8 Game of Thrones characters who overstayed their welcome

6. Varys

It pains me to include Varys (Conleth Hill) so high on this list. I like Varys so much as a character and the way he protected the Targaryen claim to the realm, although he appeared to be changing his loyalties very frequently throughout the series. It was more than a little off-putting not fully understanding his motives.

Viewers are introduced to Varys in the first season of the series. He’s an antagonist, or so it seems, to Ned Stark (Sean Bean). It’s clear from day one that Varys isn’t actually to be trusted, not by the Starks anyway. So how does he keep his head when so many others fall? It’s a bit too convenient for my taste.

In my opinion, Varys should have been killed off in Game of Thrones way before he actually died. There’s no way he should have made it from the first season all the way to the end of the series after betraying so many people, pulling the strings from behind the walls of the Red Keep, and acting against the interests of the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms right under their noises. Preservation of himself and the realm is the name of Varys’ game, though, so it does make sense he’d take steps to protect himself.

Varys is executed by Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) in the penultimate episode of the series, “The Bells,” after writing letters to unknown people that reveal Jon Snow’s true identity as Aegon Targaryen (Kit Harrington).

It’s rough to see Varys leave the series in such an unfortunate manner. I’m not saying that Varys shouldn’t have died; he clearly should have, but much sooner and in a different way. In many ways, Varys made it possible for Dany to return to Westeros and claim the Iron Throne. I wanted a Robb Stark-level death for Varys. That’s how he deserved to bow out. Don’t worry, Hill didn’t like Varys’ end either.