I took a few liberties with his design since, yes, whilst pretty much every Pureblood Garlean we've seen so far have been pale most have spent a lot of time beneath their helmets or in the case of Lucia spent a lot of time in Ishgard. I figured a Garlean spending a lot of time operating in the La Noscea or Thanalan regions might develop a tan. As for his hair it's more of a dark blonde but that can be written off as dye.

In regards to Solus it's a shame we didn't get to see or hear very much from him. I do find it interesting that Varis is seemingly being set up for a 'Gestahl' type fate in Azyz Lla when Solus, in fact, is better suited to such a thing. If they do kill Varis so soon one has to wonder why they killed off Solus only to 'quickly' do the same thing with his successor. Perhaps they simply didn't want two old men being killed there? Given the Archbishop and all that. Though if Solus was ill I suppose he wouldn't be able to travel abroad so easily.