Game Of Thrones Season 8: 12 Easter Eggs & References You Might've Missed In 'The Bells'

10. Daenerys Was True To Her Word

In Season 7, Varys laid out his entire philosophy on serving the realm to Daenerys, and their conversation ended with her making him promise that if he ever thought she was failing, he'd talk to her rather than going behind her back. It ended with this line:

"And I swear this. If you ever betray me, I’ll burn you alive.”

Varys, of course, went behind her back here by scheming to get Jon into power, but Dany was true to her word, having the Spider burned to a crisp. Varys' scenes here had another couple of important details too.

When we see him writing the letters about Jon's parentage, it's very similar to Ned Stark doing the same about Joffrey in Season 1 (which also resulted in death), while there's also a hint that Varys was attempting to poison Dany, as him telling Martha the kitchen girl implies: "We’ll try again at supper..." She then later reiterates his message of "The greater the risk, the greater the reward."

Would Varys really try to poison Dany? Well, yes, as an exchange between Ned Stark and Grand Maester Pycelle from Season 1 suggests:

Ned: "I've heard it said that poison is a woman's weapon. Pycelle: "Yes, women, cravens, and eunuchs. Did you know that Lord Varys is a eunuch?"