0:02 After vanishing at the end of a storm of
0:04 swords, Varys reappears in the epilogue
0:07 of A Dance with Dragons to assassinate
0:08 Sir Kevin
0:11 Lannister. Why? What does Varys expect
0:14 to gain from the murder? Hi everyone,
0:16 this is Robert. Welcome to InDeepge
0:18 Geek. On this channel, we cover A Song
0:20 of Ice and Fire in nerdy depth, as well
0:22 as other great fantasy worlds like The
0:24 Lord of the Rings and The Witcher. Welcome.
0:26 Welcome.
0:28 This is another collaboration with the
0:30 wonderful history of Westeros. Please do
0:32 check out their excellent YouTube
0:34 channel and podcast. There's a link in the
0:35 the
0:37 description. In the epilogue to A Dance
0:39 with Dragons, Kevin Lannister is having
0:42 dinner with Cersei and Tommen when a
0:44 message arrives from the Grand Maester.
0:46 Kevin excuses himself and is escorted
0:49 into Pycel's chamber by a silent child,
0:51 who we can only assume is one of Varys's
0:54 little birds. Moments after he enters
0:56 the room, Varys shoots him with a
0:58 crossbow. The similarity to his brother
1:01 Tywin's murder comes to mind immediately
1:03 for him, and he blurts out the name
1:07 Tyrion. But instead, Varys emerges from
1:08 the shadows, clutching the murder
1:11 weapon. And in true Varys style, he
1:13 apologizes, telling Kevin it's not
1:17 personal. He says, "Sir Kevin, forgive
1:19 me if you can. I bear you no ill will.
1:22 This was not done from malice. It was
1:24 for the realm, for the children. This
1:27 pains me, my lord. You do not deserve to
1:30 die alone on such a cold, dark night.
1:32 There are many like you, good men in
1:35 service to bad causes. But you are
1:37 threatening to undo all the queen's good
1:40 work, to reconcile High Garden and
1:42 Castly Rock, bind the faith to your
1:44 little king, unite the seven kingdoms
1:46 under Tommen's rule.
1:50 So, so Varys kills him. Most of Kevin's
1:52 epilogue chapter earlier is spent at
1:54 council. A number of issues are
1:57 discussed by hand of the king Ma Tyrell,
1:59 Master of Laws, Randall Tarly, Grand
2:01 Maester Pycel, and Kevin Lannister
2:03 himself serving as regent. The most
2:05 prominent topic is the invasion of the
2:07 Stormlands by a young man claiming to be
2:10 Aegon, son of Rhaegar Targaryen at the
2:12 head of the famously dangerous Golden
2:16 Company alongside John Conington. Though
2:17 they don't agree on much, the small
2:19 council does agree that this threat
2:22 requires an immediate military response
2:24 lest the danger grow. Aegon could win
2:27 castles, allies, reputation. Time to
2:29 spread word of his arrival and his
2:32 identity. Best to stop him as soon as
2:34 possible. Mace decrees that he will
2:36 march south with his army as soon as his
2:39 daughter Marjgery's trial is complete.
2:41 Waiting for the trial to be over isn't
2:42 exactly immediate, however. Not to
2:44 mention the possibility that Marjgerie
2:47 could lose. Would Mace still march his
2:50 army south in that case? Probably not.
2:52 Thus, the threat of violence hangs over
2:54 the scene and the capital, even without
2:57 considering Aegon in the south. Some
2:59 members of the small council are
3:01 concerned that they themselves might be
3:03 targets. For example, Pycel expresses
3:05 concern to Kevin that Mace Tyrell
3:09 mislikes him, so he needs guards.
3:11 Kevin is diplomatic but inwardly scoffs
3:14 at the notion that Mace would have Pycel
3:16 killed. While many on the council are
3:18 more concerned with their own lives or
3:20 families, Kevin is more concerned about
3:22 other matters, namely the aforementioned
3:25 invasion by Aegon. Of course, Kevin will
3:28 find Pycel dead only a few pages later.
3:30 It turns out they both had a piece of
3:32 the truth, but neither of them had the
3:35 hole. Simply put, Pycel was not terribly
3:36 worried about the danger in the
3:38 Stormlands, but very concerned about the
3:41 danger in house. Kevin was more
3:42 concerned about the danger in the
3:44 Stormlands, while not terribly worried
3:46 about the danger in house. It turns out
3:48 that the danger in the Stormlands and
3:49 the danger in house are one and the
3:53 same. Bars is back after nearly two full
3:56 books missing, and he's with Aegon. He's
3:58 also no longer the Varys of the past 20
4:00 years. He's no longer pretending to be
4:02 squeamish or neutral. No longer trying
4:04 to keep the realm at peace while his
4:07 plans and his young king mature. The
4:10 time is nigh. Instead of order, Varys
4:13 wants chaos so Aegon can save the realm
4:15 to win the throne. As Stannis himself
4:17 put it. Stannis was of course referring
4:19 to himself saving the realm to win the
4:21 throne at the time. But it's just as
4:23 true for any other claimment. The realm
4:26 wants peace and stability most of all
4:28 and will favor a king who brings them
4:30 that. That is the core reason for the
4:33 murder of Kevin, creating chaos to help
4:36 Aegon win the throne. But let's get more
4:38 specific. Varys tells Kevin as he's
4:41 dying who will take the blame for his
4:44 murder. We read, "Your niece will think
4:47 the Tyrells had you murdered with the
4:49 connance of the imp. The Tyrells will
4:52 suspect her. Someone somewhere will find
4:55 a way to blame the Dornishman. Doubt,
4:57 division, and mistrust will eat the very
5:00 ground beneath your boy king while Aegon
5:02 raises his banner above Storm's End and
5:04 the lords of the realm gather around
5:07 him. This is the heart of the matter.
5:09 Driving a wedge between Lannister and
5:11 Tyrell, the houses who are the biggest
5:14 obstacles to Aegon's claim. For Varys's
5:16 young king to win the throne, it's
5:18 better if the Lannisters and Tyrells are
5:21 not on good terms. Better still if they
5:24 turn on one another and become enemies.
5:26 Even better than that if the Tyrells are
5:28 an enemy of the Lannisters and an ally
5:31 of Aegon. Perhaps Marjgery could marry
5:34 Aegon instead of Tommen. It's not clear
5:36 what exactly Varys has in mind for the
5:38 Tyrells. It might be that he's offered a
5:40 different house in the Reach the seat of
5:42 High Garden in exchange for their
5:44 support. We can only be certain that
5:45 Varys wants to break the Lannister Tyrell
5:47 Tyrell
5:50 alliance. Like Tywin before him, Kevin
5:52 was doing a good job at uniting
5:54 Lannister and Tyrell at forging them
5:57 into a unit that might hold the throne.
5:59 So, he had to die. And by killing him
6:02 with a crossbow, Varys is attempting to
6:04 accomplish the opposite, to pit the two
6:06 allied great houses against each other.
6:09 Kevin was also keeping Cersei in check
6:10 and was preparing to send her back to
6:14 cast Lero. Kevin's death put Cersei back
6:17 in charge as regent for Tommen. It's
6:19 another important part of the plan. This
6:21 effectively replaces someone competent
6:23 with someone who will play right into
6:25 Varys's hands. It is no secret that
6:28 Cersei hates the Tyrells. Her lies are
6:30 the entire reason Marjgery is on trial
6:32 in the first place, and we can be sure
6:34 she will continue to find ways to
6:37 manipulate those proceedings. Varys
6:39 knows this and knows that Marjgery's
6:42 fate is tied to Mace's army. As we and
6:45 Mace himself established, as long as
6:47 Marjgerie is in danger, the Tyrell army
6:50 will not march south to face Aegon. Not
6:52 to mention Cersei being in charge in
6:55 general is good for Aegon's chances.
6:57 Many prospective allies might think
7:00 twice about joining her. In fact, her
7:02 leadership may give some noble houses
7:04 good cause to choose Aegon, including
7:06 many who would have unquestioningly
7:09 followed Tywin. Mace Tyrell is not an
7:11 example of exemplary leadership either.
7:13 Not to mention, there's a very good
7:15 chance some members of the small council
7:17 and other houses in general are likely
7:19 already in league with Varys and Aegon,
7:22 but simply haven't made their move yet.
7:24 Many noble houses will use that all too
7:27 common strategy of waiting, delay, and
7:29 proaricate and dissemble until one side
7:31 appears to have the upper hand and then
7:34 join that side. Varys is nothing if not
7:36 convincing, meaning many may join Aegon
7:38 because Varys will seduce them with his
7:41 silver tongue. Of course, Aegon is
7:43 winning, he'll say. He might even be
7:46 telling the truth. We should mention
7:48 Pycel here as well. Kevin was
7:50 technically the second murder that day.
7:53 Varys killed Pycel first and used him as
7:56 bait, but it wasn't just bait or revenge
7:58 for all the insults Pycel heaped on
8:00 Varys over the span of two decades on
8:02 the small council. Though Varys might
8:04 have enjoyed murdering Pycel given all
8:06 that, it actually fits his plan
8:09 perfectly when we scrutinize it. With
8:11 Kevin, Varys used the crossbow so people
8:14 would think of Tyrion. With Pycel, there
8:16 was no need to be particular with the
8:18 murder weapon, so he simply smashed his
8:20 head in from behind. We can be fairly
8:22 sure it was him and not one of the
8:24 little birds, since they are children
8:26 and not likely to be capable of crushing
8:28 his skull. Plus, they're likely too
8:31 short. Varys spent 20 years pretending
8:34 to be soft, effeminate, afraid of blood,
8:36 barely capable of witnessing violence,
8:38 let alone personally dispensing it. Now
8:40 he is killing people with his own hands,
8:43 but still keeping it a secret. For the
8:47 moment, only us readers know. Now we see
8:49 how this long cultivated image fits into
8:52 his overall plan. Many will overlook him
8:54 as a culprit until it's too late. They
8:56 will be too busy fighting each other,
8:59 which is exactly what he wants.
9:01 The death of Pycel adds to the suspicion
9:04 that Tyrion is responsible. It was Pycel
9:06 who accused Tyrion during his trial of
9:08 stealing poisons from him. More
9:10 importantly, the trial was seen by many
9:13 and widely discussed afterwards. Tyrion
9:15 and Pycel's animosity towards one
9:17 another was on display for all to see.
9:20 The motive is plain for all to see. Even
9:22 though Tyrion is innocent of Joffrey's
9:25 death, though technically Tyrion did
9:27 steal those poisons from Pycel, Pycel
9:30 was right about that. Pycel has long
9:32 been an open Lannister toad as well.
9:34 When sides are taken, he always takes
9:37 Tywins or Cersei's. Since Varys wants
9:40 Aegon to take the throne, this removes
9:42 an enemy from the small council. Pycel
9:45 would clearly support Tommen over Aegon.
9:46 And there's also the matter of his
9:49 replacement. When Tyrion stripped Pycel
9:51 of his office earlier in the story, the
9:53 Citadel were apparently on the verge of
9:55 sending a Maester Gorman to be the new
9:58 Grand Maester. It's an open secret that
10:02 Maester Gorman was born Gorman Tyrell,
10:04 Ma Tyrell's uncle, no less, another
10:07 Tyrell on the small council. It's easy
10:09 to see that Cersei might immediately
10:11 conclude that the Tyrells were behind
10:14 Pycel's murder. So the murders of Kevin
10:17 and Pycel are intended to seow chaos and
10:19 discord in the Red Keep that Aegon can
10:21 exploit in his invasion. They were done
10:23 in a way to divert attention away from
10:26 Varys and onto Tyrion and the Tyrells
10:29 and maybe even the Martell's. Cersei
10:32 will very obviously react strongly.
10:33 Removing the competent Kevin and
10:35 replacing him with the less competent
10:38 Cersei will, I'm sure, have explosive
10:41 consequences. And maybe those murders
10:44 are just the beginning. Now that Varys's
10:46 20-year plan is culminating, now that
10:48 Aegon has landed to push his claim for
10:51 the Iron Throne, Varys can operate more
10:54 aggressively and openly. How else do you
10:55 think he might weaken King's Landing's
10:58 defenses? Will there be more murders?
10:59 Let me know what you think in the
11:02 comments below. Even more importantly,
11:05 will it work? Will all of Varys and Yo's
11:07 planning finally lead to Aegon, Young
11:10 Griff, ascending the Iron Throne? We'll
11:13 look at that in a future video. If you'd
11:15 like to see more videos like this,
11:16 diving deep into the lore of A Song of
11:18 Ice and Fire, there's a link to my
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11:22 or to support this channel, thank you.
11:24 There's a link to my Patreon page on the
11:26 right of your screen. That's all for
11:28 this time. Thanks for watching. I'll see
