Arya - too young to be a professional killer?

[jarl the climber]

I suppose that it has been a common practice for children to be pickpockets and cutpurses, generally the toughest graduate to be killers or assasinns. Her main strength seems to be her lack of hesitancy and the fact that people aren't expecting a child to do that. She was taught by a Maester at Winterfell and she had a Bravosi dancing master train her in the use of blades for 6 months or so. None of these things are common. Whats harder to beleive is that her accent and mannerisms wouldn't give her away when she was taken captive.

[James Arryn]

Whats harder to beleive is that her accent and mannerisms wouldn't give her away when she was taken captive.

Oi?

[Menos Grande]

It's easier for kids from our world to be killers, than kids from westeros, because we have guns, and they don't, so a kid would have to best a full grown man.. even though most of Arya's killings were done by tricks, and deicit there is a limit to what a children's body should do... I guess is a little push over,,,

Yet she is still training and when she is full grown she might be a fiercfull killer, and she'll benifit for being trained so Young.

[Ghost714]

Spartin children went into fighting school around the age of 5-7, they had to learn how to kill, and fight each other for food etc, and that's why they were some of the greatest warriors of all time, similar to the Unsullied in aSoIaF.

So there is nothing unrealistic about Arya becoming a professional killer at her age. Especially when you consider that normally she would be in training for years, and she is some what of an exception. However it's all the stuff Arya has been through that will give her the edge, so she doesn't need to train as long, because she has already had a lot of "real world" training. So in my opinion, there is nothing ridiculous about Arya becoming a Faceless Man.

Same goes for Robb, in GRRM's world of aSoIaF we have all kinds of young leaders, so it's not like Robb is the only one. We have boy Lord Commanders of the Nights Watch, the youngest was only eleven I think. Then there was Daeron I Targaryen, The Young Dragon, who conquered Dorne. So it's not like Robb is the only young King who leads armies in the world of aSoIaF. Many people seem to forget that the world of aSoIaF is not the same as our world, so there is no such thing as "unrealistic" when comparing ages of people in Westeros, to the ages of people in history. However, even when you do compare Westeros to real world history, it's really not that unrealistic. GRRM has probably done more historic research for his books, than most of the people on these boards, so I trust his judgement on what's historically realistic. I am not pretending to be a history expert or anything, that's why I trust GRRM, because he pretty much has to be an expert on history, in order to know all the information for these books.

One example that comes to mind, for young Kings that lead armies, is Alexander the Great. I know he wasa bit older than Robb when he became King, I believe he was in his early 20's, but he still did a lot of crazy stuff at a young age.

[jarl the climber]

She also has the wolfs blood and is a powerful Warg. I can deal with her killing people with some nonchalance but you figure they could tell she was highborn since she been taught to speak by a Maester and her accent or lack of one would mark her as Northern or a Highborn.

[Dr. Pepper]

It's easier for kids from our world to be killers, than kids from westeros, because we have guns, and they don't, so a kid would have to best a full grown man.. even though most of Arya's killings were done by tricks, and deicit there is a limit to what a children's body should do... I guess is a little push over,,,

Yet she is still training and when she is full grown she might be a fiercfull killer, and she'll benifit for being trained so Young.

Arya's training as a Faceless Man doesn't have anything to do with the martial arts or sword fighting. She's receiving a top-notch education in critical thinking skills, evasion, deceit, and intelligence gathering. There haven't even been any examples within the House of Black and White that they train their acolytes in hand-to-hand combat. Jaqen didn't use physical prowess to take the three lives he owed Arya. The goal in the training isn't to make killers able to physically best their targets, it's to be able to assassinate with the appearance that the death was of a natural cause.

[YUNG LYANNA]

Arya's training as a Faceless Man doesn't have anything to do with the martial arts or sword fighting. She's receiving a top-notch education in critical thinking skills, evasion, deceit, and intelligence gathering. There haven't even been any examples within the House of Black and White that they train their acolytes in hand-to-hand combat. Jaqen didn't use physical prowess to take the three lives he owed Arya. The goal in the training isn't to make killers able to physically best their targets, it's to be able to assassinate with the appearance that the death was of a natural cause.

I think that the Kindly Old Man tells her she is one of the youngest & only females, too. So that, and the fact that she is moving up in the ranks relatively quickly just proves how exceptional she is, regardless of her age.

[Gingerly Grumkin]

What has she done that is unchildish? She is hard headed and small. Sounds like a child to me.

[jarl the climber]

Arya's training as a Faceless Man doesn't have anything to do with the martial arts or sword fighting. She's receiving a top-notch education in critical thinking skills, evasion, deceit, and intelligence gathering. There haven't even been any examples within the House of Black and White that they train their acolytes in hand-to-hand combat. Jaqen didn't use physical prowess to take the three lives he owed Arya. The goal in the training isn't to make killers able to physically best their targets, it's to be able to assassinate with the appearance that the death was of a natural cause.

But the cutpurse in Bravos taught how to use a finger knife and Arya reported that even the Kindly Man said that it was a good thing to know. She did use this knowledge in her first hit. This is something they expected her to learn as Cat.

[Dr. Pepper]

I think that the Kindly Old Man tells her she is one of the youngest & only females, too. So that, and the fact that she is moving up in the ranks relatively quickly just proves how exceptional she is, regardless of her age.

Yeah, but she's moving up in the ranks because she passes the training which has nothing to do with making her into a fierce sword-wielding warrior. There are other acolytes being trained in the House of Black and White and there isn't any sound of steel-on-steel sword or spear practice, there aren't archery practice areas, etc. I'm just trying to help clear up this misconception that is floating around that Arya becoming an assassin is unbelievable because she isn't physically capable of taking down Mountains. It would be unbelievable if that's how the HBW were training them.

[YUNG LYANNA]

Yeah, but she's moving up in the ranks because she passes the training which has nothing to do with making her into a fierce sword-wielding warrior. There are other acolytes being trained in the House of Black and White and there isn't any sound of steel-on-steel sword or spear practice, there aren't archery practice areas, etc. I'm just trying to help clear up this misconception that is floating around that Arya becoming an assassin is unbelievable because she isn't physically capable of taking down Mountains. It would be unbelievable if that's how the HBW were training them.

I know, I'm agreeing with you :cool4:

[jarl the climber]

Yeah, but she's moving up in the ranks because she passes the training which has nothing to do with making her into a fierce sword-wielding warrior. There are other acolytes being trained in the House of Black and White and there isn't any sound of steel-on-steel sword or spear practice, there aren't archery practice areas, etc. I'm just trying to help clear up this misconception that is floating around that Arya becoming an assassin is unbelievable because she isn't physically capable of taking down Mountains. It would be unbelievable if that's how the HBW were training them.

They did train her to fight with a staff when she was blind. They would probaly send her to someone else under in disguise if they wished her trained in swordplay, they would not train her at the temple. I don't see how training her like that would provide any value to them, she probaly all ready learned enough from Syrio. Whats more likely is that they will send her to one of the courtesans for awhile in disguise to try and make her more womanly and gather intelligence and test her.

[Dr. Pepper]

I know, I'm agreeing with you :cool4:

Oops, I read your post wrong. I think I meant to reply to the one that came after yours.

[Lord Littlefinger's Lash]

Nope. Haven't you guys ever seen the professional?

[Dr. Pepper]

They did train her to fight with a staff when she was blind. They would probaly send her to someone else under in disguise if they wished her trained in swordplay, they would not train her at the temple. I don't see how training her like that would provide any value to them, she probaly all ready learned enough from Syrio. Whats more likely is that they will send her to one of the courtesans for awhile in disguise to try and make her more womanly and gather intelligence and test her.

Err, she wasn't being trained to fight using a staff. The training was about being aware of her surroundings at all times by using all of her senses.

[jarl the climber]

Err, she wasn't being trained to fight using a staff. The training was about being aware of her surroundings at all times by using all of her senses.

And they trained her to do this partialy with the staff she carried, the staff was supposed to replace her eyes. In a way your right but you have to admit thet she could probaly defend herself better with such a weapon after the training.

[Howlin' Howland Reed]

I'm sure it would be very useful for some FM to be handy with a blade, staff, throwing knife, flamethrower, etc. Whether or not all FM receives such training, however... I get the feeling that they adapt the training to the individual. It also seems logical that the training (whatever it may entail) may go on for years after one is declared to be a faceless man.

For all we know, the House of Black and White may already regard Arya as an entry-level faceless man, or will within two chapters of TWOW. That doesn't mean that she's as likely to be sent to kill person A, as to kill person B. The right tool for the job and all that...

[Darth Visenya]

Haven't you seen Leon?.

[Martello]

To answer the original question, I don't think that people believe the children are too young to do what they are doing. We know that GRRM originally intended to have a time skip of several years to allow the kids to develop their respective disciplines naturally. As the timeskip was abandoned, the training montages have to be crammed in, so we see the kids learning a lot of things in an unrealistic space of time. Seeing an eleven year old killer isn't unbelievable, but seeing an eleven year old learn to be a magic ninja in a few weeks is.

I'd also like to confirm that adult life expectancy in Westeros would not be ridiculously lower than in the modern First World. Yes, there will have more deaths from war and childbirth, but on the plus side, lifestyle and cultural differences mean less deaths from heart disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes. I can say with almost certainty that no one in Westeros has died through smoking - and no, Quentyn Martell doesn't count.

[Dr. Pepper]

And they trained her to do this partialy with the staff she carried, the staff was supposed to replace her eyes. In a way your right but you have to admit thet she could probaly defend herself better with such a weapon after the training.

I do admit that she can probably defend herself with a staff much better after the training. Still, the point was never to train Arya into some sort of brute warrior. What's the point of having a secret assassin trained to be proficient in wielding weapons?

The training was to teach her to be aware and mindful and to defend and evade. He doesn't stop this training because she's become a master with the staff. He stops it because she's learned to recognize his presence quick enough to defend herself and evade his beating. I imagine when they 'take her ears', the training will involve him sneaking up behind her and whispering secrets into her deaf ears. This training will also go quickly because she's got her secret tool; she's a warg.