There are many scenes in the renowned HBO Series Game of Thrones that remind me of certain fragments of world politics. The feud between families Stark and Lannister in the said novel-turned-series bears a striking resemblance to the Wars of Roses between English Houses of York and Lancasters.
The Battle of Winterfell between Stannis Baratheon and the Boltons also reminds me of when Napoleon Bonaparte tried to conquer Moscow but eventually went back home defeated because Russian winter was just too cold for them non-northerners.
But out of all the showcase of cunning and deceit, portrayal of human greed and lust for power, out of all the nerve-racking political maneuvers that keep you on the edge of your seat every episode, there is one character there who I think we should all learn from. Our politicians, most especially.
Lord Varys came from humble beginnings, you won’t think him important in the first few episodes. And he was so enigmatic it was hard to pin him down as a bad guy or a good guy. You never know where his loyalty lies. In a conversation with Lord Eddard Stark, Lord Varys once claimed that he is loyal to the people and that he is sincere in serving the realm for someone “must” serve the realm he said. But unless you’ve read the book, you wouldn’t want to believe a hairless (that’s not the only thing he doesn’t have) round-faced man who resembles Buddha so much could be the good guy. So until the second episode of Season 7 entitled “Stormborn”, I didn’t really think highly of him. Some would say it is still too early to conclude he is truly one of the good guys but in the said episode, the mother of dragons confronted him.
He must have been caught off guard, and ruffled by Daenerys putting him on the hotseat but the Master of Whispers Lord Varys amazed us all with his response.
He simply tells her that after being born into poverty and scrambling to stay alive, he pledges allegiance to no queen or king, but to the people of Westeros.
He said he chose her, and that he believes Daenerys is the only person who could bring peace to King’s Landing and Westeros. But he also tells her he won’t stand for a ruler who isn’t best for the people.
This scene in particular, made me think that our leaders could learn so much from Varys. And with the mother of dragons’ response to the former telling him not to betray her but to confront her when she’s failing the people, I think our very own President Duterte could learn from her too. For he must be willing to be looked at in the eye and told that he is doing something wrong, and he must correct that mistake, if he were to prove his sincerity in serving the people and making this nation great.
And to his supporters who play blind and deaf to all the bloodshed in his drugwar, Lord Varys might have something to say to them, “Incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty”.
I say, neither do you reward blind loyalty to a president who deliberately ignores due process and rule of law./WDJ