The Theatre Troupe

[WolfQueenArya]

So is the theatre troupe that Arya gets involved with appear in this episode? Or is episode 4? And I can't remember if the theatre troupe is in three episodes or two.

I personally can't wait for the theatre troupe to appear. I love stories within stories, especially stories told by different point of views that have information wrong, that affects a character greatly: ie Arya. I believe we'll see a lot of character development during this arc of her story this season. It will likely cause her to go back to Westeros; unless something else will.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for the theatre troupe? It seems not many people are talking about it...

[Jon Snow Bengal]

I didn't know about this. Was it leaked? Did Varys say once that he was part of a theatre troupe? Could this be part of standard Faceless Man training?

[Meera of Tarth]

16 hours ago, WolfQueenArya said:

So is the theatre troupe that Arya gets involved with appear in this episode? Or is episode 4? And I can't remember if the theatre troupe is in three episodes or two.

I personally can't wait for the theatre troupe to appear. I love stories within stories, especially stories told by different point of views that have information wrong, that affects a character greatly: ie Arya. I believe we'll see a lot of character development during this arc of her story this season. It will likely cause her to go back to Westeros; unless something else will.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for the theatre troupe? It seems not many people are talking about it...

Episodes 5 and 6 almost confirmed

http://lossietereinos.com/un-teatro-en-braavos-el-papel-de-ian-mcshane-y-el-pasado-de-hodor/

 

[Meera of Tarth]

I'm looking forward  to it. Basically the one thing that may pay off after all that stick violence towards Arya we have previously seen.

[a black swan]

I CAN'T WAIT. !

 

"Arya is on a deciding mission,” Williams says. “It’s her final straw.”
Cast out on the streets, she befriends a traveling theater troupe, and the experience makes her question becoming an assassin. “She hasn’t hung out with people in so long,” Williams says. “She’s been caught up on becoming [anonymous], but I don’t think she can ever fully commit to it. She’s too curious about the world.”
Arya’s new companions bring out her joyful side, at least temporarily. “So many episodes went by where we didn’t see her smile,” Williams says. “But you will see the Arya everyone fell in love with in Season 1. 

Maisie Williams, TV Guide

[WolfQueenArya]

29 minutes ago, DutchArya said:

I CAN'T WAIT. !

 

"Arya is on a deciding mission,” Williams says. “It’s her final straw.”
Cast out on the streets, she befriends a traveling theater troupe, and the experience makes her question becoming an assassin. “She hasn’t hung out with people in so long,” Williams says. “She’s been caught up on becoming [anonymous], but I don’t think she can ever fully commit to it. She’s too curious about the world.”
Arya’s new companions bring out her joyful side, at least temporarily. “So many episodes went by where we didn’t see her smile,” Williams says. “But you will see the Arya everyone fell in love with in Season 1. 

Maisie Williams, TV Guide

How did I miss this interview? Thank you so much for posting it! I am even more hyped now! 

[Pies are coming]

But... if she deserts because of the Troupe, what was the point of her trying to join the Faceless Men? She hasn't learned anything from them so far, other than receiving hits and cleaning dead bodies

[Lord Jeffrey]

6 minutes ago, Pies are coming said:

But... if she deserts because of the Troupe, what was the point of her trying to join the Faceless Men? She hasn't learned anything from them so far, other than receiving hits and cleaning dead bodies

I think she'll desert eventually, but not before she starts to have a new understanding about death. The Arya that left Westeros was a cold-blooded killer without the knowledge or means to kill, and she's gone to Braavos to acquire just those things. But I think that once she starts to see death as the Faceless Men see it (i.e. a gift, not a punishment), she'll be ready to go back without turning this whole arc into useless filler.

[Nerevanin]

I have two ideas for the troupe:

1) Arya joins them for whatever reason and thanks to them she gets across the Narrow Sea back to Westeros. The question is whether she is sent to them by the FM or whether she deserts and joins the troupe in order to escape the FM.

2) It looks like the troupe will play a satirical version of the events in Westeros. I personally can't wait for it because it could be a great way of self-reflection to the producers. I just hope it won't end up tacky.

[AryaNymeriaVisenya]

14 hours ago, Pies are coming said:

But... if she deserts because of the Troupe, what was the point of her trying to join the Faceless Men? She hasn't learned anything from them so far, other than receiving hits and cleaning dead bodies

Ninja training.

Ninjas are not just about fighting, they are about performance, infiltration, espionage. It was said they could walk into an enemy camp and not be noticed.

[Smoke317]

That scene in the trailer showed Arya leaving bloodstains on the wall going into an alley. Looking quite injured. Also the parkour jump. Will Arya be marked for death if she abandons the Faceless Men?  Will she try to steal more masks to use later for her assassination list?  Will the theater troupe be hired to perform at a wedding in the Riverlands???   Really wish Arya's story would move along. 

[SevasTra82]

On 5/7/2016 at 9:02 PM, Pies are coming said:

But... if she deserts because of the Troupe, what was the point of her trying to join the Faceless Men? She hasn't learned anything from them so far, other than receiving hits and cleaning dead bodies

This has ALWAYS been my issue with Aryas plot line.  Her story arc seems to serve zero purpose to ASOIAF's (and the show's) main story line.  At the end of the day, what point will all of this FM stuff serve, especially if Arya just runs back to Westeros with needle?  Sure, it helped her learn how to kill better but.....so?  What difference does *that* make in the grand scheme of things?

As cool as the whole FM story arc is....it just feels very empty to me.  It's so disconnected to the rest of the story that I have trouble seeing what it's point is in the grand scheme of things.  Hopefully it'll come together soon.

[Marada78]

2 hours ago, SevasTra82 said:

This has ALWAYS been my issue with Aryas plot line.  Her story arc seems to serve zero purpose to ASOIAF's (and the show's) main story line.  At the end of the day, what point will all of this FM stuff serve, especially if Arya just runs back to Westeros with needle?  Sure, it helped her learn how to kill better but.....so?  What difference does *that* make in the grand scheme of things?

As cool as the whole FM story arc is....it just feels very empty to me.  It's so disconnected to the rest of the story that I have trouble seeing what it's point is in the grand scheme of things.  Hopefully it'll come together soon.

Have you ever thinked about her having a role in Azor Ahai legend? Arya could be there to be killed by Jon Snow, basically she would be Nissa Nissa. All this plotline would be to forge her soul so that she can become the perfect blade, the light bringer. I would say that she would actually be a big part of the "real" main story line in that case.

[Pies are coming]

2 hours ago, SevasTra82 said:

This has ALWAYS been my issue with Aryas plot line.  Her story arc seems to serve zero purpose to ASOIAF's (and the show's) main story line.  At the end of the day, what point will all of this FM stuff serve, especially if Arya just runs back to Westeros with needle?  Sure, it helped her learn how to kill better but.....so?  What difference does *that* make in the grand scheme of things?

As cool as the whole FM story arc is....it just feels very empty to me.  It's so disconnected to the rest of the story that I have trouble seeing what it's point is in the grand scheme of things.  Hopefully it'll come together soon.

In the books she's learning:

Warging (although not because the FM intend her to do so)

Disguising herself (and a lot better than her time at Harrenhall if we go by the released TWOW chapter)

espionage

poisoning

Maybe in the future, glamours

So, for all we know, by the second half of TWOW/ADOS we'll have a POV of someone (let's say, Cersei, Jaime, Arianne or Sansa) were a hitherto unknown character is introduced only for us to suspect, several chapters later, that this new character has killed people of importance and it's actually Arya.

In the show, she's learning:

To be hit

Maybe just a bit of staff fighting

Something about poisons (hey, that's new!)

Stealing faces from the basement

[SevasTra82]

1 minute ago, Pies are coming said:

In the books she's learning:

Warging (although not because the FM intend her to do so)

Disguising herself (and a lot better than her time at Harrenhall if we go by the released TWOW chapter)

espionage

poisoning

Maybe in the future, glamours

So, for all we know, by the second half of TWOW/ADOS we'll have a POV of someone (let's say, Cersei, Jaime, Arianne or Sansa) were a hitherto unknown character is introduced only for us to suspect, several chapters later, that this new character has killed people of importance and it's actually Arya.

In the show, she's learning:

To be hit

Maybe just a bit of staff fighting

Something about poisons (hey, that's new!)

Stealing faces from the basement

But that's just the thing.  In two books she's learning how to...poison people?  I don't think GRRM would have written Arya in as a FM unless it ties in someway, somehow to the end-game of the plot (with Jaqan at the Citadel its possible they will have a say in things).  I just see zero foreshadowing or hints about how this all inter-connects.  It just seems like there should have been an easier, more Westeros tied in plot for Arya, instead of having her all the way, in Essos, by herself, training for some unknown purpose or reason.  I'll be curious what that reason is though....because right now, I struggle to find the point of her being with the FM.

As for the show, I have NO clue what they are doing.  Stick fighting.  Getting hit.  More stick fighting.  With (presumably) only 12 episodes after this season left, they better get on the ball with her plotline because it doesn't appear to be going anywhere worthwhile.

[WinterCloak]

What annoys me about the FM arc is that, like Dany, Arya is moving away from a story that we care about in Westeros. If Arya truly becomes no one, which I don't believe she will, then she will have no freedom to go around killing whom she wants. She won't be able to strike those names off her list, only those that the FM provide.

I don't want her to become a FM. It has provided her a place of security that was close to impossible in Westeros though. If the mummers provide her with the shove she needs to remember what is really important to her, in the show at least, then yay. Bring it. 

Same with Dany. While eliminating slavery is a noble cause - time to go.

[lordstewie]

1) Arya become FM so she join theatre troope for beginning her first mission

2) Arya escape from temple , she use trick to learn in her training and come back to westeros.

she escape because discover something about FM , for example they killed a stark ? or something else

[dbunting]

Arya has learned more than the simple things mentioned here. She has learned about serving others, and that death is not always senseless and without meaning. She has learned to look, watch and observe everything around her. She was "cat of the canals" selling the seafood for weeks, not just the one episode they show her in.

She has learned about poisons, disguise, and how to use her other senses. The blinding wasn't just a punishment but a valuable part of her training even in the show. She learned humility and how to listen for things that she previously ignored and by the end she could hold her own against an opponent while blind. Pretty damn good training if you ask me.

As to her arc, this is moving at warp speed compared to the books. If the troupe is involved this season that is already past the books because that's from TWOW.

[Smoke317]

Question about the faceless men. I believe it's hinted that faceless men are expensive assassins but I thought Jaquen kinda stated that they usually take contracts if people have been wronged and come seeking their services. So which is it?  And if they just do hits for the most money, why haven't the masters of slavers bay hired them to kill Dany long ago?  Or even the warlocks?  And could the father who's child was burned by drogon higher them to kill Dany?  And could this be a contract given to Arya that could tie her back into the main story?

[Visenya the Dragon]

On 5/13/2016 at 5:56 AM, Smoke317 said:

Question about the faceless men. I believe it's hinted that faceless men are expensive assassins but I thought Jaquen kinda stated that they usually take contracts if people have been wronged and come seeking their services. So which is it?  And if they just do hits for the most money, why haven't the masters of slavers bay hired them to kill Dany long ago?  Or even the warlocks?  And could the father who's child was burned by drogon higher them to kill Dany?  And could this be a contract given to Arya that could tie her back into the main story?

I would say  they have a code they follow. The city was founded by slaves, so they  probably would not take a contract kill  from slave masters. I think it's about sacrifice. If one has wealth then you would give up your wealth for them to kill someone for you. If you are poor and come to seek them to assassinate  someone you would still need to make a sacrifice. It will probably be their life. They are like humsn lie detectors. So they know when someone is being honest or not. The father who's child was burned by Drogon could be a possibility. If he is telling the truth. They show Drogon setting fire to a kid or sheep? It was hard for me to tell. But a guy came and show bones of his sheep first to Dany. Then another guy came and showed  bones of his kid. That's when she locks up her dragons. So I am not sure if the guy with the kid bones was being truthful. I have always wondered if this child was really burnt by Drogon.What do you think?