Conleth Hill, the man who has so expertly portrayed the Spider, Lord Varys, on HBO’s Game of Thrones, spoke to i09 at the Entertainment Weekly party during San Diego Comic-Con, last week, and gave some insight on the mind of his character, and how he plans on besting Littlefinger, his arch-nemesis, in the actual game of thrones.
Hill was asked about Varys’ and Littlefinger’s rivalry, and if all the events in Game of Thrones are a direct result of their “sparring.” Hill carefully (noted by i09) replied that he didn’t know if that was the case, but that he could see how the assumption could be made. If you think about it, Ned’s death in Season 1, really and truly sparked the beginnings of the War of the Five Kings…a direct result of Littlefinger and Varys’ Chaos Ladder building, diabolical political maneuvering.
"Varys is in favor of order, while Littlefinger wants chaos. “So they’re good polar opposites.”"
Without Ned’s death, his son Robb would have never called the North’s Banners and marched to fight Tywin Lannister’s army, eventually resulting in the Young Wolf’s untimely demise at the infamous Red Wedding. Had Ned been allowed to carry out his machinations of placing Stannis on the Iron Throne, after the death of King Robert, then there is no need for Melisandre to creatively come up with ways to burn folks with “King’s blood.” Renly probably lives, Stannis may not convert to the religion of the Red God, the Battle of Blackwater Bay never happens and therefore Davos’ sons are still alive. Also, Shireen doesn’t get sacrificed, Selyse doesn’t commit suicide, and more importantly, Gendry doesn’t have to endlessly row his boat in some sort of deviously concocted purgatory by our overlords Benioff and Weiss.
In this scenario, Winterfell is never sacked and burned. Ned has returned home after making sure Stannis is settled. Theon is never tempted to betray Robb, Bran and Rickon don’t have to escape, and Ramsay is more than likely executed by Lord Eddard, after he marches to free Lady Hornwood from the Bastard of Bolton’s despicable clutches. So, as you can see, without Varys and Littlefinger’s medieval version of Spy vs Spy, then Game of Thrones is quite boring.
Hill goes on to say that while Littlefinger’s Chaos Ladder is all about a self-serving goal, Varys seems to want to see other people placed in power. My personal take on the Spider, is that yes, he wants other people in power, but he also wants to be the one pulling that person’s strings. Both men seem to be cut from the same Kingmaker cloth…two sides of one coin, as it were.
When asked about Varys and Tyrion’s relationship, going forward in Season 6, Hill was more forthcoming:
"They’re now left in the position, at the end of series five, where they have to restore order to a city that’s in chaos. I think that’s their challenge, primarily. And they’ll probably have a bit of quipping and bitching along the way."
You can read i09’s interview with Conleth Hill in its entirety by clicking this link. Final note: I am probably more excited to listen to Tyrion and Varys “quip and bitch” at each other in Game of Thrones Season 6, than I am about seeing how Jon Snow will be revived. /wink