Game of Thrones (TV Series)

And Now His Watch Is Ended (2013)

Conleth Hill: Lord Varys

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Quotes 

• Lord Varys : I choose my allies carefully, and my enemies more carefully still.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Which is Sansa Stark?

  Lord Varys : Neither. A babe in the woods. I admired her father.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Yes, Ned Stark had many admirers. And how many stepped forward when the executioner came for his head?

  Lord Varys : I could not help Lord Stark. Perhaps I can help his daughter.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : How?

  Lord Varys : You're not the only one who has taken an interest in her.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : That's hardly surprising. She's a beautiful girl with a famous name.

  Lord Varys : Indeed. She'd make a lovely match for the right suitor.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : It almost feels as if you're about to arrive at the point.

  Lord Varys : Littlefinger is not long for the capital. A confidant of mine has told me that when he goes, Sansa Stark goes with him.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : And why have you come to me with this matter?

  Lord Varys : Littlefinger was born with no lands, no wealth, no armies. He has acquired the first two. How long before he has the army?

  [Olenna smiles] 

  Lord Varys : Perhaps you'll laugh, but I know him better than most, and this is the truth. Littlefinger is one of the most dangerous men in Westeros. If Robb Stark falls, Sansa Stark is the key to the North.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : And if Littlefinger marries her, he'll have the key in his pocket.

  Lord Varys : Which seems such a shame. Why should a man with such a low reputation steal away such a lovely bride?

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : [chuckling]  You must despise him, you're working so hard to undermine him.

  Lord Varys : Actually, I rather enjoy him. But he would see this country burn if he could be king of the ashes.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : You are a clever man, Lord Varys.

  Lord Varys : You are too kind. I believe I have a possible solution.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : One doesn't need to be clever for that. It's all rather obvious, isn't it?

• [Olenna is watching some of her young granddaughters sewing] 

  Young Tyrell Lady : Do you like it, Nana?

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Another golden rose, how original. I eat from plates stamped with roses, I sleep in sheets embroidered with roses, I have a golden rose painted on my chamber pot... as if that makes it smell any better. Roses are boring, dear.

  [Olenna leans forward to look at the stitching] 

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : "Growing Strong." Ha! The dullest words of any House. "Winter Is Coming." Now that's memorable. "We Do Not Sow." Strong, strong, those are Houses you watch out for. Direwolves and krakens, fierce beasts... but a golden rose growing strong? Ha! That strikes fear in the heart.

  [Olenna looks up and sees Varys walking towards them] 

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Look, little loves. A spider in the garden. Run along, now. Grow strong.

  [the young ladies bow and leave] 

  Lord Varys : My lady. I wanted to personally welcome you to King's Landing. The city has been made brighter by your presence.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : The city is made brighter by my presence? Is that your usual line, Lord Varys? Are you here to seduce me?

  Lord Varys : A little obvious, perhaps.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Oh, no, please! Seduce away, it's been so long. Though I rather think it's all for naught. What happens when the nonexistent bumps against the decrepit?

  [Varys looks down at his crotch, then back at Olenna, at a loss for words] 

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : A question for the philosophers. But you've come mincing all this way for something. So?

  Lord Varys : Might I sit?

  [Varys starts toward a nearby chair] 

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : No.

  [Varys stops and looks at Olenna] 

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Come, I've heard you're such a clever man. I'm curious why you sought me out.

  Lord Varys : You've taken an interest in Sansa Stark.

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Have I? Because I spoke to her once in this garden, and one of your little spies came running to tell you? Why shouldn't I take an interest? She's an interesting girl.

  Lord Varys : Is she?

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : No, not particularly. But she's had an interesting childhood.

  Lord Varys : She has, sadly. Well, forgive me for wasting your time. I thought we shared certain hopes for her well-being.

  [Varys turns to leave] 

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : [chuckling]  Come, come. You surrender rather easily.

  [Olenna gets up and takes Varys's arm] 

  Lady Olenna Tyrell : Walk with me. I know the walls have ears, but apparently the shrubbery does, too.

• Lord Varys : I was going to tell you the story of how I was cut. Do you want to hear it still?

  Tyrion Lannister : I don't know. Do I?

  Lord Varys : As a boy, in Myr, I traveled with a troupe of actors through the Free Cities. One day, a man approached my master with an offer too tempting to refuse. I feared the man meant to use me, as I'd heard some men use small boys, but what he wanted was far worse. He gave me a potion that made me powerless to move or speak, yet did nothing to dull my senses. With a hooked blade, he sliced me, root and stem, chanting all the while. He burned my parts on a brazier; the flames burned blue, and I heard a voice answer his call. Still dream of that night. Not of the sorcerer, not of his blade... I dream of the voice. Was it a god? A demon? Some conjurer's trick? I don't know, but the sorcerer called and a voice answered. And ever since that day, I have hated magic, and all who practice it. But, you can see why I was eager to aid in your fight against Stannis and his Red Priestess: a symbolic revenge, of sorts.

  Tyrion Lannister : Yes, I feel the need for actual revenge. Against the actual person who tried to have me killed, which will require a certain degree of influence, which...

  Lord Varys : You do not possess at the moment. But influence is largely a matter of patience, I find. Once I had served the sorcerer's purpose, he threw me out of his house, to die. I resolved to live, to spite him. I begged, I sold what parts of my body remained to me, I became an excellent thief. And soon, learned that the contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse. Step by step, one distasteful task after another, I made my way from the slums of Myr to the Small Council Chamber. Influence grows, like a weed. I tended mine, patiently, until its tendrils reached from the Red Keep, all the way across to the far side of the world where I managed to wrap them around something very special.

  [Varys pulls the crate lid open; Tyrion looks inside with him to find a ragged old man, bound and gagged] 

  Tyrion Lannister : The sorcerer.

  Lord Varys : Hello, my old friend. It's been a long time. I have no doubt, the revenge you want will be yours in time if you have the stomach for it.

  [Varys closes the crate on the sorcerer, who is screaming through the gag]