Original subtitles

VARYS: Men called me "the spider" long before l came to Westeros.

As a young thief in Pentos, l seemed to have eight hands,

each dipped into a stranger's pocket.

But the other thieves didn't appreciate my skill,

and they had size and strength that l couldn't match.

When they discovered why,

l was beaten and told that a eunuch boy doesn't belong in the streets

but in the brothels, as any slaver would know.

l managed to escape them,

and took to sleeping in the sewers by day and prowling the rooftops by night,

barely one step ahead of starvation, much less slavery.

Then l met lllyrio Mopatis.

He was a Braavo who lived by his sword,

but his mind was sharper than his blade.

l proposed an arrangement.

l would spy on lesser thieves and steal their takings.

lllyrio would offer help to the thieves' victims,

promising to recover their valuables for a fee.

Soon every honest man knew to come to lllyrio,

whilst the city's cutpurses sought me,

half to sell me what they had stolen,

and the other half to slit my throat.

Sadly for them, lllyrio needed my throat more than he needed theirs.

Most thieves, like most men, are fools,

who think no further than turning a night's plunder into wine.

Luckily, as the other thieves had reminded me,

l was not a man.

Nor were those l hired with the gold we earned.

l chose the smallest orphan boys and girls,

the ones who were as quick and quiet as me

and taught them to climb walls and slip down chimneys.

My little birds left the shiny trinkets for common thieves

and instead stole letters, ledgers and charts.

Secrets are worth far more than silver or sapphires.

Later l taught my little birds to read the letters themselves

and leave them where they lay so no one would know of our intrusion.

lllyrio and l grew so rich that lllyrio wed a princess of Pentos,

whilst whispers of my talents

reached the ears of a very anxious king across the Narrow Sea

who did not trust his son, nor his wife, nor his Hand.

Nor should he have,

as l told him once l arrived and raised more little birds.

They thought it the most amazing game

to discover all the secret tunnels through the Red Keep,

and listen to all the whispered secrets from within the castle walls.

l often wonder what became of my little birds once l left King's Landing.

Most likely they returned to Flea Bottom,

or worse, grew up.

One day l'll hear their song again.

Until then, well, the world never lacks for orphans.

Little birds sing in the west, and little birds sing in the east.

And a Harpy flies into a spider's web.