[TWOW Spoilers] March 2014 Chapter Part III

[bemused]

Re : Phario...Yes , after killing pretty well the entire Stark household , Syrio is only known as "the wretched dancing master " to the Lannisters , so "Phario Forel" means nothing to them . But I'm sure Arya would like to get to meet him , and I expect she will , since he's been named.. If she's not to meet him , he could simply have been identified as Phario , like Quill , the playwright we've already met .( If he needed to be named at all.)

Re: Jaqen...I , too , remember that "It's a mystery " quote from GRRM and I believe it's the same interview where he did give a back story for Rorge and Biter. It was from quite a few years ago , IIRC. (.. maybe 2006 ?.. not certain )..What I take from that is - George is not ready to elaborate , or it may not matter...

I think it's quite possible that a FM can make a mistake ( they are human ) or just hit a patch of bad luck .. but .. After a very minute read of the fire scene at the holdfast , and taking into account the descriptions and activities of Jaqen in Harrenhall , I don't think Jaqen-in-the cage survived that fire.. that would mean "the Alchemist " took on his persona after the fire, and had probably been posing as one of the other recruits ( maybe one of the men in the watchtower, e.g. )..

Aside : Arya shouts "Winterfell" but a lot of other people are also shouting at the time ... and Jaqen's inside the burning Barn with the horses and donkeys already making noise as well , so I don't think it's very certain that Jaqen would have heard her and made the connection.

The quote from when Arya names him... Even in the burning barn, with walls of flame towering all around and him in chains, he had not seemed so distraught as he did now. ...invites us to look back and examine the scene.

We can consider it or not, as we like ... http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/81177-syrio-the-phoenix/?hl=%2Bsyrio+%2Bphoenix ... It would mean he could have been Syrio..or that we had not met him , except maybe as a background figure , and his story before the fire is yet to be revealed.. it's a mystery.

But anyway you look at it, a FM must have a certain amount of leeway in interpreting the rules of his order when he's in the field . Ideally , he only kills the person named , but if killing someone else in the process becomes really unavoidable, I think that would be forgiveable , as long as it doesn't point a finger directly at the HoB&W... If, as it seems in the case of Pate and the Alchemist , the object is not to assassinate , but to gain information , the FM has discretion in choosing whose persona to take on.

What would earn Arya/Mercy a demerit , I think , would be if it became obvious that she was a FM trainee or that she was exacting a personal vengeance.. and it's not very likely that they could know that , without being able to read her mind.

Some excellent points have been raised here... The more I've thought about it ,the more I think it's most likely that Arya's time with Izembaro was up, anyway ..and her problem now may be to convince the Kindly Man that she had no choice but to kill Raff...though the fact that Mercy's disappearance will be so neatly accounted for might weigh in her favour. Depending on what the politics of the new Sealord will be , any political problems that arise might not be as serious as she thinks.

BBR.... I like that "no one" has possibly replaced a fake blade with a real one... ;)