A Man Without a Face, the Squid King and a Drowned Crow (Spoilers Extended)
In this post, I want to explore the possibility that Jaqen H'ghar is the same Faceless Man that assassinates Balon Greyjoy.
It is heavily implied that Balon Greyjoy is killed by a Faceless Man at the behest of Euron Greyjoy:
I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings. -ASOS, Arya IV
and:
"Balon Greyjoy?" Catelyn's heart skipped a beat. "You are telling us that Balon Greyjoy is dead?"
The shabby little captain nodded. "You know how Pyke's built on a headland, and part on rocks and islands off the shore, with bridges between? The way I heard it in Lordsport, there was a blow coming in from the west, rain and thunder, and old King Balon was crossing one of them bridges when the wind got hold of it and just tore the thing to pieces. He washed up two days later, all bloated and broken. Crabs ate his eyes, I hear." -ASOS, Catelyn V
and:
Victarion shuddered. "Show me this dragon's egg."
"I threw it in the sea during one of my dark moods." Euron gave a shrug. "It comes to me that the Reader was not wrong. Too large a fleet could never hold together over such a distance. The voyage is too long, too perilous. Only our finest ships and crews could hope to sail to Slaver's Bay and back. The Iron Fleet." -AFFC, The Reaver
and:
Oh, and Balon was the third, but you knew that. I could not do the deed myself, but it was my hand that pushed him off the bridge.” -TWOW, The Forsaken
Euron then magically turns up at Pyke the day after Balon is killed.
It is also heavily implied that Jaqen is the Alchemist as well:
"I do. My time is done." Jaqen passed a hand down his face from forehead to chin, and where it went he changed. His cheeks grew fuller, his eyes closer; his nose hooked, a scar appeared on his right cheek where no scar had been before. And when he shook his head, his long straight hair, half red and half white, dissolved away to reveal a cap of tight black curls. -ACOK, Arya IX
and:
He was just a man, and his face was just a face. A young man's face, ordinary, with full cheeks and the shadow of a beard. A scar showed faintly on his right cheek. He had a hooked nose, and a mat of dense black hair that curled tightly around his ears. It was not a face Pate recognized. "I do not know you." -AFFC, Prologue
So if we assume for this post that is a Faceless Man, lets see what other evidence is available.
#Timeline
Using the awesome and extremely accurate (but imperfect) Timeline we have the following information:
~August 16, 299 AC (ACOK, Arya IX) in which Jaqen leaves:
"Jaqen is as dead as Arry," he said sadly, "and I have promises to keep. Valar morghulis, Arya Stark. Say it again." -ACOK, Arya IX
~a few days before February 3, 300 AC (AFFC, Prologue) in which Pate meets the Alchemist:
The alchemist had bowed his head, and said, "If you should reconsider, I shall return here three days hence, with my dragon." -AFFC, Prologue
Around 5.5 months go by between when Jaqen leaves Arya and the Alchemist meets Pate.
then:
~somewhat before November 15, 299 AC Balon is killed. We hear about it in AFFC, The Prophet and ASOS, Catelyn V.
Therefore it happened almost right in the middle of the two events. Due to travel, perils, etc. it would be hard to pull, off but it is definitely possible and not ruled out by the timeline.
#Other Evidence
- The Wording of "A Man" in "A man without a face": While it most likely had to be worded this way to make sense and not just say a "faceless man", it also alludes to Jaqen in the sense that he is from Lorath:
An essential part of their doctrine was an extreme abnegation of self; only by freeing themselves of human vanity could men hope to become one with the godhood. Accordingly, the Boash'i put aside even their own names, and spoke of themselves as "a man" or "a woman" rather than say "I" or "me" or "mine." Though the cult of the Blind God withered and died out more than a thousand years ago, certain of these habits of speech endure even now in Lorath, where men and women of the noble classes regard it as inutterably vulgar to speak of one's self directly. -TWOIAF, The Free Cities: Lorath
and:
"This man has the honor to be Jaqen H'ghar, once of the Free City of Lorath. This man's discourteous companions are named Rorge and Biter. A lord will know which is Biter." He waved a hand toward Arya. "And here—" -ACOK, Arya IX
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Euron/Dragon Egg/Oldtown/Death of Dragons/etc.: Sure it could a big coincidence, but there are so many little things tying these together in one plotline
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Duties of Faceless Man: Unless he is a rogue FM, their job is to bring the gift of death/assassinate. Jaqen left Arya bc he "had promises to keep". Which implies (at least to me), an assassination job.
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Occam's Razor: Jaqen is the only confirmed Faceless Man in Westeros. While the world of ASOIAF is vast and rich, it seems unlikely that a random FM kills Balon for a dragon egg and then a couple months later turns up in Oldtown seemingly after The Death of Dragons
#Evidence Against
- Jaqen's Conversation with Arya
"If you would learn, you must come with me."
Arya grew hesitant. "Where?"
"Far and away, across the narrow sea."
"I can't. I have to go home. To Winterfell."
"Then we must part," he said, "for I have duties too." He lifted her hand and pressed a small coin into her palm. "Here." -ACOK, Arya IX
Which can be read a few different ways imo. That said, if he ended up in Oldtown a few months later, him heading back to Braavos in between is just as problematic.
- Logistics: While the timeline doesn't rule it out, it requires Jaqen meeting with Euron after leaving Harrenhall, and other details which make it a little messy if true. But Euron does show up again the very next day, as if he knew exactly when the assassination would happen.
"The day after, we had heard. Silence was still out to sea when Balon died, or so it is claimed. Even so, I will agree that Euron's return was . . . timely, shall we say?" -AFFC, The Kraken's Daughter
What do you think? Obviously the true answer probably lies with what exactly he was doing in KL/The Black Cells (but that isn't the goal of this post lol).
If he did kill Balon and acquire a dragon egg, the FM are much more involved in the endgame plot than it seems.
TLDR: Its possible that Jaqen killed Balon Greyjoy.
Posted Nov 23, 2019, 4:45 PM UTC · edited