Varvara (real name Sophia) is a main character on the Netflix original sci-fi series Tribes of Europa. She is portrayed by Melika Foroutan.
Varvara is a high ranking lord within the Crow tribe in pursuit of the Atlantian Cube. She takes Kiano in as a Lubovnik before realizing his potential and sanctioning his Boj to become a Crow.
Throughout the Series[]
Season 1[]
Chapter 1[]
Varvara arrives to find Kapitan Yvar in the process of scolding Highlord Tocks, who allowed multiple slaves to escape under his watch. Varvara informs Yvar that one of her lead squads shot down an Atlantian hover jet. It has crashed in the southern forest — Crimson territory, Tocks notes. Varvara seeks permission to find the wreck. Kapitan Yvar grants her permission, as Atlantian technology is the key to ruling the continent. Tocks worries that penetrating the Crimson boards will only encourage war, but Yvar isn’t concerned. He tells Varvara that he will make her one of his highlords if she proves successful. As Varvara leaves, Yvar attacks Tocks.
Varvara and the Crows track the Atlantian pilot to the Origines. Jakob informs them that they can take the Atlantian and that there’s no need for bloodshed. The crows don’t speak. However, simultaneously, they all seem to inhale some sort of gas before attacking, forcing the Origines to defend their home.
The members of the Origines who have survived the onslaught are taken prisoner. Varvara informs them of the Atlantian cube that the pilot was in possession of. She asks about Elja, who they saw escape with said cube. When they fail to provide answers, she begins slaughtering them. Jakob insists that they don’t know what she’s looking for, but Varvara is convinced that Kiano knows something. Looking to spare his life, Mark claims to know where the cube is. He says that it’s "stuck really far up my ass!" Varvara replies that he has guts and really big balls before mutilating Mark and killing him. Varvara then looks to Kiano and smears blood on his face before instructing Grieta to stay behind with her best Bozies and search for the cube. She then tells Jakob that he will be her present for Kapitan Yvar.
Chapter 2[]
Varvara returns to the wolk factory with the slaves, among them Kiano and Jakob. She points out Jakbo and orders her men to take him to the Kapitan, as he is a tribal leader. Before parting ways, Jakob promises that he’ll find a way for them both to make it out. Kiano is then put on a bus and transported inside the facility.
Chapter 3[]
Varvara approaches Kiano and questions why he killed one of her workers. He reveals that he saw a security guard smuggling and one of the volniks tried to kill him for his discovery. Kiano proceeds to reveal that he saw the volnik swallow some wolk and pass them through the cell door to Gregor, who claims that Kiano is lying. However, Varvara appears to believe Gregor, as she trusts the word of one of her Bozies over a slave. So, she sentences Kiano to death by the wire.
Chapter 4[]
Kiano is escorted in for his execution. They tighten a wire around his neck from above. However, Varvara opens her hand to reveal the wolk that she found inside the intestines of a dead Volnik. Varvara asks who else is involved, and Gregor points out Linus and another Volnik. Varvara approaches Gregor with her dagger and commands him to kill himself, doing so will save what’s left of his honor and his family. Gregor takes the dagger and slices his own throat. The wire is then removed from around Kiano’s neck and placed around Linus’ and the other Volnik. The wire is then tightened and within moments, both Volniks are decapitated. Varvara then orders for Kiano to be taken to her estate.
Later that night, Varvara meets with her Lubovniks. She examines each of them. She looks at Kiano and asks why he isn’t made up like the others. She surmises that he thinks he’s beautiful enough as is. They proceed to have dinner, during which Varvara asks Kiano his opinion of the Hakkar, though he doesn’t say much, which seems to upset Dewiat more than it does Varvara. Kiano remarks that the garden is nice, as it reminds him of home. She then tells him to eat, but when Kiano says that he’s not hungry, she becomes upset. She takes his food and drops it onto the ground before commanding Anon to eat it like a hound, which appears to amuse everyone except Kiano. Varvara then commands her slaves to return to the Hakkar this evening, all except Kiano.
Kiano is taken to Varvara’s quarters, where she commands her men to undress Kiano before instructing them to undress her as well. She approaches Kiano and throws him on the bed before giving him a warning: "If you cum before me... then I’ll slice your head clean off."
Varvara attends a party at a nightclub. She brings Kiano, Dewiat, Anon, Eddy, and Usan along with. Kapitan Yvar enters the club and approaches Varvara. His arrival is met with kneeling from all in attendance. While he appreciates her efforts to salvage the Atlantian hover jet, which they may be able to recover a plasma cannon and ion drive from, he states that a functional cube would be a great advantage for them, which Varvara’s Bozies are currently searching for.
Varvara sits on Kiano’s lap and whispers into his ear that she likes him. Suddenly the lights come on and Yvar announces that a new Crow will be born, as a Boj is about to take place. Two slaves enter the ring below and fight to the death. Kiano’s interest in the fight isn’t lost on Varvara, who watches him closely. By the end of the Boj, only the female competitor is left standing. Varvara informs Kiano that the slave will be given a new name. She’ll be a Bozie, serving her lord. "She’s now free," Varvara says
Varvara returns to her room with Kiano, who helps her undress. She knows that Kapitan Yvar’s Volnik was Kiano’s leader and mentions that she fought him. She asks if they were close. Kiano replies that he was simply their leader. While Kiano gets undressed, she asks about his life in the forest and his tribe. Kiano reveals that the Origines started in a hidden place between rocks by their founder and his mother, Chloe. Varvara inquires about her death. Kiano was 13 when she went into the forest to get medicine. She was attacked by raiders, and all that was left were her garments. Varvara detects pain and suffering inside of Kiano, which makes him weak and pathetic, so she dismisses him. However, Kiano tells her no. Varvara is impressed and orders her Bozies to leave them alone.
Chapter 5[]
Varvara askes one of her Bozies about Grieta, who hasn’t checked in yet. She orders that more reinforcements be sent. She then tells Kiano that he looks innocent when he sleeps and that he shouldn’t be offended. Kiano asks how is it that he can participate in a Boj to become a Crow warrior, but she tells him that this question doesn’t concern him. She then takes Kiano to the training room to teach him a lesson. Kiano picks his weapon of choice and the two battle in front of the Bozies, but Varvara is far more skilled. She asks Kiano why she should give him up when he’s her latest toy. Kiano replies that he wants to be free. She asks what distinguishes a Crow. Kiano says strength, sense of honor, and willingness to kill. However, after defeating him, she informs him that he’s lacking the willingness to die.
Varvara has been invited to have dinner with the Kapitan. She expects faultless behavior from Kiano, Dewiat, Anon, Eddy, and Usan. The slightest stumble will be severely punished. Varvara then tells Kiano to follow her. On the ride to the Kapitan’s, Kiano looks out the window to see the city. Varvara reveals it’s the grandest city in Europe. Almost 80,000 people live there: slaves, warriors, and lords alike. Kiano assures Varvara that she will soon be up there, to which she replies that she’s deserving of it.
Varvara arrives at the Kapitan’s with her Lubovnik to find Kapitan Yvar already eating his meal. He’s called her over to discuss the matter of the Atlantian hover jet. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to recover anything from it. With the hover jet rendered useless, they need the Atlantian cube to find the Ark and conquer the continent. But Varvara has yet to recover it, which angers Kapitan Yvar.
Kapitan Yvar dismisses Varvara. He says that next time they should go hunting on Tiergarten, as he has a few panthers. On her way out, Yvar announces that he will appoint Lord Ulrik to the seventh at his side moving forward. Varvara is enraged and alarmingly quiet on the ride home. Kiano offers his condolences and touches her knee. She responds by slapping him and ordering Dewiat to come back to her quarters with her.
Kiano reconvenes with Varvara in her room to find Dewiat slashed to pieces on her bed, lying in a pool of his own blood. Armed with her dagger, she calls Kiano over. She hands the blade over and explains that she’s giving him the chance to carry out his own death sentence. Should he fail to take the opportunity to take his own life with honor, she will strip off all his honor, as she did with Dewiat. Dagger in hand, Kiano slowly drives it into his chest. Tears run down his face as he says "My name is Kiano." Just as he’s about to plunge the dagger into his heart, she grabs his hands and says that he will take her dagger to fight in the Boj he has earned.
Chapter 6[]
On the way to his Boj, Varvara tells Kiano that today he will either earn a new name or he will live no more. Kiano replies that he’s certain that she will find an appropriate name. Varvara then informs Kiano that Varvara wasn’t always her name. She was not a Crow from birth, as Kiano had assumed. She was a slave for six years before her Boj was granted. It was a frosty day in January. The Lubovnik she had to fight that day was two meters tall. They called him “Bear,” and he would’ve made a fine Bozie. After he plunged his dagger into her abdomen, he pushed her to the ground and tried to choke her. She whined for her life and begged for mercy. He hesitated and let her go allowing Varvara to slice his throat open. What Bear showed was weakness, and Crows can’t show weakness. That was the day she became Bozie Varvara under the command of Yvar. Varvara warns Kiano that compassion and empathy is weakness and it will be his demise. She then gives him a single kiss.
Varvara joins Kiano in the locker room and hands him her dagger, saying that she will see him after the fight. He asks what her name was before she became a Crow. She replies that it is forbidden to speak of it. Kiano then enters the arena, where he is being cheered on by those in attendance. Varvara watches from above. His opponent enters. It’s his own father. Instantly, Kiano is brought to tears and exclaims that he won’t be forced to kill his own father. Yvar warns him that they both will die by the wire should Kiano refuse to fight. Jakob forces Kiano to fight him. Jakob charges at him with a dagger, slicing at Kiano’s arm and abdomen. Jakob then grabs his son’s hand and plunges Kiano’s blade into his chest, taking his own life, leaving Kiano the victor. With his final breath, he tells Kiano to find his siblings and build something new. He then makes eye contact with Varvara, who stares down from above.
Varvara finds Kiano sulking and mourning his father’s death in the locker room. She reveals that Dewiat betrayed him and says that he should be grateful, as she would’ve fed any other slave to the pigs. Instead, she gave him the chance to detach himself from his history and distance himself from his weaknesses. She asks if he genuinely thought he would come this far without a shred of guilt to handle or learning what it means to hate. They all must bear it, she explains. She advises him to allow the hate to sink deep into his heart and embrace him. It will shield him from sadness and make him strong like a Crow. On her way out, she reveals to Kiano that her real name was Sophia.
The time for Kiano’s initiation has come. He is surrounded by a legion of Crows as Varvara inducts him. "Lubovnik Kiano of the Origines," Varvara refers to him as. He is now a Bozie, serving under Varvara until death. She names him Tarok and places an inhaler over his mouth. Tarok drops to his knees and Varvara exclaims "Til death!"
Appearances[]
Season 1[]
Gallery[]
