I have been fascinated with the Faceless Men since Jaqen revealed himself to Arya in Season 2. He appears to be a cold and calculating and very talented assassin but also with some compassion, as he helps Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie escape Harrenhal.
In the books, Jaqen (presumably) appears here only, the Kindly Man Arya meets in Braavos is supposedly someone else. We're never made aware of how mancy Faceless Men there actually are, but we do know that they have apprentices in training (like the Waif).
But who are the Faceless Men really? Do they have an agenda? There are several book moments that give us clues to a possible agenda. Jaqen also seems to be the one pursuing this agenda too.
First off, the Faceless Men are revealed to be worshippers of the Many-Faced God, but even more specifically, they seem to worship death. When Arya first saves Jaqen, Rorge, and Biter from the flaming cage they were in, Jaqen offers her a deal in return.
"A man pays his debts. A man owes three"
"Three?"
"The Red God has his due, sweet girl, and only death may pay for life. This girl took three that were his. This girl must give three in their place. Speak the names, and a man will do the rest." - A Clash of Kings, Arya VII
When Jaqen says "the Red God", he's referring to the Lord of Light or R'hllor, the God that Melisandre worships. Jaqen and the Faceless Men do not believe that R'hllor is THE God, just one of God's MANY faces. The Faceless Men see death as a gift, and by presenting this gift to an individual is a way to honor the Many-Faced God.
What are these creepy dudes up to though? It seems to me that Arya is a very important person to the Many-Faced God. And if you go back to season 1 or book 1, you can argue that the Faceless Men have been attempting to recruit Arya since she arrived in King's Landing. Her father, Ned Stark, arranges for Syrio Forel to train her in "water dancing" or sword fighting. This is Arya's first encounter with a Braavosi, and she's intrigued by his knowledge and abilities. Under Syrio's teachings, Arya learns many things that will help her later when she's being trained at the House of Black and White. There is a theory that Syrio Forel and Jaqen H'ghar are the same person. Not a crazy theory, knowing what we know now about the Faceless Men. The theory goes that Syrio Forel did not die after fighting Maryn Trant but was taken captive and thrown in the Black Cells below the Red Keep. There he switched his face to the one we know as Jaqen, and he's given over to Yorin when he comes for recruits for the Night's Watch. That's how Jaqen winds up in the cage with Rorge and Biter. This is how Jaqen is able to keep tabs on his new recruit, and further entice her by showing her that killing gives her power. He proves this with the names she gives him. By killing off Arya's enemies, Jaqen has shown Arya how she can feel strong.
So if Jaqen has been actively recruiting Arya, what's the reason? Why is she important? Well, it could be that Arya is just another piece in a much larger puzzle that the Faceless Men are attempting to put together. There is evidence of a much larger plot.
Book readers may remember that Jaqen doesn't completely disappear after helping Arya at Harrenhal. He (possibly) appears in the prologue for A Feast for Crows as "The Alchemist", a mysterious character in Oldtown who befriends a young would-be Maester named Pate. He makes a deal with Pate where he will give him gold in exchange for a key. The key was said to be able to open every door in the Citadel. We aren't given many details about the Alchemist, but we are given a description of his face. That description matches the description of the face that Jaqen reveals to Arya just before he leaves Harrenhal.
"His cheeks grew fuller, his eyes closer; his nose hooked, a scar appeared on his right cheek where no scar had been before...his long straight hair...dissolved away to reveal a cap of tight black curls" - A Clash of Kings, Arya IX
"A young man's face, ordinary, with full cheeks and the shadow of a beard. A car showed faintly on his right cheek. He had a hooked nose, and a mat of dense black hair that curled tightly around his ears" - A Feast for Crows, Prologue
After the exchange for the key is made, the Alchemist appears to kill Pate, but when Sam arrives at the Citadel he meets Pate. Although Pate seems to be much different. It looks like Jaqen took on Pate's identity so that he had access to the Citadel. Well now Sam is sharing a room with Pate who is most likely a Faceless Man and holds a key that unlocks EVERY door in the Citadel! Seriously, George R.R. Martin, you need to hurry the F up with Winds of Winter, bud, cause I really need to know what happens!
So what do the Faceless Men want with the Citadel? What else is at the Citadel besides Maesters? KNOWLEDGE! That's right, books! Extremely rare and in this case a one of a kind book! called Blood and Fire or sometimes called The Death of Dragons.
"the fragmentary, anonymous, blood-soaked tome sometimes called Blood and Fire and sometimes The Death of Dragons, the only surviving copy of which was supposedly hidden away in a locked vault beneath the Citadel" - A Dance with Dragons, Tyrion IV
This just creates another question. What do the Faceless Men want with a book called the Death of Dragons? Well that might have to do with the origins of the Faceless Men. We learn from the Kindly Man in A Feast for Crows that the Faceless Men came from the slave mines of ancient Valyria. He tells Arya the story...
"Men of a hundred different nations labored in the mines, and each prayed to his own god in his own tongue, yet all were praying for the same thing. It was release they asked for, an end to pain...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" - A Feast for Crows, The Kindly Man, Arya II
Arya says they should have killed the slaves' masters, not the slaves themselves, but the Kindly Man responds, "He would bring the gift to them as well, but that's a tale for another day..." He might be referring to the "Doom of Valyria" when the volcanoes surrounding the great city, called the 14 Flames, erupted and destroyed everything including ALL the dragonlords and slave masters. Except, of course, for the Targaryans, who had fled to Westeros 12 years earlier. There's no evidence to say that the Faceless Men caused the Doom, but it's possible.
I'm sure the Faceless Men have heard about Daenarys and her dragons. Could the Faceless Men be plotting to finish the job they started in Old Valyria?
One last thing. Jaqen may have appeared somewhere else in Westeros and is responsible for another sacrifice to the Many-Faced God. This time on Pyke in the Iron Islands. Balon Greyjoy meets his fate on a bridge that connects this castle spires. On this bridge he meets someone that we think is his brother, Euron. Balon is killed and soon after a Kingsmoot is ordered to name a new heir. The way the scene is described, it sounds like Euron killed Balon himself, but a sample chapter from Winds of Winter reveal otherwise.
"I have killed three brothers...Balon was the third...I could not do the deed myself, but it was my hand that pushed him off the bridge" - The Winds of Winter, Euron Greyjoy in The Forsaken
Maybe Euron hired a Faceless Man to assassinate his brother Balon? A quote from A Storm of Swords supports this theory.
"I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings" - A Storm of Swords, "the ghost of High Heart", in Arya IV.
Furthermore, George R.R. Martin himself talked about how difficult it was to hire a Faceless Man. Assassinations were expensive already, but the price increased depending on how important the person was. So, presumably, killing the King of the Iron Islands must cost a pretty penny. I'm certain a sack of gold dragons wasn't enough to pay for this job. Euron, however, also admits to once possessing something EXTREMELY valuable.
"I once held a dragon's egg...I threw it in the sea during one of my dark moods" - A Feast for Crows, Euron Greyjoy in The Reaver.
I don't believe he would have just threw away a dragon's egg. I don't believe that at all. Euron strikes me as a braggart. Someone who wants to talk about their "accomplishments" to make them feel better about themselves. I don't think Euron would just throw away something like this. He brags about having a dragon's egg, which is quite remarkable in itself, so why would he throw away something so rare and valuable? Maybe "threw it into the sea" means something different. Maybe he parted with the egg in exchange for his brother's death.
Kind of makes this quest for a book called Fire and Blood a lot more interesting for the Faceless Men, huh? I don't know if I believe that the Faceless Men are interested in that much power for themselves, or would possibly use the book as a weapon against their "enemies", or if they are actually under the employ of someone else with great power and influence. Maybe the Faceless Men were hired by someone that has yet to be revealed? It's all possible!
Thanks for reading! What do you think about the Faceless Men? Do they have a plot larger than what we've seen or are they just another death worshipping cult that teaches young ladies how to kill?
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