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Who will Arya be sent to assasinate?


TheeMikeHoncho

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In my opinion this is the most open ended cliffhanger of ADWD. Who is the mark?

a couple more questions on this topic-

Is Izembaro a person or place? Who are the current suspects if it is a person?

My suspects for Izembaro (if indeed it turns out to be a person)

- Pate, the pig boy. aka Jaqen, the obvious choice

- Missendei, she joined up as a slave (good cover and appropriate to the history of the FM), her speech patterns follow the way the waif, the kindly man, and Jaqen talk. Plus i thought it was rather suspicious the ease in which she snuck up on Barristan in ADWD when he was thinking outloud about Dany leaving for Westeros. That cannot be an easy feat. I know he is old, but he is a legendary Kingsguard. Seems to me that job requires a great deal of observational skills, kind of like a secret service agent.

Who else could be Izembaro? Thoughts.......

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King Tommen: Stannis has sent Ser Justin Massey to Braavos, to buy sellswords for the march south. By the time he arrives, Arya may have finished with her training, and be ready for a contract. The other clue can be found in the final chapter of ADWD. Little Tommen recalls seeing a black cat (death omen?) outside his windowsil. Arya is called the Cat of the Canals.

Queen Daenerys: The House of Black and White has positioned itself as the enemy of all things Valyria and dragons (having been founded by slaves fleeing the expansion of the Freehold and founding Braavos as a santuary from the dragons). Now, Daenerys Taragryen has raised three dragons to monstrous size, and signifies the return of the conquering Valyrian. We suspect that they've already sent the Alchemist to Oldtown, to recover an ancient book detailing how to defeat a dragon. But they also need to kill Dany herself. While the Volanteens and the Ghiscari are sending lands and sea armies to attack Meereen, the Faceless Men may send an innocent little girl to slip past Dany's defences and get the job done.

Robert Arryn: If there's one man in Westeros with enough coin to hire a Faceless Man, it's Littlefinger. After wedding Harrold Hardyn to Alayne Stone, only the meek little Lord of the Eryie prevents him from complete domination of the Vale. This would also provide a chance for Arya and Sansa (both of whom have taken on secret identities) to be reunited. Seeing Sansa again, would reawaken the real Arya Stark.

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Robert Arryn: If there's one man in Westeros with enough coin to hire a Faceless Man, it's Littlefinger. After wedding Harrold Hardyn to Alayne Stone, only the meek little Lord of the Eryie prevents him from complete domination of the Vale. This would also provide a chance for Arya and Sansa (both of whom have taken on secret identities) to be reunited. Seeing Sansa again, would reawaken the real Arya Stark.

I strongly disagree with this one. The Faceless Men don't have a fixed price, it's not the case that only a wealthy person can afford them. The Faceless Men take a great deal of what is valuable to you, proportional to your wealth. For Robert it would be half the realm, for LF it would be something equally valuable to him. For a man with no money, if might be his child, or his hands, or perhaps his own life. For a merchant it might be his ship. Wasting a lot of money on a FM to kill Sweetrobin would be pointless as the child is already weak and frail. He could poison him easily, he could wait to see if he dies or he could arrange an accident, all for far less than hiring one of the greatest assassins in the world.

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:agree:

It's a bit of an overkill in my opinion for Petyr to hire a Faceless man to kill Robert. It might be King Tommen, though, since I bet it would get some sort of reaction from Arya. Jaqen/Alchemist is rather less of a good idea for her contract. First of all, there is no way in hell she could assassinate Jaqen, and second of all, I see no reason for the Faceless Men to try to assassinate him (unless Jaqen has forsaken the Faceless Men, which could be the reason why the Kindly Man won't recognize his name, and why he tells Arya that she now owes three deaths to the 'Red God', and not to the Many-Faced-God). I also don't entirely see why they would want Daenerys dead. First of all, the Facelss Men have no political interests of themselves, and they only kill for contract. And for the Braavosi-hating-dragons part, I think they used to mind Valyria more than the dragons themselves. The biggest Braavosi ideaology is anti-slavery, and Dany is freeing slaves all over the world. So if they do have interests, it will counter-productive for the Braavosi.

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Cersei. Iron Bank is somehow associated with the FM or they can afford The Price. So, Iron Bank "hires" FM. Since Arya is Westerosi and knows King's Landing, they send her on her first major hit mission. Arya is the valonquor (sp?). Valyrian (like dragons) is sexless (speculation), so little brother could mean little sister....

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Cersei. Iron Bank is somehow associated with the FM or they can afford The Price. So, Iron Bank "hires" FM. Since Arya is Westerosi and knows King's Landing, they send her on her first major hit mission. Arya is the valonquor (sp?). Valyrian (like dragons) is sexless (speculation), so little brother could mean little sister....

According to some of those on the boards who know more about Valyrian than I do, apparently only some words in Valyrian are genderless, so I think it is unlikely to be little sister. Though I too thought that it might be genderless at first.

There is also the matter that, IIRC the FM aren't supposed to kill people they know.

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There is also the matter that, IIRC the FM aren't supposed to kill people they know.

Exactly. Arya couldnt kill Tommen, Cercei, Jaqen (or Pate). Did you forget the meeting at the HBW where they discussed men and said I know this man, then I do not know this man I will give him the gift.

Jaqen told Arya she owed The Red god because she saved them from burning. He is in Old Town for the Blood Soaked Tomb as Tyrion called it. I forget the title. But His encounters with Marwyn were just a perfect coincidence. By being around him he learns all type of stuff by basically being a fly on the wall. I think they want the book to know how to control the dragons since they can probably guess Dany has no clue what she is doing. AND if Euron did hire a FM they probably can see now that he is a Terror to the World and if he can control dragons Woe to World. He will make slaves and war and destruction. They might send Arya to kill him since she did not join the order til aftter Euron hired them(if he did)

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Yep. Littlefinger is already killing Robyn with sweetmilk.

Who is she contracted to kill? Wow, anyone I think of has weaknesses. Who would give up so much to have Sansa killed? Nobody.

Dany? Her dragons have already killed a few innocents, so that's a possibility. That's my top choice I suppose.

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:agree:

It's a bit of an overkill in my opinion for Petyr to hire a Faceless man to kill Robert. It might be King Tommen, though, since I bet it would get some sort of reaction from Arya. Jaqen/Alchemist is rather less of a good idea for her contract. First of all, there is no way in hell she could assassinate Jaqen, and second of all, I see no reason for the Faceless Men to try to assassinate him (unless Jaqen has forsaken the Faceless Men, which could be the reason why the Kindly Man won't recognize his name, and why he tells Arya that she now owes three deaths to the 'Red God', and not to the Many-Faced-God). I also don't entirely see why they would want Daenerys dead. First of all, the Facelss Men have no political interests of themselves, and they only kill for contract. And for the Braavosi-hating-dragons part, I think they used to mind Valyria more than the dragons themselves. The biggest Braavosi ideaology is anti-slavery, and Dany is freeing slaves all over the world. So if they do have interests, it will counter-productive for the Braavosi.

When he says Red God it could be referring to the fact that the three of them were going to burn alive iirc

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Does anyone else find it odd that a FM won't kill someone they know / knew? These are people who are trying to be no one / anyone. They shouldn't care whether they know a person or not. I'm of the opinion that the FM do kill people they know and that we all are reading way to much into what is only a few separate lines from a single conversation. I have been wrong before though.

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I think the FM just forget who they were, so knowing people or not is a bit different. I don't know the exact reason for that, and I have no solid speculation, so beats me.

And I was thinking the same thing about the Red God and burning, but it could be either way. Perhaps R'hllor is one of the aspects of the Many-Faced-God in the FM's opinion.

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Does there have to be a logical reason for a rule? There definitely isn't in all the religions we see around us, even if I think it's logical to have a rule for the FM not to kill someone they know - it's simply easier to kill someone you don't know than someone you know. And also don't forget that this is not something that's only internally known among the FM but at least common knowledge in Braavos.

Why do you think all the sailors on the ship that took Arya to Braavos were so thorough in making sure she learned their names? It may be simple superstition but in practise it meant that they made sure she wouldn't be able to kill them when she's become an FM.

Regarding Jaqen's (my :cool4: ) reference to the Red God, isn't that only in the TV show (don't have ACOK around right now)? So it may be a simplification by the scriptwriters since they were after all saved from a death by fire.

And regarding Izembaro, my impression was that it's a person Arya will be sent to train with. And personally I don't think it's someone in the vicinity of a major target such as Daenerys or Tommen. Even if Arya has pulled off her first hit she's not ready for that kind of heat just yet. That said - I can be wrong just as anyone...

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When he says Red God it could be referring to the fact that the three of them were going to burn alive iirc

Does there have to be a logical reason for a rule? There definitely isn't in all the religions we see around us, even if I think it's logical to have a rule for the FM not to kill someone they know - it's simply easier to kill someone you don't know than someone you know. And also don't forget that this is not something that's only internally known among the FM but at least common knowledge in Braavos.

Why do you think all the sailors on the ship that took Arya to Braavos were so thorough in making sure she learned their names? It may be simple superstition but in practise it meant that they made sure she wouldn't be able to kill them when she's become an FM.

Regarding Jaqen's (my :cool4: ) reference to the Red God, isn't that only in the TV show (don't have ACOK around right now)? So it may be a simplification by the scriptwriters since they were after all saved from a death by fire.

And regarding Izembaro, my impression was that it's a person Arya will be sent to train with. And personally I don't think it's someone in the vicinity of a major target such as Daenerys or Tommen. Even if Arya has pulled off her first hit she's not ready for that kind of heat just yet. That said - I can be wrong just as anyone...

The Red God comment was in the book as well as the show, and there is some debate as to whether Jaqen is operating outside of his remit with he FM or not. The two most popular answers are either that the Red God is more important to Jaqen, as he seems to put extra emphasis on R'hllor, or that Jaqen is just referring to he, Biter and Rorge being saved from the fire.

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Does anyone else find it odd that a FM won't kill someone they know / knew? These are people who are trying to be no one / anyone. They shouldn't care whether they know a person or not. I'm of the opinion that the FM do kill people they know and that we all are reading way to much into what is only a few separate lines from a single conversation. I have been wrong before though.

My personal guess is that it would be related to being "no-one," whether it is important that they are not recognized in any way or whether it is important that they don't recognize someone who could cause them to remember "who" they are/were.

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I'm thinking Arya might go to Pentos, since at the end of ADWD there's so much pressure about it. There's Illyrio and his own lust for power in Westeros and there's the Tattered Prince who wants Pentos for himself. I'm also 200% sure that Izambaro is not an already known character. Perhaps he's one of the Faceless Men Arya sees coming and going from the House of Black and White, but I don't really consider that 'known.' Izambaro can even not be a Faceless Man, since none of them really have names. Perhaps he's just their associate who's supposed to only teach Arya of a certain aspect of assassinating. But that's just an idea. Izambaro might just be a recent name for one of the FM.

I like your theory, Jaqen, about the sailors on the ship that took Arya to Braavos. It makes very good sense, very solid.

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The biggest Braavosi ideaology is anti-slavery, and Dany is freeing slaves all over the world. So if they do have interests, it will counter-productive for the Braavosi.

This actually got me thinking on a different line what if jaqen is there in citadel to get the book which teaches how to kill a dragon so that it does not fall in wrong hands.

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I like your theory, Jaqen, about the sailors on the ship that took Arya to Braavos. It makes very good sense, very solid.

To me it's pretty obvious that they wanted her to learn their names to make it impossible for her to kill them in the future. They all knew "who" she was - someone who had paid for the passage with the iron coin used by the FM accompanied by the phrase "Valar Morghulis", and thus that she was someone they might have reason to "fear" in the future.

Therefore they all spoke to her and made sure she learned their names, which according to what we know would then make it impossible for her to accept an assignment to award any of them "The Gift". So I think we can establish that at least among Braavosi it is common knowledge that the FM do not kill someone they know.

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To me it's pretty obvious that they wanted her to learn their names to make it impossible for her to kill them in the future. They all knew "who" she was - someone who had paid for the passage with the iron coin used by the FM accompanied by the phrase "Valar Morghulis", and thus that she was someone they might have reason to "fear" in the future.

Therefore they all spoke to her and made sure she learned their names, which according to what we know would then make it impossible for her to accept an assignment to award any of them "The Gift". So I think we can establish that at least among Braavosi it is common knowledge that the FM do not kill someone they know.

True, true. Though the coin she gives the captain is just the square iron coin of Braavos, and we know that since when Arya poisons the insurance guy we see he is given square iron coins. I think it's the two of them combined, the coin and saying 'Valar Morghulis' together symbolizes a man of the FM. Though that may be troublesome, since anyone can do that, I think.

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