spider weaves, he is never loved.  But if you slay me here, I fear for you, my lord.  You may never find your way back to daylight."  His eyes glittered in the shifting torchlight, dark and wet.  "These tunnels are full of traps for the unwary."

   Tyrion snorted.  "Unwary?  I'm the wariest man who ever lived, you helped see to that."  He rubbed at his nose.  "So tell me, wizard, where is my innocent maiden wife?"

   "I have found no trace of Lady Sansa in King's Landing, sad to say.  Nor of Ser Dontos Hollard, who by rights should have turned up somewhere drunk by now.  They were seen together on the serpentine steps the night she vanished.  After that, nothing.  There was much confusion that night.  My little birds are silent."

  

Some curious language associated with the Hound in the first part.  Most obvious is the "faithful dog being kicked" as Sandor also says in an Arya chapter "even a dog gets tired of being kicked."  The eyes glittering reminded me of Ned's chapter right after he killed Lady and the Hound arrives with the body of Mycah.  Ned describes the Hound's eyes as "glittering," which seemed like light reflecting off teary eyes and now we have a similar language of Varys's eyes.  So Varys himself as well as the author seem to be hinting a Hound connection.  So why are Varys's eyes "glittering" here?  Varys, despite his alterior motives and being a notorious fountain of lies and half-truths, is kind of acting as a hound for Tyrion, advising him and protecting him under the cover of shadows, very much like the Hound's role for Sansa.  That hound would definitely lie to you and probably wouldn't die for anyone, but he is willing to put himself out there to help guide Tyrion through the tunnels full of traps if Tyrion would have the sense to heed him.        

Then he says he found no trace of Sansa in King's Landing, so that seems like a lie by omission.  Then he says he expected to find Dontos at some point, but hasn't.  They were seen together on the serpentine steps on the night she vanished.  Going back to Sansa's chapter during her escape with Dontos, she has her hood up and face covered as they descend the steps.  She "keeps her head down and in the shadows."  He tells her they have to be quiet, but he's so drunk he's stumbling and vomiting.  He tells her to dress dark, but he's wearing his surcoat with coat of arms.  I could understand a spy easily recognizing Dontos, but if Sansa is already hiding under a cloak and it's dark, how does Varys's spy know it's her with Dontos if there is so "much confusion" going on as he said?  Unless... 

Dontos doesn't seem to be too concerned with himself being recognized.  Remember Dontos also previously told her that people don't pay attention to fools and half-wits and he had access to information he would never have had as a knight.  It's confirmed later by Littlefinger that Dontos was bought by gold and the reason Littlefinger has him killed is that he could spill what he knows to someone else with more gold.  Is that someone else that LF is referring to Varys?  So it's possible that in his role as the king's fool, Dontos was taken into Varys's spy network previously specifically because of his access to information.  If Varys expected Dontos to reappear, could it be he was expecting Dontos to come to him and report where LF was taking Sansa (meaning the silent little bird is actually Dontos himself)?  

Later we learn Varys has offered 100 stags for information on her whereabouts or 100 dragons for the girl herself.  This makes plausible sense as she is wanted by the crown for regicide, but also that Varys might just keep such information to himself when it later proves useful.  As other posters have noted, he does seem to be "collecting" heirs to great houses.  It would also seem plausible he was okay with LF "rescuing" Sansa, so as long as he would have his little bird there to keep tabs, since he is also helping Tyrion (another heir to a great house) escape who is accused of the same crime.  Not saying LF and Varys were working together, just that Varys's awareness of LF's movements was okay with him as long as it proved useful to Varys's goals.         

Bringing it back to the above nod to the Hound, was Varys hinting that he had been aware at least some of the events on the serpentine steps between the Hound and Sansa too?  Sansa gets the note come to the godswood tonight, if you want to go home and then wonders if it's a trap.  She also makes note of her chamber maids being spies for Cersei and...:

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Doubtless, she was scurrying off to report to the Queen or maybe Varys.

Upon meeting Dontos, he tells her his reasoning for helping her is that she had saved him at the tourney from Joffrey's wrath by making up a lie.  By extension, the Hound also saved Dontos by supporting Sansa's lie (though he was protecting her, not Dontos).  Now we know that isn't really the heart of it, because it's confirmed he's paid by LF, but if I'm right he is also one of Varys's "little birds" in his new role as a king's fool.  If Varys knows how Dontos was saved by Sansa and how Dontos will use that to convince Sansa to escape with him, would Varys then know by extension the Hound's efforts to protect Sansa and surmise his feelings for her?

Let's tie this in to Varys's riddle to Tyrion:

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“Power is a curious thing, my lord. Perchance you have considered the riddle I posed you that day in the inn?”
“It has crossed my mind a time or two,” Tyrion admitted. “The king, the priest, the rich man—who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? It’s a riddle without an answer, or rather, too many answers. All depends on the man with the sword.”
“And yet he is no one,” Varys said. “He has neither crown nor gold nor favor of the gods, only a piece of pointed steel.”
“That piece of steel is the power of life and death.”
“Just so… yet if it is the swordsmen who rule us in truth, who do we pretend our kings hold the power? ...

"Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less.”
“So power is a mummer’s trick?”
“A shadow on the wall,” Varys murmured, “yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”

While this riddle most definitely can apply to other people and the final line has a definite nod to Tyrion, the Hound is indeed a swordsman and Varys agrees steel is the power of life and death in the world.  The Hound also says to Sansa referring to his sword that there is no man he need fear so long as he has [his sword].  He says that while laying his sword on Sansa's shoulder no less in an almost blessing of the "knight's" sword from his lady  So how does that place the Hound in his riddle?  We definitely know his loyalty to the king and the rich family that are his leige lords are steadily breaking down.  He's also a self-described atheist and has little regard for institutions of knighthood, nobility, or religion.  The gold he has was earned through his own abilities, he didn't inherit wealth as a second son.  So perhaps the answer to Varys's riddle in regards to the Hound is none of the above.  The Hound is also closely associated with shadows as he nearly always comes "on stage" out from the shadows, especially in his encounters with Sansa.  Eventually, his loyalty to the crown and Lannisters completely fractures, but it is Sansa's power over him that has moved him to some of his more heroic moments:  saving Loras from Gregor the day after Sansa compassionately listened to his secret and is rewarded for it, going alone 30 to 1 against a mob to save Sansa in the bread riots, sparing Jeyne Poole (in defiance of orders) from the purging of the Stark's from KL, taking great risk by openly defying his king by shouting "Enough!" at Sansa's beating, keeping Arya from the same fate as Cat and Robb at the RW and continuously watching over her even though he can't return her to any family.  So if Varys suspected the Hound's protective feeling for Sansa by helping her save Dontos, it would put his public acts that protected Sansa in perspective as not just KG duty to protect the king's betrothed.  The power resides with a more worthy master for the Hound, which I think Varys can respect as he seems to want to place better leaders in positions of power over the swords of the realm.  

Immediately following that first meeting with Dontos in the godswood, is her encounter with the Hound on the serpentine steps.  All the parallels between Florian and Jonquil, Dontos and Sandor have been thoroughly discussed and unpacked, so I'm not going there.  I'm just unpacking Varys as a possible connection between the Hound and Dontos.

When he asks her where she was, she replied:

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"The g-g-godswood, my lord" she said, not daring to lie.  "Praying... praying for my father and... the king, praying that he'd not be hurt."

"Think I'm so drunk I'd believe that?

Then later he continues to support her lie to Boros Blount and gives his lines about a hound dying for you, but never lying to you.  Then the line about they're all liars here and everyone better than her.  There are lies for dubious purposes, but then there are lies to protect yourself and others.  Now Varys, with his half-truths and outright lies, would not be the kind of person the Hound would normally associate with.  Varys just places a dog and spider together in the same quote (if I'm right) making a comparison between himself and the Hound:

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The faithful dog is kicked, and no matter how the spider weaves, he is never loved

 My guess is through Dontos, Varys could have had suspicions of the Hound's feelings for Sansa and sensed a potential break in his much mentioned loyalty to the Lannisters.  The Hound is likely not someone who would be motivated by gold to by a direct spy for Varys, but if he were approached with the task of protecting Sansa while in KL he probably wouldn't need more motivation than his already existing feelings and the fact that Joffrey was definitely growing more out of control and violent toward Sansa.  If Varys needed her to be removed from KL for his own purposes, what better person to protect Sansa in the meantime than a dog that already feels protective of her, that Joffrey favors and seems to bend to his influence, and one that easily slips under the radar as the most undoubtedly loyal man to the Lannisters?

After Sansa is stripped and beaten, Tyrion had previously spoken to Varys how they could get Joffrey to Chataya's to put steer his lust to a whore and keep him off Sansa.  To do that, he wants to make sure it's when Joffrey is separated from the Hound to prevent Cercei finding out. 

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"The dog is never far from his master's heels," [Tyrion] observed to Varys, "but all men sleep.  And some gamble and whore and visit winesinks as well."

"The Hound does all these things, if that is your question."

"No," said Tyrion, "my question is when."

Varys had laid a finger on his cheek, smiling enigmatically.  "My lord, a suspicious man might think you wished to find a time when Sandor Clegane was not protecting King Joffrey, the better to do the boy some harm."  

 So Varys is already fully aware of the Hound's habits, but that enigmatic smile (possibly hinting at double meaning)... Tyrion is obviously referring to Joffrey as his "master," but maybe Varys is already fully aware of who the Hound's real master is and who he is really protecting.  Although he mentions Joffrey possibly coming to some harm, he doesn't seem wary that is actually Tyrion's intent.  I fully admit, the Varys connection to the Hound is based solely on a few enigmatic passages from Varys.  I could not find any evidence from the Hound himself in Sansa or Arya's POV chapters that he is connected to Varys.  Varys promises to look into the matter.  Later, in conversation between Varys, Cersei, LF, and Tyrion in regards to a Joffrey and Margaery marriage, Tyrion says:

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"... there's still much to be said for a Tyrell marriage.  It may be the only way Joffrey lives long enough to reach his wedding night." 

Littlefinger agreed.  "The Stark girl brings Joffrey nothing but her body, sweet as that may be.  Margaery Tyrell brings fifty thousand swords and all the strength of Highgarden."

"Indeed."  Varys laid a soft hand on the queen's sleeve.  "You have a mother's heart, and I know His Grace loves his little sweetling.  Yet kings must learn to put the needs of the realm before their own desires.  I say this offer must be made."    

Curious choice of the word "sweetling" Varys uses.  "Sweetling" is often LF's pet name for Sansa and also was used by Dontos to Sansa and cited as a hint to a connection between Dontos and LF.  On a side note, "sweetling" is also used by Osmund Kettleblack to Sansa and we later learn he is LF's spy.  The fact that Varys also mentions it here seems like a little knowing dig at LF.  It's no secret LF has made some lascivious commentary in the council about Sansa and how he "had her mother's maidenhead" and maybe the desires Varys is actually referring to are LF's.  Then LF volunteers to go to Bitterbridge himself and broker the marriage to Margaery, taking with him the signed support of all the council members.  When LF mentions he would like to be rewarded for this service, Varys "giggles" and says the king should be grateful and he should have no cause for complaint with his reward.  It sounds like another little dig that Varys knows that putting Sansa aside and arranging this marriage is just what LF wants to happen.  The meeting at Bitterbridge would have led to the plot of the PW between LF and Olenna.  Olenna made her own side deal with Sansa for her to come to Highgarden and marry Willas, which Sansa told Dontos about.  This causes Dontos to become upset since he knows Sansa is supposed to escape with him after Joffrey's wedding to Maergary as per his arrangement with LF.  From Kevan Lannister we learn it was Littlefinger that told the Lannisters about the Tyrell plan.  Tyrion notes it was Littlefinger and not the "master of whisperers" that was the informant.  If Seems like LF is winning this round for now as he's now lord of Harrenhal, off to marry Lysa Arryn and proved his loyalty by informing on the Tyrells.  If Dontos did not tell Varys, then he's no longer a reliable informant.  If he did tell Varys, then he might be just letting things play out.  Sansa marrying Tyrion keeps her in KL and under his watch and Varys has been gaining Tyrion's trust in regards to his role as a liaison between him and Shae.  Shae already knew about the wedding the night before when Varys brings her to Tyrion.  She says it was by a page that heard it from a maid that was in the room while Kevan Lannister was talking to Tywin, but it seems likely if she was working with Varys she would have also informed him of the wedding if he didn't know already.  Long after the wedding, there is gossip that Sansa is still a maid and Tyrion suspects either Cercei or Varys behind it.  

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He'd risked his skin to avoid the bedding ritual, hoping to preserve the privacy of his bedchamber, but that hope had been dashed quick enough.  Either Sansa has been stupid enough to confide in one of her bedmaids [she hasn't], every one of whom was a spy for Cercei, or Varys and his little birds were to blame.

It's totally plausible the maids could be responsible for the gossip if we are counting on the supposed evidence of bloodied sheets, which is a fallacy in reality, but for literary logic's sake we'll go with it.  Through their marriage Sansa has been regularly going to the godswood to meet with Dontos, though Tyrion assumes she's just very religious.  It would also be plausible that she might tell Dontos she is still a maid, so it's also plausible Varys could be behind the rumors that undermine the legitimacy of Tyrion and Sansa's marriage.  Tywin says himself to Tyrion:  

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Do I need to remind you a marriage that has not been consummated can be set aside?

With Varys's aid, Tyrion also hires Shae as a maid to Sansa, further confirming that Tyrion is obsessed with Shae and not consummating his marriage while giving Varys even closer eye's in Tyrion's household.  Brella, another servant recommended by Varys, was also added to the household.  If Varys wanted to make sure the marriage wasn't consummated to undermine it's legitimacy, it makes sense he would have Shae close and keep Tyrion enthralled.  To what purpose might Varys have to keep Sansa unattached (without widowing her through Tyrion's death)?  It's a little sketchy at best, but my best guess would be he needs her for another possible match later after his (Blackfyre theory) plans with Illyrio start coming to fruition as well as Tyrion alive for other purposes.         

Which would then bring us back to the PW taking place and both Sansa and Tyrion accused of regicide.  I could not find any mention of Varys being seen in attendance of Joffrey's wedding. As soon as Joffrey was dying, Sansa was already making a break for the godswood to change clothes and meet Dontos.  Sansa is already gone with Dontos, who Varys expected to turn up later at some point, but he doesn't.  He's lost his informant on LF and Sansa's movements.  Although he publicly testifies against Tyrion for the murder of Joffrey, it's Varys with Jaime that helps Tyrion escape execution and disappear to Essos -- the very execution LF is counting on happening so he can move forward with his own plans in the Vale.  This is Vary's testimony against Tyrion:

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... he listened to the eunuch's mournful account of how the Imp had schemed to part Joffrey fromt he Hound's protection and spoken with Bronn on the benefits of having Tommen as king.  Half truths are worth more than outright lies.  And unlike the other Varys had documents; parchments painstakingly filled with notes, details, dates, whole conversations... confirmed every bloody thing but the poisoning itself.  When Prince Oberyn asked him how he could possibly know all this, not having been present at any of these events, the eunuch only giggled and said, "My little birds told me. Knowing is their purpose and mine." 

  The final witness against Tyrion that is most hammed up dramatic and damning is Shae, who claims that she came about her knowledge of the plot to kill Joffrey by being Sansa's maid and Tyrion's "forced" whore.  The only one who knew of Shae's relationship to Tyrion was Varys.  Before this point, Tyrion is already as good a guilty with all the testimony against him.  But it's Shae's humiliating and damning testimony that forces Tyrion to demand trial by combat.   Varys can't stop the execution through the court trial, but there is potential to stop it if Oberyn defeats the Mountain in trial by combat.  Of course, that doesn't work out and now we're back to Varys and Jaime helping Tyrion escape the black cells.  

So I hope I didn't miss anything or make this too confusing.  I haven't done this much of an analysis before.  I hope we can pull this apart and see if I'm just crazy.   

 

 

[Ashes Of Westeros]

RRrrrr. I wrote a big post and the site went down at that very moment.

I think that Varys being the most observant man in Westeros suspected about the Hound's feelings to Sansa or at least that he cares about her more than just about Joff's betrothed. Besides that the Hound is sworn to protect Joffrey. When the Hound is around nothing bad can happen to Joffrey or to Sansa. If smth would be going on around them Sandor would notice it. Both Varys and Sandor have smth in common they are more focused on other people than on themselves that's why they notice more. Though for Sandor it's just another "the world is awful", but Varys uses any information he gets for his game.

From the dialogue between Varys and Tyrion it is clear that they can only plan smth regarding Joffrey when the Hound isn't around. I guess it is pretty easy for Varys to track everyday routine of any person in the Red Keep. Sandor apparently has some kind of shifts when he guards Joffrey and time off. It looks like I defend the Hound, but being associated with Varys is just out of his character.

Dontos could be recruited by Varys after Sansa saved his life. He was in a difficult situation and probably hoped to get some protection. It seems Dontos wasn't a stupid man, but definitely greedy. He could report to both Varys and LF because A. he thought they were on the same side B. he thought they won't figure it out and he would get paid twice. Dontos could also be spied by Varys's little birds, because Dontos isn't really subtile no matter what he said about fools.

Shae was in a difficult situation during Tyrion's trial and could also be recruited or blackmailed by Varys. She seems really opportunistic and untruthworthy to me. Shae could even work for Varys from their return to the KL. I even think that it was Varys who brought Shae in Tywin's bed. First of all to have his informant in Tywin's bed. But I also think it would give him some amusement to see what desires do to powerful and clever people.

[Blue-Eyed Wolf]

@Ashes Of Westeros Yeah, I know. I didn't get to make all the edits and additions last night, but now they're up.  

12 minutes ago, Ashes Of Westeros said:

I think that Varys being the most observant man in Westeros suspected about the Hound's feelings to Sansa or at least that he cares about her more than just about Joff's betrothed. Besides that the Hound is sworn to protect Joffrey

The very fact that the Hound supported Sansa's lie to Joffrey to save Dontos shows this was no act of duty.  He was getting between his king and Sansa, and chosing her.  Even more explicitly later by shouting "enough!" in defiance of Joffrey.  That's gotta make Varys take notice. Even a smart guy like Tyrion doesn't even see the way the Hound put's himself out there for Sansa in ways that can't be explained by duty

 

17 minutes ago, Ashes Of Westeros said:

It looks like I defend the Hound, but being associated with Varys is just out of his character.

I totally agree.  Varys's whole powdered, perfumed, shady shtick would be totally off-putting to Sandor under all other normal circumstances.  It's only that Joffrey is growing into a young man and growing increasingly violent and unpredictable, especially toward Sansa.  At the start of AGOT, Joffrey seemed like a fanboy to Sandor, but as he's growing up and now a king, he's getting less controllable by previous methods.  So sometimes the events can create strange bedfellows.  Not that I think the Hound is being recruited as a spy because that would be completely out of character, just to secretly be Sansa's protector because he's already up to the task.  I can't even say for certain if that means Varys actually approached Sandor about anything, or if it's just merely Varys's awareness and just let Sandor keep doing what he's doing.

 

27 minutes ago, Ashes Of Westeros said:

Dontos could also be spied by Varys's little birds, because Dontos isn't really subtile no matter what he said about fools

that is also very true.  I think he might have been taken into both their service out of circumstance and convenience. Not that he was actually trusted agent of the spy network.  Varys is probably more aware than LF to the limitations of what gold can buy.  You're right, Dontos isn't dumb, he's just really greedy.  

 

31 minutes ago, Ashes Of Westeros said:

Shae was in a difficult situation during Tyrion's trial and could also be recruited or blackmailed by Varys. She seems really opportunistic and untruthworthy to me. Shae could even work for Varys from their return to the KL. I even think that it was Varys who brought Shae in Tywin's bed. First of all to have his informant in Tywin's bed. But I also think it would give him some amusement to see what desires do to powerful and clever people

Yeah, I think Shae was already considered disposable from the start.  Varys couldn't understand Tyrion's obsession with her, but like with Dontos she was there in the right circumstance and convenient.  She too is extremely greedy, looking for the best way to get that good life with silks and jewels.  Again, there's a limitation on her reliability.  And maybe like the Hound to Sansa, Varys wanted to shake up Tyrion's naive belief that Shae actually loved him by having her testify against him and later be discovered in Tywin's bed.

The real loss here is the Hound, which ironically is kinda Tyrion's fault he broke and left the city.  If he stayed in KL, he might have kept Sansa from being used as a pawn by LF, the Tyrells, and Lannisters.  So without him (his better option) it might leave Varys no choice but to let her leave with Dontos (the least worst option.)     

[Ashes Of Westeros]

35 minutes ago, Blue-Eyed Wolf said:

Even a smart guy like Tyrion doesn't even see the way the Hound put's himself out there for Sansa in ways that can't be explained by duty

 

Indeed. I think the Hound was considered some sort of house furniture by Lannisters and they didn't pay much attention to what he was doing and saying. Cersei, Tyrion, LF and co. were to busy watching and fighting each other. But not Varys. I guess he took a note and decided to use it later if needed.

35 minutes ago, Blue-Eyed Wolf said:

The real loss here is the Hound, which ironically is kinda Tyrion's fault he broke and left the city.  If he stayed in KL, he might have kept Sansa from being used as a pawn by LF, the Tyrells, and Lannisters.

What would Sandor do if he endured the battle and stayed in KL is is one too wildly speculative road. I guess he would have a kind of breakdown when Sansa got married not matter to whom. And I don't think he could interfere the marriage, but only to advice her not to trust Dontos.

I also think though Varys could be aware of the Hound's feelings to Sansa, he couldn't know how she felt and if she trusted the Hound. Sansa is really restrained and courtesy is her armour. Anyone can see that she is unhappy, but nobody from the characters knows what's in her head.

[Blue-Eyed Wolf]

1 hour ago, Ashes Of Westeros said:

What would Sandor do if he endured the battle and stayed in KL is is one too wildly speculative road. I guess he would have a kind of breakdown when Sansa got married not matter to whom. And I don't think he could interfere the marriage, but only to advice her not to trust Dontos.

I also think though Varys could be aware of the Hound's feelings to Sansa, he couldn't know how she felt and if she trusted the Hound. Sansa is really restrained and courtesy is her armour. Anyone can see that she is unhappy, but nobody from the characters knows what's in her head.

Yeah, judging by his reaction upon hearing Sansa married Tyrion, let's just assume he wouldn't like it, but he had to just deal with her marrying Joffrey before.  It would definitely be wildly speculative, but judging by his escalating protectiveness, there would come a point sooner or later he would have to just outright defy them.  Her life really means nothing as soon as she gives someone an heir and her claim.  He most definitely wouldn't be happy with Dontos influencing her.  That's what happens when you don't have your dog or wolf.

I guess he wouldn't really need to know what her feelings were in return, just so long as she wasn't so repulsed by him she would want to avoid him.  She's still 12 at the time and very innocent.  As a captive she doesn't have the luxury of acting on her own choices during that time. She's still just going day-to-day keeping her head down and not giving anyone more cause to abuse her.