An Old, Almost Forgotten Character May Be Returning to Game of Thrones This Week, Validating a Fan Theory
It has become Paste policy not only to warn you of potential Game of Thrones spoilers when they’re about to happen, but to bridge the warning and the actual spoiler content with a sweet Westerosi .gif. Today, we offer you a rare treat: Mace “The Ace” Tyrell delighting the citizens of Braavos with a song:
Spoilers from here on out! Don’t read if you don’t want to know! You have only yourself to blame! Curiosity killed the cat!
Many Game of Thrones theories have been created under the auspices of a truism: If you don’t see a character die, don’t believe he or she is dead.
We didn’t see Benjen Stark die, and it turned out he was alive—to some degree. Ditto for the Hound. Some people believe Stannis Baratheon, the one true king, is still among the living, and others take it to absurd lengths and say the same about Hodor. (And, yes, sometimes even dead characters aren’t really dead, but that’s rare enough that we’ll ignore it for now). Basically, if you don’t see the knife plunged into the body or the head rolling around Baelor’s Sept, anything is possible.
Such was the case for a rather minor character from season one named Syrio Forel. You remember—he was the one-time first sword of Braavos, hired by Ned Stark to teach Arya the ways of the water dance, ie sword fighting. He wasn’t around for long, but, speaking objectively, the guy was f***ing awesome. You can watch his final scene here. Notice that when Arya flees, the camera stays with her, and we never see Forel die.
Shortly after, as Arya escapes north with Yoren of the Night’s Watch, she meets a man named Jaqen H’ghar, a criminal from the free cities who is kept in a cage. Eventually, she saves his life, and learns that he is a Faceless Man. One thing leads to another, and as we’ve seen over the past two seasons, she’s been training with him to become an assassin herself.
