0:03 how does Varys know so much who are his
0:05 little birds are they still working for
0:08 him and what might that mean for varys's
0:10 fate in the story hi everyone this is
0:13 Robert welcome to indeep geek on this
0:15 channel we cover A Song of Ice and Fire
0:16 In Depth as well as the Lord of the
0:19 Rings and The Witcher welcome and this
0:21 is another collaboration with the
0:23 wonderful history of Westeros please do
0:25 check out their excellent podcast and
0:28 YouTube channel there's a link in the
0:30 description we are introduced to varis
0:33 early in book one and told straight away
0:35 that he is a man who knows things he
0:38 should not it's catlin's fourth chapter
0:39 the one where she arrives at King's
0:42 Landing and she takes care to conceal
0:45 herself even bribing people but fails
0:47 spectacularly she barely has time to get
0:50 into an inn when Littlefinger finds her
0:54 how did he know varis told him
0:57 apparently Lord varis knows all Peter
0:59 said with a slice smile he will be
1:01 joining us shortly but I wanted to see
1:05 you alone first it has been too long cat
1:06 how many
1:09 years catlyn ignored his familiarity
1:12 there were more important questions so
1:15 it was the king spider who found me
1:17 little finger winced you don't want to
1:20 call him that he's very sensitive comes
1:23 of being a unic I imagine nothing
1:25 happens in this city without Varys
1:27 knowing oft times he knows about it
1:30 before it happens he has informed
1:32 everywhere his little birds he calls
1:35 them one of his little birds heard about
1:39 your visit thankfully Varys came to me
1:42 first this is a big introduction Varys
1:45 knows all we're told nothing happens in
1:47 the city without him knowing he has
1:50 informants everywhere his little birds
1:53 he calls them Varys arrived soon after
1:55 in the same chapter and basically
1:57 confirms all that his little birds have
1:59 furthermore told him about the Valyrian
2:01 steel dagger she has and its role in the
2:03 attempt on Bran's life the movements of
2:05 Sir rodric castle since he'd been in the
2:08 city and what he'd talked about it's an
2:11 impressive Flex from Varys though not
2:13 seen his little birds are introduced
2:16 alongside him which is fitting given how
2:18 important they are to his success but
2:20 who are these little birds where did
2:22 they come from what role do they have in
2:26 the story to come Littlefinger gives us
2:27 something of an answer when he tells
2:30 catlyn that varys's little birds a
2:32 network of informers though we should be
2:34 skeptical of anything Littlefinger says
2:37 he's absolutely truthful in this case
2:39 but this isn't saying much of course
2:42 varis pays people in various places for
2:44 valuable information and news and such
2:47 that much is plain there have been many
2:49 spy Master figures in A Song of Ice and
2:52 Fire master of Whisperers or otherwise a
2:54 network of informers is something all of
2:56 those characters have in common and
2:58 would likely hold true outside of A Song
3:00 of Ice and Fire even in the real world
3:02 no doubt varys's network of people
3:05 willing to sell him information is large
3:07 but varys's ability to know everything
3:10 that is going on in King's Landing goes
3:12 far beyond that it's easy to miss
3:14 because it comes so early in the story
3:16 but it's notable that even Littlefinger
3:18 is impressed by varys's abilities in
3:21 other words while all Spy Masters have
3:23 information networks Littlefinger
3:27 himself included Varys is exceptional
3:29 within the confines of West Ros we
3:31 occasion see someone with skills that go
3:34 beyond the ubiquitous spy Network and
3:36 often this is manifested via the
3:38 supernatural blood Raven was a master of
3:40 Whisperers who could glean information
3:43 by disguising himself with Glamour and
3:45 by listening through the ears of ravens
3:48 if not other animals this idea is teased
3:51 in a Game of Thrones too Varys is a man
3:54 whose level of knowledge borders on the
3:56 Supernatural characters like catlyn and
3:59 Ned wrestle with the idea that he is
4:00 indeed us
4:03 sorcery yet this is directly refuted by
4:05 Varys himself when he tells Tyrion the
4:08 story of his maming he claims he has
4:10 hated magic and those who use it ever
4:13 since the day he was cut of course it's
4:14 possible he's lying about that we
4:16 mustn't forget who we're dealing with
4:18 nevertheless the clues George Aram
4:20 Martin gives us regarding varys's little
4:23 birds contain very little to suggest the
4:26 supernal nor does much else about Varys
4:28 suggest magic there's no direct evidence
4:31 and some counter evidence instead the
4:34 clues take us somewhere every bit as
4:36 dark and terrible as the mysterious
4:37 voice that Varys heard from the blue
4:40 flame and every bit as brutal as the
4:43 ritual that cut him to summon it that
4:46 nameless sorcerer didn't kill varis he
4:47 simply dumped him on the street
4:50 expecting him to die Varys famously told
4:53 Tyrion that to spite the man he resolved
4:56 to live he rose through the criminal
4:58 ranks from the lowest of the low to the
4:59 highest of the high from from the
5:03 gutters to the prince of Thieves in Mir
5:05 that ended when a rival informed on him
5:07 and he had to flee for pentos where he
5:10 met AO where he started playing politics
5:12 and where he first started using little
5:15 birds at first they were called little
5:17 mice they stole valuables and brought
5:20 them back to Varys but eventually they
5:22 started stealing Secrets the sort that
5:25 could harm or destroy Elite individuals
5:27 if not families the change to stealing
5:29 valuable Secrets instead of valuable
5:32 Goods is likely the difference between
5:35 birds and mice in this context birds can
5:38 speak and sing in this case they can
5:42 speak and sing Secrets mice cannot with
5:44 access to the secrets of half the Nobles
5:47 in pentos varis no longer had to worry
5:49 about the authorities coming to kill him
5:51 Exile him or send him back into slavery
5:54 most of them owed him favors or relied
5:56 on him for information which sounds very
5:59 similar to how he operates in Westeros
6:01 oh over time Varys perfected and
6:04 improved his techniques and this is why
6:07 he was hired by King Aris fast forward
6:09 to the pages of A Song of Ice and Fire
6:11 where Varys has spent decades in the
6:15 game all along doing to other children a
6:18 version of what was done to him like him
6:20 his little birds are highly trained they
6:23 use disguise and they are slaves who
6:24 have been
6:28 maimed it's a dark inversion of varys's
6:30 little birds singing to him AKA
6:32 repeating stolen information they were
6:35 taught to memorize this is a brutal
6:38 irony his little birds cannot sing nor
6:40 even whisper because they have no
6:43 tongues their language is a unique
6:46 written Cipher known only to Varys they
6:48 cannot communicate with anyone but him
6:51 and perhaps each other to these little
6:54 birds to these children varis is the
6:56 voice in the blue flames calling
6:59 answering demanding more 50 more little
7:01 birds says to AIO in arya's hearing deep
7:04 below the red keep she has no idea what
7:06 they are talking about no idea that 50
7:09 little birds means 50 Children enslaved
7:11 and brutally trained 50 children with
7:13 their tongues removed and never given a
7:17 chance at normal life Lio bulks at
7:19 having to provide 50 more he complains
7:21 about how hard they are to train how
7:24 much they cost how easily they die He
7:27 suggests they use older children instead
7:30 but varis says the risk is too great and
7:32 Arya hears no more of the conversation after
7:33 after
7:35 that if older children are not effective
7:37 for his purposes then what happens to
7:39 the little birds who survive and grow
7:42 older one possibility comes to us
7:44 through tyrion's POV he spends some time
7:47 at aio's mans and tries to start
7:49 conversations with several different
7:51 servants none of them respond none of
7:53 them even talk to him he brushes this
7:55 off as them not speaking the same
7:57 language as him or he Muses perhaps
7:59 they've been commanded not to speak to
8:01 him but it could be that they are
8:04 incapable of speaking they could be
8:06 retired little birds whose tongues were
8:07 removed long
8:10 ago A Song of Ice and Fire shows us in
8:13 many ways that violence begets violence
8:16 Varys is a microcosm of that concept
8:19 that which was done to him for power he
8:22 has done to others in a previous video
8:25 we concluded that Veris probably does
8:26 genuinely want to create a future
8:28 Kingdom that is fairer and better for
8:31 all and he views the actions he takes to
8:33 achieve that however horrible they may
8:37 be as necessary evils this Mass abuse to
8:40 so many small children is surely the
8:43 greatest of those evils but can he keep
8:46 this a secret forever will he get away
8:49 with it he might but it's probably more
8:52 likely that he's eventually discovered
8:54 this isn't a oneoff that he could sweep
8:56 under the carpet there are now hundreds
8:58 if not thousands of victims many of whom
9:00 will presume presumably now have grown
9:02 up and many of whom might not be as
9:05 loyal as Varys thinks one of these
9:07 children could be strong enough to break
9:09 through the conditioning or be caught by
9:12 one of varys's many enemies Varys guards
9:13 against this by ensuring his little
9:16 birds can't speak or right so even if
9:18 they got caught they could reveal
9:20 nothing but is that as strong a defense
9:22 as he thinks Georg Aram Martin has
9:25 already given us one example of a child
9:27 who can't speak but when Court gives up
9:29 valuable information to his previous
9:33 enemies wax Theon Squire who informs
9:35 Lord Mandy and Robert Glover of the
9:38 location of rickon and OSHA despite
9:42 being born dumb as Robert Glover says
9:44 until he learns more letters we will
9:46 never know half the truth but he came to
9:50 us knowing yes and no and those can go a
9:52 long way once you find the right
9:55 questions and the more little birds
9:57 there are and the more overt their
10:00 actions the more likely discovery comes
10:02 previously they seem to have been mostly
10:05 just listening in on conversations and
10:07 the like but as Varys and aio's longterm
10:09 plan to place young Griff on the throne
10:11 is coming to a head he appears more
10:13 willing to use his little birds
10:16 aggressively for example the final
10:18 chapter of A Dance with Dragons is
10:20 Kevin's epilog a chilling scene where
10:22 varis shoots him with a crossbow before
10:24 a group of little birds with daggers
10:26 finishes him off the way they are
10:30 described is unsettling we reads that
10:32 they were all around him half a dozen of
10:36 them white-faced children with dark eyes
10:38 boys and girls together and in their
10:40 hands the
10:43 daggers it's the final line in A Dance
10:45 with Dragons quite a way to finish a
10:48 book and this was a surprise to many
10:50 readers we knew they spied and stole
10:53 information but this was perhaps our
10:55 first evidence that the little birds
10:58 were also used to kill what other uses
11:00 might VAR have for them it's
11:03 uncomfortable to imagine a small child
11:05 clearly one of the little birds opens
11:07 the door to pel's apartments for Kevin
11:09 and he seems to find it completely
11:11 unremarkable throwing his cloak at her
11:14 without thinking there are clearly
11:16 children all over the red keep running
11:19 messages cleaning things opening doors
11:21 and apparently many of them are little
11:24 birds the denisons of the red keep are
11:26 blly living their day-to-day lives not
11:29 knowing that or ignoring the small Army
11:32 of potential assassins that Scurry
11:35 around beneath their notice so who might
11:37 discover the truth of this and how will
11:40 they react that second part is quite
11:42 important because in the Cutthroat World
11:45 Of Ice And Fire some people will surely
11:47 not care or just view it as how kingdoms
11:50 are run but others who might care might
11:54 find out for example kyber is varys's
11:56 successor as master of Whisperers he
11:58 will be developing his own informant
12:00 Network in King's Landing we read in
12:02 cersei's POV that she thinks that
12:05 varys's spies have simply moved over to
12:08 kyber but kyber is surely not that naive
12:10 there's a good chance he will be keeping
12:12 an eye out for whatever remains of
12:15 varys's network and if he does discover
12:18 something and tell Cersei well I think
12:21 we know how she will react swiftly and with
12:22 with
12:25 brutality or how about Arya I have
12:26 previously speculated on the heavy
12:28 foreshadowing Georgia ra Martin seems to
12:31 be giving us for Aya skin changing into
12:33 one of the cats in the red keep perhaps
12:36 Bion himself and two or three of the
12:39 names on her list are in King's Landing
12:40 so there's a healthy chance she will at
12:42 least consider going there when she
12:45 leaves Bravos and cats are even more
12:47 unnoticed than small children in the red
12:50 keep she has already witnessed varis
12:52 ordering in some more little birds from
12:55 AO if she then discovers what that meant
12:57 it will surely offend her strong moral
13:00 compass and Lead to varys's name being
13:01 added to her
13:04 list someone else who will surely hate
13:06 the idea of what Varys has done to all
13:09 those children is Dany and if things go
13:12 the way we think they might Varys May
13:14 well be back out of hiding by the time
13:16 she arrives in Westeros if young Griff
13:19 takes King's Landing while she may not
13:21 personally know immediately if Tyrion is
13:24 by her side he's definitely the kind of
13:26 person who can figure things out he has
13:28 firsthand experience of being hand of
13:30 the king with varis as master of
13:33 Whisperers and spent time at ayo's mans
13:35 where the servants are suspiciously mute
13:38 retired little birds perhaps and we know
13:42 he suspects Ayo to be a slaver so it
13:44 seems that there are several ways for
13:47 this secret to come out and surely a few
13:50 others that you could think of and who
13:53 would save him as he said himself a few
13:57 times he has no armies no house or even
13:59 Valiant Brothers to defend him he makes
14:02 it sound so Noble almost Brave that he
14:05 has so few advantages compared to the
14:07 Highborn of Westeros Tyrion even feels
14:11 bad for him varis claims he buys his
14:13 life a new each day by providing
14:15 information to those who could easily
14:19 have him killed information they view as
14:22 too valuable to live without but they
14:24 don't know that that valuable
14:26 information comes to them over the dead
14:29 bodies of slave children
14:32 varis was highly successful before his
14:35 little birds but they are what took him
14:37 from an expert to one of the world's
14:39 greatest in the Game of Thrones they are
14:42 both his greatest power and his greatest
14:45 liability if the secret of his little
14:47 birds is exposed it would likely be his
14:50 end he would no longer be able to buy
14:53 his life a new it would be too costly it
14:56 would mean ultimately that which has
14:58 given Varys his greatest advantage
15:01 throughout his career may also earn him
15:04 his downfall if this dark secret is
15:06 discovered it's likely something that
15:08 even the silver tonged Varys wouldn't be
15:11 able to talk his way out of and perhaps
15:13 that is right even from his own
15:15 perspective if he truly is trying to
15:18 build a better fairer westos then there
15:21 surely wouldn't be a place in it for
15:23 someone who does the dark things that he has
15:25 has
15:27 done if you'd like to see more videos
15:29 like this diving deep into into the
15:31 world of Ice and Fire there's a link
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15:39 there's a link to my patreon on the
15:41 right of your screen that's all for this
15:44 time thanks for watching I'll see you
