Varys

A whisper moves a kingdom; silence can save it.

Varys, also called the Spider, is a eunuch and courtier who serves as Master of Whisperers, the spymaster for the king of the Seven Kingdoms at the royal court in King's Landing. As Master of Whisperers he is on the small council. He is feared by nobles and common people alike. He knows all of the secret passages in the royal castle, and his spies are found everywhere.

He is a skilled manipulator and commands a network of informants across two continents. He often puts on the public persona of being nothing more than a bald, pudgy man well suited to the pleasantries of court life; humble, obsequious, fawning, and a little effeminate. This is simply a facade that Varys has developed, which often leads those who do not know him well to underestimate him as a cheerful and vapid flatterer. In reality he is a cunning and ruthless manipulator of court politics, on par with Master of Coin, Petyr Baelish.

Quick Facts

Series

A Song of Ice and Fire character; Game of Thrones

Portrayed by

Conleth Hill

Creator

George R. R. Martin

First

Novel:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
Television:
"Lord Snow" (2011)

First game

Game of Thrones (2012)

Last

Television:; "The Bells" (2019)

Adapted by

David Benioff; D. B. Weiss (Game of Thrones)

Occupation

Ex prostitute
ex thief
ex actor
King's functionary

Lore & Background

Varys was born as a slave in the Free City of Lys and joined a travelling acting troupe. While the troupe was performing in Myr, a sorcerer bought the young Varys from the troupe's leader, drugged Varys before removing his genitals and burning them in a brazier in a blood magic ritual, and afterwards cast him into the streets. Varys turned to begging, prostitution, and ultimately theft to survive, but soon became known in Myr and fled to Pentos. There he befriended a poor sellsword, Illyrio Mopatis, with whom he teamed up to steal valuables from other thieves and return them to their owners for a fee.

Varys eventually realized that there was more to gain from stealing secrets instead of valuables and trained his spies to copy information from the wealthy and powerful. Varys and Illyrio became rich, and Varys' reputation reached the ears of the King of Westeros, Aerys II Targaryen, who appointed Varys as his Master of Whisperers. Jaime claims that Aerys saw traitors everywhere, and Varys was quick to point out any he missed. Apparently, when Rhaegar Targaryen intended to use a Tourney at Harrenhal to call a Great Council to deal with his father's instability, and possibly dethrone him, Varys warned Aerys, and they attended the tourney.

Sometime prior to the Sack of King's Landing, Varys allegedly had Rhaegar's infant son Aegon swapped with a lowborn baby and smuggled to Essos to be raised in hiding by Rhaegar's friend Jon Connington, who was exiled by the Mad King for failing to defeat Robert. Varys remains Master of Whisperers after Robert Baratheon seizes the Iron Throne but his true loyalties are implied to lie with Aegon, with his motivations and reasons for supporting Aegon largely remaining a mystery.

Reader's Guide

Varys is not a point of view character in the novels, so his actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of other people, such as Ned Stark, Tyrion and Cersei Lannister. He is defined by his paradoxical nature: a man without country or family who commands more fear than most lords. His primary role is information broker and political engineer; he rarely engages in combat, preferring victory through intelligence and blackmail. His arc demonstrates that information can be more lethal than steel, as he manipulates kings from the shadows to reshape the world order.

Did You Know?

In A Dance with Dragons, Varys personally kills Grand Maester Pycelle and mortally wounds Lord Regent Kevan Lannister.
Varys used the disguise of a Red Keep turnkey named Rugen, which fooled Cersei into distrusting House Tyrell.