Is the red god and the stranger the same god?

[Kalipto]

At first I though of them as two separate gods. As I read more I realized that they shared many of the same characteristics, and even at times were referred as the same. When Arya first joined the House of Black and White I was under the impression that it was a house dedicated in worship of "The Stranger". Yet then I remembered Jaqen H'ghar telling Arya that she has taken three lives from the Red God (not the Stranger). After that I accepted that they were the same god until the Victorian chapters. The priest that he found in the sea always mentions two gods when talking about his faith: the red god and the one whose name should not be mentioned. "The one whose name should not be mentioned" is also sometimes used in reference to the Stranger. So can anyone clarify the confusion?

[Consigliere]

In the HoBaW they worship The Many faced God (Him of Many Faces) who represents death in various religions. From AFfC:

“Him of Many Faces.”
“And many names,” the kindly man had said. “In Qohor he is the Black Goat, in Yi Ti the Lion of Night, in Westeros the Stranger. All men must bow to him in the end, no matter if they worship the Seven or the Lord of Light, the Moon Mother or the Drowned God or the Great Shepherd. All mankind belongs to him . . . else somewhere in the world would be a folk who lived forever. Do you know of any folk who live forever?”

The Red God and R'hllor are one and the same. Moqorro, Benerro, Melisandre and Thoros are followers of the Red God. "The one whose name should not be mentioned" is in reference to the Great Other. An entity that stands in opposition to R'hllor. From ASoS:

“The war has been waged since time began, and before it is done, all men must choose where they will stand. On one side is R’hllor, the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. Against him stands the Great Other whose name may not be spoken, the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Night and Terror. Ours is not a choice between Baratheon and Lannister, between Greyjoy and Stark. It is death we choose, or life. Darkness, or light.”

[MegaTechPC]

Nice synopsis. So the Stranger and the many-faced God are the same and the Red God/R'hllor is his ultimate enemy?

[Consigliere]

Nice synopsis. So the Stranger and the many-faced God are the same¹ and the Red God/R'hllor is his ultimate enemy?²

1) Yes. The Many Faced God encompasses the figure representing death from various other religions. The Stranger forms part of that as does the Black Goat and the Lion of Night.

2) The Great Other is in opposition to R'hllor. There isn't anything to suggest that R'hllor stands in opposition to the Many Faced God.

[Gizzelle]

The House of Black and White do 'worship' the Stranger. (i.e. the personification of death, the grim reaper) They simply know him by lots of different names.

Although worship I don't think is the right term. It is just an excuse to allow them to be assassins.

[ImpendingFauxPas]

My confused guess is that the Many Faced god and the Red God are the same one, just different aspects or maybe just different "Orders". Neither the Many Faced God or R'hllor are particularly cuddly Kumbaya types either.They both deal in death and sacrificies as a natural part of life I think. the Great Other who is the god of "cold and death", might be the one behind the White Walkers, which are the Living Dead, which IS "unnatural" and in direct opposition of what Melisandre says R'hllor is said to represent. Either way religion in any world quite escapes me.( Except the ones in Forgotten Realms, those are pretty straight forward :bowdown: )