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Syrio a faceless man ? why?


R.O.Edwards

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Let's just nip this one in the bud...

In an interview with a Spanish speaking forum Martin implied there was no back story for the FM who paid Arya's debt to R'hllor. And he said Syrio was ho he said he was:

Q: How did Ned Stark run into Syrio Forel?

GRRM: Well, Ive never given it much thought. Ned was searching for a fencing master who could teach Arya, and he knew it couldnt not be a conventional master at arms or a knight, or the castle master at arms, because he didnt think his young daughter could handle a broadsword (or maybe longsword) the way man with greater strength in their torso could, so he decided the Braavosi style suited her best. Who was available in the city that might fit the bill? Obviously, somebody had to recommend him to Ned. I believe Syrio must have been in the city at the time, because there wasnt enough time to send for someone all the way from Braavos.

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He says there is only one god, the god of death. He's from Braavos. And he was the first sword of Braavos, but now he isn't. Why not? You don't just give up a position like that to go to Westeros and be a fencing instructor without good reason, which isn't provided. But you might seek the gift of the many faced god, then one of the faceless men might use your face.



However, its completely possible that early on both Syrio and the faceless men were not as thoroughly developed parts of the story and that mostly this is fans hoping.



Either (a) the original Jaquen Hagar worshipped the red god, (b) he mentioned the red god because fire was involved, or © the faceless men were just a vague idea during book 2.


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While teaching Arya Syrio was using some methods very similar to those of FM, like sensory deprivation. The importance of seeing past the obvious seems also familiar. It could be only part of Braavosi culture, but it could be more.



Syrio Forel was the only person brought close to Stark family who got this position in KL, all the other people Ned brought from the North. Do you remember how desperately was Varys trying to send his own maester to Bran?



If anyone in KL knew Ned was searching for a master at arms and wanted his own person in Ned's household this was the only chance.




The theory is not very strong, but there is some textual evidence for it.


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He wasn't a Faceless Man. A lot of people want to believe he was a Faceless Man and lived because they don't want to accept that Meryn Trant, the grown man who doesn't do much else besides beat little girls (Sansa), killed him. However, Trant isn't as incompetent as he's sometimes made out to be- just past his prime- and he was wielding a large sword and wearing the top-quality Kingsguard armor. If Syrio and Jaqen H'ghar were the same person, I am confident he would have revealed himself to Arya, as she could obviously be trusted not to reveal his secret to her father's killers.


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I think fake Syrio is a FM because the text hints so. Not because I like fake Syrio, I don't like him. It's a great character, GRRM writes him very well, I don't like him as a person.

I agree with the theory because it's what it looks like if we read between the lines.

Actually I don't like fake Syrio at all. I dislike very much what the FM did to Arya turning her into an assassin psychopath. They recruit children to turn them into no one, just to use them as tools, disgusting, creepy. It's absolutely unethical.

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A lot of people think Syrio is/was a faceless man

I can't remember any textual evidence for this

There isn't any.

am I missing something or is it a way for people to cling to hope that a favourite is still alive ?

You are not missing anything and IMO you nailed the reason.

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I think fake Syrio is a FM because the text hints so. Not because I like fake Syrio, I don't like him. It's a great character, GRRM writes him very well, I don't like him as a person.

I agree with the theory because it's what it looks like if we read between the lines.

Actually I don't like fake Syrio at all. I dislike very much what the FM did to Arya turning her into an assassin psychopath. They recruit children to turn them into no one, just to use them as tools, disgusting, creepy. It's absolutely unethical.

unethical...this makes me laugh you sweet summer child...half of the book is unethical, GRRM loves writing about characters in the gray area of morality

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You mean he is alive AND a faceless man?

In all seriousness, he could be alive simply because we never saw him die or get any confirmation (for example Sansa identifying him among the heads on the spikes). I'm not saying that's "textual evidence" but there's no "textual evidence" he is dead either. I mean we saw Yoren die, why not Syrio? And we know how much GRRM loves killing characters!

Anyway, I don't give two sh*ts about Syrio. There, I said it so I don't get attacked by fans-of-Syrio-are-the-only-ones-arguing-he-is-dead haters. I mean some people treat this theory (read possibility) with the same rage as Tywin is the dusky woman theory

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