It's hard to find a true friend in Westeros. Given the abundance of betrayals, conflicting ambition, and families at conflict, not many characters in Game of Thrones, or its source material, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books, end the story with as many allies as they had back at the beginning.
As such, when one particular Game of Thrones friendship developed between two characters who interact much less in the books, their dynamic felt like a breath of fresh air, especially throughout the later seasons of the show. However, as a consequence of this strong relationship, one controversial character death in season 8 ends up hurting way worse than a similar moment in the books would, if they include a comparable scene.
Tyrion and Varys bond across the Narrow Sea
In the books, most of Tyrion Lannister's (Peter Dinklage) interactions with Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) take place during Martin's second third and books in the series, A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords. The two form a hesitant alliance during their time in King's Landing, and grow to respect each other's intellects and strategic minds. When Tyrion is condemned to die, Varys helps Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Tyrion's older brother, set him free.
Varys, a secret Targaryen loyalist, then sends Tyrion across the Narrow Sea to Essos, in hopes that he'll be of service to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). In the books, Tyrion initially meets with Illyrio Mopatis (Roger Allam), who helps him reach the Shy Maid, a boat sailing for Meereen whose crew includes "Griff" and "Young Griff," a father/son duo with some secrets up their sleeves. However, before long, Tyrion is kidnapped by Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), Daenerys' former advisor who she banished, who hopes that presenting her with Tyrion will help get him back on her good side.
However, the show cuts the entire Shy Maid subplot, and leaves Illyrio in season 1, meaning that throughout the beginning of season 5, Varys serves as Tyrion's travel companion, until Jorah kidnaps him. Tyrion and Varys later reunite in Meereen, spending most of season 6 working together to run the city in Daenerys' absence. This, along with their travel time together, strengthens their bond, transforming them from allies to legitimate friends. Their dynamic acts as a high point throughout the final seasons of the series.
Tyrion's betrayal and Varys' death
In season 8, Varys is among the first to see the cracks in Daenerys' mental stability, and begins to doubt that she should be the next queen of Westeros. Instead, he considers pivoting his support to Jon Snow (Kit Harrington), the former King in the North who is secretly Aegon Targaryen, the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding) and Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi), which places him ahead of Daenerys in the line of succession. Jon turns Varys down, holding fast in his own support for Dany, but Tyrion overhears their conversation.
Tyrion then rats Varys out to Daenerys, who executes him via dragonfire for his betrayal. Before Varys' death, Tyrion apologies for turning him in, and wishes his friend goodbye. Varys then meets his end with dignity.
This scene proved divisive among fans, many of whom say that the ultra cautious and sneaky Varys became far too clumsy by the time of his death. However, Tyrion's goodbye to Varys still feels painful to watch, regardless of the clunky writing that led up to that moment. The two had legitimately become friends up to this point, so one friend leading to the other's demise makes for a sad ending for one of Game of Thrones' most consistently great characters.
Should Varys' ending in A Song of Ice and Fire play out similarly to Game of Thrones, wherein Tyrion's betrayal leads to his death (which, to be fair, is an unlikely possibility), it probably wouldn't feel as sad as the show's counterpart. This is simply because, in the books, Tyrion and Varys are nowhere near as close as their on-screen equivalents. During Tyrion's travels in Essos, Varys is in King's Landing, and the two haven't directly interacted since A Storm of Swords. Should they meet again, they will lack the rapport of Dinklage's Tyrion and Hill's Varys, simply because of how much less time they'll have spent together. While Varys' story will almost certainly end differently in the books, if Tyrion is involved, it will probably hurt significantly less than it did on Game of Thrones.
For more from the world of Westeros, make sure to catch House of the Dragon season 3 when it airs on HBO Max on June 21.
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