#the hobaw mystery man

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Who do you think is the handsome curly young man that arya finds dead in the house of black and white? I saw you mention him in a tag of an old post, but i didnt know what tags to search to find posts you might have made :0

Ahaha, the tags of this post? Nobody ever got back to me about this little mystery, which is kind of a good thing because my answer would’ve had to be “damn if I know”. And it still is, but in a complicated way. :) But first, the text:

The dead men had their own smell too. One of her duties was to find them in the temple every morning, wherever they had chosen to lie down and close their eyes after drinking from the pool.This morning she found two.One man had died at the feet of the Stranger, a single candle flickering above him. […] Before summoning the serving men to carry him away, she knelt and felt his face, tracing the line of his jaw, brushing her fingers across his cheeks and nose, touching his hair. Curly hair, and thick. A handsome face, unlined. He was young. She wondered what had brought him here to seek the gift of death. Dying bravos oft found their way to the House of Black and White, to hasten their ends, but this man had no wounds that she could find.The second body was that of an old woman. […] The corpses were laid out in the vault. The blind girl went to work in the dark, stripping the dead of boots and clothes and other possessions, emptying their purses and counting out their coins. […] On the handsome man she found four golden dragons out of Westeros. She was running the ball of her thumb across the most worn of them, trying to decide which king it showed, when she heard the door opening softly behind her.

–ADWD, The Blind Girl

OK, so the pool in the House of Black and White contains some kind of quick-acting painless poison, and people often come to the temple to drink it, for peaceful euthanasia. Usually old people, but sometimes deathly wounded bravos also do so… Arya encounters one when she first enters the HoBaW back in AFFC, for example.

In this chapter, Arya is a blind novice in the temple, whose job it is to find these suicides and strip them of their possessions, before the bodies are taken into the secret lower sanctum of the temple. (Where presumably their faces are skinned off and prepared for use by the Faceless Men.) On this morning she finds a dead man, young and handsome, with thick curly hair. She thinks he’s a bravo (one of the young aggressive swordsmen of Braavos who often duel each other), but can’t find the wound that killed him.

But there’s evidence that this man is not a mere bravo. First of all, he wasn’t injured, but seems to have just committed suicide straight up. Secondly, Arya didn’t find him by a statue of one of the death gods that the people of the Free Cities worship, but rather at the feet of the Stranger, the Westerosi god of death. (Though the Faith of the Seven originated in Essos, it is not really worshipped there anymore; there is a “Sept-Beyond-the-Sea” in Braavos, but its only worshipers are visiting sailors.) Thirdly, Arya found Westerosi money in the dead man’s purse. And not just a little bit of money, but four golden dragons, which is a nice chunk of change. And fourthly, the fact that Arya’s blind in this chapter is probably a clue that this man is recognizable somehow, but not to her and so not to us either. So who the hell is this guy?

And… well… we just don’t know. People have speculated all kinds of random shit – thinking that the old woman is Old Nan (no), or Shella Whent (what, why) and the man is her guard, or Olenna Tyrell (???) and the young man is Loras (?????) – nothing that makes any sense, just illogical grasping at straws with no evidence to work with. There’s nothing in the chapters before or after that help with identifying this man, nothing remotely decisive or even acting as the tiniest clue. The timeline doesn’t work for the Westerosi heading to Braavos in ADWD/TWOW previews (Justin Massey, Harys Swyft), nor does it seem to fit any of those who we know went to Lys with Edric Storm. Symond Frey married a Braavosi girl, and his son Bradamyr is a ward of a Braavosi merchant, but Bradamyr is only ten years old. And Bradamyr’s older brother, the singer Alesander, was “away” from the Red Wedding, but not to Braavos as far as we know.

So… it is a mystery. Personally, I think that if GRRM has any intention of coming back to resolve this mystery, it’ll probably be involved in Arya’s eventual return to Westeros. This mysterious man’s face has probably been turned into one of the Faceless Men’s magic masks, and Arya may take it whenever she chooses to leave the House. Furthermore, we know that when Arya puts on one of these faces she gets a brief flashback of that person’s life and death (e.g. the ugly little girl), so if she puts on this man’s face, we may learn more about the mystery of who he is and why he came to Braavos and why he apparently killed himself.

But until then, alas… damn if I know. ;) Hope that helps!

#mrsjadecurtiss #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #arya stark #the faceless men #the house of black and white #asoiaf theories #the blind girl #mysteries of asoiaf #the hobaw mystery man #bradamyr frey #alesander frey #suicide tw

[empressaryastark]

old meta. 2014? for all 3 people obsessed with in series book Braavos like me.

city in progress

Braavos Post-ADWD

“Braavos was a city made for secrets, a city of fogs and masks and whispers”.

           When it comes to the ASoIaF universe, I find that most fans tend to focus most of their attention on the politics and plotlines that occur specifically in Westeros. Given that Westeros is where the series begins and will likely end, I think that inclination is natural. However, I also think it is imperceptive to ignore the future of Essos and its impact on the series after the contienent became the backdrop for many PoVs after ASoS. The view that Essos politics doesn’t matter and won’t affect the Westerosi plots is not only false, but it will limit readers that wish to make predictions for the outcome of the series. So, in an effort to raise more discussion on my favorite ASoIaF city and Essos by extension, this post is my attempt to explore the possibilities for the city in The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring while also putting my thoughts and totally definitely **slightly** cracky theories about the city into words.

While Braavos did not make a proper debut in the series until Arya arrived in AFFC, the free city has had a presence since AGoT. From Daenerys’ sentimental musings on the lost home of her childhood in her first chapter to Syrio Forel’s account of how he became the first sword of Braavos, the city has lingered in the background of the series, waiting to emerge as a power. Of course, the city always existed as a powerful state in the general ASoIaF universe, but it did not have much visible influence within the politics of Westeros until AFFC and ADWD. There are only a few cities in A Song of Ice and Fire that are given so much life, so much detail, and so much character and world significance within the series. King’s Landing, Meereen, and Braavos are those three. Like Meereen and King’s Landing, Braavos will surely have strong impacts on the rest of the series based on what happens post-ADWD and specifically in TWoW.

The Iron Bank, the Faceless Men, Braavosi Politics, Dragons, and Westeros

                              Braavos is, in many ways, the city that connects Essos and Westeros. Placed along the northern western portion of Essos, Braavos is the closest free city to Westeros. As a result, Braavos does a good deal of trade with Westeros and they possess more political clout with the continent than most other cities in Essos. Commerce between the Iron Throne and the Iron Bank has a long history that goes back to the days of Targaryen rule. Yet, this long relationship has not made the Iron Bank any more forgiving of the Iron Throne’s debt problems since, as the Braavosi say, the Iron Bank will have its due. Cersei refuses to pay up on the crowns debts and rudely sends off the Iron Bank envoy sent to her in AFFC. These decisions are what led to the schism in relations between the Iron Bank and Lannister-Baratheon crown. However, the clash was long coming since even Tyrion turned the bank away when they first came hounding after their money in ACoK. The continued respect and refusal to make payments were catastrophically bad decisions made by those in power in King’s Landing. In contrast to this behavior, The World of Ice and Fire states that Iron Bank envoys are traditionally treated with great respect as almost equals by even kings. Thus, the War of the Five Kings, the legacy of Robert’s massive debts, and Lannister greed and pride ultimately forced the Braavosi banking institution to become an unlikely ally for Stannis Baratheon and the Night’s Watch. The soured relations between the Iron Bank and the Iron Throne is unexpected turn of luck for Stannis Baratheon. Stannis’ hard up kingdom and quest for the Iron Throne suddenly gets bank rolled by the wealthiest, most ruthless group of loan sharks in the world. Of course this contract literally written in Stannis’ blood is a gamble, but it’s one that may work in his favor. As Jon Snow notes, “When princes failed to repay the Iron Bank, new princes sprang up from nowhere and took their thrones.” By all accounts, the Iron Bank is not only the wealthiest bank in that universe, but it is also the most powerful. With the loss of this powerful ally, the Lannisters have severely weakened their already tenuous hold on the Iron Throne. This choice by the Iron Bank is a calculated strike against the Lannisters, as is their decision to call in every loan in Westeros. More ominously, the Iron Bank is rumored to send assassins, presumably the Faceless Men, after their debtors according to TWoIaF. Of course, that does not necessarily mean that the Iron Bank will employ assassins to kill Tommen or Cersei. So far as the readers know, they have only decided to go with backing Stannis’ claim by funding his war efforts in addition to setting up an economic conflict as the result of their loan ban. Certainly, the loan ban has been effective in the wake of Aegon Targaryen’s arrival. The Iron Throne on the orders of Kevan and Cersei, in fear of the rebellions that may be incited by raising taxes, send Harys Swyft to the city as an envoy to mend relations with the bank and bring money back to the city. Though the outcome of this decision has yet to come, I think “Mercy” hints at future conflict between the Iron Throne’s representative and the Iron Bank. The question that remains is where the Iron Bank will place their bets if Stannis Baratheon is dead as he is reported to be by the end of ADWD. Now, I personally don’t have a definitive opinion on whether Stannis is or isn’t dead. But for the sake of theorizing on the Iron Bank and their political maneuvers in Westeros, I will assume that he is dead or soon to be dead. In those cases, I imagine the bank will take up the causes of Daenerys Targaryen or Aegon Targaryen.

                              However, the Iron Bank is not the only powerful, secretive institution of Braavos. The Faceless Men, rumored partners in crime with the Iron Bank, seem to be an essential part of Braavosi culture. Indeed, the House of Black and White exists openly in Braavos, and all the Braavosi who have been met with “valar morghulis” usually respond immediately with “valar dohaeris.” In Braavos, the slave past of Old Valyria remain a vivid part of the city’s cultural conscious. This cultural inheritance informs their respect and fear of the Faceless Men (FM), an order with their origins in the slave mines of Old Valyria. Even though the order of the FM is a mystery to most of the world outside of Braavos according to The World of Ice and Fire, readers have received portions of their origins and practices from Arya’s PoV. But given Arya’s status as a guest, and eventual acolyte, in the institution, I think it is safe to assume that Arya has not been fully informed of all the order’s inner workings. At least, she seems distant from the proceedings that take place among the full FM in the HoBaW in ADWD. Although she is still low ranking in the FM’s hierarchy, Arya has gathered a good deal of knowledge about the order so far. But I there is far more to learn about the FM in the next novels, specifically the nature of their relationship with the Iron Bank, the Sealord of Braavos, and dragons.

                              One shouldn’t forget general politics apart from the Iron Bank when taking the city into consideration. So far, the series has yet to produce a Braavosi politician that is actually active in the story. This makes sense considering the fact that Arya has been our eyes in Braavos. Seeing as she’s only assumed the identities of young girls low on the social hierarchy of Braavos, Arya has yet to see many prestigious parts of that city including both the Iron Bank and the Sealord’s Palace. Despite those limitations, Arya has been privy to some of Braavos’ politics. During her time as Cat of the Canals and Blind Beth, Arya was asked to return to the House of Black and White with the demand that she tell the Kindly Man three things she learned. Though some of what she learned was seemingly inconsequential, there are some standout details about the political climate of the city. One example can be found in ADWD when Arya tells the Kindly Man that the current Sealord of Braavos, Ferrago Antaryon, is ill to the point of death and his expected successor is Tormo Fregar. The Kindly Man responds by telling Arya that her piece of news was not new information and a new sealord will be chosen if Antaryon dies. In response, Arya thinks, “When he is dead, there will be a choosing, and the knives will come out. That was the way of it in Braavos. In Westeros, a dead king was followed by his eldest son, but the Braavosi had no kings.” With this plot point, GRRM introduces the prospect of an upcoming election for a new Sealord of Braavos. However, there is little information on how the process takes place. In The World of Ice and Fire, it is stated that the Sealord of Braavos is “chosen by the city’s magisters and keyholders from amongst the citizenry by a process as convoluted as it is arcane.” I have a hunch that the limited information about the sealord election process is an intentional omission on GRRM’s part by using the excuse of mystery. My assumption is only furthered by the fact that GRRM uses this excuse to provide very little information on the Faceless Men in the Braavos section of TWoIaF as well. Although the exact details of the election process are currently shrouded in mystery and complication, it can be understood from Arya’s thoughts that the election of a new sealord is known to bring considerable tension and danger to the city’s political climate. Moreover, the politics of the series are becoming more visible figures in Arya’s PoV. In “Mercy,” there were a total of five keyholders present for the performance of The Bloody Hand. While all that information may seem unimportant in a casual reading, I think that the steady and subtle inclusion of the city’s political developments is intentionally done by GRRM in order bring the politics of Essos and Westeros to a convergence.

                              Post-ASoS, the land of Essos was no longer restricted to Daenerys’ PoV. Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Victarion Greyjoy, Quentyn Martell, Barristan Selmy, Samwell Tarly, and Jon Connington all spend some, if not most of their PoVs chapters in the continent for various reasons that have some effect on the politics of Essos and Westeros.

To briefly (edit: I looked over my list and my eyes determined that this was a lie lol) go over the causes and effects of these eastern excursions, I’ll make a short list since I’m mainly concerned with Braavos in this post.

·         Tyrion’s escape at the end of ASoS leads to Cersei’s rise to power and all the political fiascos that follow. The fact that Varys is forced to hide him on a death threat from Jaime also sends Varys into hiding while shipping Tyrion off to Essos where becomes entangled in the plot to put Daenerys to Aegon Targaryen, the alleged son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, on the Iron Throne. His involvement is cut short by an ill-timed trip to a brothel where he is abducted by the exiled knight, Jorah Mormont. After many more misfortunes, the two are sold into slavery. With exceptional cunning and good luck, Tyrion and his friends are able to escape the confines of their dead slave master’s camp and land spots in Ben Plumm’s mercenary company, the Second Sons. As of TWoW’s released chapters, Tyrion is attempting to not only survivie the battle of Meereen, but bring forth a victory for Daenerys’ cause. It has been hinted by show and GRRM that Tyrion and Daenerys will join forces in some fashion.

·         By the end of AFFC, Victarion Greyojy is sent by his brother, Euron, on a mission to bring Daenerys from Meereen so she can marry Euron and help him conquer Westeros. Victarion accepts the mission, but he intends to marry Daenerys himself and steal the throne from his brother. This mission is resumed by the end of ADWD where Victarion becomes involved with a red priest named Moqorro. He is involved in the battle of Meereen.

·         Barristan came to Essos storyline before the other Westerosi PoVs aside from Dany. His goal was to get Dany back to her throne in Westeros, but he ultimately has to hold together her crumbling occupation of Meereen in her absence. He’s involved in the battle of Meereen. He makes an agreement with the Tattered Prince to take over Pentos.

·         Quentyn Martell, with a little help from his friends, journeys his way to Daenerys on the orders of his father so that they can fulfill a marriage contract (more on that contract…) and conquer Westeros together. Quentyn fails to convince Dany, tries to steal her dragons, and is burned to death. This death will likely have negative impacts on Dornish/Targaryen relations if Arianne’s feelings in her TWoW sample chapter are any indication.

·         Samwell Tarly made a brief stop in Braavos on his way to the Citadel. During his time there and on the ocean with Maester Aemon, he learns of Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons, the prince that was promised prophecy, and meets Quhuru Mo. Mo takes him to Oldtown, where is able to inform Maester Marwyn about all he’s learned. Maester Marwyn is determined to get to Daenerys before other parts of the Citadel can influence her.

·         Jon Connington, the exiled lord of Griffin’s Roost, spent time with the Golden Company before he was enlisted by Varys and Illyrio to be Aegon’s guardian. He returned to Westeros with Aegon and their host by the end of ADWD. By Arianne’s TWoW chapter, Jon has contacted the Dornish with the intentions of creating an alliance by confirming Aegon as Doran’s nephew.

                              In all of these plotlines, the east and west cross paths in order to create some shift in the politics of the regions whether they intend to or not. Specifically, each storyline is influenced in some way by Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. Yet, the one major PoV taking place in Essos has not made a firm connection with Daenerys and her dragons. So far, Arya Stark’s PoV and the city of Braavos have been conspicuously absent of any influence from Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. This is contrast to other major Essos spots like Pentos, Volantis, and Slavery’s Bay. Considering Daenerys’ substantial following and notoriety or widespread esteem depending on who one asks in Essos, it should follow that her reputation would be a special topic in Braavos, the city built on slave rebellion. In fact, Daenerys’ reputation has even reached Westeros as evident by the mummer’s plays in King’s Landing and the word of Dany and her dragons in the Citadel from the prologue. With all those points in mind, I feel like it is suspicious that she’s not a bigger topic in the city of Braavos. Of course, Arya has heard a few mentions of the dragons while in Braavos, but they were brief.

 Here’s where I go into Speculation Mode:

                              I think that the absence of Daenerys’ influence in Braavos is going to be short-lived. Sooner than later, Daenerys will have to go back if she wants to move forward if I may loosely use Quaithe’s words. And if Daenerys should go in a reverse of her journey to move forward to her destiny, that means she will have to arrive at her first home in Essos before she lands on Westerosi land. That home is Braavos. Now, I am aware of theories that Daenerys has confused the location of her childhood home with Willem Darry based on the trees quote in “Mercy.” However, I do not believe that she is confused about her early in Braavos. Yes, the presence of lemon trees in Braavosi is strange, but it’s no stranger than the rest of all that is fantastic in A Song of Ice and Fire. If Sealord’s Palace can support tree life in official maps of the city, I’d wager to say that a wealthy man like Willem Darry could afford a luxury garden. Also, I think the marriage pact made by Oberyn and Willem in Braavos, and witnessed by the Sealord of Braavos, tends to give credence to Dany’s assertion that she and Viserys lived with Darry in Braavos. Now, there is much that is suspicious about the pact. Namely, why would the Sealord of Braavos get involved with a pact between House Martell and House Targaryen after Robert Baratheon took the throne? Did they wish to seek favor with the Targaryens and the Martells? Was this Sealord the current Sealord or a predecessor? Given what little information is supplied about the inner workings of Braavos’ politics, it’s anyone’s guesses on these questions. Indeed, they may remain unanswered if Ferrago Antaryon dies soon as expected and Tormo Fregar takes his office. Once he takes office, an event apparently already anticipated by the common people of Braavos, the most likely turn of events include Fregar taking a stance on Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. Braavos is a wealthy city known for hard anti-slavery policies in addition to possessing an extraordinarily impressive and powerful naval military. I find it hard to believe that Daenerys and Tyrion (two characters who have expressed desires to see the city) won’t find the city a considerable ally, by choice or force on the city’s part.

                              And what does the future of the city hold for Arya Stark? As I said, there’s far more to learn. Arya’s only ventured around the outskirts of the city, homes to tourists and the poor. Eventually, she will have to break out of her usual haunts and explore the parts of the city that she was almost destined to discover---the Iron Bank, the Sealord’s Palace, and the Moon Pool. So far, Arya is the only major PoV residing in Braavos. While others may speculate on her TWoW arc taking her to other places, I am firm in my belief that she will remain in the city. As a disciple of Syrio Forel, Arya is probably going to be lured to the Moon Pool and the Sealord’s Palace based on Syrio’s tale of the Sealord’s Palace and the prospect of water dancing in the famous, magical Moon Pool seems like it would be too good for Arya to pass up. Since the Iron Bank is apparently so connected to the Faceless Men, I think the chances of her getting involved with the institution in some fashion are high. The fact that she’s carrying around an iron key in “Mercy” for no discernable reason is a hint that she’s either been given or stolen a key from the powerful keyholders of Braavos aka Iron Bank officials.

           I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the keyholders, the sealord, election voting areas, the iron bank, and the iron key are all mentioned in “Mercy.” Those inclusions are all a set up for the rest of the Braavosi narrative that will be tied with Arya’s PoV. How one will affect the other remains to be seen, but they will impact other characters and how the rest of the series turns out. So far, Arya’s actions will likely cause further strife between King’s Landing and the Iron Bank.  She could also meddle with the Justin Massey’s Iron Bank envoy on behalf of Stannis Baratheon, the upcoming Sealord election, the Hardhome refugees, or the Faceless Men’s objectives. On that note, I do wonder how the Faceless Men will impact the story. If Jaqen is working on behalf of the group at the Citadel, what is his end goal? To destroy the dragons? To the control the dragons? To destroy the means of destroying dragons? The answer to the Jaqen question is uncertain at the moment, but seeing as the Faceless Men don’t take kindly to dragons as legacies of their slave past, I don’t think they want the dragons to live.  The desires of the Faceless Men could put them at odds or in unity with how the Iron Bank and the Sealord’s Palace wishes to deal with their future of their city and how they deal with the dragons and Westeros.

           After hundreds of years in solitude, I can’t imagine how the major institutions of Braavos are not tied with each other. The survival of the city relied on building a community of trust within the shroud of secrecy. But what happens to the city once crisis falls when the world of the series realizes the apocalyptic peril from the beyond the Wall? The Faceless Men are an order with their own god and set of doctrine to follow, the Iron Bank is an absolutely ruthless institution, and the Braavosi government is one of volatile politics. These institutions can easily conflict with each other once the world’s dangers present themselves. And from there they may act on their own intentions. Eventually the city and especially the major characters involved will have to follow in that Braavosi tradition of unmasking secrets.

#braavos #mine #meta #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

I’m formulating a...slightly batshit and highly unlikely theory about Jaqen H’ghar and like...I gotta share.

The facts are these:

Jaqen H’ghar is from Lorath. He tells us this in A Clash of Kings, Arya II. Here’s what A World of Ice and Fire has to say about Lorathi speech patterns:

Accordingly, the Boash'i put aside even their own names, and spoke of themselves as "a man" or "a woman" rather than say "I" or "me" or "mine." Though the cult of the Blind God withered and died out more than a thousand years ago, certain of these habits of speech endure even now in Lorath, where men and women of the noble classes regard it as inutterably vulgar to speak of one's self directly. 

So, what’s that mean for Jaqen, or the Face of Jaqen? Well, either he’s a commoner from Lorath from a very very long time ago, or he’s a Lorathi nobleman. The nobleman kind of makes sense--a Faceless Man was sent to King’s Landing for reasons unknown, perhaps a nobleman of any sort was seen as a good choice. 

Before I move on, I want to point out an interesting parallel though:

These new Lorathi were worshippers of Boash, the Blind God. Rejecting all other deities, the followers of Boash ate no flesh, drank no wine, and walked barefoot through the world, clad only in hair shirts and hides. Their eunuch priests wore eyeless hoods in honor of their god; only in darkness, they believed, would their third eye open, allowing them to see the "higher truths" of creation that lay concealed behind the world's illusions. The worshippers of Boash believed that all life was sacred and eternal; that men and women were equal; that lords and peasants, rich and poor, slave and master, man and beast were all alike, all equally worthy, all creatures of god.  An essential part of their doctrine was an extreme abnegation of self; only by freeing themselves of human vanity could men hope to become one with the godhood.

that....that sounds sort of familiar, right? Where have I heard this before?

"You should. Stay, and the Many-Faced God will take your ears, your nose, your tongue. He will take your sad grey eyes that have seen so much. He will take your hands, your feet, your arms and legs, your private parts. He will take your hopes and dreams, your loves and hates. Those who enter His service must give up all that makes them who they are. Can you do that?" He cupped her chin and gazed deep into her eyes, so deep it made her shiver. "No," he said, "I do not think you can." A Feast for Crows, Arya II

Hmm. 

Probably not important.

So far, we have a face from Lorath that’s either really old, or modern and noble, which seems a little too convenient to not be a coincidence. 

Here’s the thing: we don’t know how often Faceless Men wear their own faces. It’s implied the Waif wears her own face, and we know Arya often does--in that we’re explicitly told when she is no longer Arya. So is Jaqen a face, or is he the Faceless? Because with what we know of him--based solely on his speech patterns, which, I’ll admit, is a little thin--that face is either old af, like, thousands of years old, or a nobleman, which we’re told somewhere is a rare breed to seek out facelessness. But if Jaqen is the Faceless Man, any sort of worship of the Blind God would predispose him to the mindset of the Faceless Men.

We also have a pretty solid lead on the fact that Jaqen, or the Faceless Man wearing Jaqen’s face, is currently in Oldtown, as per the prologue of A Feast for Crows. He’s killed someone, but he hasn’t gone back to the house of Black and White. He’s hanging around for intel? Maybe? Faceless Men aren’t spies, though. They’re assassins. We’ve seen how swiftly they work once they reach the person or place they need to be, which raises two points: either the Faceless Man formerly known as Jaqen is not there on orders to kill someone, heavily implying that he’s not there as an agent of the House of Black and White, or that he’s waiting for his target to show up. Which would be weird, except...

These new Lorathi were worshippers of Boash, the Blind God. Rejecting all other deities, the followers of Boash ate no flesh, drank no wine, and walked barefoot through the world, clad only in hair shirts and hides. Their eunuch priests wore eyeless hoods in honor of their god; only in darkness, they believed, would their third eye open, allowing them to see the "higher truths" of creation that lay concealed behind the world's illusions. 

Well hold on now just a minute. We know someone else who talks about three eyes. 

"Close your eyes," said the three-eyed crow. "Slip your skin, as you do when you join with Summer. But this time, go into the roots instead. Follow them up through the earth, to the trees upon the hill, and tell me what you see." 

"Once you have mastered your gifts, you may look where you will and see what the trees have seen, be it yesterday or last year or a thousand ages past. Men live their lives trapped in an eternal present, between the mists of memory and the sea of shadow that is all we know of the days to come.”

A Dance With Dragons, Bran III

So if we’re willing, we can make an assumption that priests, maybe even just regular ol’ worshippers, of the Blind God of Lorath, were greenseers, able to see what has happened, maybe even having green dreams to see what will happen.

And sure, this is interesting, I hear you say. All that stuff about him knowing Arya was a girl lines up, what with his FM observational skills and maybe a green dream thrown in there. 

 But, I can hear you continue, like, what’s the point?

Well, that brings me to another question: why was Jaqen in King’s Landing--more specifically, why the fuck was he in the black cells? We see him in action in Harrenhal. We learn about the FM and how they operate. Making mistakes, like getting caught assassinating a political figure, is a human mistake, not a Faceless Man mistake. Look at who else was in the black cells with him! Biter is not a normal criminal. HE EATS THE LIVING FLESH OFF OF PEOPLE. THE BLACK CELLS ARE NOT COUNTY LOCKUP. They aren’t a fun, happy place. You’ll live, if you’re in the black cells, like. Probably, you’ll live, and you won’t die a horrific torturous death unless Cersei sent you there...

But also, isn’t one of Varys’ disguises the guy in charge of the black cells? Rugen, right?

And what’s a thing Varys is really big on? He’s big on deposing despot monarchs for rulers who know what the hell they’re doing, that’s what:

"Ser Kevan. Forgive me if you can. I bear you no ill will. This was not done from malice. It was for the realm. For the children... Aegon has been shaped for rule since before he could walk...He has lived with fisherfolk, worked with his hands, swum in rivers and mended nets and learned to wash his own clothes at need. He can fish and cook and bind up a wound, he knows what it is like to be hungry, to be hunted, to be afraid. Tommen has been taught that kingship is his right. Aegon knows that kingship is his duty, that a king must put his people first, and live and rule for them."

So Varys has highly political motivations, he’s definitely down to overthrow leaders who abuse their subjects, and he was in charge of a place that housed a FM for an unknown amount of time. 

And if the Assassin Formerly Known as Jaqen H’ghar was completely down with the Faceless Men, this might not matter. There are, however, theories that Jaqen is actually a rogue FM.

Jaqen being a rogue assassin makes a lot of his actions make more sense--or at least, him being right on the cusp of going rogue. Aside from whatever mysterious thing he’s doing in Oldtown, there’s the fact that he recruited Arya in the first place. Nobody super thrilled with Arya being at the House of Black and White. She’s female, she’s highborn, and she’s not really good at giving up her identity. She tries, god love her, but she seems very atypical as far as assassin recruits go.

There’s also the fact that Jaqen knows why she wants to learn how to change her face, which is to kill people for personal reasons, pretty much the antithesis of the HoBaW as we know it, and yet he gives her the coin anyway. This is either a cruel recruiting scheme by this particular FM, a stupid one, or one that plays into an agenda. 

What agenda? Well, to get a feel for that, we’re going to have to look at why the Faceless Men started killing people in the first place.

"The tale of our beginnings. If you would be one of us, you had best know who we are and how we came to be....We have flowered in Braavos amongst these northern fogs, but we first took root in Valyria, amongst the wretched slaves who toiled in the deep mines beneath the Fourteen Flames that lit the Freehold's nights of old...Slaves perished by the score, but their masters did not care. Red gold and yellow gold and silver were reckoned to be more precious than the lives of slaves, for slaves were cheap in the old Freehold. During war, the Valyrians took them by the thousands. In times of peace they bred them, though only the worst were sent down to die in the red darkness."

"Didn't the slaves rise up and fight?"  

"Some did," he said. "Revolts were common in the mines, but few accomplished much. The dragonlords of the old Freehold were strong in sorcery, and lesser men defied them at their peril. The first Faceless Man was one who did."

"Who was he?" Arya blurted, before she stopped to think.  

"No one," he answered. "Some say he was a slave himself. Others insist he was a freeholder's son, born of noble stock. Some will even tell you he was an overseer who took pity on his charges. The truth is, no one knows. Whoever he was, he moved amongst the slaves and would hear them at their prayers...Yet their gods made no answer, and their suffering went on. Are their gods all deaf? he wondered . . . until a realization came upon him, one night in the red darkness. 

"All gods have their instruments, men and women who serve them and help to work their will on earth. The slaves were not crying out to a hundred different gods, as it seemed, but to one god with a hundred different faces . . . and he was that god's instrument. That very night he chose the most wretched of the slaves, the one who had prayed most earnestly for release, and freed him from his bondage. The first gift had been given."

Arya drew back from him. "He killed the slave?" That did not sound right. "He should have killed the masters!" 

 "He would bring the gift to them as well . . . but that is a tale for another day, one best shared with no one." He cocked his head. "And who are you, child?" A Feast for Crows, Arya II

There’s a lot to unpack here, and i’m going to try and do it as coherently as possible. 

The origin of the Faceless Men is in line with the motivations of many of our central characters. Defending the defenseless and not abusing authority is something we see Daenerys, Jon, Arya, even Stannis struggle with. We see Cersei, Robert, Joffrey and a great many more characters fail at this. 

Killing the masters is an important theme in the books, and the fact that it’s explicitly stated in the origin of a supposedly neutral in-world organization is fascinating. Daenerys is the clear link, since she literally kills masters. 

And since we’re talking about a Targaryen, let’s talk about that bit with the metals in it: red gold, yellow gold, and silver. Red, yellow, and silver are all colors used in the sigils for three of the most prominent houses in this story. Those colors are also used when describing certain families. Of course, three is an important number narratively--Arya got three deaths from Jaqen, Dany has three dragons, three Lannister children, three Lannister bastards, three eyes, so many threes.

This could be linking to the three cities Dany has liberated--Meereen(silver? bricks of many colors), Yunkai(yellow brick), and Astapor (red brick)--or it could be a link to Westeros and the war happening there now. Red gold--Lannisters; yellow gold--Baratheons; Silver--Targaryens. Of course, you could also see red gold as symbolizing Targaryens, yellow gold the Lannisters, and Silver the Starks. However you slice it, there’s a link between what happened in those mines and what is happening now. People in power disregarding the lives of those they are in power over. This link--between the origins of the Faceless Men and the events occurring in the world of Westeros right now--is important for trying to figure out what Jaqen or was-once-Jaqen might be doing.

I want to jump back to the black cells, and Varys here for a second:

Perhaps Jaqen wasn’t in King’s Landing for some huge political mission. Maybe he was sent to kill someone in the black cells, as the first Faceless Man killed a slave, not a master. Jaqen being in the black cells on purpose doesn’t make any less sense than him being caught for carelessness, right? Combine that with the Blind God and seeing truth in darkness, well...maybe he stayed in the black cells because he saw that he needed to be with Yoren’s group.

Arya’s chapters at the House of Black and White are full of sense-words. Sight, hearing, blind, darkness, touch, deaf. It provides an interesting contrast to “ Stay, and the Many-Faced God will take your ears, your nose, your tongue. He will take your sad grey eyes that have seen so much. He will take your hands, your feet, your arms and legs, your private parts.” It’s also an interesting counterpoint to the Blind God, mentioned earlier, and the pleas of the slaves in the mines of Valyria, “Are their gods all deaf? he wondered . . . until a realization came upon him, one night in the red darkness.”

Red, dark, underground, fire, someone who heard Arya’s prayers. 

What if Jaqen--or Jaqen’s face--is the first Faceless Man? Only the worst were sent down to die in the red darkness and Jaqen was in the black cells in the Red Keep. We don’t know anything about who Jaqen was while he was alive, but as I said earlier, his speech patterns indicate either an ancient Lorathi, or a noble one. There’s also the fact that he very nearly died in a fire, and that he tells Arya that The Red God is owed three names. (though I’d really like to talk about how a faceless man who has no name is justifying three names. It means there’s no loophole for the faceless men. If Jaqen is the name of the face, then he’s condemned to the fate of the face. if Jaqen is the name of the faceless, he’s either not truly faceless, because he still has a name, or the whole point of “becoming no one” is flawed, because if you are no one then it shouldn’t matter who you were). 

So we have fire, we have underground, we have Jaqen. We have Jaqen potentially assassinating Balon Greyjoy. We have Jaqen in Oldtown, presumably there for information. 

We have the faith of the Blind God, which sounds an awful lot like parts of how the Faceless become Faceless.

We have Jaqen basically not acting in line with the operating procedures of the House of Black and White, but perhaps working in line with the original goals of the faceless men. 

These are absolutely tenuous threads that tie the face of Jaqen H’ghar of Lorath to the mines of Valyria (taken as a slave? a nobleman who happened to visit? someone in charge? all work with Lorath’s relationship to Valyria) to the origin of the Faceless Men. But if we just take this idea for a second--that the face of Jaqen H’ghar is the original FM, some other things start to line up. His interest in the dragon book at Oldtown. His ability to change faces faster than other FM. An original FM face being donned and suddenly going “well THIS is not what I meant at all when I founded this order of assassins” not only lends weight to Jaqen going rogue (he now has a very clear motivation for it) but is also interesting in an intention vs reality sort of way (which could be a commentary on the concept of organized religion)

The problem with this theory, of course, is that once the face of Jaqen disappears, so to do his motivations.

Right?

But, okay. We’re assuming the face of Jaqen is very old. It holds that it may also be very powerful. The kindly man mentions the dragonlords being strong in sorcery, and the order itself uses blood magic. Who’s to say the face of Jaqen H’ghar possesses the wearer? For that matter, the Faceless Men deal in blood magic, for all we know there’s a way to permanently bind a face to a faceless.

If that’s not it, well, there’s a lot of necromancy in this world. Maybe some idiot thought it would be a good idea to slap an old face on a new, dead body to beef up the ranks, and Jaqen is the result.

If Jaqen’s face is Original Recipe/A Faceless Man Original Design FallWinter Collection, then I imagine it’s not supposed to be getting used for a lot. Or at all. 

Jaqen H’ghar is dead kinda takes on new meaning, doesn’t it?

Maybe the guy who wore the face of Jaqen was just a FM who was already leaning towards going rogue, and meeting Varys is what helped shift his path as far as Westeros was concerned. Maybe there’s no ridiculously complicated backstory apart from Faceless Men sometimes being unsuccessful in truly becoming neutral agents. Maybe he’s in Oldtown on assignment. 

Or maybe Jaqen H’ghar is the founder of your religious order, and he is very disappointed in how you have twisted his teachings.

#game of thrones #asoiaf #jaqen h'ghar #asoiaf meta #faceless men #the house of black and white #arya stark #meta #jaqen and the black cells #jaqen meta #wow apparently i have a lot of feelings about this #so many jaqen feelings #100% blame tom wlaschia for them tbh??? #anyway hit me up if you wanna talk about jaqen cuz i got a lot of thoughts #more questions but still lots of thoughts #does this even make sense at this point #too much info here #just gonna post it so i don't have to think about it any more #somebody else think about it for me #but for real grrm has already got the commentary on war #original recipe jaqen being commentary on organized religion?? yes please