Quote:One thought I just had that has absolutely no basis whatsoever...I wonder if Maester Aemon suspected somehow who Jon really was in retrospect? I can't quite put my finger on it and there's no basis for this, mind you.

 

Much like with Varys...there's no actual justification for it. However, in the books Varys has what is made out to be an almost supernatural skill in disguise although my comment was more a poke at all the comments I see made around the interwebs about how quickly he gets around Westeros (i.e. teleportation device). Never mind that there are almost always subtle time skips in play even in last night's episode. If you look closely during the final sequence, there are ships from both Dorne and Highgarden amdist Dany's already considerable armada (which would indicate a time skip of a couple of months thinking realistically). It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Varys had a childhood after his incident that mirrored Arya's even if Varys isn't a killer necessarily.

 

Speaking of which, who wants to bet dollars to donuts Varys ends up killing Qyburn? I don't think the real Master of Whispers will take to kindly to what Qyburn the Imposter has corrupted his little birds into becoming.

 

Edit: I also wonder, based on what you said about Lyanna, if indeed her relationship with Rhaegar may have been consensual. What little I know of Rhaegar doesn't seem to substantiate him being a rapist...which is apparently somewhat corroborated by Ned's and Barristan's opinion of him (which I just had to look up to confirm).