The biggest wasted opportunity in ASoIaF - three dumb names

[Taenqyrhae]

I've been re-reading A Clash of Kings lately, and I've come to realize that Arya inadvertently is responsible for an immense amount of suffering due to her failure to give Jaqen better names. Yes, she's a child and I'm not REALLY blaming her for her bad choices, but on re-read I started thinking about how she could have changed the course of the series completely by giving different names to Jaqen - and not even names that weren't on her list.

My first thought was "If she had only said Tywin Lannister…" but he wasn't on her list and she wasn't aware of how responsible he was for the situation they were in, so I can't blame her for not naming him…but there are three names near the top of her list that she passed over to have a couple of insignificant characters knocked off.

Cersei
Joffrey
The Mountain

Just think about how different the next 3 books would be if those three all died to a magic assassin in book 2, instead of her choices.  True, Joffrey didn't have THAT much time left, but he accomplished plenty of evil between when Arya had the opportunity to get revenge on him and when he choked to death.  It wouldn't solve ALL the problems, there would still be Tywin out there and how he responded to these deaths would also hinge a lot on how Jaqen chose to off them - if Cersei and Joffrey died from apparent accidents in a short frame of time, would Tywin suspect assassination, or might he think it was a curse?  Either would probably change his course of action in later books.  Tywin surely knows quite a bit about Faceless Men, imagine his paranoia if he thought that someone was spending insane amounts of money to have them assassinated…it couldn't be the remaining Starks, would he suspect the Tyrells?
 

[Batbob45]

She should of said

Tywin-He did help plan the  Red Wedding that killed her mom and brother.

The Mountain-without him, Gregor's men would be less fear.

Joffrey-Tommen would be king, and Sansa would only have to marry Tommen(who she wish to in her first COK POV chapter). Sandor would be Tommen's Sworn Sword, which could be better since Sandor seem to like Tommen more than Joffrey.Tommen would listen to Tyrion's advice.

[Lord Fauntleroy]

It's hard to speculate just due to how radically different things would be. Though it does seem odd that Arya wouldn't name one of the people responsible for her father's death. Ilyn or Joff or someone. 

[The Great and Mighty Poo]

It's hard to speculate just due to how radically different things would be. Though it does seem odd that Arya wouldn't name one of the people responsible for her father's death. Ilyn or Joff or someone. 

On top of being a child its pretty well explained why/how she ended up wasting her names. Think of how much someone wastes income. Hell even the show explained it well.

Also she regrets it. And thinks the same think as us *facepalm* I(she) fucked up.

Also wantto note he said(and I don't have the quote in front of me but it could be years before her named gets killed. What good would it do a year goes by tywin dies on the capper (not by Tyrion) 5 years go by Gregor trips and breaks his neck. 

[Light a wight tonight]

Also wantto note he said(and I don't have the quote in front of me but it could be years before her named gets killed. What good would it do a year goes by tywin dies on the capper (not by Tyrion) 5 years go by Gregor trips and breaks his neck. 

Jaqen himself says that the deaths aren't necessarily immediate.

[dRagonese]

I believe the main reason she did not give better names was because she was so entrenched in her own little hell at harrenhAll she almost had a tunnel vision and that made is simple to give only names of people who were directly affecting her everyday life at that point.

[CJ McLannister]

Let's say she named Joffrey.  Jaqen may have been a magical assassin, but it still would have taken him awhile to get to King's Landing, figure out a way to kill the heavily-guarded king, then get back to Harrenhall.  By that time Arya might not even be there anymore.  In the end result would really only have improved things for Tyrion- assuming he avoided taking the blame for it anyway.

[Chocs]

Unfortunately, he didn't have the privilege of a teleporter as many like to think.

[RoamingRonin]

One of the worst plot devices in the series. It just feels completely unnecessary. 

[Good Guy Garlan]

One of the worst plot devices in the series. It just feels completely unnecessary. 

Yeah, you could take the "3 names" thing out of the story, and nothing really changes. Weese and Chyswick live to be entirely unimportant for another day, and Roose still takes Harrenhal thanks to the Mummers. It really is borderline ridiculous that not a single semi-relevant character got offed with that. 

That's why I said in another thread that it would've been better if Arya had heard about the Greyjoy attack on the North and Bran and Rickon's "deaths" and had named Balon to Jaqen. That way the whole thing affects the plot in a meaningful by Arya naming an important character, one that was actually murdered by Jaqen (most likely) anyway.

As to the OP, however, I think Arya would've inadvertently helped the Lannister cause by naming Joffrey, Cersei and the Mountain. It would've meant less in-fighting between the Lannisters, no tension with the Tyrells, a much nicer king, Gregor not confessing to the murders of Elia and her kids, etc. 

[First of My Name]

Honestly I think GRRM kind of wrote himself into a hole when he used this as a plot device. Logically, Arya would've given Jaqen different names, but killing Tywin or Cersei now would screw up the rest of the story, so he couldn't have that.

[Regular John Umber]

 We have no reason to believe that Jaqen would kill literally anyone Arya named. In a story filled with devious schemers, why should Jaqen be any different? We don't know what Jaqen's game is, but it seemed as though he was looking to recruit Arya, and so everything he did (and promised) must be looked at through that lens. Had she said 'Kill Tywin' I'm sure he would have been able to bullshit himself out of having to do it.

 

 As to Arya and the names she gave: they were pretty logical; she's in a hopeless situation, and is looking to eliminate the threats/enemies closest to her. Her goal isn't winning the war, it's escape.