The Aftermath: Game of Thrones Finale Conspiracy Theories

Varys Poisoned Daenerys to Turn Her Into The Mad Queen

Varys was Daenerys trusted advisor for many seasons now. That is after he tried to kill her in the first seasons of the series. But still, that’s all in the past, and Varys was a trusted a loyal advisor to Dany, almost until the end. Varys says before that his loyalty resides with the people of Westeros, not with any King or Queen. Meaning that, should he think that his Queen would not be a suitable and kind leader and ruler, he would not hesitate to “switch sides”.

In episode 5 of the last season, we learn that Varys does not trust, or believes in, Dany anymore. He tells her she’s making a mistake, by planning to attack a city full of innocent people. He even tried to convince Tyrion that Jon Snow would be a better kind and that Dany should step down. But no one listens to him, so he tried to poison Dany. We see him having a conversation with one of his “little birds”, his spy. She tells him that “She [Daenerys] won’t eat”. He tells her to “try again at supper”. Their dialog clearly indicates that Varys is plotting against Dany.

credit: esquire, HBO
While most of us shrugged this off as a failed assassination attempt, many observant viewers started to discuss the possibility that the plot of Varys successes. The theory claims that Varys did poison Dany, but he’s poison was not deadly in that it would kill her, it was deadly in that it would make her go mad. The motivation for not killing Dany on the spot is pretty simple, whoever tries to kill Dany, before her madness rampage, would obviously be executed right away. We also saw Varys writes letters about Jon Snow being the rightful heir to the Throne, he planned this through, he wanted Jon Snow to be the hero that saves the people, once again, from a cruel life and agonizing death.

What kind of magic position makes you go mad and burn cities to the ground? Basilisk’s blood. Basilisk’s blood is a poison mentioned by Oberyn Martell in the A Song of Ice and Fire books which “produces violent madness”. While, it doesn’t feature in the TV series, during season 1 of Game of Thrones, Ned Starks speaks with Grand Maester Pycelle, who mentions Varys in the context of using poison as a weapon.