Game of Thrones Fans Think Daenerys Was Almost Poisoned in 'The Bells'

As many fans expected would happen, the latest episode of Game of Thrones, titled “The Bells,” began with Varys taking action after learning that Daenerys Targaryen wasn’t the true heir to the Iron Throne, and that it was instead Jon Snow, a.k.a. Aegon Targaryen. The master manipulator is known to switch alliances at the drop of a hat, and it was obvious he would no longer be following Dany as his ruler. He was burnt alive for treason. But before he was killed, fans had reason to believe that he was actually planning on taking out the Mother of Dragons in the form of poison. Here’s why.

Many viewers were confused about why the episode was focusing on Varys’s conversation with a random young girl named Martha, whose job was to bring Daenerys her food. As Cosmopolitan reports, their chat went as follows:

Martha: "She won’t eat." Varys: "We’ll try again at supper." Martha: "I think they’re watching me." Varys: "Who?" Martha: "Her soldiers." Varys: "Of course they are. That's their job. What have I told you, Martha?" Martha: "The bigger the risk, the bigger reward."

Could it be that Martha was supposed to bring Dany food that was poisoned by Varys? Some fans have taken to Twitter to argue just that, with some even finding a callback to the show’s first season. During a conversation between Ned Stark and Maester Pycelle in the season 1 episode “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things,” in which the pair discuss Jon Arryn’s death, Ned asks if he could’ve been poisoned.

“I heard it said that poison is a woman’s weapon,” Ned tells Pycelle, to which he replies, “Yes. Women, cravens ... and eunuchs. Did you know that Lord Varys is a eunuch?”

It definitely wouldn’t be out of character for Varys to poison Daenerys, especially considering that the true heir does not want to rule. But as we all saw, Tyrion Lannister got to Dany first to inform her of Varys’s betrayal, and his fate was sealed.