Coughing Varys is a reaction image pulled from Game of Thrones season eight, showing the character Varys hacking up seawater on a beach after a shipwreck. It took off on Reddit in May 2019 as both a reaction shot for disappointing realizations and an exploitable where Varys's dialogue is broken up by wheezing.
Origin
The image is a screengrab from episode four of Game of Thrones season eight, "The Last of the Starks," which premiered on HBO on May 5, 2019[1]. During the scene, Varys, played by Conleth Hill, is washed up on a beach and shown coughing seawater out of his lungs after a shipwreck[3].
- Platform: HBO (source scene) / Reddit (viral spread)
- Creator: Redditor enterprise1 (first posted as reaction image)
- Date: 2019
Overview
Coughing Varys, also known as Heaving Varys, is a reaction image lifted from a scene in Game of Thrones season eight, in which the character Varys is shown flat on a beach coughing water out of his lungs after surviving a shipwreck[1]. The character is played by Conleth Hill, and the still crops tightly on his face mid-heave[3].
Online, the shot works two ways. As a straight reaction image, people drop it under captions about crushing letdowns, usually pointed at the final season of the show itself[2]. As an exploitable, posters rewrite Varys's dialogue with coughs and wheezes cutting up the words, so the character sounds like they are trying to speak through a lungful of saltwater[4].
How It Spread
One day after the episode aired, on May 6, 2019, Reddit user enterprise1 posted the still to /r/freefolk as a reaction image[2].
Over the following days the shot spread further inside /r/freefolk and neighboring Game of Thrones subreddits, where users paired it with setups about various disappointing realizations tied to the show's final season[2]. It also picked up traction on the /tv/ board of 4chan, where a common convention emerged of writing out Varys's speech with the words interrupted by parenthetical coughing and wheezing[4].
How to Use
Two conventions are common. In the reaction format, people post the still on its own under a caption describing a bleak or embarrassing realization, often about Game of Thrones season eight[2]. In the exploitable format, posters write a block of dialogue for Varys with the words typically broken up by coughs, hacks, and wheezes in parentheses, so the character sounds like they are choking through the sentence[4].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Coughing Varys?
It is a reaction image from Game of Thrones season eight showing the character Varys coughing seawater out of his lungs on a beach after surviving a shipwreck[3].
Where did Coughing Varys come from?
The still is from episode four of season eight, "The Last of the Starks," which aired on HBO on May 5, 2019[1].
What does Coughing Varys mean?
People use it to react to crushing or disappointing realizations, most often ones tied to the final season of Game of Thrones itself[2].
How do you use Coughing Varys?
Post the still under a setup about a letdown, or turn it into an exploitable by writing Varys's dialogue with coughs and wheezes cutting up the words[4].
Is Coughing Varys still popular?
It hit its peak on Reddit and 4chan in May 2019 during the show's final season and is now treated as a classic Game of Thrones reaction image[3].
