Rooseman Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 IIRC, that the price the FM ask for a kill in not only proportional to the target but also to the one who orders the kill, so if you were to kill a King that would be expensive, more so if you were very rich (as the Iron Bank is). Well we don't really know the specifics of the Faceless Men payment options. The idea that the price is relative to the wealth of the person who ordered it is flawed, too. Otherwise, rich people could just send a poor guy to order an assassination, perhaps even buy a slave who'd be made to give up his own life as payment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theriveryeti Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 He is right; don't know why you haven't been able to find this before. I've been on the forums since spring of 2012 and can always remember this theory being talked about pretty much since then 2400 posts in 2 years?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nettles Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 The theory might not be new, but there are still people who appreciate it. Take me for example. Now I get the reason behind Jaqen being sent to the Wall and I can laugh quietly at John's musings about sending Arya to Braavos with Tycho Nestoris, because the Iron Bank would find her a foster family. This is so Martin-esque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modesty Lannister Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I agree with your theory, but it was glaringly obvious to me while I was reading the books. Also, it was pretty obvious that Littlefinger had to deal with the Iron Bank of Braavos as the master of coin and the fact that he originates from Braavos was probably used to put him in that position in the first place. However, that was a very stupid (or deliberate who knows?) move by Jon Arryn and/or Robert for one never knows where LF's loyalties lie - in Braavos or in Westeros. FM and the IBoB are interconnected that's for sure. FM are probably sent after a person defaults on their debt. I will not agree that dead men don't pay debts, because there are always those who stand to inherit the assets and debts with them and who would be forewarned about their destiny in case of a default. Note how Jon thinks of the IBoB. The immediate association is how those who defaulted died and were replaced with someone else. Cersei's refusal to pay to the IBoB is her death warrant. They immediately go to Stannis, which makes perfect sense. And money worship = death worship anyway, so it all fits. The biggest mystery in this is why is Jaqen in the Old Town and what his task is? And I do agree with the posters who think Arya may be sent to kill someone near and dear, most probably Jon Snow if he defaults. That would be the true and ultimate test on her fidelity to FM and her total loss of identity. Let's hope she fails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRvHD Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 A dead man pays no debts...? You're mistaken, his family must pay his debts, if we go on your assumption then Joffrey didn't inherit Robert's debt... Nor did Tommen inherit Joffrey's... It's THE HOUSE who are in debt... Now Tywin Lannicter in the last episode mentioned the strength of the Bank of Bravos... I don't expect the Iron Bank didn't get any of the GOLD that was mined in Casterly Rock until it ran out... But once the Lannicters have run out of money... Here is where I will re-word your statement... "A man who doesn't pay his debt to the bank is a dead man"...Chaos is of utmost importance, it keeps a different number of people invested in large sums of money... All you have to do is assess who is best and which to fund as a bank, and once that entity becomes useless, you find yourself a new investment.I'll give you an example... In my Suburb we had a police station 10 years ago, crime rates were low and house prices jacked up to the roof... 10 years ago the police station was taken down, crime rates went up, many sold their houses back to Real Estate/Banks... Now rumour has it that a police station is being built and house prices will jack up again once it's build.... Sometimes in economics, chaos is necessary for the flow of money. Not really. You're providing an example when the crown has debts and has to honor them, rather than a family. Either way, it's still pretty shortsighted - so they'll wipe out all the heirs to a house until it's gone, who's paying then...? It's quite the opposite to what you're saying - chaos might be of importance if someone is making bold bets. If you're lending money the last thing you'd like is for anything to impede your debtors payment abililties... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Flandrensis Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I've always thought that the FM and Iron Bank are linked. We just don't know how, exactly. If it turns out that the Iron Bank has been pulling the strings all along, it'd be just like real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Petrunak Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I've always thought that the FM and Iron Bank are linked. We just don't know how, exactly. If it turns out that the Iron Bank has been pulling the strings all along, it'd be just like real life.While it makes some sense, it doesn't much fit the stated creed of the Faceless men. I don't doubt that the Iron Bank's wealth has something to do with the Faceless men, it's to big a coincidence for them to both be based out of Bravvos.I'd think what happened is that the Bank of Bravvos rose to power because they hired the faceless men to kill any deadbeats. They were able to afford it by disgraced members of the bank who made the bad loans offering up their lives in exchange for their services, which is the real 'high price' the Faceless men charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blade of Sunlight Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Well we don't really know the specifics of the Faceless Men payment options. The idea that the price is relative to the wealth of the person who ordered it is flawed, too. Otherwise, rich people could just send a poor guy to order an assassination, perhaps even buy a slave who'd be made to give up his own life as payment. Well we know that the price is always within the possibility of he who asks, it just may be their life, or the life of a relative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hard Hugh Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Please refrain from reading this post unless you have completed reading A Dance With Dragons.I've had some thoughts about the Faceless Men and who they get their orders from or who they really might be... I mean how we haven't realised the importance of banking in such a realistic fictional world is beyond me, why I haven't seen any theories that allude to this is also beyond me. Yes the title of this thread was misleading, but so has the identity of the Faceless Men.I mean it only occurred to me now after Tywin admitted in the TV series that they've been funding the crown through the Iron Bank, and not Casterly Rock. Stannis was told in a Dance with Dragons... But it seems the importance of the Bank of Bravos was not something I considered before.The world feels so real, it always has, it's interesting how GRRM only brought about the importance of the Bank of Bravos so late in the BOOKS. Just like real life we only realise the importance of banks as we grow up.Obviously this is their apparent importance, we don't know yet how deep their control has been over Westeros or what events they were involved in...My theory is that THE Faceless MEN ARE the BANK OF BRAVOS Themselves! Which is why they (Bank of Bravos) only have representatives and you don't meet the owners.I don't know how I didn't notice this before! But it just came to me NOW.This could even shed light as to why Jagen Haga'r was at King's Landing in AGOT...MY Theory is that he came to talk to Littlefinger and conspired with Littlefinger for all his plans to come to work (Or The Other way around) we hear so much about the Faceless Men from Littlefinger, he seems to know too much about them, I guess he was the "master" of "coin".Just like real life, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) always comes to countries (Houses/Leaders) and assists them in their debts! Only to put them in an even bigger debt to THE IMF. What's interesting here is that CHAOS is always necessary for such big investors... And we KNOW how fond Littlefinger is of chaos!So now this sheds light even further on the Varys vs Littlefinger relationship, their similarities and differences (one fights for the poor and the betterment of the realm for the poor, through chaos if necessary! While the other fights for the RICH)...I thought you said a new theory :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Beyond The Wall Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 My apologies, I wasn't aware that this theory isn't new, and even though I still haven't seen any threads yet regarding this theory, I'll take the multiple accounts above to be fact that indeed it has been mentioned before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaylos Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I figured the FM were connected to the IB the moment I started contemplating where all the wealth the FM collect from patrons goes. They live pretty sparsely themselves and while the logistics of an organization can be expensive, their organization seems to be run pretty tight. You could argue they invested the money in the IB, but given the FM's ties to beginning of Braavos, it would seem a logical conclusion to me that they simply started the IB to manage the wealth they collected and to help them further their agenda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.