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Who wanted Pate dead?


Ser Lumpyhead

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On 5/20/2020 at 3:48 AM, Ser Lumpyhead said:

So the Kindly Man tells Arya (The Ugly Little Girl) "... we who serve Him of Many Faces give his gift only to those who have been marked and chosen."

So who chose Pate?

Perhaps Leo Hightower, or Alleras, or Rosie's Mom, or Rosie herself, or maybe Archmaester Walgrave in one of his lucid moments?

Seńor Hagar wanted him dead 

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An assassination is not always paid with money.  Some other barter works as well.  The job is taken if the customer is a person of limited means but pays with everything he has in the purse.  The customer does not have to have wealth. 

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On 5/20/2020 at 3:36 PM, corbon said:

That assumes that FM assassin only ever act for their 'religious' assassination missions, where the code applies.

Why wouldn't the FM organisation also have its own 'political' aims and plans? For which the 'religious' code wouldn't apply necessarily.

Is there any evidence in the books that there is a political arm to the Faceless Men?

On 5/21/2020 at 7:16 AM, Alexis-something-Rose said:

I hate to be that person, but it's Leo Tyrell, not Hightower. And he has no reason to have Pate killed. 

For one, he has the skill at arms to do it himself, and for another, he is highborn, his father is the Commander of the City Watch, he is connected to the Hightowers by marriage, and he is Mace Tyrell's cousin. If he killed Pate, whose status is as low as dirt, I doubt anyone would condemn him for it. It just seems like overkill hiring a faceless man to do the deed. 

Right, thanks. I was going by memory and I knew there was Hightower in there somewhere.

10 hours ago, chrisdaw said:

It does seem inconsistent, but thematically Pate chooses himself when he takes the coin, as that confirms he's betrayed his station. Had Pate chosen not to betray he'd not have died, the Alchemist fairly gave him that chance. The kill is obviously a means to infiltrate the Citadel.

But it is not for a Faceless Man to judge him, is it? 

It just seems odd to me that we read of a Faceless Man in training (Arya) being taught a code, which the only other Faceless Man we read about (Jaquen) totally disregards.

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On 5/21/2020 at 1:06 AM, Pontius Pilate said:

Somebody who wants the same girl.  Rosie has a secret admirer.

I think this is the key, so to speak.

Prologues in ASOIAF are like an all-you-can-eat buffet for literary analysis. GRRM loads up the platters with symbolism, foreshadowing and allusion. I realize many readers like to stick with plot analysis, so anyone can feel free to skip my posts if you don't want to take a deeper dive into the material.

From the thorn / throne wordplay, we can surmise that someone who wants to be a king will have ambitions that involve roses. In the current story, this is probably why so many aspirants to the throne have married Margaery Tyrell, whose family sigil involves a rose. But the creepy singer Marillion tells Sansa that he is going to write a song about her called "Roadside Rose"; Ser Loras gives Sansa a red rose at the Hand's Tourney and we have the rose petals and blue roses associated with Lyanna.

But wait, we're thinking: it's absurd to say that the hapless pig boy, Pate, would aspire to the iron throne. His ambition is to marry the budding sex worker, Rosey, and travel around Westeros with her and a donkey, providing healing and haircutting services to the small folk. From a straightforward plot perspective, it is crazy to think that this Pate is a candidate for king. But GRRM gives us clues that there is a deeper meaning in the prologue:

And then the coin was in his hand, dancing across his knuckles, the soft yellow gold shining in the candlelight. On one side was a three-headed dragon, on the other the head of some dead king.

Spotted Pate the pig boy was the hero of a thousand ribald stories: a good-hearted, empty-headed lout who always managed to best the fat lordlings, haughty knights, and pompous septons who beset him. Somehow his stupidity would turn out to have been a sort of uncouth cunning; the tales always ended with Spotted Pate sitting on a lord's high seat or bedding some knight's daughter. But those were stories. In the real world pig boys never fared so well.

The first excerpt describes the gold dragon coin that Pate needs in order to be the first man to have sex with Rosey. The coin is called a dragon, but it is important to note here that the coin has two sides and the second side shows the head of a dead king. I suspect it's important that GRRM mentions the head here, as "pate" is another word for "head".

The second excerpt is probably one of the ironic passages with which GRRM often delights us: Pate is telling us that characters named Pate often triumph in fiction but not in the real world. And yet, we are reading fiction. The Pate who is downplaying his chances is exactly the kind of character who is likely to sit on a lord's high seat or bed some knight's daughter, according to a thousand stories.

Incidents outside of this prologue can also help us to understand the "assassination" of Pate. When Dany buys the Unsullied army from Kraznys mo Nakloz, she gives him a dragon that immediately kills him. I believe that Kraznys is a symbolic version of King Aerys, Dany's father who, like many Targaryen kings of recent generations, always wanted a dragon but couldn't figure out how to hatch one. At the moment that Kraznys hands Dany the named weapon (a whip) called The Harpy's Fingers, he is recognizing her as the heir to the Targaryen dynasty.

Complicated possible connections of the "Kraznys = Aerys" theory to Dany's dragons and the "novice Pate = symbolic king" theory:

  • Alchemists make wild fire.
  • Aerys was obsessed with wild fire and was planning to incinerate King's Landing if he felt threatened.
  • Jaime Lannister knew of the wild fire stockpile.
  • When Aerys realized he was about to be deposed, he started to put his wild fire plan into action.
  • To save the city, Jaime killed an alchemist and King Aerys.
  • Aerys had specified that his wild fire stockpile should be stored in fruit-shaped grenades.
  • Alleras and Mollender engage in shooting down apples. "One last apple," promised Alleras, "and I will tell you what I suspect about these dragons."
  • Alleras explains that Dany is a living Targaryen - perhaps the "last apple" that he fails to shoot?
  • Mollender toasts Dany and immediately wants to order another round of cider ( = apple juice) and so he wonders where Rosey the waitress has gone, saying, "Where's Rosey? Our rightful queen deserves another round of cider, wouldn't you say?" The implication is that Dany = Rosey = our rightful queen. The other possible implication is that cider = wild fire.
  • Buying Rosey's virginity is similar to buying a human being for the purpose of enslavement. Pate sees Rosey becoming a permanent part of his life. This is like the enslavement of the Unsullied.
  • When Dany buys the Unsullied, she nominally frees them and becomes the breaker of chains. The lives of the Unsullied seem to change little if at all when Dany becomes their master.
  • Pate is unable to earn or forge even one link for his maester's chain. He believes it would be benevolent to take Rosey and travel with her around Westeros on a donkey.
  • An alchemist gives a dragon (coin) to Pate. Like Kraznys, Pate is killed by the dragon. 
  • Pate gave the key to the alchemist.
  • We don't see a lot of keys in ASOIAF, but we do see the Dothraki. The Dothraki "Khal" is a type of king and could be wordplay on "lock".
  • Kraznys cuts the nipple off of an Unsullied soldier.
  • Khal Drogo dies from an infected cut on his nipple.
  • Dany puts Khal Drogo into the hands of Mirri Maz Duur, who is a close associate of Marwyn. Mirri fails to cure the Khal.
  • Dany puts Drogo in the pyre and burns him, successfully hatching her dragons. Opening a lock?
  • At the end of AFfC, we find that Pate has been in the hands of Marwyn. Marwyn has rushed off to find Dany and her dragons.
  • In ASOIAF, death often leads to rebirth.

The literary parallels are never exact and they seem to offer chances to test and revise outcomes: Pate may be the aspiring king but also the slave; Alleras seems to be "killing" apples but we suspect that House Martell supported recent Targaryen monarchs; Rosey may be a sex worker / slave but she also represents Dany; the alchemist takes Walgrave's key from Pate but Dany retains leadership of some of the Dothraki.

As usual, I've gone far afield to try to make my point.

I believe Pate was targeted because he represents (symbolically) an aspiring king. We suspect that the man known as Jaqen was the murderer of Balon Greyjoy, so it would be consistent with his line of work to be a kingslayer. But important characters in ASOIAF are often reborn. Whether the Faceless Man has taken Pate's face and identity, allowing his reappearance at the end of AFfC, I do not know. That Pate is reborn is consistent with GRRM's treatment of other characters throughout the books.

We may be able to learn more about Pate and Rosey and their fate by looking for clues in Dany's arc, in the fate of Aerys and in the outcome for roses throughout the series.

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Nobody hired an FM to kill Pate. Jaquen needed access into the Citadel for various reasons, but mostly Baarvosi reasons: I think the overall mission of Braavos' existence and interests supersede anything else. He needed a key and a face.

As others have mentioned, Pate was entirely at liberty to make his choice the entire time, and he even had the possibility to give the Alvhemist the key, put the dragon in his pocket, and leave for Rosey. Not only was he a thief, he bit the coin, never having done such a thing before. It's different than Arya's insurance man: she had picked the poisoned coin method based on his habbit of biting every coin. The same cannot even be said for the Alchemist, although chances were high Pate might do that. In that sensen imo Jaquen can reason that Pate chose himself and killed himself.

When the kindly man tells Arya they're not to judge, one needs to put into a context. If a prayer has been accepted and the price paid, Arya shouldn't be rationalising, let alone invent reasons for it. But in Jaquen's case of need - if you're going to have to kill someone nobody prayed for, you might as well take out the "bad apple" (that pun is even in the prologue).

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9 hours ago, Ser Lumpyhead said:

But it is not for a Faceless Man to judge him, is it? 

It just seems odd to me that we read of a Faceless Man in training (Arya) being taught a code, which the only other Faceless Man we read about (Jaquen) totally disregards.

I don't disagree. We'll have to wait and see if what the KM teaches Arya is meant to be as strictly applied as he makes it seem, if there's different thoughts within their society, if the alchemist is just far looser than what the KM is, if it is meant to be seen as them considering it as a means justify breaking their own rules thing, if its just GRRM being inconsistent or something else. I definitely don't think anyone named Pate to die.

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On 5/20/2020 at 6:48 AM, Ser Lumpyhead said:

So the Kindly Man tells Arya (The Ugly Little Girl) "... we who serve Him of Many Faces give his gift only to those who have been marked and chosen."

So who chose Pate?

Perhaps Leo Hightower, or Alleras, or Rosie's Mom, or Rosie herself, or maybe Archmaester Walgrave in one of his lucid moments?

  • Rosey's mom.  I do not actually think Pate is a bad catch for Rosey but moms think highly of their daughters.  
  • The faceless man wants to study at the citadel.  
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15 hours ago, Ser Lumpyhead said:

Is there any evidence in the books that there is a political arm to the Faceless Men?

Given that they claim to predate the founding of Bravos, and given that it seems any Braavosi anywhere, whether religious or not, is effectively under their power (you only need to show the coin and say the words to get stuff, no questions), I think you have the question backwards. Is there any evidence in the books that this organisation, with this much power, is truly apolitical?
Has there ever been such an organisation, that was truly apolitical?

Its run by men (humans). It has its own non-religious, or beyond-pure-religion, aims. They don't have to be about secular power to be 'political'.

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16 hours ago, Ser Lumpyhead said:

Is there any evidence in the books that there is a political arm to the Faceless Men?

We have strong indications for it:

1. Gathering of information. Recruits have to bring 3 new things they learned to the kindly man. Some of what Arya brings as news may be gossip, some about crimes having been committed, and a selection of it is political and geopolitical. You can tell that the kindly man is steering Arya away from the gossip and more toward the later, with his "that is good to know", although he allows for celebirty gossip (the courtesans are the celebrities). One of the geopolitical info that Arya brings back to the kindly man is the conversation she overheard of the Tyroshi sailors about the slaves they got from Hardhome. While one ship limped into Braavos harbor after a storm, another ship managed to sail onwards to Tyrosh with the women and children they took aboard from Hardhome to enslave. The kindly man definitely tells Arya "this is good to know". And though Tycho Nestoris may have left for Eastwatch already, he's very accomodating towards Jon's efforts to get Tycho's ships to help the people of Hardhome who only take women and children first on board. I suspect one faction has a glass candle (via Sealord, Iron Bank or the FM) and thus Tycho was informed about what Arya learned: that if one Tyroshi ship managed to return to Tyrosh with Hardhomers they enslaved, chances were real that more Tyroshi slavers would sail for Hardhome. Whatever the cause-effect particulars, George definitely links the FM knowing of this to the Iron Bank knowing of it, or at least having a similar interest.

2. Keyholders. The world book information tells us something about "keyholders" of Braavos. The city used to keep their stuff cached in mines and mine tunnels - the beginnings of the Iron Bank. Back in the day, the city had certain men having keys into those "vaults". They were "keyholders". Families prided themselves of having a keyholder within their family. This has mostly become a ceremonial feature: families having keys is a sign of prestige. The HoBaW is built on a knoll with deep tunnels, and the kindly man has a "key" which he wears ceremonially, rather than functionally. And thus readers have come to the conclusion that the kindly man is a "keyholder". But keyholders are an Iron Bank thing.  So, yet again we have an Iron Bank-FM connection.

Basically you can see Braavos as having 3 geopolitical factions at work who are interrelated with one another:

1. Diplomatic and ceremonial relations: the Sealord

2. Economical: the Iron Bank

3. Secret Service (intel gathering and assassinations): the FM

To the outside world (Westerosi), they seem to behave as being independent of one another. In reality they cooperate with or influence one another. And the Sealord is the least powerful of them.

We see this in Arya's Mercy chapter. The Sealord entertains KL's envoy. This is odd, since Swyft isn't seeking to make some agreement on custom payments for sailors, but seeking to renegotiate with the Iron Bank about the loan to the Iron Throne. The Sealord doesn't decide for the Iron Bank. He doesn't speak for the IB. And yet, he (and the Black Pearl) is the one to entertain Swyft. But it seems to work on Swyft, seemingly entertained and feeling special and important. Meanwhile the Iron Bank with whom he has to negotiate do not entertain him or accompany him. They literally are not "on his side". And then Arya represents the FM, who's on some sort of mission to "make trouble for the envoy and the Sealord". Note: she puts a "key" in one of her pockets that she never uses.

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On 5/20/2020 at 5:25 PM, Megorova said:

Jaquen killed Pate because he needed to take Pate's place at the Citadel. He needed access to the Citadel, the key alone was not enough.

I'm not an expert on the passage of time in ASOIAF, but Jaqen-as-Pate is still at the Citadel when Sam arrives. Why couldn't he just have taken whatever book he needed quickly and gotten out?

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2 hours ago, Takiedevushkikakzvezdy said:

I'm not an expert on the passage of time in ASOIAF, but Jaqen-as-Pate is still at the Citadel when Sam arrives. Why couldn't he just have taken whatever book he needed quickly and gotten out?

Because it's not just the book he needs. FM's job is not just to assassinate, but to spy and pass on news to head quarters. Marwyn seems to have instructed fake Pate how to use the glass candle in Sam's last chapter. There's stuff still smelling of being burned in the cooking pot in the room Marwyn drags Sam into - same room where the glass candle is. Pate is with Marwyn. The glass candle's light is on, and Marwyn confirms he used th candle to listen into what Sam told Alleras/Sarella. It seems a puny thing to make a burned sacrifice just to eavesdrop a freshly arrived novice who's intent on telling you everything anyway. That befits more as a what Marwyn presumed to be a rather safe "instruction lesson". Quaithe also proved that glass candles can be used to communicate with someone. On top of that Pate also resides in the raven tower, with maester Walgrave as a senile, and thus not much control and checks on who reads incoming raven messages or sends them. Staying in Westeros duing storm season and being able in a position to read whatever news occurs in Westeros via raven message as well as glass candle, and then use the glass candle to communicate to head quarters seems like a useful thing to do, no?

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20 hours ago, Takiedevushkikakzvezdy said:

I'm not an expert on the passage of time in ASOIAF, but Jaqen-as-Pate is still at the Citadel when Sam arrives. Why couldn't he just have taken whatever book he needed quickly and gotten out?

What @sweetsunray wrote above. It's not book or books that Jaquen is after, what he needs is an unrestricted access to information - to be able to read correspondence between the Crown and the Citadel, and other important people of 7K and the Citadel, and to be able to use whatever magic is available to maesters (first he needs to learn it, and as Pate he's in the right place to do that). Also, having access to glass candle, he can know even more, not only what Cersei, or Kevan, or Stannis, or whoever decided to write to maesters, but also what they didn't wrote, but what important events were happening wherever each of them were.

Furthermore, I think that whatever Jaquen's real mission is, it's somehow connected to whatever Euron is doing. Could be that FM are working for Euron, or that they were working with him in the near past (one of them, maybe it was Jaquen, killed Balon Greyjoy, Euron's older brother, who was the King of Ironborn, and thus helped Euron to become the King).

I think that Quaithe is Shiera Seastar and the Three-Eyed Crow, and that in the past maester Marwyn, Euron Greyjoy and Mirri Maz Duur were her apprentices (they learned magic from her). Could be that Euron's nickname is the Crow's Eye because he is the third eye of the Three-Eyed Crow. One of Euron's eyes, the one he keeps covered, could be connected thru blood magic to Quaithe. Whatever Euron sees with that eye, she is also able to see. And he is covering that eye, because he betrayed her, left, and now he is pursuing his own goals, using everything that he learned from her. Her goal is to stop the Long Night, while his goal is to use the Long Night for his own gain. He thinks that he will be able to control or to defeat the Others, and thru that to become the King of everything. Quaithe is the only one who can stop him, thus he needs to kill her. Though, most likely, even though she taught him to use glass candles, he can't find where she is, because she's using some sort of magic to hide herself. Could be that Urrathon Nightwalker is Euron, because of similarity between Euron and Urrathon Goodbrother (Theon seems to be a parallel to Torgon Greyiron, the King's son who was absent during kingsmoot).

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Urrathon_Night-Walker

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Urrathon_IV_Goodbrother

Maester Marwyn is still serving to Quaithe, thus thru him Jaquen, who was sent there by Euron, will be able to find whereever Quaithe is hiding, or what is she planning to do.

So, in my opinion, there is three reasons why Pate-Jaquen is still at the Citadel, and isn't going anywhere in the near future - 1. access to information (correspondence, books, documents, magic), 2. access to maester Marwyn, and thru him to Quaithe, 3. could be that, besides serving to Euron, Faceless Men are also pursuing their own goal. Even though they serve to the God of Death, and their moto is Every man must die, they don't want Apocalypse to happen. Thus, eventually they plan to stop Euron. And to do that they need to find the Promised Prince. Could be that one of the reasons why Euron sent Jaquen to the Citadel, is to find out who the Promised Prince is. Though, instead of giving that information to Euron, Faceless Men are going to keep it for themselves, and later to help the Prince to save the world. One of grand maesters at the Citadel is safekeeping an old armor, that belonged to a prince, and a lock of blond hair. I think that that prince was Rhaegar, and that besides those two items, there's also a letter or a document, in which it is written that Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark were expecting a child, and that Rhaegar declared that child his heir. Thus, Lyanna's child is the Promised Prince, and Euron, Quaithe and Faceless Men want to get him.

Even if there is no document or a letter with that armor, if that lock of hair is Rhaegar's, then, I think, that thru usage of blood magic it is possible to find Rhaegar's child, by creating magic link between that lock of hair, that has a common DNA with a child, and that child (Jon), in which case that lock of hair will act like a compass, that will reveal Jon's location.

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On 5/22/2020 at 7:29 PM, Van Gogh said:
  • Rosey's mom.  I do not actually think Pate is a bad catch for Rosey but moms think highly of their daughters.  
  • The faceless man wants to study at the citadel.  

This too is a good motive.  After all, this man is only doing what Alleras is already doing.  How many times has this stunt been tried at the Citadel over the centuries is countless.

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In ADWD 14 (Tyrion IV), we have this:

Ten years ago, Tyrion had read a fragment of Unnatural History ... And of course there was even less chance of his coming on the fragmentary, anonymous, blood-soaked tome sometimes called Blood and Fire and sometimes The Death of Dragons , the only surviving copy of which was supposedly hidden away in a locked vault beneath the Citadel.

My hunch is that this is what Jaqen is looking for.  Braavosi hate dragons.  As soon as they learned about Daenerys' hatchlings, they would have started looking for ways to slay them.

Jaquen wouldn't know exactly where to find the book.  Disguised as Pate, he can take some time to learn his way around the Citadel while posing as a novice doing various mundane tasks.  

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As a general thing regarding the FM, I just saw this;

"Anyone?" she repeated. "A man, a woman, a little baby, or Lord Tywin, or the High Septon, or your father?"

"A man's sire is long dead, but if he did live, and did you know his name, he would die at your command." (Arya IX, ACoK 47)

While we see the other FM say that they can't bring the gift to someone they know, Jaqen is going counter to that. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/21/2020 at 1:06 AM, Pontius Pilate said:

Somebody who wants the same girl.  Rosie has a secret admirer.

Rosey's momma.  She gave a faceless stranger a free beer and let him know this flunky wants to elope with her daughter.  She might have mentioned it casually to the man.  He took it upon himself to return her kindness with an assassination. 

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Littlefinger gives us the impression that the faceless men are just expensive assassins

Quote

Littlefinger shrugged. “Titles are cheap. The Faceless Men are expensive."

AGoT Ch. 33 Eddard VIII

Grand Maester Pycelle was the first to propse the Faceless men, and Cressen notes that they know how to make a rare and deadly poison.

But Littlefinger is a treacherous liar, and what we learn about the Faceless Men from Arya suggests that just giving them money and a name is not how they work at all. 

Looking at the proposal made in Ch.30, makes me suspect it was Pycelle that ordered the Lysene wineseller. The poisoner might be beneath contempt in his book, but it is the first tool he reaches for in this instance. 

I suspect too that Petyr rolls his eyes at Pycelle's ignorance, knowing very well that the the last thing Robert Baratheon wants to do is trade coins with the faceless men of Braavos. He exploits that ignorance to build Eddard's trust and give him the impression Petyr is in his corner, talking the rest of the council out of that impossible scheme.

The point about the assassination Arya carried out seems to be that a lot of shipowners will have no insurance to collect on if their ships are destroyed. If the target had a re-insurance deal with, say, the bank of Braavos, it would mean the Bank of Braavos would not have to pay out on his business, although it would also mean they no longer got his business. The one clint we see, the prosperous shipowner, is from Westeros (Gulltown? The colours and symbols on his cothes seem a bit Royce-like) and the coin that did the damage was a gold dragon - possibly one with the head of a Targaryen king on it. 

We know Pate's coin had a Targaryen on it, and the mission was not just to kill the mark, but to bring about a change of ruler. Walgrave is the Seneschal of the citidel. Pate stole the key, and the faceless man stole Pate.

Arya bought her passage to Braavos with a coin no Braavosi would take from her, and 

Quote

The friendly ones would tap their chests, repeating their names over and over until Arya said them back, though none ever thought to ask her name.

AFfC Ch6 Arya I

While the unfriendly ones had as little to do with her as possible. 

Captain Ternisio Terys takes her straight to the island in the middle of thw city without waiting for the customs inspectors. He doesn't delegate the task, although he clearly does have other things to do. He gives Arya his name again on leaving, and tells her any man of Braavos would have done the same.

Clearly, the way the faceless men use coins has little to do with buying and selling. No man who knows about them wants their coins, or wants to know their names. Some seem hopeful that, if their name should be discussed at the table of the faceless men, at least that one will say “I know this man,” rather than “I will give this man the gift, I know him not.”

 The tradespeople of Braavos (Brusco, ) are very quick to serve the Faceless Men, no questions asked, but I get the impression they don't really want to, even though they have no complaints, ask for nothing in return, and give their names like they know their whole lives depend on it. 

It is one thing to make a binder, and another to pay it. Maybe it is as simple as - this man did not pay the binder and the wife of a dead sailor named him when she went to seek the gift for herself in the House of Black and White. Or maybe the Kindly Man was making a general observation about contracting debts.

There seems to be rules about who is marked and chosen, though. Lots of discussion at the table in the House of Black and White. 

Jaqen is compelled by the rules, even when the choosing is done by a bewildered little girl who doesn't know the rules

Quote

“A man pays his debts. A man owes three.”


“Three?”


“The Red God has his due, sweet girl, and only death may pay for life. This girl took three that were his. This girl must give three in their places. Speak the names, and a man will do the rest.”

ACoK Ch.30 Arya VII

There was onion soup when Jaqen has Arya benefit from Harrenhal's change from King Joffrey to King Robb. Onion soup again when she assassinates the insurance salesman. 

I'm pretty sure the onion soup thing was already planned by the Brave Companions before Jaqen bought in for the sake of getting his three friends on the winning side. 

Quote

“A goat has no loyalty. Soon a wolf banner is raised here, I think. But first a man would hear a certain name unsaid.”


“I take back the name.” Arya chewed her lip. “Do I still have a third death?”


“A girl is greedy.” Jaqen touched one of the dead guards and showed her his bloody fingers. “Here is three and there is four and eight more lie dead below. The debt is paid.”


“The debt is paid,” Arya agreed reluctantly. She felt a little sad. Now she was just a mouse again.


“A god has his due. And now a man must die.” A strange smile touched the lips of Jaqen H’ghar.


“Die?” she said, confused. What did he mean? “But I unsaid the name. You don’t need to die now.”


“I do. My time is done.”

ACoK Ch.47 Arya IX

Jaqen killed one of the guards while setting Robett Glover free, so only three lives by his hand. Rorge and Biter took out seven between them.

After his friends were set up, Jaqen changed his face.

The Kindly Man tells Arya that it is not for her to decide who dies

Quote

“It is not for you to say who shall live and who shall die. That gift belongs to Him of Many Faces. We are but his servants, sworn to do his will.”

AFfC Ch.22 Arya II

Jaqen gave Arya the choice of three lives because she had stolen three lives from the Red God. So presumably the Red God is also He of Many Faces.

Quote

“All gods have their instruments, men and women who serve them and help to work their will on earth. The slaves were not crying out to a hundred different gods, as it seemed, but to one god with a hundred different faces … and he was that god’s instrument. That very night he chose the most wretched of the slaves, the one who had prayed most earnestly for release, and freed him from his bondage. The first gift had been given.”

AFfC Ch.22 Arya II

The Kindly Man did not tell the tale of the masters getting the gift, and it seems the first Faceless Man picked what seemed to him to be the most wretched slave. Quite subjective and arbitary, the way it is told.

There is a hint that regime change was his purpose, when the Kindly Man explained there was slave revolts, but the Valyrian sorcery meant they didn't change things much. 

I am guessing the most wretched slave is the one that is the most effective instrument of his master's will against his own, but who knows how the First Faceless Man defined 'wretched'. We do know that there were escapees, and the escaped slaves formed a hidden colony that became Braavos, and Valyria met its Doom and the cursed fires still burn over its remains.

But then, the Free Cities still had slaves, they and Westeros still had rulers of Valyrian blood, and Valyrian sorcery did not end with the Doom. The end of Valyria seems to have been a good thing to the Ghiscari, who also had wretched slaves.

Being a Faceless Person doesn't stop Arya killing Daeron for defying his Lord Commander, her brother. It doesn't stop her checking her list. As far as I can tell, she doesn't have to confine herself to those marked and chosen. She does now kill on the kindly man's command, though she works out the methods for herself.

It doesn't seem like progress. Like,  she is as ruthless as Aller Deem, and unlike Bronn, she never asks 'How much?'

The Faceless Men do seem to be working for regime change, or at least, serving a master that is (eg. The Iron Bank). Murder of the lowest and least seems an unlikely way to go about it, but that seems to be thier modus operandi.

I am wondering if it is a coincidence that a Faceless Man of Braavos turns up in Oldtown just before Sam arrives on the Cinnamon Wind via Braavos, and as one of Marwyn's entourage.

Pate's function is to look after the ravens. Perhaps that is why Pate. Or perhaps the Iron Key marks one that is chosen to die, as the Iron coin marks one that is chosen to serve? 

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