View original postI'd like to think Varys was pretending to be dumber and I suppose it is open to audience interpretation but I think the writers were using him to establish how sharp-witted those talking with him were were rather than lower him. So long as they don't do it too much its fine, otherwise we get an equivalent of the <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect">Worf Effect</a>