Chapter 32: Varys, the Chief of Intelligence
Varys, who claims to have been born in Reese, was once a slave and was sold as an apprentice to a theater troupe, whose owner had a small boat and took them on tour between the free trade city-states, sometimes to Old Town and King's Landing.
On one occasion when they were in Mill, a man demanded the purchase of Varys for a large sum of money that the troupe owner could not refuse. Varys, who had heard how some men would enjoy the little boy, was terrified of that man, but he didn't expect that the other party would need to use his ** to complete the blood magic. The man gave Varys a potion that made him unable to move or speak, but he could feel everything. The man then cut off Varys' male roots and threw them into the flames. And the man was now frying in Waris's wooden box.
After the ceremony, the man drove the useless Varys out into the street to fend for himself, and the troupe had sailed away, and he began to live a life of begging and stealing, and soon became a famous thief in Mill, and the competitors began to ostracize him and drive him out of Mill, after which he came to Pantos. In Pantos, Varys befriends a mercenary named Illyrio Mopatis, the Doge who opens in the books. The two of them start a new business - Varys steals things from the pickpockets, and Illyrio gives them to their owners in exchange for payment. Soon the people who lost their valuables in Pantos knew that they were looking for them to recover their lost possessions, and it wasn't long before Varys and Illyrio amassed a fortune.
Realizing that intelligence is worth more than gold and precious stones, Varys begins to train a team of "little mice" (like the "little birds" in Westeros). Varys buys orphans to be "rats", he chooses the youngest, quiet and sensitive, and teaches them to climb walls, slide into chimneys, and also teach them to read and write. The "rats" will find information, letters, ledgers, or charts, and they will look at them and leave them in place without anyone noticing. The gathering of information has multiplied the wealth of Varys and Illyrio, and Varys has become famous (or notorious) as a result, and his special talent has even reached the ears of the Mad King, the king of the Seven Kingdoms.
The king happened to distrust everyone, whether it was his son, his wife, or his prime minister. Varys began his career as an intelligence chief at the court of Aerys II, who relied heavily on the eunuchs' network and became increasingly paranoid and suspicious. Ser Barristan Selmy commented with disgust that the dynasty of Aerys had become the dynasty of Varys.
The Usurper War broke out, and after the Battle of the Trident, Varys advised Aerys not to open the gates to Tywin Lannister and not to trust him. This time, however, Aerys listened to the advice of the national teacher, Paihir, and opened the gates to the Lannisters. Sir Jaime Lannister, one of the witnesses to the incident, was ironic, and this was probably the only time Aerys should have accepted Varys' advice, but he had not.
Varys continued to serve King Robert and his successors in the years that followed, and it appears that he did have a genuine loyalty to the Targaryen lineage, and he conspired with Illyrio Mopatis to reclaim the Iron Throne from the Targaryen bloodline.
The loyal minister of the country, the traitor who protects the country, in the game of thrones, good and evil will be strangely distorted, and there is only one principle for playing this game well: live.
Vasri is definitely the most tired of all the roles, an important minister of the three dynasties, serving a madman, a fool and a child, as a eunuch intelligence chief, there is no friend in the court, and it is not easy to protect the country. Varys has his own purpose in what he does, and he is undoubtedly a master of power games, as he himself says, the world has changed over time, and he can still stand at the top of the tide. In the end, he killed Scholar Paischer, and then killed Kevon Lannister to blame the High Court, exacerbating the conflict between the Rose and the Lion, apparently trying to restore the Targaryens.
After the Prime Minister's jousting meeting, Varys visits the current Prime Minister, Duke Eddard Stark, in his bedchamber and warns Queen Eddecersei of his plot to murder King Robert, declaring that he wants to maintain peace in the kingdom and is willing to help Eddard against the Lannisters.
Varys confesses to Ed that former Prime Minister Jon Arryn died from a poison called Rees's Tears, and that he was killed because he "asked too many questions".
Governor Illyrio and Varys then met secretly in the cellars of the Red Keep to discuss how to delay the Starks' war with the Lannisters so that they had more time to prepare their plans.
Varys then continued to act as an informer at King Joffrey's side, and Joffrey wanted someone to punch his father's death, and Varys suggested that Barristan Selmy come in. Joffrey and Cersei dismissed Selmy as Kingsguard, and many people inside and outside the council hall witnessed the absurd farce. As a result of this deposition, Selmy later travels to the East to join Daenerys' side, which is exactly what Varys wants.
After Eddard Stark is imprisoned, Varys disguises himself as a jailer and convinces Ned that he must confess his uncommitted sins for the sake of his daughter Sansa's life, so that Cersei will allow him to wear black and the Wolves and Lions can avoid a war. When Ned asked Varys who he was loyal to, Varys seemed so unusually sincere that he declared that all his actions were not for personal power, honor, or loyalty, but simply for the sake of the kingdom as a whole.
However, Varys's plan for Ned ultimately fell through, and Joffrey carried out Ned's execution at the last minute against the will of the council instead of putting him in black, a move that shocked Varys and all onlookers.
Throughout the books, Varys provided his information to a variety of power game players. These people were suspicious of this, and of course Varys was only providing them with a certain amount of information in order to manipulate their behavior.
And what he did can be explained by a logical way. First, to a certain extent, he provoked the hatred of the major families of the Seven Realms, and then waited for a certain member of the Targaryen to grow up. When someone in Targaryen grows up, they will provoke a war in the seven realms of the kingdom. Restore the Targaryens!
But apparently something is out of his control, and Joffrey is a pervert who kills Ed directly. The War of the Five Kings has broken out!
This is the manipulative Varys in the original book, so what is his impression of Aven? Did he know that the Shadow was a force that belonged to Bear Island? If so, what kind of attitude would you have? Evan is very hidden, but he can't be sure that he will be discovered by Varys.
If it's a simple person, even if it's a king, Evan will kill it. But he was Varys, the kingdom's chief intelligence officer for forty years. If he dies, it will inevitably attract the attention of all forces, but the people of King's Landing will be panicked, and unnecessary variables will inevitably increase. This is the last thing Evan wants to see!
Therefore, he must keep Varys under control during the turmoil in King's Landing.