Who hired Jaqen Hagar and why?

[walkingWITHcersei]

I think his target was Eddard Stark, and Varys (or Illyrio) was probably the one who hired him. If you remember, the original plan was for Ned was to confess his treason and then be allowed to take the Black. Joffrey surprised everyone by having him executed. The FM might have assumed the identity of the criminal known as Jaqen H'ghar just shortly before the confession with the expectation that Ned would be accompanying the party along to the Wall, and that would have been easy to do with the help of Varys.

The reason for the assassination? Even if Ned was disgraced he knew far too much, and as it later turned out he wanted Joffrey/Cersei running the Kingdom because he knew their rule would be incompetent. Ned's knowledge that Joffrey was not truly Robert's son could have thrown everything off.

And it isn't it amazing that Jaqen H'ghar recognized Arya for who she was, calling her "Lady Stark" at Harrenthal? How would he know that? Since its seems to be the standard procedure for the FM to study their targets before they strike them down, anyone studying Ned would be familiar with Arya. That, more than anything (for me at least), indicates that Ned Stark was his target.

But Ned Stark was killed instead, and Jaqen H'hgar no longer had a mission, even though he was then in chains and bound for the Wall.

As to why he's at the Citadel? I have no idea. It may be that he is seeking information from some old text as others have speculated. But does he really need to have the key to all locks in the citadel to do that? They don't have a central library there? Perhaps he's after the glass candles. Those would be very helpful for the FM to use to carry out their "contracts."

If ur right that Ned was the target then I think there's a chance LF hired him to do it. Why? Just out of pure hatred. LF is a little psycho when it comes to Cat, and Ned not only got the girl, but his brother shamed him maimed him and got him sent away. When you take into account his comment on the cost of a FM I think it's not at all crackpot to consider LF as a possible hirer of Jaqen. If thats why he was in KL of course.

[Ghosts Lunch]

I reckon he is part of a larger "House of Balck and a White" mission which is more about spying than a specific assassin mission

Therefore there is flexibility about the parameters, this isn't about contracts it's about an institutional agenda, targeted at rival institutions

He could be a bit like Melisandre, she isn't your usual run of the mill Red Priest like Thoros or Moqorro if that term can even be applied, she seems to be set apart and have her own agenda

There's an outside possibility it could be about Varys wanting Ned dead, eg he knows a lot about Joffrey etc that he is illegitimate. His birds may have heard the conversation etc. but that is equally countered by the fact of what did happen, with Neds death there is war, Ned is the only person who could have restrained the North and Riverlands (Catelyn). Even if he is part of NW he would still be de facto ruler above Robb. Instead we get all-out-war which Varys/Illyrio did not want at that time because Aegon plan wasn't ripe, instead the war of 5 kings suits Littlefingers agenda instead

[Poodle Pup From Astapor]

I don't think the faceless men know shit about BR nor anyone with the money to hire a FM. Also they wouldn't fight the Others since they worship death.

I don't get an impression that Faceless Men want all the world dead or especially as immortal zombies... They have a lot of respect to life, they respect the life - death cycle, and they don't kill indiscriminately. They probably wouldn't like the Others as much as you suggest.

Also, it's a matter of perspective if the Others really do bring death. They kill people and then revive them as zombies. I'd say they bring eternal life as an abomination. They bring the end to the life-death cycle, the end to both life and death, or eternal life, however we want to view it. Either way, I think it's not something that Faceless Men would be sympathetic about.

As to Faceless Men knowing or not knowing something about Brynden Rivers, that's impossible to say, because we ourselves don't know all that much about him. We know that he was a super powerful mage-warrior who was involved in a lot of things for a very long time, and then he went beyond the wall 40-50 years ago and somehow turned into a tree. And now he's doing who knows what and who knows why. But someone might know or at least suspect.

[King Jaime Lannister]

Like a few people have mentioned, it is interesting that Jaqen knew who Arya Stark truly was. From the start, there was no negativity toward Arya. At the very least Jaqen would have been neutral toward her before the fire, if not supportive. I have a feeling Arya was chosen by the Faceless men. Bran (and probably Jon) have been chosen by the old gods / bloodraven. Robb was chosen by the Northmen. I would bet that Arya was chosen for some reason as well. That said, she wasn't supposed to be going to the wall, Ned was. I think it is possible that Ned was the "target." But the objective would not be to kill Ned, but support / protect him somehow. I highly doubt that the FM ignore the power in bloodlines. The Starks may somehow be important to them for some reason. It is possible they expect Arya to skin change and need that skill something. The KM may have realized that Arya was skin changing the cat and thus now ready??

[complexphoenix]

Another possibility is that Jaqen is at the Citadel, not to obtain information, but to destroy information that the Faceless Men don't want other people to know. In TWOIAF it's stated that the last page of Archmaester Gyldayn's history, the part that deals with the Tragedy at Summerhall, was mostly wiped out by an ink spill; this got me wondering if maybe the Faceless Men occasionally infiltrate the Citadel to censor certain information.

[Ratbane]

As far as Arya goes I think it highly unlikely there was any prior plan to recruit her. JH knew who she was and observed her over the time Yoren's party was traveling. Although she was a noble she fit right in pretending to be a peasant boy. And if, as I suspect, JH's original target was Ned, just think how ironic it would seem that the daughter of his intended victim would be responsible for saving his life. And then, when he offers her the three deaths she cleverly manipulates him into doing far more for her than he ever intended.

I think he was impressed and thought she might do well at the trade.

--and just as an aside, if JH was originally in the black cells involuntarily, how is it he maintained possession of the iron coin he gave to Arya?

[jarl the climber]

This is my crazy crackpot theory. Jaquen was/is a FM operative. That he was hired by Balons wife, Theon and Ashas Mother to kill Balon in the hope that Balons death would give the Starks an excuse to release Theon. Ned Stark had just become Hand and Theon was close to the Stark children ecspecially Robb. Maybe she figured that with Ned and Robb supporting him that he would be able to sucseed his Father. I'm just not sure if she would have had the wealth or oppurtunity to do this. Eurons the best choice because of his conveinent return the day after Balon died. Still Euron did have some wizards with him and they might have foreseen Balons death just like the Woods witch at High Hearth.

Balons wife seems like an odd choice but she did have a motive, the return of her son, her and Balon no longer lived together, there was talk of him remarrying even before she died, Tywin did mention marrying Cersei to him.

[Stark Vader]

Faceless men cost a shit tonne of money. I'd say he's likely in the city for other reasons, stealing information, gathering information. The faceless men seem to want information during Aryas training as much as they want to train her reflexes. Information is as good for blackmail and valuable. I think the assasination theory is all wrong. He might have an edict of getting intel then offering himself to someone who needs the service, just like sellswords turn up at a holdfast when they get wind of being paid to fight.

[Hos the Hostage]

I don't think Arya was chosen by FM, and they sent Jaqen to recruit her, foreseeing where she would by using a glass candle or something like that.

Jaqen is in cage. Biter and Rorge knows he is dangerous, they even fear him. Why? Most probably they tried to bully him in the black cells and got a dose of FM badassery in return.

Jaqen is sent to the wall, very well gaurded. He could not have escaped Yoren. If he could, he would not ask Arya to help him when he was about to die of fire. He was waiting for his chance to escape. If Wall was his destination, he would have gone there. But even after fulfulling his promise to Arya, Jaqen doesn't go to Wall. There is a theory, based on his words 'a man have duties to fulfill' and Balon Greyjoy's death before we sight the Alchemist, that Jaqen was the FM who killed Balon. I think he went to Pyke after leaving Harrenhal, then he went to Citadel. Maybe he met Euron after killing Balon. Maybe it was Euron who sent him to Citadel - but I doubt an FM would do Euron's bidding, especially stuff not related to killing like collecting information.

In between all this, he finds out who Arya is. He knows her name. How?

First, he will notice that Arry is a girl. He will deduce that Yoren knows this, so Yoren is taking some girl North, well protected and not giving her up to gold cloaks. If Jaqen heard anything about the missing daughter of the Hand (Ned) while in black cells, it would be easy to guess who Arry is. A faceless man can look past her shabby clothes and short hair to see the grey eyes and long face of the Starks, the Northern complexion, and Jaqen knows Yoren is in good terms with Ned. Arry and Arya sounds so similar. This may not be how it all happened, but there is a chance that Jaqen need not have used any superpowers to know Arya's identity.

He gives her the coin. We have too few information to theorize about this.

Is Jaqen some kind of higher rank FM, that he has lot of faces in his pocket, and he can recruit little girls, and he can even break the rules(weasel soup)?

Or was Jaqen sent to get any recruit with first men blood (warg)?

[i am also interested in what was he doing in Lorath before he came to KL? Why Lorathi and not a Braavosi? The reason could be he came for a hit and a foreigner will be a stranger to everyone, and once that face is discarded, no one will find him. ]

[Ratbane]

People keep asserting that having the FM kill X or Y is unlikely because it takes a lot of money and there are cheaper alternatives. If this was the case no one would ever employ them. After all, you should always go with the lowest bidder.

That worked out real well with the attempted assassination of Bran, did it not? Oh yeah, it not only didn't succeed it started off a world of trouble. And killing Ned Stark directly was a stroke of genius as well. Smooth indeed. No repercussions there. Right.

One of the marks of the FM is that generally the kills were made to look like an accident. Just an accident, no one to blame, suspicions but no evidence. And making sure that no bystanders are killed is part of that. You get what you pay for.

I suspect that the rule of the FM of not killing anyone other than the victim in an assassination is one of form rather than philosophy. Its supposed to be discrete and not even look like murder. Its part of the "brand" of their paid service.

But when it comes to doing their own business I doubt they have such qualms. Why indeed would the rulers of Braavos allow them to have their own public temple and do nothing about it? Fear I suspect. If you mess with these people bad things will happen to you. The ship's captain knew exactly where to take Arya when she showed him the coin, and JH had told her that anyone from Braavos would honor it. Anyone can find them easily enough but no one in their right mind would want to cross them.

No. I think the "kill no one but the target" rule is reserved purely for paid assassinations.

[JaimetheConciliator]

I don't believe he was hired. I believe he's following the wishes of his god, the one who proclaims that all men must die and serve. He obeys none other than the great other, who sees either Marwyn, Sam, or both as a critical threat to his master plan. Marwyn, and potentially Sam, are in the process of unravelling the fundamentals of what's happening in the world, which the readers know heavily involves the Great Threat. The Citadel is also a threat by it's very nature. It's far to the south so it will have lots of time to prepare a final stand while the North, Riverlands, and the Reach are in the process of being overrun. Also, it has what is most likely the largest known cache of dragonglass - the candles, which during that preparation can be crafted into spear tips and arrowheads.

In my opinion, the Citadel, the HoB&W, and the Wall (where Melisandre will, again imo, remain until the shit hits the fan), will be the three most interesting and revelatory locations in the remaining books. I expect Asshai and the ruins of old Valyria to be added to that list, but that's going pretty far off the topic of this thread.

[Poodle Pup From Astapor]

I don't believe he was hired. I believe he's following the wishes of his god, the one who proclaims that all men must die and serve. He obeys none other than the great other, who sees either Marwyn, Sam, or both as a critical threat to his master plan. Marwyn, and potentially Sam, are in the process of unravelling the fundamentals of what's happening in the world, which the readers know heavily involves the Great Threat. The Citadel is also a threat by it's very nature. It's far to the south so it will have lots of time to prepare a final stand while the North, Riverlands, and the Reach are in the process of being overrun. Also, it has what is most likely the largest known cache of dragonglass - the candles, which during that preparation can be crafted into spear tips and arrowheads.

In my opinion, the Citadel, the HoB&W, and the Wall (where Melisandre will, again imo, remain until the shit hits the fan), will be the three most interesting and revelatory locations in the remaining books. I expect Asshai and the ruins of old Valyria to be added to that list, but that's going pretty far off the topic of this thread.

Well, if the target is Marwyn, then Jaqen is the ultimate loser assassin. First he sails to King's Landing instead of Oldtown where the guy lives, then he gets himself imprisoned and on the way to the other end of the continent. Then he gets lucky, Arya frees him and he has to waste time paying his debt. Finally he arrives to where he should've been in the first place right when Marwyn is gone. Good job, Jaqen.

[Monctonvike]

Did Hagar kill Balon???

[Shane snow]

Maybe the payment was a child and that child is arya so he convinced her to join.. Ned hired jaqen

[Mal Malenkirk]

I suppose this is possible. I just don't think we should adopt this idea that FM are against old Valyrian magic simply because they found their begins among the slaves of Valyria,

It is all but established (ask one of the scholar of the site for details though...) that they are behind the Doom of Valyria.

If we accept that they wanted to destroy Valyria, and we know they established themselves in the one city that remained out of the grasp of the Freehold, it's a small step from there to suspect that there is something about Valyria itself that they disliked. Slavery itself? Why aren't they running amok in Slaver's Bay, then? Their Magic and Dragons are the Valyrian distinctive feature that nobody else had. It's pure speculation, but there's likely something about Valyria that ticked them off, and the combo Magic / Dragons has a high likelyhood of being correct.

[myufa]

It is all but established (ask one of the scholar of the site for details though...) that they are behind the Doom of Valyria.

If we accept that they wanted to destroy Valyria, and we know they established themselves in the one city that remained out of the grasp of the Freehold, it's a small step from there to suspect that there is something about Valyria itself that they disliked. Slavery itself? Why aren't they running amok in Slaver's Bay, then? Their Magic and Dragons are the Valyrian distinctive feature that nobody else had. It's pure speculation, but there's likely something about Valyria that ticked them off, and the combo Magic / Dragons has a high likelyhood of being correct.

How can these guys cause volcanoes to erupt? This theory is rather week. It's inky premise is that they heard how the slaves wanted to die because the work was so hard and the conditions were terrible. It has the why (partially) but the how isn't there. It was likely something to do with the gods of old Valyria or R'hllor.

[Lost Melnibonean]

If ur right that Ned was the target then I think there's a chance LF hired him to do it. Why? Just out of pure hatred. LF is a little psycho when it comes to Cat, and Ned not only got the girl, but his brother shamed him maimed him and got him sent away. When you take into account his comment on the cost of a FM I think it's not at all crackpot to consider LF as a possible hirer of Jaqen. If thats why he was in KL of course.

I agree...

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/89914-littlefinger-hired-a-faceless-man-to-kill-ned/

[jarl the climber]

How can these guys cause volcanoes to erupt? This theory is rather week. It's inky premise is that they heard how the slaves wanted to die because the work was so hard and the conditions were terrible. It has the why (partially) but the how isn't there. It was likely something to do with the gods of old Valyria or R'hllor.

The theory as I understand is that the Valyrians had wizards that somehow affected the volcanoes and kept them from erupting. They were also able to harness this power to an extent and use it in their magics. The FM killed enough of the wizards causing them to lose control and that's why the doom happened. That's the theory, I'm not sure if its canon.

[myufa]

To the guys who think Ned was the target, to play devil's advocate, why is it such a big deal that Jaqen knew who Arya was? The first guy at the HoBW knew who she was. All of them are likely educated on the most important families in the world at least because to be a pro assassin you have to know your resources and your setting. If he was assigned to kill a stark, lannister, etc, he wouldn't have much time to waste on research. And also I've never heard that the Wizards of Valyria kept the volcanoes stable. He could have wanted to kill Ned, but what if he was cast out from the faceless men? A more professional one wouldn't get caught and probably wouldn't kill someone outside of their job like pate. If he was a cast out, maybe that would get him hired for espionage or multiple murders at a cheaper price, etc. It was s faceless man who killed Balon according to the Ghost of Highheart and he was likely the one.

[Son of Jon]

I agree that he probably got "caught" intentionally and was heading for the Wall with a purpose. What derailed that I'm not sure...I would think whoever he was going to kill died, but I can't really think of anyone. Anyone have thoughts on that?

I do think he's looking for the book on the death of dragons while posing at Pate at the Citadel. He's most definitely posing as Pate, but why wouldn't he have already stolen the book if that's all he was there for?

What if it was Ned???? What if Cersei hired a FM to kill the Ned and/or Robert if the strongwine had failed? I think the strongwine plan was the dumbest ever. People say Ned was naive, but Cersei sticking around after Ned laid it down and hoping the strongwine would get Robert killed was just dumb, what if she had a backup plan...Robert dies, but Ned is headed to the wall so Jaqen gets sent to the black cells to head to the wall with Ned?