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Where is Varys


OldLordWalder

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Spoiler Warning 

So Im re-reading Dance and Im still on the early into the books. Tyrion is travelling with Ilyrio through Andalos, on his way to the Rhoyne. While reading it, I couldnt help but notice that theres no mention of Varys after he helps Tyrion escape Westeros. I recall him being in Pentos but he does not travel with the kinslayer and the cheesemonger. Does he pop up somewhere later in the books? I think he shows up in the red keep and kills Kevan Lannister but where did he go after Pentos? 

Again, Ive already read the books so no need to worry about spoilers.

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Check my profile. It is right there.

Varys didn't leave the Red Keep after putting Tyrion on his ship. Presumably he hid deep beneath the castle, down in that well he ascended when Arya overheard him and Illyrio talking. That seems to be his hidden command center, where he instructs the little birds, receives and files their reports, etc.

There is also a chance that he influenced the sparrows since he disguised as a begging brother when he took Tyrion to the ship.

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Yeah, I think Varys is in the hidden tunnels too. The only question I have with that is why Cersei didn't try harder to root him out. They had the entrance Tyrion used to kill Tywin and Cersei was paranoid enough she shouldn't have let that go. She should've been having walls knocked down, that tunnel explored and not stop until she had the entire network mapped out.

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5 hours ago, OldLordWalder said:

While reading it, I couldnt help but notice that theres no mention of Varys after he helps Tyrion escape Westeros. I recall him being in Pentos but he does not travel with the kinslayer and the cheesemonger.

You're confusing it with the TV-show, in the books Varys didn't went to Pentos, he stayed at the Red Keep.

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7 minutes ago, Lord Lannister said:

Yeah, I think Varys is in the hidden tunnels too. The only question I have with that is why Cersei didn't try harder to root him out. They had the entrance Tyrion used to kill Tywin and Cersei was paranoid enough she shouldn't have let that go. She should've been having walls knocked down, that tunnel explored and not stop until she had the entire network mapped out.

That is indeed a rather weird oversight on her part. They mention that there are locked doors and the like, but Cersei is the Queen Regent and there are workers and tools in King's Landing and Westeros in general...

At the very least Cersei should have commanded her people to search, map, and close all tunnels they could find. The really hidden tunnels - like that secret well I mentioned above - might remain secret, but most of the listening posts and tunnels you can use to sneak into seemingly secure parts of the castle they should be able to find.

And once you isolate, close, or cut off a secret tunnel from the larger tunnel system your enemies might no longer be able to (effectively) use it.

I get it that Jaime and Cersei thought that Varys just fled ... but even if that were the case one would expect that they wanted to prevent others from using those tunnels against them.

Frankly, historically a lot of that stuff makes no sense. The Targaryen kings from Jaehaerys I on should have mapped, controlled or closed those tunnels - they are far too dangerous to be just ignored. Blood and Cheese and the flight of Aegon II and his children should have hammered home that fact. If I were Aegon III or Viserys II finding out everything there is to know about those tunnels would have been my top priority.

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35 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

The Targaryen kings from Jaehaerys I on should have mapped, controlled or closed those tunnels - they are far too dangerous to be just ignored. Blood and Cheese and the flight of Aegon II and his children should have hammered home that fact. If I were Aegon III or Viserys II finding out everything there is to know about those tunnels would have been my top priority.

I always figured that Aegon III and Viserys II came to the conclusion that the tunnels are more beneficial than they are dangerous.

If Aegon II and his children could escape in a tight bind, so could they.

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51 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

If I were Aegon III or Viserys II finding out everything there is to know about those tunnels would have been my top priority.

They may have done so.  it could be the kind of thing beneath the notice or mention of Archmaester Gyldayn. Aegon III seemed a reasonably paranoid sort, not that a person would have to be paranoid to be uneasy about secret passages in his home.

I wonder how Varys came to know of them in the first place.

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1 hour ago, BlackLightning said:

I always figured that Aegon III and Viserys II came to the conclusion that the tunnels are more beneficial than they are dangerous.

If Aegon II and his children could escape in a tight bind, so could they.

That may certainly be the case for the secret escape tunnel in Maegor's Holdfast Aegon II, his children, and Larys Strong used to escape - and we can assume that the royal family always knew about that one. But it is one thing to have access to a secret escape way and quite another to live in a castle where evil thugs might invade most rooms of your castle to torture and murder your own family.

47 minutes ago, Aejohn the Conqueroo said:

They may have done so.  it could be the kind of thing beneath the notice or mention of Archmaester Gyldayn. Aegon III seemed a reasonably paranoid sort, not that a person would have to be paranoid to be uneasy about secret passages in his home.

What happened during the Dance should have been the beginning of the end of the secret tunnels. Aegon III would have closed them down. The earlier kings have the excuse that they may not have known the details about the tunnels - or never got around to investigate them - but the Dance showed what a grievous oversight that was.

And, quite frankly, Jaehaerys I and Alysanne would have mapped the tunnels. They were far too curious to not do that.

47 minutes ago, Aejohn the Conqueroo said:

I wonder how Varys came to know of them in the first place.

The idea I always tossed around is that there must have been maps. Either maps made by/on behalf of Maegor which were inherited by the successive king and then handed to the Masters of Whisperers whose job it was to use the listening posts to spy on the court, or maps made by the command of successive Targaryen kings who had their people uncover as much of Maegor's secret tunnel system as was possible.

How it makes sense that some ratcatcher and Larys Strong apparently knew more about the tunnels than the Targaryens I don't really understand. Yes, folks working in the tunnels would also know stuff - but without proper maps they would be of little to no use.

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