A Certain Man

[LynnS]

When Varys tells his story about the sorcerer who maimed him, he calls him 'a certain man'.

A Clash of Kings - Tyrion X

"Nor do I, but . . ." This pause was longer than the one before, and when Varys spoke again his voice was different somehow. "I was an orphan boy apprenticed to a traveling folly. Our master owned a fat little cog and we sailed up and down the narrow sea performing in all the Free Cities and from time to time in Oldtown and King's Landing.

"One day at Myr, a certain man came to our folly. After the performance, he made an offer for me that my master found too tempting to refuse. I was in terror. I feared the man meant to use me as I had heard men used small boys, but in truth the only part of me he had need of was my manhood. He gave me a potion that made me powerless to move or speak, yet did nothing to dull my senses. With a long hooked blade, he sliced me root and stem, chanting all the while. I watched him burn my manly parts on a brazier. The flames turned blue, and I heard a voice answer his call, though I did not understand the words they spoke.

"The mummers had sailed by the time he was done with me. Once I had served his purpose, the man had no further interest in me, so he put me out. When I asked him what I should do now, he answered that he supposed I should die. To spite him, I resolved to live. I begged, I stole, and I sold what parts of my body still remained to me. Soon I was as good a thief as any in Myr, and when I was older I learned that often the contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse.

To me, this suggests that Varys knows the identity of the man.  He's not just any man, he is a certain man.  Possibly someone we have already been introduced to in the story.  Any ideas who this might be from the clues we are given?

 

[LiveFirstDieLater]

"A man hears the whisper of sand in a glass. A man will not sleep until a girl unsays a certain name. Now, evil child."

This actually dovetails with Arya seeing Illyrio call Varys a sorcerer:

"If one Hand can die, why not a second?" replied the man with the accent and the forked yellow beard. "You have danced the dance before, my friend." He was no one Arya had ever seen before, she was certain of it. Grossly fat, yet he seemed to walk lightly, carrying his weight on the balls of his feet as a water dancer might. His rings glimmered in the torchlight, red-gold and pale silver, crusted with rubies, sapphires, slitted yellow tiger eyes. Every finger wore a ring; some had two.

.............

"You are more than a juggler, old friend. You are a true sorcerer. All I ask is that you work your magic awhile longer." They started down the hall in the direction Arya had come, past the room with the monsters.

"What I can do, I will," the one with the torch said softly. "I must have gold, and another fifty birds."

And also with Varys’s little riddle:

"Oh, I think not," Varys said, swirling the wine in his cup. "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."

 

The answer being they all die, because all men must die...But being just a piece of pointed steel also seems remarkably close to:

 

It was the third time he had called her "boy." "I'm a girl," Arya objected.

"Boy, girl," Syrio Forel said. "You are a sword, that is all." He clicked his teeth together. "Just so, that is the grip. You are not holding a battle-axe, you are holding a—"

"—needle," Arya finished for him, fiercely.

 

Which for those who see Syrio and Jaqen are the same faceless man, makes sense. The use of “no one” by Varys and his request for gold and children is unbelievably similar to his tale of becoming a eunuch, especially since the faceless men tell Arya she will have to give up what makes her a girl, her “private parts”.

 

Euron, who claims to have thrown the dragon egg in the sea, also seems to have hired a Faceless Man to kill Balon... after talking to the Myrish wizard, he claims he threw the egg in the sea. And while he says he slew the man, who talked as his guts spilled out, Euron oddly then talks about someone else’s death and chest being cut open. I’m kinda suspicious that the Myrish Wizard was a Faceless Man identity, like Jaqen, who could “die” or be slain... when in fact the faceless man did not die and may have taken the egg (or even had throwing it into the sea, presumably destroying/losing it, be the price) and being spared by Euron (life to pay for death) as payment for killing Balon.

 

Grapes are real. A man can gorge himself on grapes. Their juice is sweet, and they make wine. What do dragons make?"

"Woe." The Crow's Eye sipped from his silver cup. "I once held a dragon's egg in this hand, brother. This Myrish wizard swore he could hatch it if I gave him a year and all the gold that he required. When I grew bored with his excuses, I slew him. As he watched his entrails sliding through his fingers he said, 'But it has not been a year.'" He laughed. "Cragorn's died, you know."

"Who?"

"The man who blew my dragon horn. When the maester cut him open, his lungs were charred as black as soot."

Victarion shuddered. "Show me this dragon's egg."

"I threw it in the sea during one of my dark moods." Euron gave a shrug. 

 

The Drowned Crow on the shoulder of a man without a face?

 

ps. Sorry for the delayed edits!

[Lost Melnibonean]

I think you might find the Answer to your question here...

 

[Seams]

I wondered whether the man who assaulted and maimed Varys was supposed to be a parallel to Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen:

I remember when I was little, he used to come into my bedchamber at night and put his knife between my legs. He had too many brothers, he'd say, maybe one night he'd make me his sister, then he could marry me.

(The Hedge Knight)

The Aerion / Aegon example was a brother attacking a brother, so the victim definitely knew the identity of his attacker. I suspect you may be right about Varys knowing the identity of his attacker as well, and I like the theory from the link provided by @Lost Melnibonean that this was a dragon-hatching spell. Certainly Aerion was keen to hatch a dragon, and would have tried almost anything if we believe the stories about his eventual demise.

The discussion in the link also helped me to connect the sound-alike names of Euron and Aerion, the two nasty brothers from hell. Which opens the larger comparison of Greyjoys to Targaryens: Maekar killed his brother Baelor by mistake; Aeron killed his brother Urrigon by mistake. Are there other parallels?

[LynnS]

Interesting ideas, I haven't read the attached thread, but I will. 

Is there a connection to Qaarth, given that the flame turns blue.  What is the common tongue of Essos?  Is it Valyrian?  It is likely that Varys would know Valyrian?

Is it possible that a 'certain man' is Qyburn given his experiments with the living.  I don't imagine he dulls the pain.  Using a drug that immobilizes your... ahem... 'subject', sounds like it might be right up Qyburn's alley.  We really don't know when he arrived at the Citadel or how long he was there.

He does take on something of the appearance of a 'wizard' when he wears his white robes with swirls of gold.  

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

14 minutes ago, LynnS said:

Is there a connection to Qaarth, given that the flame turns blue.  What is the common tongue of Essos?  Is it Valyrian?  It is likely that Varys would know Valyrian?

Essos has no "common tongue", I suppose. It depends on the part of Essos you are in which language is the main language spoken. As in the Free Cities they speak dialects of High Valyrian (which in turn vary between each city), I think it is very likely that Varys knows (bastard) Valyrian.

[Lollygag]

I have reason to doubt Varys' story as told.

Arya overhears Illyrio call Varys a wizard and Varys doesn't think twice about it which seems to be in conflict with Varys intense hatred of magic. Illyrio wouldn't call Varys a wizard if this story was entirely true and I don't see Varys' just going along with that comment.

Also, we have witnesses of Varys' voice dropping which shouldn't be possible if he was cut as a child. A person has some control over pitch, but it's really about the vocal cords lengthening at puberty and this is something an eunuch cut in childhood couldn't control for.

Perhaps Varys was cut by magic in a less literal way and he made the story more dramatic for Tyrion's benefit?

 

[Bowen Marsh]

4 hours ago, LynnS said:

When Varys tells his story about the sorcerer who maimed him, he calls him 'a certain man'.

A Clash of Kings - Tyrion X

"Nor do I, but . . ." This pause was longer than the one before, and when Varys spoke again his voice was different somehow. "I was an orphan boy apprenticed to a traveling folly. Our master owned a fat little cog and we sailed up and down the narrow sea performing in all the Free Cities and from time to time in Oldtown and King's Landing.

"One day at Myr, a certain man came to our folly. After the performance, he made an offer for me that my master found too tempting to refuse. I was in terror. I feared the man meant to use me as I had heard men used small boys, but in truth the only part of me he had need of was my manhood. He gave me a potion that made me powerless to move or speak, yet did nothing to dull my senses. With a long hooked blade, he sliced me root and stem, chanting all the while. I watched him burn my manly parts on a brazier. The flames turned blue, and I heard a voice answer his call, though I did not understand the words they spoke.

"The mummers had sailed by the time he was done with me. Once I had served his purpose, the man had no further interest in me, so he put me out. When I asked him what I should do now, he answered that he supposed I should die. To spite him, I resolved to live. I begged, I stole, and I sold what parts of my body still remained to me. Soon I was as good a thief as any in Myr, and when I was older I learned that often the contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse.

To me, this suggests that Varys knows the identity of the man.  He's not just any man, he is a certain man.  Possibly someone we have already been introduced to in the story.  Any ideas who this might be from the clues we are given?

 

I do not want to believe it's Marwyn but it is possible.  Mellisandre uses this type of fire magic.  MMD may have used the same style of magic.  They all three are connected to Asshai.  I am sure there are male shadowbinders.

[LynnS]

Just now, Bowen Marsh said:

I do not want to believe it's Marwyn but it is possible.  Mellisandre uses this type of fire magic.  MMD may have used the same style of magic.  They all three are connected to Asshai.  I am sure there are male shadowbinders.

I'm not sure it's Marwyn either.  Whatever spell Mirri Maaz Duur sings; I think it's in a language that Dany doesn't understand.  Burning blood and body parts in a brazier is probably part of fire magic.  We've only seen Mel using blood; but Dany places her dragon eggs by Drogo's head; heart and groin.  I think that's significant.  I'm also inclined to think the glass candles enhance fire magic and who knows what Marwyn was burning in the brazier when Sam arrives.   Something acquired from Pate by the Alchemist perhaps.   Marwyn seems to intersect with a number of shady characters.    

[Seams]

I love the idea of Qyburn ( @LynnS ) or Marwyn ( @Bowen Marsh ) in combination with the "big brother" notion suggested by the Aerion / Aegon V parallel. Either of them would fit the wizard / juggler / sorcerer profile, and Varys has told Tyrion that he does not like magic because of the ritual that resulted in his castration.

What if Varys has a big brother who tracked him down and used his king's blood (or whatever unique quality was embodied in his reproductive organ) in this magic ritual?

The people that Arya saw in the dark basement and tunnels of Maegor's Holdfast were a torchbearer and "the man with the accent":

The torchbearer, a stout man in a leather half cape Even in heavy boots, his feet seemed to glide soundlessly over the ground. A round scarred face and a stubble of dark beard showed under his steel cap, and he wore mail over boiled leather, and a dirk and shortsword at his belt. It seemed to Arya there was something oddly familiar about him.

... the man with the accent and the forked yellow beard. ... He was no one Arya had ever seen before, she was certain of it. Grossly fat, yet he seemed to walk lightly, carrying his weight on the balls of his feet as a water dancer might. His rings glimmered in the torchlight, red-gold and pale silver, crusted with rubies, sapphires, slitted yellow tiger eyes. Every finger wore a ring, some had two.

(Game 32, Arya III)

What if the torchbearer is not Varys in disguise, but the brother of Varys and the man who maimed him?

The yellow forked beard guy really does sound like Illyrio. I think all of the gems on his fingers tell us that Illyrio has a finger in many games all at the same time (a gem = game). He may be working with Varys closely enough that Varys sends Tyrion to him after Joffrey's wedding feast, but he is also working separately with this unknown torchbearer and probably with other conspirators. Members of the Golden Company say much later that Illyrio seems to send mixed signals and to change plans often. Maybe this is because he is playing several "games" at once, hedging his bets about who (if anyone) should win the Game of Thrones.

In Arya's observations of the two men emerging from the well, the evidence people think they see about Varys is that he requests "another fifty birds". But this would be a common request for someone who needs to send secret messages or communications of any kind - ravens are used to carry messages. If they are like pigeons, they must be obtained from the place where they were raised so they will carry messages back to that location when they are released. After the request for more birds, the narration tells us that Arya let the two men get a long way ahead. After she subsequently creeps closer to them, she hears them talking about finding young people who know their letters. So Arya probably missed part of the conversation. The request for birds and the request for literate children could be two separate requests.

On the other hand, if the man with Illyrio is Qyburn, he will become the Master of Whispers after Varys appears to leave the Red Keep. (And I do think GRRM would enjoy the irony of having a brother take over another brother's job when the position is vacated.) Qyburn may be training up a network of informants of his own, even at this early stage. When Qyburn goes to work for Cersei, he sets up his shop in the dungeon of the Red Keep. It's almost as if Illyrio has just resurrected "the torchbearer" from the same location when Arya sees them emerge from the depths.

Aerion's nickname was Brightflame. The man Arya sees is called "the torchbearer." He also emerges from a giant well that Arya says has steps "circling down and down, dark as the steps to hell that Old Nan used to tell them of." Anytime Old Nan is cited as an authority, we better pay attention. One of the most recent possible wordplay breakthroughs for me was the word "hell," which means "bright" in German. So this could be an additional Brightflame allusion. I don't know that Aerion would still be alive, but his son, Maegor, or a bastard descendant from his days of exile could be the torchbearer.

I tried to organize this, but I'm afraid it's a bit of a jumble of new ideas. Sorry about that. Lots of new thoughts all at once.

[LiveFirstDieLater]

Just another odd detail while on the topic of Myr:

Outside a cold wind was rising. They stayed up late into the morning, drinking Arbor gold and telling one another tales. Taena got quite drunk and Cersei pried the name of her secret lover from her. He was a Myrish sea captain, half a pirate, with black hair to the shoulders and a scar that ran across his facefrom chin to ear. "A hundred times I told him no, and he said yes," the other woman told her, "until finally I was saying yes as well. He was not the sort of man to be denied."

......

Does she dream of Myr? she wondered. Or is it her lover with the scar, the dangerous dark-haired man who would not be refused? She was quite certain Taena was not dreaming of Lord Orton.

And we see the faceless man formally known as Jaqen:

"I do. My time is done." Jaqen passed a hand down his face from forehead to chin, and where it went he changed. His cheeks grew fuller, his eyes closer; his nose hooked, a scar appeared on his right cheek where no scar had been before. And when he shook his head, his long straight hair, half red and half white, dissolved away to reveal a cap of tight black curls.

......

"As you wish." The alchemist pulled his hood down.

He was just a man, and his face was just a face. A young man's face, ordinary, with full cheeks and the shadow of a beard. A scar showed faintly on his right cheek. He had a hooked nose, and a mat of dense black hair that curled tightly around his ears. It was not a face Pate recognized. "I do not know you."

"Nor I you."

 

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

11 hours ago, Seams said:

What if the torchbearer is not Varys in disguise, but the brother of Varys and the man who maimed him?

Martin confirmed that it was Varys who Arya saw:

5) About the two men Arya saw conspiring to restore Dany to Westeros in GoT--one is obviously Illyiro, but who is this other? My friend seems insistent that you confirmed that it is Varys, but IIRC, Varys is hairless while the man Arya saw had a beard.

Varys was a former mummer.

Could you clear this up, or will we find out later?

It was Varys.

[LynnS]

10 hours ago, LiveFirstDieLater said:

Just another odd detail while on the topic of Myr:

Outside a cold wind was rising. They stayed up late into the morning, drinking Arbor gold and telling one another tales. Taena got quite drunk and Cersei pried the name of her secret lover from her. He was a Myrish sea captain, half a pirate, with black hair to the shoulders and a scar that ran across his facefrom chin to ear. "A hundred times I told him no, and he said yes," the other woman told her, "until finally I was saying yes as well. He was not the sort of man to be denied."

......

Does she dream of Myr? she wondered. Or is it her lover with the scar, the dangerous dark-haired man who would not be refused? She was quite certain Taena was not dreaming of Lord Orton.

And we see the faceless man formally known as Jaqen:

"I do. My time is done." Jaqen passed a hand down his face from forehead to chin, and where it went he changed. His cheeks grew fuller, his eyes closer; his nose hooked, a scar appeared on his right cheek where no scar had been before. And when he shook his head, his long straight hair, half red and half white, dissolved away to reveal a cap of tight black curls.

......

"As you wish." The alchemist pulled his hood down.

He was just a man, and his face was just a face. A young man's face, ordinary, with full cheeks and the shadow of a beard. A scar showed faintly on his right cheek. He had a hooked nose, and a mat of dense black hair that curled tightly around his ears. It was not a face Pate recognized. "I do not know you."

"Nor I you."

 

Oh my!

A Feast for Crows - Prologue

He has a mocking name for everyone, thought Pate, but he could not deny that Marwyn looked more a mastiff than a maester. As if he wants to bite you. The Mage was not like other maesters. People said that he kept company with whores and hedge wizards, talked with hairy Ibbenese and pitch-black Summer Islanders in their own tongues, and sacrificed to queer gods at the little sailors' temples down by the wharves. Men spoke of seeing him down in the undercity, in rat pits and black brothels, consorting with mummers, singers, sellswords, even beggars. Some even whispered that once he had killed a man with his fists.

 

[Seams]

1 hour ago, Rhaenys_Targaryen said:

Martin confirmed that it was Varys who Arya saw:

5) About the two men Arya saw conspiring to restore Dany to Westeros in GoT--one is obviously Illyiro, but who is this other? My friend seems insistent that you confirmed that it is Varys, but IIRC, Varys is hairless while the man Arya saw had a beard.

Varys was a former mummer.

Could you clear this up, or will we find out later?

It was Varys.

Well darn. That ruins a couple of new ideas. Oh well.

[Moiraine Sedai]

So if we run with the idea of this warlock being someone we already know, it might as easily be Pyat Pree. 

[LynnS]

1 hour ago, Moiraine Sedai said:

So if we run with the idea of this warlock being someone we already know, it might as easily be Pyat Pree. 

How so?

Is it possible that this is the only instance where we see a glass candle in use given that Varys hears a voice from the fire?  It seems you can call someone with a burnt offering of sufficient power assuming there is a glass candle on the other end.

"...chanting all the while. I watched him burn my manly parts on a brazier. The flames turned blue, and I heard a voice answer his call 

A Feast for Crows - Samwell V

"What feeds the flame?" asked Sam.

"What feeds a dragon's fire?" Marwyn seated himself upon a stool. "All Valyrian sorcery was rooted in blood or fire. The sorcerers of the Freehold could see across mountains, seas, and deserts with one of these glass candles. They could enter a man's dreams and give him visions, and speak to one another half a world apart, seated before their candles. Do you think that might be useful, Slayer?"

[LiveFirstDieLater]

1 hour ago, Moiraine Sedai said:

So if we run with the idea of this warlock being someone we already know, it might as easily be Pyat Pree. 

No...

Besides the obvious, Pree isn’t from Myr, there is nothing connecting him to Varys’s story or Euron’s... In fact, Euron is likely holding Pree captive after capturing his ship out of Quarth.

So unless you actually have a reason for saying it could be Pree, it’s like saying Darrio is Benjen with no explanation and less legitimacy.

Also, off topic, but Wheel of Time was abysmal and I will never forgive reading that miserable woman tugging on her braid 10,000 times. Not to mention even using it as a handle brings the sort of unfinished series bad mojo ASoIaF doesn’t need!!!

[Seams]

I think this anagram implies that Bloodraven and Bittersteel are battling warlocks of their era:

Morgil Hastwyck = Mighty Warlocks

Ser Morgil is the knight who says Prince Daeron is illegitimate and is then slain in a duel by Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. We never hear elsewhere of House Hastwyck, and the name seems to be pretty obscure to play such an important role in a decisive turning point in history. (I.e., the launch of the Blackfyre rebellions.) These single-purpose, disposable names seem to be a pretty good clue that GRRM is using the name to give us a wordplay hint.

If "Mighty Warlocks" is a hint, I assume it describes the two Great Bastards who are so closely identified with the two sides of the Blackfyre Rebellions. I suppose it could refer to Aegon IV and Aemon.

The warlock who maims Varys might be a literal or symbolic descendant of one of the warlocks from this earlier generation.

[LiveFirstDieLater]

51 minutes ago, Seams said:

I think this anagram implies that Bloodraven and Bittersteel are battling warlocks of their era:

Morgil Hastwyck = Mighty Warlocks

Ser Morgil is the knight who says Prince Daeron is illegitimate and is then slain in a duel by Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. We never hear elsewhere of House Hastwyck, and the name seems to be pretty obscure to play such an important role in a decisive turning point in history. (I.e., the launch of the Blackfyre rebellions.) These single-purpose, disposable names seem to be a pretty good clue that GRRM is using the name to give us a wordplay hint.

If "Mighty Warlocks" is a hint, I assume it describes the two Great Bastards who are so closely identified with the two sides of the Blackfyre Rebellions. I suppose it could refer to Aegon IV and Aemon.

The warlock who maims Varys might be a literal or symbolic descendant of one of the warlocks from this earlier generation.

The words of house Hastywick, “none so dutiful”... 

And I would point out that the Blackfyre rebellion began when the Kingsguard were sent to arrest Daemon Blackfyre... not started by the Daemon himself, in fact, it was Bloodraven who claimed Daemon planned to declare before he ever actually did. 

Don’t get fooled by the winners writing the history...

In fact, it’s even possible that Daemon Blackfyre was Baelor the blessed’s child, explaining why he was given the sword of Kings.

[Clegane'sPup]

8 hours ago, Rhaenys_Targaryen said:

Martin confirmed that it was Varys who Arya saw:

5) About the two men Arya saw conspiring to restore Dany to Westeros in GoT--one is obviously Illyiro, but who is this other? My friend seems insistent that you confirmed that it is Varys, but IIRC, Varys is hairless while the man Arya saw had a beard.

Varys was a former mummer.

Could you clear this up, or will we find out later?

It was Varys.

Thanks for bringing that forward. I am dipping my toe into the new waters. Merely checking the temperature.