[TWOW Spoilers] March 2014 Chapter Part III

[Sand Snake No. 9]

Her new name is Arya O-Ren Ishii. "Do you recognize my face?" :devil:

Imagine what Stark-sama could do with a tanto or two. Oh, wait, she's already done it. Give that girl a katana!

to paraphrase Walter White: Arya is the one who knocks.

:cheers:

[Stormourne]

Assassin Arya + Katana <3

[kephv]

Arya is the one who knocks.

Nah. Arya wouldn't bother knocking.

[ARYa_Nym]

I saw Arya/Nymeria as like Rorshach in the Watchmen movie when he said I'm not in here with you you're in here with me.

They thought they were hunting her, she knew with all the strange sharp certainty of dreams, but they were wrong. She was hunting them. She was no little girl in the dream; she was a wolf, huge and powerful, and when she emerged from beneath the trees in front of them and barred her teeth in a low rumbling growl, she could smell the rank stench of fear

It's like in Harrenhal when she was a sheep. But she wasn't really a sheep. She was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The Tickler thought she was a little lamb but look what happened when she killed him:

" The Tickler backed away. Arya could smell his fear. The shortsword in his hand suddenly seemed almost a toy against the long blade the Hound was holding, and he wasn't armored either. He moved swiftly, light on his feet, never taking his eyes off Sandor Clegane. It was the easiest thing in the world for Arya to step up behind him and stab him."

& like her wolf Arya has a killed a male who tried to mount her in the chapter.

Oh, and I agree with whoever said that Bobono is probably young. Make a man out of someone is only mentioned towards young virgins.

[boojam]

Here's my question- why would Arya get in trouble (ignoring her obvious oversight with the second guard) for killing people who were not essential to her assignment if Jaqen did not? As a FM, Jaqen was instrumental in the Weasel Soup fiasco at Harrenhal. While one could argue those were actually Arya's victims, it would not have gone down without him. Is it just because she is an acolyte? Or was Jaqen out of line too?

I also wrote an entry above like this.

So far, on the page, we only know that if you get an FM council assignment (it may not even be a hit, apparently Jaqen was 'shadowing' Arya in Westeros for some reason)you better carry it out.

Considering their Zen-like philosophy there don't (as far as GRRM has written) seem to be any House of Black and White rules about 'free lance work'.

All we know , from her last chapter in ADWD, Arya had an assignment to join a Mummery company to learn further skills.

Unless there is a chapter that precedes this one one we know nothing different.

[Suzanna Stormborn]

I saw Arya/Nymeria as like Rorshach in the Watchmen movie when he said I'm not in here with you you're in here with me.

Good one :) It's just like that!!!

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

I also wrote an entry above like this.

So far, on the page, we only know that if you get an FM council assignment (it may not even be a hit, apparently Jaqen was 'shadowing' Arya in Westeros for some reason)you better carry it out.

Considering their Zen-like philosophy there don't (as far as GRRM has written) seem to be any House of Black and White rules about 'free lance work'.

All we know , from her last chapter in ADWD, Arya had an assignment to join a Mummery company to learn further skills.

Unless there is a chapter that precedes this one one we know nothing different.

Jaqen was not shadowing Arya. He had been on some asignement (but what we don't know), which ended with him locked up in the Black Cells (most likely not his plan). Ned Stark then decided to let Yoren take the three in the Black Cells, and Jaqen, being stuck in the Black Cells, is transfered to a cage in which he'll be transported to the Wall (not by choice, he had no say in the matter, and there was no way he could escape until reaching the Wall). After being freed by Arya, they meet again by chance at Harrenhal, and there, Jaqen fulfills the debt he owes Arya (it's also possible that Jaqen made Rorge and Biter join the Company with him, because he wanted to find Arya, so he could pay his debt). After the debts was paid, Jaqen leaves Arya, since there is no more reason to stay around her. He then (presumably) shows up in Oldtown, where he kills novice Pate after stealing a key, and continues to impersonate Pate for the time being. Whatever Jaqen wants, it's most likely not only an object, since he could simply use the key to steal that and be gone. Insstead he stays at the Citadel, suggesting that in addition to an object (or multiple objects) he also requires information.

[Brother Seamus]

Izembaro is acting as a mummer, but he's a FM. I assume setting up this playhouse was all part of the FM carrying out their next contract.

Arya pretty much ruined that plan because an envoy lost a man there to one of the mummers.

I don't think so. I think he's one of their non-FM associates, like the fishmonger. And, whether Arya had an assignment connected with the troupe or was just their for training, I think killing Raff will mean she has to abort her FM training, either b/c she's kicked out or b/c she leaves to avoid being scolded/punished.

I say she's on her way back to westeros within no more than 2 more arya chapters. we know she's staying to do her part in the play, and I expect GRRM will be keen to show us the play, so I expect the next Arya chapter will include the play. either after the play in that chapter or the next she at least leaves the FM and probably takes at least the first step toward westeros.

[Brother Seamus]

People seem to think she will be in hot water with the House of Black and White because of her actions.

But, and I may be misremembering and not recalling, we have been given very few of the HOUSE RULES, so to speak.

There is a rule, odd to me, that a FM cannot kill anyone that FM 'knows', exactly what 'knows' means I am not sure , if one is on more than passing acquaintance?

Second there is a , by inference, that if someone saves you from one of the gods, you own a dept of 'gift' to that person since that god will be one of the gods of the Many Faced God.

Hence Jaquen's interaction with Arya.

I guess if someone saves an FM from drowning then the FM owes that person the 'gift' for The Drowned God.

No where have I seen any instruction to Arya about this point.

It does seem if you a given a 'hit' job by the FM 'council' you better complete it.

I you are an acolyte in training, or even a full blown FM, there has been no restriction put on your doing your own extracurricular whack jobs. Not that I remember GRRM writing on the page.

So Arya may not be violating an FM rule.

She does seem at the end of her first phase of FM training.

I think you're being overly literal. it's not like there needs to be some kind of FM rule book or policy manual. the point is that the on-going conflict between Arya and the KM thru AFFC and DWD is whether Arya could ever really hope to become "no one" (a prerequisite to becoming a FM), or instead whether she is and always will be Lady Arya Stark, aristocrat, wolf-girl, daughter of the north, heiress of the mystical/magical Stark legacy (whatever that turns out to be). I'd never claim GRRM is predictable, but I still think we all know the answer to this one: Arya Stark will regain her full identity; she'll abort her FM training; she'll return to Westeros; and, one way or another (probably at some point with Nymeria) wreak bloody vengeance.

[Whitering]

I dont think she'll get in trouble, I'm not sure why people say that.

People say that because last time she freelanced the Kindly Old Man was more than a little annoyed and the screen faded to black after drank some milk and woke up blind. So, initially it looked like a punishment, instead it moved her training forward by months. To me, I think they were just grateful that they found a girl who could kill, calmly walk in and confess it with no real trauma, I mean that's cold.

The initial concern the KOM had with Arya was that most women bring life into the world and can't kill (it's macho bullshit, but whatever), Arya has proved that she can kill and for many reasons. They don't know she killed the stable boy (self defense/fear), the Harrenhall guard (necessity/freedom), the Squire (self defense), The Tickler (soooo many reasons). They just know she calmly killed a deserter of the Night's Watch. They called her on her reason for doing it, but otherwise all they did was move her into serious training.

What they will do here? Probably chide her on doing her own freelance work again, Arya could say that everyone who would hire them to kill Raff is probably dead already, and the KOM will say, well a death is an end to suffering, and Arya will say, ya I helped him.

I just don't think this is what gets kicked out, she's too valuable. There was actually a recent real world article about how valuable female spies are because everyone in power is male and they really, really do under estimate women. To the Faceless Men, well, maybe they can full on gender swap, I don't know, but someone who can kill without retching or breaking down in tears or whatever they look for is too huge to give up on because she occasionally paints outside the lines.

[boojam]

Jaqen was not shadowing Arya. He had been on some asignement (but what we don't know), which ended with him locked up in the Black Cells (most likely not his plan). Ned Stark then decided to let Yoren take the three in the Black Cells, and Jaqen, being stuck in the Black Cells, is transfered to a cage in which he'll be transported to the Wall (not by choice, he had no say in the matter, and there was no way he could escape until reaching the Wall). After being freed by Arya, they meet again by chance at Harrenhal, and there, Jaqen fulfills the debt he owes Arya (it's also possible that Jaqen made Rorge and Biter join the Company with him, because he wanted to find Arya, so he could pay his debt). After the debts was paid, Jaqen leaves Arya, since there is no more reason to stay around her. He then (presumably) shows up in Oldtown, where he kills novice Pate after stealing a key, and continues to impersonate Pate for the time being. Whatever Jaqen wants, it's most likely not only an object, since he could simply use the key to steal that and be gone. Insstead he stays at the Citadel, suggesting that in addition to an object (or multiple objects) he also requires information.

(1) We don't know Jaqen's mission.

(2) From what we know now it is impossible for a FM to be in the Black Cells by mistake.

(In fact it is quite possible that the keepers of the Black Cells delivered Yoren's cell-picks to him , and Jaqen slipped in.

Yoren isn't counting he wants all the bodies he can get.)

(3) Why is it that Jaqen knows that she is Arya Stark? She never tells him.

(In the book it is three times, on the show , S2E10, Jaqen pointedly makes it the last thing he says to her.)

(4) Quite apart from being saved from the fire I am sure Jaqen had figured out that Yoren's group would never reach the Wall, to much Gregor Clegane going on.

(5)Why does he give her the coin? Why does he tell her to go to Braavos? He makes sure she knows "valar morghulis".

(6) Indeed , we know, Arya winds up at the House of Black and White.

That string of things are not coincidences.

[boojam]

People say that because last time she freelanced the Kindly Old Man was more than a little annoyed and the screen faded to black after drank some milk and woke up blind. So, initially it looked like a punishment, instead it moved her training forward by months. To me, I think they were just grateful that they found a girl who could kill, calmly walk in and confess it with no real trauma, I mean that's cold.

The don't just have 'a girl' they have a High Born person with connections to the events in Westeros.

She is extremely valuable to them and probably some one or group who want her to have FM skills and do something quite valuable for them.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

If there is any sort of forshadowing in that scene of how a future Arya-Tyrion interaction would play out, I 'd expect that Tyrion will learn -after she teaches him a harsh lesson- to guard this tongue in her vicinity. Tyrion will finally get an appropriate response to his anoying "witty" comments (don't get me wrong, I love Tyrion as a character but his "witticisms" are long due to be paid in kind.)

As also noted right below your original post, this is a terrific idea. Tyrion's witticisms and Arya would be something I'd almost sell my soul for, almost, LOL And, in the long run.......it might be fun because Tyrion will realize he is talking to someone, in some ways, who is very mature inside and very smart.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

A simple explanation might be that the FM behind Jaqen became attached to the personality and so was distraught at having to "kill" him, as Arya was distraught over ending Mercy. It could also be that he was distraught only at having to "kill" Jaqen before he planned to, or because he knew he'd have to do what Arya wanted to get out of the deal.

It's very a interesting possibility, and it certainly seems like he introduced the memory aspect for this reason. I also wonder if it goes even further with women, and if that's one of the reasons there haven't been too many as FM -- the Kindly Man says women bring the gift of life, but could this hold more than the literal meaning? That is, could the dead persons personality come back completely if Arya wears the face long enough, so much that she would essentially have multiple personalities that she could call on at will?

I see the opposite: There's really nothing more that would make her want to stay and finish. If she wasn't running to him while he was alive, she's not going to be running to a corpse, at least not immediately -- though it certainly might make her want to kill Cersei even more, if rumor has it that she played a part in his "death."

I subscribe to Arya being a practiced actress (as shown before Braavos to some extent) and to getting inside her characters'/identities' heads, but you also make me realize that a good question is: How much of Arya's warging abilities can help her link to the personalities of any faces that she may wear? Still, I think alot of it is about Arya's ability to compartmentalize, too.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

Though, if she hears that they tried to kill him but failed, would she seek him out? I'm hopeful.

I'm thinking that a Jon that lives through an assassination attempt would be something that has a chance to get her to Westeros quicker. I think that if she thinks Jon is murdered.......yes, she'd want to put some names on 'the list,' but she'd most likely wait out Jon's killers, too, as she's waiting out others on the list already. Just a guess.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

It was much safer for Arya to remain in Braavos than to return to Westeros unless she could be delivered right into the custody of someone who would/could protect her. But who would that be? Jon would have liked to protect her, I'm sure, but she couldn't stay at the Wall. Even if she was temporarily sheltered at the wall, as soon as Stannis appeared he'd be trying to marry her off to one of his men. Westeros is otherwise still crawling with Lannisters, Freys, and Boltons -- at least when she's with the FM she's pretty damn safe. By the time of this story she's a danger, THE danger, and frankly I have no problem with that considering what's been done to her, her family and the North. With a little help from her mom (isn't it nice that Catelyn and Arya finally have something they can do together?) she can restore a little balance to the eff'd up 7 Kingdoms.

As noted up-thread, she's the monster Westeros made, the way Catelyn is the monster the Freys made. The more power to them.

ETA -- to clarify, that's more power to UnCat and Arya.

IMO, unlike Arya, UnCat has gone too far with wanting to hang boys like Pod who happen to born in the West and happen to serve a Lannister. I think Arya's skills may be put to the test, and she'll be the one to put what is left of her mother to rest. I'm thinking it might be Arya who has to do it, unless Brienne does. Someone who cared for Cat or loved her may have to do so. I think Arya has come far enough to realize that LS isn't really her mother, just the living embodiment of her last minutes and all her losses. I'm hopeful, however it happens, that LS is sent to her final rest knowing of her children who still live.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

Here's my question- why would Arya get in trouble (ignoring her obvious oversight with the second guard) for killing people who were not essential to her assignment if Jaqen did not? As a FM, Jaqen was instrumental in the Weasel Soup fiasco at Harrenhal. While one could argue those were actually Arya's victims, it would not have gone down without him. Is it just because she is an acolyte? Or was Jaqen out of line too?

You bring up a good question, one that stays with me all the time. I do kind of think that Jaqen was a little off the reservation with his deal with Arya. I really do think so.

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

(1) We don't know Jaqen's mission.

(2) From what we know now it is impossible for a FM to be in the Black Cells by mistake.

(In fact it is quite possible that the keepers of the Black Cells delivered Yoren's cell-picks to him , and Jaqen slipped in.

Yoren isn't counting he wants all the bodies he can get.)

(3) Why is it that Jaqen knows that she is Arya Stark? She never tells him.

(In the book it is three times, on the show , S2E10, Jaqen pointedly makes it the last thing he says to her.)

(4) Quite apart from being saved from the fire I am sure Jaqen had figured out that Yoren's group would never reach the Wall, to much Gregor Clegane going on.

(5)Why does he give her the coin? Why does he tell her to go to Braavos? He makes sure she knows "valar morghulis".

(6) Indeed , we know, Arya winds up at the House of Black and White.

That string of things are not coincidences.

1) I said that we didn't know his mission :)

2) Explain number 2 then, please. Because even the best trained killers can make mistakes. The sorrowful men are professional killers, yet Barristan Selmy manages to twarth one of their attempts on Dany. Why wouldn't Jaqen be able to make a mistake? Perhaps whatever happened that caused Jaqen to end up in the cell was out of his control. Like the fire that nearly killed him.

4) Jaqen had no way of knowing that they would encounter Gregor Clegane. In fact, they did not encounter Ser Gregor. They encountered bad guys, sure, but no one could have predicted that they would encounter such people.

5) Why give her the coin? Perhaps he saw her value, saw something in her that made him believe she could be an FM

Not all events are coincidendes, but some will be.

[DrunkSister]

So, we are calling it freelancing. :stillsick: :devil:

[boojam]

2) Explain number 2 then, please. Because even the best trained killers can make mistakes. The sorrowful men are professional killers, yet Barristan Selmy manages to twarth one of their attempts on Dany. Why wouldn't Jaqen be able to make a mistake? Perhaps whatever happened that caused Jaqen to end up in the cell was out of his control. Like the fire that nearly killed him.

From Arya's interactions with Jaqen and especially the FM guild at the House of Black and White we learn that the FM are not just highly trained assassins. Only the most intelligent graduate and have skills way beyond anything even a master ninja master has, they do not make mistakes they are other worldly.

In any case we see that Jaqen gets Arya to Braavos and the House of Black and White ... it is a bit convoluted but then that is the way the FM work.

Just have to read those Arya-FM chapters in Braavos carefully.

Can you explain why Jaqen always knows that she is Arya Stark?

(By the by even the fire worked out in his favor.)