The idiot named Syrio Forel

[SERWIC]

I lean towards Syrio being dead. However you guys argued the case very poorly.

1) the practice swords were weighted so a 5lb long sword wont be any slower than a 5lb practice sword

2) Its easy to pick up an immobile object with out looking directly at it if you know where it is.

I think

A) Syrio didn't keep track of the where swords feel because the swords in the hands of the men still fighting seemed more important at the moment and

B) Syrio thought the armored Trant was still more than he could handle with a sword he wasn't used to and he didn't want Trant to be able to say he'd beat him while he was armed.

... did not realize B) was an emote

[DireWolfSpirit]

If he's a FM it's not Jaquen.

Dude is a good 6" shorter than Jaquen.

Changing faces doesn't change your height.

[Stannis in the middle]

why on earth would someone revive this thread...

[Mythrel]

one more time people, Syrio is dead ,dead,dead,DEAD

now i watch your hopes crash and burn :devil:

:agree:

[bemused]

If he's a FM it's not Jaquen.

Dude is a good 6" shorter than Jaquen.

Changing faces doesn't change your height.

We don't know what a face change does , exactly.. but we do know that a glamour can make you appear taller, shorter, heavier etc., etc. ... We see this when Jon spars with Mance as Rattleshirt . Jon keeps thinking things like - Rattleshirt has a longer reach than he would have expected, seems to be able to put more body weight into his blows than he appears to have , and so on.

There are signs that Jaqen was using a glamour in Harrenhall, and signs that the Alchemist is using a glamour in Oldtown .

And when considering a true face change, should we assume that both the Ugly Girl and Mercy have exactly the same height and body weight as Arya? I don't think we know enough to be sure of that.

If we are dealing with one FM, from Syrio to Jaqen to Alchemist , the real person might be slightly taller than Syrio and slightly shorter than Jaqen ... who's to say ?

Going back to earlier comments about the room - there are obviously two entrances ; the main one , used by Trant and the Lannister guards, and a servants / service entrance used by Arya. Trant & co. didn't come through the kitchens.

I don't think it's wise to be so sure "Syrio" is dead. All he would need to do would be to trip Trant up for a few seconds. During that time he could be out a door , hiding until Trant leaves .. and perhaps other options, depending on GRRM's imagination. We know Trant's helm protects him , but it also impedes his vision.

There is no doubt that GRRM has written all the little Syrio maxims and bits of advice that come to Arya's mind during her escape in such a way that some of them could be "small whispers" that she actually hears from an outside source. We don't know what George's intention was (to mislead or leave a clue) , but we can be very sure he purposely wrote them that way.

I agree that Syrio was buying time for Arya to get away , and since he did, what would Trant do, once Arya was gone ? We know he didn't go clattering down the stairs in his armour after her. She doesn't hear any pursuit.

I think it's only logical to assume that in order to apprehend her quickly, and save his own bacon, he'd be off to report her escape ASAP. And we do see that by the time Arya gets to the stables, the stable boy knows the Queen will reward him for her capture. I don't think such a general order would have gone out before the whole operation got under way, or the Starks might have been forewarned.

Accounting for Syrio , after the fact, would not be Trant's first order of business.