Syrio to return?

[DoctorSwerve]

I for one think that Syrio is still alive. Since Syrio's death was not explicitly discussed in the books, I think that we will see him again.

I believe that Arya will be tasked with assassinating someone she knows, and she will feel tremendous guilt. Syrio will be there either to stop her from completing her mission or there to pick up the pieces after she has completed the task in order to guide her back to the path of light.

There is a reason George did not give any clue to the fate of Syrio and we will find out in the next couple of books. Just a hunch.

[Winter's Knight]

Personally, I must see a body dead and burnt-to record a death.

More Syrio, yes please.

[moonsblood]

I think he's dead BUT it would definitely be a pleasant surprise to have him pop up somewhere again.

[Fat Mac]

The fact that it never explicitally stated what happened to him makes it very possible he's still out there. I hope he is.

[All Men Must Rhyme]

Knowing George, he's probably dead but now Undead, so we will meet him again, but he'll be some sort of revenge seeking fire zombie that Arya has to kill.

[Theo1]

I still hope and hold to some outside chance that Syrio is JH. JH knows who Ayra is right from the start when they are heading to the Wall. I know there are some concerns with the timeline of wham Syrio could have been put in the black cells. It is clear that bitter and the other dude are very vary of JH, so they saw something that makes these dude who seem scared of no one else very vary and respectful of him.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I'm normally the first person to not believe someone is dead unless I see a body, but ... I think Syrio is dead. I think he served his narrative purpose — train Arya and toughen her up and protect her from the Lannister guards — and he was killed. In order to escape, he would have had to have killed or severely maimed Meryn Trant. Trant is shown later alive and without any injuries of note, the insinuation being that he did dispatch Syrio. I think it's just that Syrio really was just a minor character — his popularity grew after the fact, when Martin had already closed the book on him — and thus didn't really necessitate the on-screen death that would otherwise (and later in the series) be necessary to prove a death.

ETA: And I don't think he's Jaqen. Jaqen had been in the cells for, what, a few years? I don't think he could have been in the cells and roaming free giving sword-fighting lessons. I think Jaqen's interesting (did he intend to land in the black cells, knowing he'd be taken north, or was he caught at something?), but I don't think he's Syrio.

[James Arryn]

Is he the character about whose death GGRM is frustrated and puzzled with all the inquiry? There is one and I can't remember who, but if Syrio is the one I'm thinking about GGRM (probably unreasonably) has expressed that the death was fairly self-explanatory even barring actual witnesses.

[Theo1]

That is a weird issue though. Why would a faceless man be locked in black cells for years? Doesn't make sense to me. His face (the guy that was Jaqen) could have been taken (and that could be a reason why biter and the other dude are sketched by the dude). So, the presence of a FM for years does not make sense, but the person who was Jaqen was there and then his persona was taken by Syrio the faceless man. I want this to be the case, more than I am convinced it is. But, it is a logical possibility and there is no evidence that rules the possibility out. The question that is fun to consider is if it is more probable than not given the evidence.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Is he the character about whose death GGRM is frustrated and puzzled with all the inquiry? There is one and I can't remember who, but if Syrio is the one I'm thinking about GGRM (probably unreasonably) has expressed that the death was fairly self-explanatory even barring actual witnesses.

I think it was Syrio, actually. Something about how Martin considered him to be a throwaway/minor character and didn't get all the fuss over him or the idea that he was alive.

And even though Syrio was Braavosi, I don't see evidence that he was a Faceless Man. Thinking that every Braavosi swordsman is a Faceless Man is like saying that every American with a firearm is a Marine.

[Towel]

Yeah. GRRM has talked about this before. He has no idea why so many people thought he lived through the battle. I believe his exact words were "he's a human."

Sorry guys. I liked him too.

[Theo1]

I remember these responses from him. He never confirms the death, you never see it happen. Martin is good at messing with people (his readers) in the books, so why not in interviews?

[Towel]

Cause he doesn't? Anytime i've seen him answer questions about people that have or might come back, he answers with a "no comment"

Like i said he basically said that Syrio wasn't ever meant to be a major character. And he was confused as to why so many people were asking if he was dead.

But hey, maybe... Just saying, probably not. Like 99.99999% not.

[Theo1]

How many times have you seen him say "no comment"? Where?

When asked about if jon was dead, did he say "no comment"? Nope, but I guess if he has done millions of interviews this may be the .00001, so well reasoned Towel.

[Towel]

I can see you're very attached to the character. I hope he comes back for your sake.

I haven't read any interviews where he's asked about Jon. But granted i haven't really seen many interviews since about halfway through the AFFC and ADWD gap.

In 2005,

GRRM

pointed out that Syrio seems to have been left in a hopeless situation when he was last seen, and suggested readers should "draw your own conclusions" based on this (

SSM

), which seems to imply that Syrio Forel was in fact killed. More recent reports (but, it should be said, unconfirmed) indicate

GRRM

does not understand why he gets asked the question repeatedly, pointing out that Syrio is not immortal; if accurate, this seems to more heavily imply that Syrio Forel is dead

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I can see you're very attached to the character. I hope he comes back for your sake.

I haven't read any interviews where he's asked about Jon. But granted i haven't really seen many interviews since about halfway through the AFFC and ADWD gap.

An EW writer asked him why he killed Jon and his response was, "Oh so you think he's dead do you?" I'd say that's much more open-ended and tongue-in-cheek than his response about Syrio. If Jon had actually been killed, he could have said, "He was stabbed four times, draw your own conclusions" or something. The Jon response hints that Martin wants the interviewer to be skeptical. The response to the Syrio question indicates that yes he's dead and please stop asking.

[Towel]

^^that

[Ser Arthyr Dracenstein]

Didn't George write the tv episode where Syrio protects Arya? If so (or whoever wrote it), why didn't he kill him onscreen and settle the question once and for all?

[Leto]

An EW writer asked him why he killed Jon and his response was, "Oh so you think he's dead do you?" I'd say that's much more open-ended and tongue-in-cheek than his response about Syrio. If Jon had actually been killed, he could have said, "He was stabbed four times, draw your own conclusions" or something. The Jon response hints that Martin wants the interviewer to be skeptical. The response to the Syrio question indicates that yes he's dead and please stop asking.

Why would the reader deem Syrios situation more hopeless then Jon's? And if he really doesn't want more questions about Syrio, why not just say "he's dead"?

That said I don't find it that an important question, in my head he was Jaqen when I first read it, and no confirmation of dead/alive at this point will change that. My song of ice and fire was already shaped around it.

[Jon Flowers]

I think the scene where he buys time for Arya to flee Trant has very significant wording. Arya tells herself to "look with her eyes" and notices that Trant is fully armored and armed while Syrio us completely unarmored and armed only with a wooden practic sword. After taking in the situation, she screams at him to run. He refuses and is soon disarmed, then she runs sobbing. The "look with your eyes" bit is very important I think, particularly as it immediately precedes the description of how badly outmatched he is. It is also important to remember that by the time Arya runs, his wooden sword has been destroyed as well. There just seems to be almost no wiggle room at all here. We do not see him die but we see everything short of it.

I think the belief that Syrio is still alive come from the heart and not the head. He was a very compelling character and I certainly would've liked to have seen more of him as well (much like Benjen) but I see no evidence to suggest that he might have survived. There is nothing to tie him to Jaqen except for Jaqen possibly being Bravosi (although his persona is not) and a skilled swordsman. And aside from a few people thinking he might have been Jaqen and for some reason didn't reveal himself to Arya (both increadibly unlikely) I haven't heard any other possible explanations at all. Syrio is dead and will be missed. Let's mourn the loss of a solid character and not try to shoehorn him into scenarios where he doesn't fit.

P.S. Lest we forget, there are also Martin's dismissive responses when asked about Syrio's fate. "He is not imortal."