Illyrio Mopatis
| House / Order | None |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | |
| Status | Alive (in the novels) |
| Origin | Pentos, in the Free Cities |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | — |
| Weapon | |
| Fate | Wealthy magister and master conspirator; secret backer of a hidden Targaryen restoration |
| Portrayed by |
Illyrio Mopatis is an enormously wealthy magister of the Free City of Pentos, a fat, perfumed, and exceedingly shrewd merchant prince whose hospitality and intrigues set much of the saga's plot in motion. Behind his lavish generosity lies one of the deepest conspiracies in the story: Illyrio is a principal architect, with Varys, of a long-laid plot to restore House Targaryen to the Iron Throne.
Background
Illyrio rose from humble origins, once a bravo or sellsword in his youth, to become one of the richest men in Pentos, a magister of the city's ruling council. He lives in opulence in a sprawling manse, immensely fat, his forked beard dyed and his fingers heavy with rings. In his past he shared a close friendship, and possibly more, with the eunuch Varys when the two ran schemes together in the Free Cities before Varys went to serve on the small council in King's Landing.
The Targaryen exiles
Illyrio took the exiled Targaryen children Viserys and Daenerys into his home in Pentos. There he arranged the marriage of Daenerys to the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo, ostensibly to win Viserys an army to retake the throne. He gave Daenerys her wedding gift of three petrified dragon's eggs, the eggs from which her dragons would later hatch, a gift whose true significance Illyrio may or may not have foreseen.
The conspiracy
As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Illyrio's generosity serves a vast hidden design. Working in concert with Varys, he has secretly sheltered and groomed a youth claiming to be Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen supposedly murdered as an infant during the Sack of King's Landing. Illyrio dispatches Tyrion Lannister, who flees to him after killing his father, down the river Rhoyne toward this young pretender, and the magister's deeper loyalties and the truth of "young Griff" remain among the saga's tantalizing mysteries.
Character
Illyrio presents himself as a jovial, self-interested merchant who deals in spices and intrigue alike, forever insisting he is no hero, only a man of business. Beneath the perfume and the platitudes, however, lies a patient and far-sighted conspirator whose schemes span continents and decades. His exact motives, and the truth of the heir he champions, are deliberately left clouded.
In the television series
In HBO's Game of Thrones, Illyrio Mopatis is portrayed by Roger Allam, appearing in the first season as host to the Targaryen exiles. The series omits his deeper conspiracy and the Aegon storyline of the novels.