Who was Jaquen supposed to kill?

[dariopatke]

Jaquen had a help from Rorge and Biter and they were together in black cells which implicates they were imprisoned for the same crime that can lead to the fact that they are FM, too. Or at least connected to them somehow. Now, why would they get themselves into black cells? I really see only one version, they needed to go to Wall or North. One may argue that it is easier for them to go straight to the Wall but what would Lorathi do there? Serve his duty to 7K? Not likely.

It is interesting that they started to plot against Joren, to kill him and be free and it was done in Riverlands. If you consider that, they didnt want to go there at first place, but if their goal was to go somewhere north they could just do it right away, it is equally strange to se Lorathi in RL or North by his will just as it is as a NW deserter (it was peace when they were imprisoned).

So they didnt want do go to the Wall but they had to be wih Joren?

Who was possible target? A FM and two assiastants should kill someone huge, but who could that be?

Tywin? No, because he had a chance to kill him at HH.

Kids of Winterfell? Not likely because the way they treated Arya, but they may have had some goals with them and they just abandoned their mission to the Wall (maybe WF was a destination) and they got satisfied when they got Arya, their blood is very powerfull Stark+Whent.

Aemon? I just find it hilarious to for them to send three men to kill a 100 yo bylind man.

Bloodraven? Preston included this in FM theory and it kinda makes sense, but on the other hand it doesnt. It is obvious everyone thinks he is dead, they all need to become rangers and go North of the Wall to search for him which includes so much time, for that mission they can just land at Hardhome and go searching, I just dont find this likely but it makes some sense to a certain degree.

What do you think about his/their mission?

[Damsel in Distress]

• Bloodraven could be the target but they didn't need to spend jail time just to get to the wall.  Disguise is not what you need to go after Bloodraven.  You need trackers and warlocks. 
• Eddard, in my opinion, was the target.  He was heavily guarded and would help to explain why they needed to get in.
• Syrio Forel is another sound choice.  He can "see" through their disguise and therefore negates their advantage. 
• Joffrey per the instructions of Doran Martell.
• Multiple targets - Robert, Ned, and whoever could prevent war.  They were sent to spark the War of the Five Kings. 

[Beautiful Bloody Sword]

Biter and Rorge are dead. They were never knowing accomplices of Jaqen, as far as I've seen. The questions are more appropriate for who Jaqen was sent to kill. Call me stupid, but I got the feeling he may have been keeping an eye on Arya.

[Curled Finger]

I've seen the videos too.  As enjoyable as they are I'm doubtful the 3 of them were in cahoots.   Jaquen was in the Black Cells at Kings Landing.   What's to say he was headed anywhere but KL?   As powerful and clever as FM are, I'm sure they can be thwarted in any number of ways.  Perhaps he was there to get rid of Cersei or Robert or Jon Arryn?   Who knows how long he was actually imprisoned?   We assume he positioned himself to get a ride North but really, how could he have known Joren was coming to collect men?  It's too pat, too tidy.   I think that you have to commit a major crime to warrant Black Cells housing--what says he hadn't already killed who he was after?   After Arya released Jaquen and his cart buddies it may have served his purpose to go to Harrenhall for intelligence.  That's part of their game, too.   It's interesting he took no lives on his own initiative at Harrenhall with Tywin and Roose both there, not to mention Vargo.   So that obviously wasn't the game. Perhaps because they are a bunch of killing lunatics that the FM have a soft spot for those who save their lives.  When Arya showed how clever she could be in naming Jaquen as her 3rd death he recognized a fit with his sponsors.    I doubt he set out to recruit her.  This could just be a place in the story because Jaquen is so badass that we may have let our imaginations run wild.    I do hope we see more of him in the coming books.  

[RoamingRonin]

I've wondered this as well. It's incredibly hard to tell. I wonder if he was sent to the black cells in a attempt to kill Lord Varys?

I think of all the candidates listed in the OP, Maester Aemon is a good choice. But then again, Jaqen could easily join the Night's Watch just by... walking up to Castle Black and offering to take the black. I don't see how killing Bloodraven would work. Bloodraven has an extensive spy network which would make that effort impossible.

[Daemon Blackfyre IV]

Great topic, i have a couple of theories one of which is that Syrio was a FM sent to kill Ned. We know from Petyr Baelish that killing a person of great importance would cost a ton of money and who do we know with a ton of money ? Illyrio, he is heard by Arya telling Varys to get rid of Ned however there is a catch. In this conversation they also mention the killing of another hand which i assume is Jon Arryn but Varys didn't arrange that killing Petyr did ! 

 Anyway ya i believe Illyrio, Varys and Petyr are all working together and staying on topic Jaqen didn't end up having to kill Ned but he did put in the leg work as a dancing instructor for Arya. Then of course he manages to get arrested protecting Arya and thrown in the black cells where he would eventually be sent of with Yoren.

[Regular John Umber]

Let's not forget that as soon as he was able to 'escape' he headed straight to Oldtown. His goals are clearly magic related.

[Hippocras]

49 minutes ago, Regular John Umber said:

Let's not forget that as soon as he was able to 'escape' he headed straight to Oldtown. His goals are clearly magic related.

Yes, it is an interesting question certainly. But Oldtown seems to have been his target. There is a vague possibility he made a stop at the Iron Islands to kill Balon though...we don't have a description of the "face" that pushed Balon, only the vision implicating Euron.

So are these two different FM, or one and the same? Given the interest in Oldtown the two being the same is worth considering. And if they are the same FM, the Riverlands are en route to the Iron Islands.

As for hanging out in the black cells, I really don't know. The thing that would really make the most sense is if Syrio somehow survived his fight with the wooden stick, got arrested and thrown in the cells, and changed his face there. This would explain Biter and Rorge being afraid of him (they were not companions, they were just scared of him). It would also explain Jaquen's interest in and knowledge about Arya.

[Neds Secret]

Lord Varys, so he had them held in the black cells until Yoren freed them whilst Varys was being distracted by Neds execution?

[SevasTra82]

One thing I would like to point out is that it is *extremely* expensive to kill a high lord or someone of position and/or power.  So this is the one thing that leads me to believe that Jaqan was not after anyone like Joffrey etc.  I don't think he was after anyone of huge importance honestly.  For all we know, he was after the texts that where found at Castle Black.

He is obviously after something of great importance though, being at the Citadel.  My main question involving him is ....is he going rogue?  The FM are meant to kill people, yet his journey thus far in the books seem to point to him having his own agenda.  Why would someone pay a FM to collect information?  Is that even something that they can be hired to do?  It's rather bizarre IMO.

[One-eyed Misbehavin]

6 hours ago, Daemon Blackfyre IV said:

 

 Anyway ya i believe Illyrio, Varys and Petyr are all working together and staying on topic Jaqen didn't end up having to kill Ned but he did put in the leg work as a dancing instructor for Arya. Then of course he manages to get arrested protecting Arya andls where he would eventually be sent of with Yoren.

In "private" Varys says something like "the gods only know what game littlefinger is playing. (He didn't know Arya was eavesdropping) so I doubt they are working together

[Jak Scaletongue]

3 hours ago, SevasTra82 said:

One thing I would like to point out is that it is *extremely* expensive to kill a high lord or someone of position and/or power.  So this is the one thing that leads me to believe that Jaqan was not after anyone like Joffrey etc.  I don't think he was after anyone of huge importance honestly.  For all we know, he was after the texts that where found at Castle Black.

He is obviously after something of great importance though, being at the Citadel.  My main question involving him is ....is he going rogue?  The FM are meant to kill people, yet his journey thus far in the books seem to point to him having his own agenda.  Why would someone pay a FM to collect information?  Is that even something that they can be hired to do?  It's rather bizarre IMO.

They might be have sent a FM out to collect information for themselves.  The "three new things you've learned today" that the Kindly Man asks Arya is a simple way to collect information, Jaqen's fully-trained (I assume) and could have been sent on a specifically information gathering mission for the FM themselves.  And maybe a contract as well, since he'd be on the right continent...

They may not hire themselves out to others for information gathering, but they do seem keen on staying "in the know" for themselves (it's highly likely that's why they've lasted so long as an organization - gotta stay informed!).

[dariopatke]

They might be have sent a FM out to collect information for themselves.  The "three new things you've learned today" that the Kindly Man asks Arya is a simple way to collect information, Jaqen's fully-trained (I assume) and could have been sent on a specifically information gathering mission for the FM themselves.  And maybe a contract as well, since he'd be on the right continent...

They may not hire themselves out to others for information gathering, but they do seem keen on staying "in the know" for themselves (it's highly likely that's why they've lasted so long as an organization - gotta stay informed!).

Makes sense, but Arya infiltrated into Braavos society.

Back then, realm was in peace, Robert was King, Ned Hand, Cercei Queen, so everything important happened in the court or KL. If they wanted to collect information, they ccould infiltrate to Gold Cloacks, common people or the best servant of a noble or fool. But staying locked up black cells is worst kind of collenting information.

[Jak Scaletongue]

7 minutes ago, dariopatke said:

Makes sense, but Arya infiltrated into Braavos society.

Back then, realm was in peace, Robert was King, Ned Hand, Cercei Queen, so everything important happened in the court or KL. If they wanted to collect information, they ccould infiltrate to Gold Cloacks, common people or the best servant of a noble or fool. But staying locked up black cells is worst kind of collenting information.

I'd say that all depends on what information they're looking for.  If they're even looking for anything specific - maybe they're just trying to gather whatever they can and assuming it might come in useful later.  A little like Varys and Littlefinger, but on a much bigger scale.  You never know what you want to know until you *need* to know it.  The Black Cells likely weren't his first stop for info gathering - and who knows who you'll meet down there.  You can learn valuable information from the least likely of sources!  And he wouldn't want a recognizable position, or a position where he'd be missed if he just up and disappeared.  Seems to me that he'd be better off as "no one" even in KL - and something like joining the Gold Cloaks or the Night's Watch, or even joining someone's household as a servant, would bring along vows and oaths that a FM might not feel comfortable taking - especially if he knows he's going to be forsaking those oaths to return to the FM.

 

[Good Guy Garlan]

I still think Varys/Illyrio hired him to kill Ned at the right moment. There's the "if one Hand could die, why not the other" line, and Ned was about to uncover the twincest and kickstart a civil war. But killing him in the Red Keep wasn't an option, there would've been much suspicions and angry Starks and Tullys. 

So I think the plan was to make his death look like an accident en route to the Wall, after Joffrey had let him take the Wall and Winterfell and Riverrun were sort of pacified. 

Why? Well, if Ned had reached Winterfell with Yoren's crew, he would've told Robb and Cat about the incest and Robb might've supported Stannis or Renly, which would've meant more war for Varys and Illyrio before they were ready. 

But oh oh Littlefinger ruined all that when he persuaded Joff to behead Ned, so Jaqen found himself already chained on the way to the Wall without the guy he was supposed to kill. 

I don't know how to square that with his Oldtown vacation, though

[Shuvuuia]

Does FM job only includes killing? Could "he" (who knows original gender) be send to investigate, say, returning magic (is it too early if the return of magic is caused by the return of the dragons?) - first dragon skulls/some library in the capital, caught while doing it, but mistaken for a normal criminal, planning escape - when free, then goes to Oldtown.

Could it be somehow related to the wildfire?

Or "he" went rouge before/at the moment he was imprisoned (like, idk made too many mistakes and there is no return) and isn't bonded by the FM contract anymore and works on his own.

Maybe he found out something in KL that made him go rouge, some profecy/magic. Maybe it was so unexpected that it made him behave recklessly and he got caught, then decided to go to the Oldtown on his own.

I'm pretty sure he was independent from  Biter and Rorge.

 

[dariopatke]

Does FM job only includes killing? Could "he" (who knows original gender) be send to investigate, say, returning magic (is it too early if the return of magic is caused by the return of the dragons?) - first dragon skulls/some library in the capital, caught while doing it, but mistaken for a normal criminal, planning escape - when free, then goes to Oldtown.

Could it be somehow related to the wildfire?

Or "he" went rouge before/at the moment he was imprisoned (like, idk made too many mistakes and there is no return) and isn't bonded by the FM contract anymore and works on his own.

Maybe he found out something in KL that made him go rouge, some profecy/magic. Maybe it was so unexpected that it made him behave recklessly and he got caught, then decided to go to the Oldtown on his own.

I'm pretty sure he was independent from  Biter and Rorge.

 

But how did kindly man know Arya's name? Why Braavosi ship (who simpathises with FM, so not any Braavosi ship) was at Saltpans? Too much coincidences if Jaquen went rogue and a good plan if he is actually loyal to FM.

He was independent from them, aye. But they were not independent from him.

[The Mountain That Flies]

While I love the current series Preston Jacobs is doing on this, I think we still need to consider the possibility that Jaquen is after information on hatching dragons.

There's strong evidence that Euron paid the Faceless Men a dragon egg to kill Balon, and you have to figure they wouldn't just waste an object like that as a paperweight. Obviously the logistics of how a secret society of assassins would use a giant conspicuous lizard are a bit puzzling, but they are a death cult. Dragons being engines of death is regularly noted in the series, and this approach would explain why Jaquen is hanging out in Oldtown. He could even be using the glass candle to spy on Dany and learn from her mistakes. 

His capture is a big question mark in this theory, but then again it's kind of that way with any Jaquen theory. We don't know how or when he was thrown in the Black Cells, and frankly I suspect this is something Martin is just going to leave unknown.

[Shuvuuia]

1 hour ago, dariopatke said:

But how did kindly man know Arya's name?

 

glass candles or some other magic trick? Maybe they have some sort of face-net so they can read even rogue ones thoughts

(actually, i don't remember him knowing her name)

1 hour ago, dariopatke said:

Why Braavosi ship (who simpathises with FM, so not any Braavosi ship) was at Saltpans? Too much coincidences if Jaquen went rogue and a good plan if he is actually loyal to FM.

He was independent from them, aye. But they were not independent from him.

I don't see how this Braavosi ship is different from any other, they are afraid of FM so they tell Arya their names. more of a typical "hero-should-conveniately reach some place and get some exposition on the road"- coincidence.

[Lord Lannister]

This is just a pet theory without much proof, but I always liked the thought that Jaqen was going to kill Syrio who was on the run from Braavos for some reason. When Syrio realized he was after him, he had Jaqen framed for some crime to be thrown into the Black Cells and out of reach.