Jaqen H'ghar Was Paid to Kill Jon

[Lady Meliora]

If JH was intentionally trying to get handed over to the Night's Watch, his target was probably the same as the one we see him pursuing in the Citadel - information. He was after access to the archives.

The Faceless Men are far more than just assassins - they are also intelligence gatherers. Arya, with her constant requirement to bring back "three new things", was being trained to gather and objectively filter intel.

JH didn't murder Pate because someone put out a contract on him. JH did it to gain access to the Citadel. He also obtained the master key in the process. He's probably after secret documents. He was probably on the same mission before. Castle Black is known to have a killer collection of documents that are unobtainable anywhere else in Westeros.

That makes a lot of sense. I wondered early on why he'd kill a relative nobody like Pate, until he met Sam at the Citadel.

[sagewich]

Its an interesting theory but I think it rather more likely that Arya was the target - not to be slain but to be recruited.

This was always my thought. He may have had business in KL and at Harrenhall that we were not made privy to. I could not make a case for a FM riding with the group headed for the Wall, except to recruit Arya. I often wonder what he got up to between Harrenhall and the Inn with viciously good cider.

[insaene]

I haven't got the timeline right in my head but exactly when did JH change his target from the Wall to Oldtown.

Could it be that Aemon was his target (either to kill or to obtain information from) or Sam?

[Taemlyn Blackfyre]

Syrio Forel = Jaqen H'ghar

Sooooo many deny it, but it has so much to commend it. All arguments for it are beaten down, but plausible all the same because there is so little to confirm or rule out. Arguments against it win out simply because the character arc is so stupendous to begin with.

The key here is that Jaqen was in King's Landing at the same time as Syrio Forel. Biter and Rorge are terrified of H'ghar, while it is later revealed that none other than Varys plays under-jailer to tongueless Ser Ilyn and that the Black Cells are a domain where anything can happen. Nobody can ever convence me otherwise and I've held forth on this board for almost 10 years maintaining the same.

[Fuzy_gsxr1000]

Wow I never thought about that but a very interesting theory! I hope we didn't see the last of Syrio Forel!!

[Prince of the North]

I didn't read the whole thread so I apologize if this has already been said. But I think Jaqen's mission was always to find out more information about dragons. Probably the foremost authority on dragons was Septon Barth who, coincidentally, also had a campaign waged against him by King Baelor I Targaryen to destroy all of his writings (e.g. "Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History"). Of course, if any of those writings survived, a couple of very likely places to look for them would be in the library at the very remote Wall and at the Citadel.

I believe when things went sideways for Jaqen's plan to join the Nights Watch and thereby gain access to its library he simply went to "Plan B" and headed over to the Citadel to try to fulfill his mission of finding more info on dragons, etc.

[BalerionTheCat]

Anyone can join the NW by volunteering. JH could just go there and present himself. Unless he wanted to be viewed as a very dangerous criminal. But why? Not to kill Jon anyway. And I would believe Varys would help Jon if he knew who he was.

Maybe JH was to follow someone specifically. Maybe to protect him. My guess is that Varys was protecting Gendry while in KL. And he may have decided to give him a protector until he reaches the Wall. Good initiative because the queen was after them.

Or there is no good reason. GRRM just needed to connect JH and Arya.

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

This is something that jumped to my mind after connecting stray dots a few weeks back. I don't know if it's been brought up here, but I've since come across someone online who'd come to exactly the same conclusion, to a T, so I'm not the only one in any case but I know it's not a well-travelled theory. First, what was H'ghar doing going to The Wall? Someone like H'ghar would have committed some act that would enable him to get carried there, after being captured on purpose, since we can assume that a Faceless Man of his elite skill would not have been taken against his will by some City Watch. Or perhaps the right person in power made sure that he was placed in the cage. Now who would he possibly be contracted to kill at The Wall, which otherwise he'd have no purpose going to. The logical answer is Jon Snow, who might not know his parentage but someone else may have done some research. Someone like Varys, who kills off Kevan Lannister despite regretting the death of a good man because it's politic to do so to sow strife between the Lannisters and Tyrells, someone whose real purpose is to further the interests of Aegon who he wishes to marry Dany, though if Aegon is really a Blackfyre then Jon, as the son of Rhaegar, has a better claim to the throne. And Maester Aemon is a Targaryen, and Varys is unsure whether coming into contact with Maester Aemon will give Jon an interest in his own ancestry, which really isn't that hard to work out. However, the apparent death of Jon Snow overrules the order H'ghar has been given to kill him, since the Red Gods have already been satisfied even if Jon has warged into Ghost or if he'll be resurrected by Mel. Exactly why Jaqen has diverted his steps to Hightower, however, is a mystery to me.

So Jaqen had to get himself arrested because he couldn't find the Wall on his own, despite there really being no way you can miss the Wall when traveling north?

And in addition, Jaqen knows half a year before Jon is stabbed, that Jon is going to be stabbed, and therefor moves his mission to Oldtown?

I highly doubt it. Whatever his mission was, at some point, he got caught, and seeing as the FM don't seem to kill simply anyone who stands in their way, Jaqen let himself be arrested, instead of killing multiple people to fight his way out of the situation. In fact, he might just have been discovered killing a target.. only the worst of crimes make you end in the Black Cells, and that's where he was.

The Wall was never his objective, that much should be clear. When he escapes his chains, he stays around only long enough to pay his debt to Arya, and not a second longer. It would seem that he then travels to Oldtown directly, where he first becomes friendly with Rosey, as to be brought into contact with Pate, who he kills, and replaces. Had Jaqen been tasked to kill Jon, he would have gone north from the Riverlands, and not south.

[Prince of the North]

Anyone can join the NW by volunteering. JH could just go there and present himself. Unless he wanted to be viewed as a very dangerous criminal. But why? Not to kill Jon anyway. And I would believe Varys would help Jon if he knew who he was.

Maybe JH was to follow someone specifically. Maybe to protect him. My guess is that Varys was protecting Gendry while in KL. And he may have decided to give him a protector until he reaches the Wall. Good initiative because the queen was after them.

Or there is no good reason. GRRM just needed to connect JH and Arya.

Yes, they can volunteer. But they'd need a believable back-story, identity, and reason for doing so. I believe Jaqen's original idea was to join as a nobody criminal from the Black Cells of King's Landing. Then, when that fell through I think Martin just had him head to Old Town to try his luck there.

I guess Jaqen could have simply created/taken another identity and gotten himself thrown in jail for another crime. But I think he'd be taking a real chance in assuming he'd be given the opportunity to take the Black again rather than simply being executed outright. And, contrary to popular belief, while Faceless Men are certainly talented they are not so spectacularly badass that they can just count on being able to escape any time they want (e.g. Jaqen needed the help of a little girl to escape being chained in a burning wagon ;)).

I'm just speculating but I still think Jaqen is after dragon info and I think it's possible he may be on a mission for the Faceless Men themselves. :dunno:

[Prince of the North]

So Jaqen had to get himself arrested because he couldn't find the Wall on his own, despite there really being no way you can miss the Wall when traveling north?

And in addition, Jaqen knows half a year before Jon is stabbed, that Jon is going to be stabbed, and therefor moves his mission to Oldtown?

I highly doubt it. Whatever his mission was, at some point, he got caught, and seeing as the FM don't seem to kill simply anyone who stands in their way, Jaqen let himself be arrested, instead of killing multiple people to fight his way out of the situation. In fact, he might just have been discovered killing a target.. only the worst of crimes make you end in the Black Cells, and that's where he was.

The Wall was never his objective, that much should be clear. When he escapes his chains, he stays around only long enough to pay his debt to Arya, and not a second longer. It would seem that he then travels to Oldtown directly, where he first becomes friendly with Rosey, as to be brought into contact with Pate, who he kills, and replaces. Had Jaqen been tasked to kill Jon, he would have gone north from the Riverlands, and not south.

Sorry for the double post but I'm thinking your theory that the Wall was never Jaqen's objective could be right. I mean, I still think he is ultimately looking for forbidden dragon lore (which could likely be under lock and key at the Citadel) but maybe he just got sidetracked in King's Landing and didn't actually mean to go to the Wall? And as was pointed out up-thread, that little misadventure had the consequence of introducing Arya to the Faceless men and putting her on the path to the House of Black and White. :dunno:

[SerWalterPuffsAlot]

I think dragon info as well. If Jaqen was trying to kill Jon he goes to the North not Kinglanding, if he's recruiting Arya to be a Faceless(wo)man that just makes no sense why would you give her the coin and take off. Your going to say so she could make the decision on her own free will blah blah blah but who leaves a 10 year old princess alone in a place like harrenhal with Bolton in charge and just says if its meant to be she'll get to Bravos. Thats a stretch like armstrong.

[SixPence]

Actually, Lolly and Bronns child hired Jaquen H'Qar to kill Durran the Stormking. Jaquen H'Qar is just such a horrible time traveller he accidentally ended up in the black cells at the wrong time.

[SerWalterPuffsAlot]

Actually, Lolly and Bronns child hired Jaquen H'Qar to kill Durran the Stormking. Jaquen H'Qar is just such a horrible time traveller he accidentally ended up in the black cells at the wrong time.

[SerWalterPuffsAlot]

Too obvious

[The Killer Snark]

I think it's too obvious as well. Another very obvious theory we can discount on grounds of misleading over-probability is that he was hired to find out information on the Others, in order to sadistically terrify Bran, by Old Nan, who has clearly bigger fish to fry, because she happens to be Quaithe.

[SerWalterPuffsAlot]

I think it's too obvious as well. Another very obvious theory we can discount on grounds of misleading over-probability is that he was hired to find out information on the Others, in order to sadistically terrify Bran, by Old Nan, who has clearly bigger fish to fry, because she happens to be Quaithe.

Old nan is really Raegar

[Satin fetch me a cock!]

I don't have a clue why Jaqen was in the black cells or what his mission was but I do agree his planned changed.

Jaqen originally told Arya he was going to Bravos but is later seen in Oldtown. I don't know if Jaqen is rogue or if he is working on behalf on the FM, but he definitely has an agenda. I think his mission changed because he got word of Dany hatching dragons and this took precedence over whatever his original mission was.

[rondo has three heads]

I'm sure this has been touched on, but if that was the mission, why would Jaqen need to actually ride from King's Landing to the Wall? Perhaps he had a super long mission that involved some in depth cover; if he just had to kill a little kid I'm sure he could slip in and out of Castle Black no problem

[The Killer Snark]

Incidentally, chronologically speaking, I think we can debunk the long-touted theory that Hghar was responsible for the death of Balon Greyjoy, who was basically just hapless enough to get killed in a storm. The prophecy of the man with shadowed features and a drowned crow on his shoulder walking uncertainly on the bridge to Pyke is actually a reference to Theon, who hated heights, and I've said it before and still stand by it. Theon, along with Arya, is one of the characters associated with the Seven (along with all of the Starks), and represents The Stranger, hence why he's in shadow. The drowned crow on his shoulder signifies he failed to take the black. This prophecy appears not too long after he's been captured by Ramsay after planning, in desperation, to join the Night's Watch. Hghar had nothing whatsoever in my view with killing Balon off.

[Satin fetch me a cock!]

“Come dawn, Pinkeye and the others were back, all but one boy who’d been killed in the fighting for no reason that anyone could say" Arya ACOK CH 47

This happens the same night Jaqen changes his face and leaves.