Faceless Men: who is Jaqen H'ghar?
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- čas přidán 1. 05. 2024
- Jaqen H’ghar is probably the most confusing Game of Thrones character. Who is Jaqen? What’s his relationship with Arya? Is Jaqen Syrio Forel? Who’s the “alchemist” at Oldtown, and what does he want? What do the Faceless Men have to do with Valyria? Were the Faceless Men involved in the death of Balon Greyjoy? Could they be working with Euron Greyjoy to orchestrate a huge terrible blood sacrifice?
This video contains spoilers for Season 6 of Game of Thrones, and Books 1-5 of ASOIAF, and a TWOW sample chapter read by GRRM.
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Created with Adobe After Effects and a Blue Yeti USB microphone.
Images and video from Game of Thrones used here under fair use.
References / further reading:
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ign.com/articles/2016/04/13/ga...
nobodysuspectsthebutterfly.tum...
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Thanks to the following Patrons: Jason A. Diegmueller, Reverend Xandria, @MrFifaSA, Cameron Weiss, @Vineyarddawg, Eric Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Pan, Jason Rattray, Cynbobby Joe, Kate Lyons, Ryan Steele, Michael Appell, Artorias Stark, David Howe, Fallon Mail, Cregg Riley, Sean Ludtke, Todd Marcus, Chris Cole, Moiraine Sedai, Jake Burling, Chris Amolsch, Matthew Elisha Williams, Fred Petty
0:00 Jaqen
2:01 Faceless Men
4:44 Syrio
7:00 Alchemist
8:47 Valyria
11:22 Euron
13:33 Forsaken
15:33 Conclusion
Imagine having people discuss your imagination in such depth and detail.
I'd probably have a mental breakdown in less than 13 minutes in
I feel the same way when i see people discussing religion.
Freaking RR Martin had to be so genius to create an awesome world.
@@Z.Brytel46 Or theories about infinite universes and what's before the big bang?
I'd be down.
So many lives would have been saved if Arya had said “Cersei, Tywin, Joffrey.”
Right? But that would be too easy. Though, I would loved to have seen another purple death or two. Pretty epic death scene.
Where would the fun be in that?
She doesnt say they names because she wants to kll dem herself
@@cherylT321 Where was the fun in the actual ending of the show? Atleast that way show would have ended way back
That would have been far too difficult
The phrase "no one knows what caused the Doom of Valyria" could mean that No One does in fact know. The Faceless Men know.
Ah! Good catch.
Arya did it after slaying the night king with SkIlLs
Brahh
🤯🤯🤯
oh. wow.
This guy was my favourite male character in GoT. His way of speaking is so cool. “A man has said.” “A man has patrol duty”😂”A girl lacks honour.” Also being a badass killer and teacher makes him very intriguing.
David SAME BRUVV ✋🏻😭😭
So not your favourite? Other than arya, I can't think of a woman who's more interesting than jaqen. Who's your favourite character then?
@Patrick Stewart My favorite female character is a pick of Arya, Brienne and Daenerys. Each of them has a satisfying character arc in the show. Enjoyed most scenes with them in it. Of those three, I have to go for Daenerys, who was the person who made the biggest difference to the outcome of the story. Throw in her dragons and the many battles and scrapes she has, she rocked in nearly every scene. That the writers allowed her to die like that was criminal.
I had such a crush on him 😅 he's just so cool 😎
Same
Euron in the books: psychotic mass murderer who is organising an unprecedented ritual to a dark blood demon
Euron in the show: ａ ｆｉｎｇｅｒ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｂｕｍ
@Sam Lim nope.
@Sam Lim nope
@@ikariyabiollante867 Jaime Lannister is pretty. Euron, a little less. No point of having big peepee if women want to puke when they see you. Okay, he is not that bad-looking but the sister of Reek is.
@Sam Lim nope.
U forgot that all of his jokes consist of saying that theon has no dick.
Syrio might have a similar philosophy to Jacen because they’re both from Bravoos and their culture is deeply influenced by the faceless men.
Allie exactly
Agreed. The Faceless Men and Braavosi are all descendants of Valyrian slaves so it would make sense they share similar belief systems.
That's my thought too.
But the faceless men pointed out that being a "facesless man" is something different entirely ...
Greasy-haired little bastards...
There is something so mysterious about Jaqen H'gar; whenever he's on screen, you look at his eyes, his stare, his demeanour, his half smile, his way if speaking; its like he's holding a deep secret which we're not ready to hear. Most intriguing character in the show for me.
Most definitely agree. Phenomenal acting.
in books he is even more mysterious, bcs when Arya is training to be faceless, he isn't her teacher, also this girl Waife is very mysterious character in books, in series she is just a different character, she never hurts Arya, she was helping Arya and she was a child or at least child body and face
Senti o mesmo que você em relação a Jaqen.
He didn't tell her everything about being a faceless man because he knew she wasn't meant to be a faceless man but Arya stark. He knows something we haven't learned yet where he's aware she's got a purpose.. don't think it'll be killing a night king in the book like the show but she'll have some purpose to come
I respectfully disagree. They needed an Arya Stark but not the Arya Stark. I strongly believe that the Waife wins the fight in the dark and takes her face and sword. Remember when they wear a face they get everything else too. If she truly became no one they get her face and the position needed in the north. Remember their goal was probably to go to the wall to begin with, why else would a faceless man get caught? But then she finds out what she needs to give up anyway and runs away. I'm quite sure if you look at Arya side in the last season she doesn't have any stab wounds on her midsection but instead thin slice scars on her side that the camera focuses on. It looks like Arya got Waife good a couple times but lost in the end. They didn't tell her because they needed to try and trap her first.
@@emilyfoster3292 You make sense, really. However let’s be honest with ourselves. Do you really think the writers had the foresight to consider all this? Logic basically went out the window with the last few seasons. I can imagine the Faceless men in the books may have some grand plan for her, but in the show it was merely a plotline to keep Arya busy until she can reunite with her family.
Arya doesent kill the night king in the book? I had a feeling theres no way cos that was so stupid
@@S1NOFPRID3 The books aren't there yet. In the books, Jon is still dead and that's where they leave off.
tolkien?
A man was playing GTA & was Jaqen 'A Car
bwuahaha thank you for this.
Awesome Bro 😂😂🙌🏾🙌🏾
You have a brilliant mind 🦒
You sir, win.
😂😂😂 I love it
A man is very confused.
I switched prof pic and name so now this doesn't make any sense...
A man edits his comments.
Bcs he's a faceless man
Sexually?
Ha! Love that!😆😆😆👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
@@KATNYC_718 no one loves it
The Faceless Men are probably the most interesting elements in the books and show. They're a shadow government that pulls all the strings of the world behind the scenes. Clearly they're rich and powerful beyond comprehension what with their proximity (and most likely ownership) of the Iron Bank. They can basically decide who dies when and have limitless resources to do so. They're one of the deep elemental forces of this world and I really hope GRRM expands upon their lore in future books.
I highly doubt that, they just seem to be a regular assassin death cult
@@ce5122Normal assassin's can't change there appearance at will nor they can do perfect imitation of a person. Faceless men are magical assassin's who delivers death to anyone they are hired to kill
@@mdraj5655 i’m talking in terms of their goals they are just an assassin death cult. They seem to have zero political aspirations.
Welcome to the illuminati whom own the federal reserve and DC and control all countries as well as the 6 corporations tgat own ALL the media and all industry and they are satanist..every one of em.
Same as all hellywood.
Waky waky.
@@mdraj5655 yeah but nothing more than assasins
In the Doom of Valyria, around 10:00, I read a theory somewhere that the 14 flames were unstable, and the deeper they mined, the more unstable these volcanoes get. They mine deep and hot because this is how they hatch their Dragons. This is where magic comes in, Valyrians have Fire Mages, deep in the mines of 14 Flames, they conduct magic to keep the volcanoes stable.
This comes into play with the Faceless men causing the Doom of Valyria theory, because how would they cause the doom? They assassinated all Fire Mages in synchrony, causing all 14 Flames to become unstable all at once and the Doom of Valyria occurs.
Since you’re a recent comment I have a questions. Do you know what season and episode has the alchemist meeting that maester and Samwell Tarly? I missed it and want to go back🙏🏻
Or was it in the books?
@@Fluxxxx I don't recall Sam meeting the Alchemist in the show, I do however, recall him sneaking around the Citadel. I try my best to forget the show because of the Season 8 disaster.
You might have seen that theory right here on his channel my friend, I just watched it yesterday. I think it’s called “what ended Valyria?”
@@stanza77 I haven't actually, I've been reading a lot of ASOIAF content on A wiki of ice and fire website lately. I'd give the video a go.
I had always interpreted Jaqen and Syrio as opposites almost as a warning. "What do we say to the god of death? Not today" in the sense that hes telling Arya to reject the death cult.
Ooooh… dang that’s a great detail 😳🤩
Might be true..
True, interesting point. It seems he wasnt indeed part of the cult. Or why would he say that.
That is a good theory.
Personally I think Syrio and a man are not the same person but Syrio might be a scout of sorts with Aria being destined to join the faceless men. The "not today" part could be preparation to teach her not to fear death but to take control over it.
But yeah what you say does make a lot of sense
This one sentence was better than this 17 min clip filled with "maybe..."
A man is perhaps the most intriguing character in the entire story.
Flying O for real , they could make a whole movie about this faceless men concept. So mysterious
Nah stop reaching this story is deeper than the bible
I hope we will find more about him in the books, because it will never happen on the show.
Indeed
A man is celebrating the treble treble
It's simple Jaqen H'ghar is the 'many faced god'. Each one is a part of this 'god', to the point that they become him. The Waif is not one of them because she still has her ego, and her anger. The faceless men are the 'many faced god', because each one can be someone else on a dime, but are always their 'god'. I believe each one gives up his ego, his sense of self, and is then used by their 'god' in order to accomplish certain events. Sort of like clones that are always connect to the first one. Doesn't matter if one dies as another takes his place.
this makes the most sense. especially since various jaqen's seem to know what the other knew despite the death. not to mention, their voices comes with the face. so there is certainly some magic to it. having memories come with it as well wouldnt be strange. but them all being the god/the god knowing them all would fit this as well.
@@jessiejanson1528 that’s what I noticed, they can all be jaqen but if they’re consciousness isn’t connected in some way why would they all know everything that Arya has said and been through
from the one god line, i always thought syrio was once part of the faceless men, but left. he didn’t want to be part of the wacky death cult but still subscribed to the idea that death is the only god, but instead of accepting it as an inevitability he taught arya that death can be fought.
If they wanted too...game of thrones have enough of a storyline to extend for another 10 seasons after the white walkers
depends on whether people pirate or actually pay money
They intend of doing a prequel show
the game of Thrones ends, it is a separate story from the novels. But a spinoff is 100% going to happen as HBO has 4 spinoffs (from which 1 will be picked and hopefully released to the public in the next few years).
There are two more unfinished books in the series, which is prob why the last seasons were so rushed...Sunday's episode was unexpected, don't you think?
Or three episodes
Although he only plays a supporting role, every scene he plays leaves a deep impression on us. Terrific acting!
So true.
Loved him in jt
@@luzluna6808 oooji
can’t argue with that, he was phenomenal indeed
He was great in Stranger Things too.
I love your explanations. You don’t insist that you’re absolutely correct, but you do raise good questions. And a good question is always more productive than a flat answer.
I’ve always loved the way your organize your info boards.
Those last minutes zooming around it all was exhilarating and made the info perfectly digestible.
"To this day, no one knows what caused the the Doom"
*No one knows what caused the Doom*
*No one are The Faceless Men*
therefore "no one" killed the kNight King... lol
Wow good read there
@@AesthetixPro Yes indeed they did !
No one knows what is west of Westeros.
Interesting idea, but Martin usually doesn't go for that type of play on words. Though it would be fun
Nothing helps GoT withdrawal more than an AltShiftX videos.
Yeah
I'm watching Film Buffs channel in the meantime. It's a reaction video series with someone who knows nothing of GoT and has never watched before, the sweet summer child.
You know it's a good day when there's new AltShiftX.
+
so true
That was so in depth and incredible! Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge on the subject
I think that Jaqen H'ghar was his real name. He wouldn't be scared when Arya called his name as the 3rd in her list. Maybe, Faceless Man was just a code or a nickname not only for him, but for all of them who were servant's at the temple. He wouldn't tremble, if Arya would have been said: The Faceless Man. It could be anyone. But, maybe he would be a Targaryen in disguise, when he was such an excellent swordsman. He moved to Bravos, learned their ways and in the end he knew Arya Stark and willed to help her, because of her family tree. No one in the movie had helped Arya in such a way, training her in such a way. Not even Brienne.
I really really really wanted Jaqen to show up in s8. 😭
A man mustn't want
he will show up in the books, just need to wait for the book
I really wanted a good finale 0_0
We really really wanted a good season
Zelpoke I agree
D&D kinda forgot about this plotline
No shit right, d&d just kinda forgot the 10 years of build up and make it their shitty way, still can't forgive them for what they've done
Two men did not know what they were doing without another man's writings.
actually 2 books are still on their way
@@salmasabbar9 That's cute, lol. He started the books in 1996, 3 years later he published the second one, one year later the third, FIVE years later from that the fourth, another SIX years later the fifth. Now, NINE YEARS LATER, the sixth book is still under ''Forthcoming'', and even if tomorrow he publishes it, the seventh will probably never see the light, the guy is already old.
@@TheDorianTube shiit .. you just destroyed the last drop of hope i had.. but he rly said that in an interview so idk
Hey man, I just wanted to let you know that I'm a Warhammer guy, and every time your videos come on, I always watch them. Makes me want to rewatch the show. This dude was my favorite.
Seen this now in 2022 and finally understanding who was the alchemist and how that guy Pate was alive when Sam arrived. Your channel is trully greatl
The main reason why I feel like thinking that Syrio is a faceless man is really silly is because their views of death are complete opposite: «What do we say to the God of Death? Not today» and «Death is a gift». Syrio might believe in the Many-Faced God (which make sense, hes also from Braavos after all) but he certainly doesn't worship him.
True :)
Well, I think speech patterns are actually a huge part of the connections. The speech habits of "A man/woman/boy/girl" is actually Lorathi in origin, starting in the days of the blind priests. It makes sense for Jaqen/Pate/Alchemist to say things like this, as he's supposedly from Lorath. However, Syrio is Braavosi, and would have no reason to speak the way he does.
Syrio doesn't speak like this all the time , he only speaks this way while he trains Ayra and it's not the same way Jaqen speaks. Salador San also uses some phrases that Jaqen uses and it doesn't mean a thing :) In the book Arya and Jaqen chapters are so detailed and he is so finely described and so different than Syrio that I'm shocked anybody could come up with such a dumb theory. Even GRRM was surprised to learn people have such ideas :))
first_of_her name What? How would you know how Syrio speaks when not training Arya? He never appears anywhere else.
He doesn't speak exactly like Jaqen. Jaqen in A Clash of Kings is very well defined with lots of details. Just keep calm and read the book :) I know people believe in conspiracy theories and bend facts to suit they mindset and it's the same with hardcore Syrio fans :DD
A man is tired now from watching GOT. A man will take a nap.
Lmao this is GOT's version of Yoda
True!!
😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂I’m crying
One of the most underrated,under deveoped, under told characters in the entire series
Syrio wasn't specifically looking for Arya, it's more likely that the identity was ideal for recruiting potential pupils to become faceless men.
Your work is so very far above the average on youtube I am proud and privileged to support it in a small way. Thanks for this installment.
Thank you Faye!
How the hell did you comment 20 hours ago
Agreed!
Agreed ! but he takes like a month to upload a single video ! so it hardly counts ! if he doesn't come out with such good contents, its also not worth the wait
I see you have no idea how hard it is to put together such video, with all the relevant information and a well structured coherent script, add to that "some" personal life and a job (other then CZcams) and you've got yourself a mount. Of course much desirable to enjoy such content at least every week, but not surprising what so ever, that it takes long.
"The man without a face sounds like a faceless man." I have to agree with that.
Can't argue on that
Big if true
i was looking for this comment :D
Quite the astute observation 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I am rewatching these videos and I really hope you will get back up and rolling with the new season. This channel is the best!!!
He’s in Russia with Jim Hopper now
In case anyone needs more convincing that Syrio Forel is not a Faceless Man, just look at their philosophies. Sure, on the surface they teach Arya about similar things, but there's one detail that they completely disagree on. One of Syrio's awesome quotes is "Boy, girl, *you are a sword, that is all*." He teaches her that Needle is a part of her identity, an extension of her body. Contrast this with the Faceless Men; the kindly man says "You need to rid yourself of all this," of her treasures, demanding that Arya abandons Needle.
That seems a stretch. By no means a conflict.
"you are a sword, that is all" doesnt mean its a part of her identity, it means it IS her identity and that shes nothing but a weapon (just like the faceless men are only weapons in the hand of the Many-faced god.)
So this only proves that hes a faceless man even more.
does syrio mean it literally that she's needle or that she's just a servant who should be ready to strike at a moment's notice? if so, it would be in accordance with jaqen's philosophy, that she's just a servant to the faceless god and shouldn't question who she kills as she's just the sword that strikes. not saying that syrio=jaqen though.
Bullshit
your argument is far less clear and conclusive than you make it seem like.
Another explanation of why The Faceless Men and Syrio talk about the same stuff is because they share the same Bravosi culture.
Exactly!
slow down, coach. you lost me.
@@kidadd he said one thing
Braavosi religion is not homogenous. The Faceless God is not the majority faith there.
@sosy1178 It is one of the signatures of Braavos, the Isle where they have every temple imaginable. They even have a sept there.
Personally, I believe Jaqen is not one person. When he takes the poison, only for him to be standing behind Arya, they both have Jaqens face. However, when she peels off the faces of the corpse, there are so many faces it is hard to tell who that person actually was (which i suppose is what makes it creepy). But working off that, the Alchemist clearly was using Jaqens face as well. I believe that Jaqen is not a human, rather he is a public persona for the faceless men. I would think they wouldn't want their real faces shown anyways, and since they're "no one," then they're all technically Jaqen.
Arya's journey is the most favorite and interesting part for me in the show.....she is the only stark who was literally alone and amongst the enemies and people she can't trust......she had to go through hardship and even have trouble for a good meal......being a daughter of a lord and having a great childhood she was the ultimate survivor for me......
Wouldnt the Faceless oppose the White Walkers the strongest? Walkers steal the gift
Great point here. This is what I was thinking.
an interesting idea, the others/white walkers pervert the gift of death and in a way enslave the people, to do awful things
The Faceless worship death, and the White Walkers don't exactly raise people from the dead (in the way the red priests do), instead they simply animate their already dead corpses, kind of like the way the faceless use the corpses for their work.
In a way the White Walkers are more like a live personification of death, hellbent on spreading death across the world. Even Melisandre refers to them as death whenever interpreting the nights-watch message for Stannis; "*Death* marches on the wall."
So, if anything I would say the opposite.
Wrong. FM respect death. It's a gift of peace not eternal torment. They don't kill as many people as possible, they don't want to spread death, where did you get the idea from ? They enjoy life while they can and most of all they are against slavery. They are totally against WW.
The faceless men recognize that theirs a personification of death within every religion in westros, they refer to him as 'the many faced god' and serve as a cult of sorts to this god viewing their work as a service to him, (like a sacrifice of sorts).
If you want to know where I got *that* idea from perhaps you should watch the bloody video.
And on the topic of "where did you get that idea from," do you *really* think their just out to 'enjoy life?'
Really?!
the amount of detail GRRM puts in the lore is absolutely insane and I cant imagine making sure everything connects
You should delve into Tolkien's lore. Nothing comes close to how rich that is
Keep waiting then
It’s probably why he’s having trouble finishing the series! So many story lines to tie together!
@@melvinsamson5684 idk GRRM lore absolutely does in my opinion.
@@melvinsamson5684 if prefer GRRM’s world tbh, but to each his own, Tolkien is great too
When Aarya says she is Aarya stark of winterfell and she is going home, Jaquen says girl is finally no one. How is she no one when she didn’t forget a single thing about herself
because internally, she doesn't have a home. 2 reasons. 1, she believes her entire family is dead and that winterfell is taken over, 2 she loves so many places and people that she couldn't choose one to go to. saying she's heading home is untrue because she believes she doesn't have a home. she lied to him about her own identity, making him believe she's ready to abandon her identity.
@@jasperd9678 But aren't faceless men supposed to be contract killers? If Arya did complete her training and is a faceless man/no one now, shouldn't she be killing those who have a price on their head and have paid the faceless assassin's cult rather than Arya stark's enemies? Doesn't make sense
@@anudeep6123 they didn't know about it, thats why when they figured it out they abused her like they did. she wasn't a faceless man, she just said a statement that was untrue therefore convincing jaquen that she was ready. when in reality she wasn't, and at that point she didn't want to be a faceless man anymore. they simply didn't know who she was killing.
She says that after. She kills the girl who was also training to be a faceless man that tried to kill her, then hangs her face in the hall of faces. Jáquez H’ghar/a man finds her there and says “a girl is finally no one”. After that she says “a girl is Arya Stark. And I’m going home”
i dont even remember half of this anymore, but i thought arya wasnt arya anymore, like she had someone elses face under the mask. ie. she was killed, someone wore her face and then took over her life as part of a mission as countless other faceless men have done.
As an aside, it also seemed like they all knew things they couldnt know unless they have memories that come along with the face or unless they constantly sent in reports... given the magic nature of the cult, memories tied to face masks seem possible.
I will answer your theory with my theory: The Faceless man acted as Syrio Forel because he was simply spying around that time. And when he met Arya he saw potential. He went to become a prisoner for the Night Watch because he saw Arya being taken by Yoren. Just as simple as that. In GOT there is no coincidence it was fate.
Except (allegedly) who tried to kill Tyrion 😅
i always saw jaqen not as a person, but more like a role all the faceless men could take on. I think he is truly no one, the name, the face and his charakter are just a way to interact with the outsiders.
If you watched through the video, that is what he is saying. Jaqen is not a person, but just a face. In the video the "original" faceless man, who we saw first, is referred as Jaqen so it's easier to understand.
I'm confused because in the books the faceless men have distinct talents. There is a chapter where they come for a meeting and it's clear Jaqen has more abilities than others, like the person who can only change his nose. They are not interchangable as AltShiftX states.
+Frederika Eilers He's talking more about the show here, only taking some "behind the scenes" knowledge from the books. As has been said, the books and the show are quite similar but not 100% alike, so I think Alt is going more after the show, touching the books when it explains more than creates more questions.
+Jussi Ahonen this is only thing negative thing about this video, since asx refers to show and book he usually distinguishes between the 2, here he didn't. Book Jaqen clearly is more of a no one than all the other Faceless Men.
+Rob, I agree this is the weak point. On the other hand in the show we only see one Faceless Man but I agree in the book he is outstanding and it seems Arya is the one who can come close to him thanks to her "many gifts" like warging.
A man sends his best regards!
Jaqen H'ghar got’em
A man can disguise as a white walker and learn Night King's secrets. But no. A man is an asshole.
A man needs head.
you are literally everywhere unless i’ve just seen your clones
I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.
The theory that he traded the eggs for a faceless man to kill his brother would explain why they're so set on finding that book at the Citadel because there in hopes it would tell him how to hatch it
I found him. He's a Russian prison guard now
underrated comment 😂
@@jessd627 overused shit
Mmh that is a strange thing to say 🤔
Best comment😂
The actor of Jaqen is german and I saw him most of the time in a cafe next to my school in berlin. Still can't believe I met a GoT actor in real life. Was too scared to walk up to him so I made my friends go talk to him lol.
So I guess you didn’t actually meet him then. Whoops.
He is no one
@@varthasvegenos stay mad, nobody
Krass, wusste nicht dass er deutsch war
Im sure he told them, "A man is no one"😂😂
In german probably
The Dark Brotherhood has become much more confusing
the no face astrid broke my heart
fbi niggas 😭😭
Khajiit us confused
cicero likey
Apparently the coffin mother ( i forgot the name) is the many face god
I love this channel! Great deep dives!
I fucking love this kind of video, and your editing and pacing is fantastic. Good job.
The house of black and white is in Braavos, where Syrio was from. Similarities in their religion and how they regard death ("there is only one god...") could easily be interpreted as the effect that the Faceless Men have had on Braavosi culture. Makes much more sense if that's the case and Syrio was exactly who he seemed to be.
exactly.... would also explain why arya had to show that coin to ANY bravoosi and they would know what to do
Also the faceless men BUILT the city.
I still think the theory about Syrio being a faceless man makes sense, although it's not perfect
1-a faceless man went to Westeros to, among other things learn more about dragons. His plan was to pose as a skilled swordsman, make a name on the next tournament Robert set, and join the court. Inside it, he'd spy on the small council and read more about Targaryen history but
2-for his luck, the first sword of Braavos died recently, and even better: the hand of the king needs a skilled swordsman to teach his daughter! That means more free time to do sneaky shit, and would also explain why he frequently sends Arya to run fool's errands, such as standing still on one leg atop some stairs, or chasing cats. There, he sees potential on the little girl
3-he's captured and was to be used as a mean to lure Arya back into the clutch of the lannisters. They did it with the ship she'd use to go back home, what would keep them from doing this to Syrio?
4-that faceless man changes faces while on the black cells, and takes the identity of J'aquen. He's planning a escape when the night's watch takes him. He proceeds to plan annother escape when he meetd Arya again, by pure coincidence
@@marcospatricio8283 Interesting!
2016...
simpler yet more exciting times.
A time when we actually thought the show was going to provide amazing revelations, backstory, intricately detailed relationships and maybe a bit of beautifully written closure.
Instead, welcome to season 8.
The final season that has arrived probably 2 seasons too soon.
Because it’s too complicated so... dracarys.
yeah so much deepness to be dived into and tell a great story .. instead, stab the enemy #1 of the series ("winter is coming") with 1 move and just burn everyone to become .. the complete opposite of the intended
@@nergal2741 Maybe George is happy that they did such a bad job and left so many things unanswered that the main result is more people will want to read the books. The books have to be at least 1000x better than the show, the producers made sure of that
well said
@@davemanmartin probably yeah :D
@@nergal2741 "...and just *burn* everyone to become..."
*B U R N T H E M A L L!!!*
5:30 jaken didn't came to king's landing to recruit arya, he came to take a contract on danerys's head
"During a small council meeting discussing King Robert I Baratheon's demand that Daenerys Targaryen die, Grand Maester Pycelle suggests hiring the Faceless Men to assassinate the exiled princess. The master of coin, Lord Petyr Baelish, says that doing so would be too expensive; the price to hire the Faceless Men to kill a merchant is twice that of hiring an army of sellswords, and the price to kill a princess would be even higher. Varys, the master of whisperers, will instead offer a lordship to a successful assassin."
Its amazing that one man has answer to all your questions
Since the Faceless Men believe in magic, are they aware of the white walkers? If so, wouldn't a species, that reanimates people given the "gift" of death, be of interest to them?
This is an interesting notion.
Even Jaquen actor comfirmed that
Damn that's a great point.
The Faceless Men would consider someone undead as an affront to their God.
More so if someone animated the dead instead of raising them alive (like some Red Priest(es))
Their big problem, anyway, would be with anyone animating the dead.
I would've payed for this kind of content
Then become a Patreon supporter...
"I would've payed if it was not already free" he wants to say ;_;
+Tom Heimweg you get it for free though so why would he?
I think you can find the answer by yourself, stupid question.
Sometimes you like something so much, that you're willing to throw money at it, because it's awesome.
Awesome coverage!
Everytime I hear the theory that Euron says he threw his dragon egg into the sea, but really used it as payment to have Baelon killed. If you think about it, if Euron equated his brothers life to the price of his dragon egg, then having his brother tossed into the sea is the same of tossing the egg itself. Idk makes sense in my head.
Hiring a faceless man have a high cost
Euron has a dragon egg
Euron gives the egg to the faceless man
The faceless man kills his brother and throw him in the sea
Euron says i throw the egg in the sea
Throwing the egg in the sea = throwing his brother in the sea cus that what led to this
Idk that’s my theory
I'm just waiting for someone to sit on the throne in the end, and then takes off their mask to be someone else. Then it cuts to the credits and rock and roll starts playing
but that person still isn't the actual person...
spiderman theme would be better but ok
Takes off mask and it was Ser Pounce the entire time, fades to nyan cat song.
Ur Mama
I'd actually love this, and a lot more than were D&D seem to want to head in season 8.
After the fight with Brienne and Arya, Brienne asked who taught the techniques, Arya said no one.
yuki nyoobi she ain’t lie lol
Syrio didn't teach her that long and she was still ametureish when she left kings landing. Recall the scene when Arya first meets Hot Pie and Gendry as they all prepare to leave King's Landing, it's pretty clear she is not a confident combatant yet. Compare that scene to the scene where she trains with Brienne and how even just the way she wears the sword conveys her comfort with it and that's not even mentioning the way she fights. Syrio taught her the basics but it was the Faceless Men that molded her into the weapon we see train with Brienne.
Gentleman Yuki g
The show ain't canon anymore
cringe
U earned a new sub good job
Seemed to me in the show he warned her of the hardship and pain involved in the training pretty adequately even seeming as tho he did not want her to take the path. Yet he offered it anyway as he likely saw something of himself in her drive for personal revenge, at least what he can remember of his original life sparked an intrest in Aria I think.
"As assassins, Faceless Men are trained to use deception, perception, poisons and....sticks...to kill their targets"
Theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated
@@tailordurden8445 it's the sticks he's pointing out
Another missed opportunity by the GOT series was letting Jaqen appear in Season 8. It would've blown our minds.
Maybe he did and we didn't notice because he was wearing the face of someone. In fact, maybe we saw several faceless men imposing characters we know - which would explain a lot of the issues we have with season 8 :) Bronn acting out of character all of a sudden? He was a faceless man at that point!
@@Puschit1 don't use that as an excuse for bad writing
@@jchahda2270 I was joking, obviously, indicated by the smily
@@Puschit1 More covincing theory : A faceless man murder the self concistency of the story and the writting skill of the 2 shits that runned this show
Maybe he could've told arya that he followed her because he didn't really care about the many faced god 😂
Jagen hgar was one of my favorite characters in GOT, Martin painted a good assassin which remained mysterious, cunning and always go for the money while remaining in the shadows. But the best part is jagen remained a mystery even for the readers and audiences.
It was so cool to see the actor who portrayed Jaqen H'ghar, Thomas Wlaschiha, in Stranger Things 🥰
Sucks that he turned out to be so problematic though, I really liked him
@@LimaBeanxx Oh? 🤔
Which character did he play in Stranger things??
The Faceless Men do have a thing against choosing who to kill themselves. Jaqen would only kill the people Arya told him to kill. The Kindly Man was not happy that Arya killed the Night's Watch deserter. They seem to see themselves as being the instruments of death but they don't actually choose who dies. So it's questionable if they're actually pulling the strings in any of these conspiracies. If no one paid them to go after the Targaryens, they can't just decide to kill them.
Also, Jaqen clearly didn't want to die when Arya named him so that kind of throws the "being no one" thing into question. Although it could be that he didn't want to die because he was concerned about his mission rather than his own life.
A good point, but if the person is *not really* Jaqen H'ghar, giving that name doesn't mean anything.
+H. L. Wiley it's the equivalent of pointing at him and saying "you" if he feels a religious obligation to kill who she says, he can't just slip out on a technicality of her not knowing his name.
+Chase Merritt in the show she doesn't know the torturer's name but Jaqen says her knowing what people call him ("the tickler" I think) is enough.
I've always thought the "no one" is just a set of rules and skills that let them be untraceable and effective killers and bound them to the order so they don't go around Westeros killing everyone left and right. The origins of the order is bringing the justice so they have to be bound by the rules but they are still men. Jaqen is very human in ACoK, he flirts, he teases and makes jokes and he enjoys very human pleasures. However Rorge and Biter are scared of him so maybe he is higher among the order hence he can take liberties of their rules ?
KingOfMadCows the first faceless man wasn't really an assassin. he was just handing out the gift to all those who he felt deserved it. Given that he was a slave, it makes sense that he goes after the slaves masters. He kills the slaves because he thinks he is bringing them happiness, as death seems more preferable than being a slave. The first faceless man wasn't a part of the faceless order. The roles they operate by probably came after he left the slave mines or after getting to bravos.
Forel was my favourite character. The fact that he “died” off screen had me convinced he survived, that he was such an amazing swordsman that he could defend himself with a broken wooden sword, and that he would gloriously return at some point in the future.
Obviously that felt less and less likely to happen as the show went on. Such a shame, he was a great character.
I felt the exact same way. What a waste of such a great opportunity, they hype this character up to be one of the greatest swordsman in the world and all we get is 45 seconds of him with a wooden sword?... also being as good as he would living that life and being surrounded by so many cut throat people mainly the lannisters I don't think for a second he would go anywhere without at least one real sword or at least a midsize blade. With his experience he knows shit can pop off at any second no matter where you are. So yeah not showing if he died and then never using him was suuuuuch a waste. I can't believe how badly they screwed up especially the last season smh.
Ye
They were never afraid to show you your favorite character getting brutally murdered in exquisite detail so a character like Syrio dying off screen WAS deeply suspicious. re: The Hound
@@nickguido4413 nah its so they had the chance to bring him back if they randomly decide to seasons later lmao but clearly they didn't
I don't understand why he don't pick up some sword against the guard knight. There was many swords because he kill lannisters soldiers
I believe the faceless man knew about nightwalkers, who were fooling death, and tried to find everything that could work against them.
That's my theory as well trained Arya for that purpose
I always thought that Syrio knows about the Many-Faced God in a different lens, a dance with the god of death, rather than a servant of it like Jaqen.
You guys are missing the obvious.
Jaqen is Ser Pounce. He has taken the face of a royal cat to spy on the Lannisters and get cozy with Margaery because she's hot as hell and Jaqen ain't no fool.
The best theory ever ;D
Clay Rogers except margaery is ugly as fuck, still have a point.
Sebbe no
Clay Rogers A boy believes this true
Sebbe u stupid?
Only thing that confused me about Jaqen (disclaimer: I've only watched the show, so maybe the books present this differently) is that he seems visibly surprised and fearful when Arya names him as her third mark at Harrenhal. If he is truly "no one" and is just assuming Jaqen's name for a disguise, why would he be afraid and then agree to help Arya escape as a result?
This is actually a very good point!
good point
I thought that the Faceless Man panicked a bit because he had a debt to be payed to his god, but Arya asked for the death of someone who was already dead. Ergo the Faceless Man was confronted with an impossible task.
But now that I think about it, you might have a point. It has been close to a decade since I've read the book, but I think Jaqen was begging Arya to pick a different name, which was very uncharacteristic for him.
I always figured it was because Arya got him into a dilema as he on one hand has to do his duty to the many faced god, so he has to deliver him the deaths that were promised, and he himself is a valid sacrifice, so he kind of has to do it.
But on the other hand he probably had other important things to do and it would have been bad if he couldn't do some task because he had to kill himself. Perhaps he was even on some mission related to his religion which would kind of make it a sort of holy quest.
Tha would leave him torn between having to serve his god by delivering a death, ergo suicide, and serving his god by completing whatever task he was given.
So an impossible choice for him.
Over thinking it in my opinion. The name is just a pointed intention. A guide for his blade. He doesnt actually need a name, a description was all he went off of to kill one of the other targets.
So her saying his name was a clear intention to point the blade at yourself.
You definitely over thought this, in my opinion.
Thank you, may God bless you all and everyone. ❤
Maybe the faceless men were the reason Targaryen’s dragons died out
Elaborate please?
I'm not even a GoT fan, but the depth in the world and the story is just so good that I had to keep watching lol
lord of the rings is similar
Can really recommend reading the books. At the end of every other chapter you just put the book down with your mind blown. Martin's world is just breathtaking.
Easily the best story I've ever read and I read a lot.
… because you’re a fan.
"I'm not a fan, but I am super invested in this world I'm totally not a fan of"
That makes you a fan
My question is: what happens if Bran wargs into a Faceless Man?
It's more magic than removing your own original face I think
Do not divide by zero
@@xkickit17 😅
What if he wargs into a dragon
@@pr1meashez623 I think we may find out soon
Because of horrible ending I almost forgot how amazing these serie is. I remind myself about it by your video.
I have interpreted Jaqen always as the God of Death himself, altought the series never told us. So his goal is wandering though the world, meeting different fates of people, taking many forms and finally guide Aria to kill mankinds greatest enemy. I havent watched the series in english but in german there were a few text passages indicating that he is in fact the god of many faces. I really enjoyed the mystery and fantasy touch of the last seasons. Sooo cool.
Who else is watching this after s8 ep 5 and knows theres no chance the faceless men are coming back
Maybe in the show but hopefully in the books there will be more
None of these videos should be considered relevant to the tv show
@@samuellars8802 agreed
@@overlord7877 are the books and the series so different?
@@fazzzam810 very different. I'd suggest you to pick up the books. They are absolutely brilliant.
Another thing with the whole syrio forel thing, is that the house of black and white is in braavos. The culture in Braavos is heavily linked to the faceless men. Just by Arya showing that coin to a person from braavos she was able to be transported there for free. So of course the first sword of Braavos is going to teach Arya the same foundations of the faceless men
That's what I thought. They are from the same place so it makes sense
Why couldn't Syrio be a faceless man if we go by this theory that they are all "no one" thus immortal? Who cares if he died because by this logic, no one died.
Exactly what I thought... and I'm glad this is probably not true because I love Syrio and Jaqen is a bit of a dick
@@ht.6315 Little finger is also from Braavos. When Visery Targaryen was with the "whore" in the first season she said that she has met a man with many faces due to her job. Little finger owns a brothel and hires "whores" so i wouldnt be surprised if Little finger is behind all this
@@nestor5280 how do you know littlefinger was from braavos?
I haven't read a novel in like 15 years, but this character really makes me consider picking up this series.
I just see it that the faceless men have some sort of future sight and that's why Sereo was first sent, then Jaqen to the cage, giving her someone to save so he'd "owe" her showing her how powerful she could become with sword fighting and the assassinations. I also think they probably already had Sereo not just for Arya but his face just fit with what they needed for that mission. On a different note, I like how the quote it "To this day, No one knows what caused the Doom." I like to read it as the only beings that know what caused the doom are the faceless men who regularly call themselves no one, one living person knows what happened except for no one who are the only ones that know
Considering that Syrio has that whole thing about saying “not today to the god of death”, I don’t think he’s a faceless man. Just influenced by a similar culture and possibly specifically by them.
I feel like we only like Jaqen because he has a great face. He has an interesting face. If it weren't for that, I suspect that we wouldn't care much for him.
i mean maybe if you were deaf and watched the show with no subtitles. you have a point, but you fail to realize how badass and intriguing he actually was to watch.
@@badlyrosenthal5149 bAdAsS
It's more than just his face, though. His voice and the way he speaks are intriguing enough without him also being handsome :)
They should have had Clint Howard play him.
@@doriangreen3231
That would have been funny as fuck!!!!
Or Michael J. Pollard (though unless you saw the 80s/ 90s movies that he was in back then, you probably wouldn't be able to fully grasp why he'd be perfect [in a comical sense] for the role).
I always interpreted Jaqen as Death himself. The Alchemist wanted to see the book, to learn about the Targaryen myth of the Song of Fire and Ice, to bring balance to the world and that is why Arya was trained in the first place. She was trained to kill the Night King ultimately ending the struggle for power between darkness and light.
my favorite character and my favorite plotline that had so much potential but ended so poorly it's almost physically painful
The transition around 7:00 with "not all characters have a sercret identity...but some of them do" and then going into Jaqen's alternate identities and mysterious actions in Oldtown was so well done. The way you script these videos is so impressive.
😁😋😍
AMAZING video as always! One recommendation, perhaps change the title to "What's up with Jaqen H’ghar and the Faceless Men?" considering a lot of the video has to do with the overall themes of the Faceless Men that may or may not have to do with Jaqen.
Otherwise, you killed it. Video was definitely worth the wait :)
Good point - I'll change it now (:
What was the old title? I'm curious now
Could you do a video on whats going on with Loras on Dragonstone?
+Marcus Bierman SPOILERS!!
Loras is dying.
AK Gray Either, in true fashion of GRRM spirit, Loras is dying or in even truer fashion, he is just dead.
1) He may be dying because of what they told Margaery and it's because of the burns he sustained by taking Dragonstone.
Or
2) He's being tortured or has been killed by men loyal to Cersei.
Either way, I doubt Loras will show up further besides a scene or two with him in a coffin or in a bed, dying.
His was one of the story lines I wish they had prolonged and fleshed out.
A man need his own series
The biggest thing for me that says syrio is not a faceless man is because of the iconic line that he says to Arya "what do we say to death we say not today"
Fantastic as always, Shift. Thanks for making one of the most confusing subplots of the series (right up there with the Meereenese Knot in terms of its impenetrability) more understandable.
P.S. What a great username for the guy who transcribed the Forsaken chapter, hahaha. "Oh."
Cheers mate!
+Alt Shift X Keep it up, your work is great
+Alt Shift X brexit
I think Arya is dead, and The Waif with Arya's face is a great assassin. But Arya is not faceless, so maybe not. Would certainly explain a long setup so that Arya with assassin's talents can be explained.
6:33 A far more likely explanation is simply that Syrio shares some ideological and martial basis with faceless men, seeing as they are from the same region and the faceless men have such a massive cultural significance to the braavosi (like everyone understanding and honoring the iron coin etc.)
I think that we will find in the story, that the faceless men actually remove their own faces and add them to the wall as the final step of initiation. As for Syrio, I believe that Little Finger is a high ranking member of the faceless men. It is little finger who assigns Syrio (a faceless man) to get close to Ned Stark. Syrio begins this by working with Arya. Syrio didn't die, he changed his face and went to the black cells because Ned was being held there.
personally I just think it was a bummer of a subplot that is not really going anywhere other than in the form of Arya being a badass now
Kip Hackman haha badass she is
The writers of the show butchered it. They just wanted to end it, they never even wanted to do an 8th season.
They should have taught Ayra with swords, then it would have made more sense going forward.
This video is not really about the show though.
You confused “babushka” with “matryoshka”. Matryoshka is the name of the Russian many-layered dolls. “Babushka” means “grandmother” in Russian. To be fair, “grandma the assassin” sounds equally hilarious and badass at the same time being a character you would totally expect in the song of ice and fire universe.
OMFG I would die happy if Olena Tyrell was exposed to be an assassin 😅
@@LetsSingTheDoomSong she IS an assassin
On the T.V. show Euron for some reason remains me of Kano from Mortal Kombat.
Excellent content, big thumbs up👍
That was cool. Thank you.