# Valar Hiatus: The Game of Thrones offseason thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 5, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208 "2012-06-05T22:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/821 "2019-01-12T21:03:41Z")
Researching something else entirely, I came upon a very interesting piece of information regarding Varys: NIH research link and my speculation: [Fortnightly review: Male pattern androgenetic alopecia - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1113949/) There is only one shade of hair which would cause Varys to keep his head unnecessarily shorn: Targaryen platinum. The other possibility is that he is not really a eunuch. More on that in the second spoiler box. Further speculation based upon one of the early release chapters from WoW (and show-based book spoiler): I can’t remember if this was an epilogue (ADWD?) or a preleased chapter, but IIRC it mentions Varys committing a murder and then standing up " . . . and his voice deepened." So what does that portend? Was the part of eunuch a clever disguise/fabrication? Has a faceless man murdered Varys and taken his face? Has the demon been inhabiting Varys all these years, and now found his time to come out? Given the discovery above, I’m going with -\> he was always just pretending to be a eunuch. I have speculated before that Rhaegar never died, but it was someone else wearing his armour. So I’m putting this all together to say: Varys turns out to be Rhaegar. This reveal will prove necessary to prevent conflict between Jon and Dany when Jon’s parentage comes to light. And so then, since he and Illyrio are childhood friends, the question becomes, _who is Illyrio?_. Could it be that he is Tyrion’s missing uncle? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/822 "2019-01-12T23:40:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > GRRM will be on the Jan. 8 episode of PBS’s _Finding Your Roots_. Check local listings: [https://weta.org/press/season-five-“finding-your-roots-henry-louis-gates-jr”-premieres-winter-2019-pbs-beginning](https://weta.org/press/season-five-%E2%80%9Cfinding-your-roots-henry-louis-gates-jr%E2%80%9D-premieres-winter-2019-pbs-beginning) So did he find out that his parents were siblings? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/823 "2019-01-13T00:47:55Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Researching something else entirely, I came upon a very interesting piece of information regarding Varys: > > NIH research link and my speculation: > > [Fortnightly review: Male pattern androgenetic alopecia - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1113949/) > > There is only one shade of hair which would cause Varys to keep his head unnecessarily shorn: Targaryen platinum. > > The other possibility is that he is not really a eunuch. More on that in the second spoiler box. > > Further speculation based upon one of the early release chapters from WoW (and show-based book spoiler): > > I can’t remember if this was an epilogue (ADWD?) or a preleased chapter, but IIRC it mentions Varys committing a murder and then standing up " . . . and his voice deepened." > > So what does that portend? Was the part of eunuch a clever disguise/fabrication? Has a faceless man murdered Varys and taken his face? Has the demon been inhabiting Varys all these years, and now found his time to come out? > > Given the discovery above, I’m going with -\> he was always just pretending to be a eunuch. I have speculated before that Rhaegar never died, but it was someone else wearing his armour. > So I’m putting this all together to say: Varys turns out to be Rhaegar. This reveal will prove necessary to prevent conflict between Jon and Dany when Jon’s parentage comes to light. > And so then, since he and Illyrio are childhood friends, the question becomes, _who is Illyrio?_. Could it be that he is Tyrion’s missing uncle? If your spoiler is true, who was the guy in the box he keeps under his bed? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/824 "2019-01-13T02:23:18Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > So did he find out that his parents were siblings? Some interesting family secrets The Italian grandfather that changed the family name to Martin was vilified by the family for leaving and starting a new family. It turns out he probably had a good reason to leave. George isn’t related to him at all. His grandmother was sleeping with someone else. He always thought he was partially Italian. It turns out he’s not Italian at all and whoever his real grandfather was he was Jewish. He seemed pretty amused by the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/825 "2019-01-13T05:58:06Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > If your spoiler is true, who was the guy in the box he keeps under his bed? Good question; I don’t know. And there’s the red priestess who offered to tell him “what the voice said.” Hmmmnn. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/826 "2019-01-13T08:07:41Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I don’t understand. If she wasn’t included in his estate, then how did she get ownership of the rights/royalties? Although they lived together for thirty years, Eva Gabrielsson lost all of the rights to Stieg Larsson’s estate for two reasons: Sweden doesn’t recognize common-law marriage and Larsson died intestate. She wrote a book about the whole sorry affair titled _There Are Things I Want You to Know About Stieg Larsson and Me._ So the series lives on, even though it’s obvious to anyone following the saga that it’s taken a direction that would have appalled Larsson. Here is a [solid article](https://www.popmatters.com/steig-larsson-and-author-appropriation-2622706616.html) explaining the what, where and how. I was a big fan of the original trilogy. It’s such a shame that he didn’t live to see his work become a worldwide phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/827 "2019-01-13T11:03:27Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > So I’m putting this all together to say: Varys turns out to be Rhaegar. That’s not possible, since Varys was appointed spymaster in King’s Landing several years before Robert’s Rebellion. Notably, he adviced against opening the gates for Tywin during the siege of King’s Landing. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/828 "2019-01-13T19:28:55Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > That’s not possible, since Varys was appointed spymaster in King’s Landing several years before Robert’s Rebellion. Notably, he adviced against opening the gates for Tywin during the siege of King’s Landing. That hasn’t stopped him before, being a full time master of whispers and a jailer. That said I agree it’s implausible. He is probably a Blackfyre supporter or possibly a relative in the books, in the show who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/829 "2019-01-14T02:46:40Z")
HBO set the premier date as April 14th ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/830 "2019-01-14T03:10:17Z")
HBO release a new season 8 teaser: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wA38GCX4Tb0/maxresdefault.jpg "Game of Thrones | Season 8 | Official Tease: Crypts of Winterfell (HBO)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA38GCX4Tb0) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/831 "2019-01-14T14:18:06Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > HBO set the premier[e] date as April 14th Here’s CNN’s brief coverage: [https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/13/entertainment/game-of-thrones-date/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/13/entertainment/game-of-thrones-date/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/832 "2019-01-23T16:09:12Z")
[Runtimes for final season released.](https://winteriscoming.net/2019/01/22/runtimes-game-thrones-season-8-revealed/) Get your Depends and beer/wine IVs ready. I dunno, couldn’t they have made them a more TV showlike length and just added more episodes? Although, when it’s an especially good episode, I tend to be surprised when it ends. Episode 801: 60 minutes Episode 802: 60 minutes Episode 803: 80 minutes Episode 804: 80 minutes Episode 805: 80 minutes Episode 806: 80 minutes ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/833 "2019-01-23T17:11:10Z")
'Tis indeed a bit silly. But on the bright side, it allows one to only have to pay for two months of HBO and not have to worry about inadvertently going over into a 3rd month (as may have occurred if it was 8 episodes). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/834 "2019-01-23T17:31:31Z")
A good 2013 interview with Charles Dance, who played Lord Tywin: [Game of Thrones, Charles Dance interview: ‘I treat Peter Dinklage appallingly’](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/game-of-thrones/9961779/Game-of-Thrones-Charles-Dance-interview-I-treat-Peter-Dinklage-appallingly.html) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/835 "2019-01-26T19:55:39Z")
A GOT S8 office pool - who lives, who dies, who rules?: [Boss Creates "Game of Thrones" Deadpool so Employees Can Bet on Who Lives and Dies](https://www.distractify.com/entertainment/2019/01/24/Cl8MmAT_K/game-of-thrones-office-pool) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/836 "2019-01-26T20:07:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A GOT S8 office pool - who lives, who dies, who rules?: [Boss Creates "Game of Thrones" Deadpool so Employees Can Bet on Who Lives and Dies](https://www.distractify.com/entertainment/2019/01/24/Cl8MmAT_K/game-of-thrones-office-pool) Saw that earlier, but presumably they confused White Walkers and wights. Also the author doesn’t know what “based” means. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2019, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/837 "2019-01-27T22:49:32Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Saw that earlier, but presumably they confused White Walkers and wights. > > Also the author doesn’t know what “based” means. Are you talking about where they said “. . . the Bayonne-based author . . .” ? Odd phrasing, yes, but I’m not getting what’s wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/838 "2019-01-28T02:07:23Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Are you talking about where they said “. . . the Bayonne-based author . . .” ? Odd phrasing, yes, but I’m not getting what’s wrong with it. He was born there. He’s been based in New Mexico for some time, Santa Fe I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/839 "2019-01-29T16:03:17Z")
Sophie Turner (Sansa) told friends the ending but the earlier reports were more than 1 ending was going to be filmed. Seems like \>1 ending filmed could be very expensive so maybe that story was just put out to confuse people. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208/840 "2019-01-29T16:24:04Z")
Why is the entire Web convinced that the Night King is a Stark? I mean, maybe he’s both, like Jon. But he’s riding a dragon! He has to be Targaryen, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valar-hiatus-the-game-of-thrones-offseason-thread/624208.md?page=43)