Spoilers Game of Thrones - Season 7

[137th Gebirg]

The IB are probably scared shitless of them.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

The IB are probably scared shitless of them.

Exactly this. The Iron Bank may be able to buy all the mercenaries in the world, and those could probably overpower/destroy the House itself, but they can't catch Faceless Men because they can't identify them and anyone who participated would just wind up dying painfully one by one. Even if they could catch and kill everyone in the house they have no way of knowing if there are others who may come for revenge, let alone finding or stopping them.

 

[Reverend]

More to the point: the mere existence of the Faceless Men would be of enormous benefit to the Iron Bank when it comes to particularly stubborn debtors. They don't even have to use them. Just being there would be enough in most cases.

 

[DigificWriter]

I was under the impression that the Faceless Men and the House of White and Black are an "urban legend", in which case there's no guarantee that the Iron Bank would even know of - or believe in - their existence.

 

[Captaindemotion]

It seems odd that such a powerful group, which could potentially undermine the investments of the Iron Bank, should be quartered in the same city without any apparent friction between the two.

Well, the Mafia, UN and Wall Street are all in the same city!

 

[dahj]

I was under the impression that the Faceless Men and the House of White and Black are an "urban legend"

Their temple is kinda too big to miss...

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Well, the Mafia, UN and Wall Street are all in the same city!

Not to mention Trump Tower. I sense a conspiracy theory in the making...

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Their temple is kinda too big to miss...

Sure, but does anyone know what's actually in there and for whom? Arya only knew about it because of Jaqen.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I suspect the relationship between the IB & FM is one of pure symbiosis. The FB's most lucrative contracts probably come from the IB. Both sides would see it as foolish and woefully self-destructive to be aggressive and intimidating towards each other. I think, at the end of the day, the leadership of both organizations are populated with disciplined adults with a strength for engaging in "good business".

 

[Thestral]

Speaking of the Iron Bank and Braavos in general, does it strike anyone else as weird that Cersei would use "Daenerys is disrupting your slave investments" considering Braavos was founded by escaped slaves?

 

[Reverend]

Sure, but does anyone know what's actually in there and for whom? Arya only knew about it because of Jaqen.

The Braavosi Captain that brought Arya across the sea, took her right up to the front door. All of that and a cabin to herself all because she had an iron coin and said two words to him. Jaqen H'ghar even said anyone from Braavos would know what this means. Even the street thugs knew to run away at the mere sight of a Faceless Man. Clearly, it's no secret in Braavos.

 

[bbjeg]

Their temple is kinda too big to miss...

Sure, but does anyone know what's actually in there and for whom? Arya only knew about it because of Jaqen.

There's a phrase that you could
tell any sailor from there to bring you to them. The Iron Bank has got to know about them.

ETA: Ninja'd

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The Braavosi Captain that brought Arya across the sea, took her right up to the front door. All of that and a cabin to herself all because she had an iron coin and said two words to him. Jaqen H'ghar even said anyone from Braavos would know what this means. Even the street thugs knew to run away at the mere sight of a Faceless Man. Clearly, it's no secret in Braavos.

There's a phrase that you could
tell any sailor from there to bring you to them. The Iron Bank has got to know about them.

ETA: Ninja'd

For the show, yes, but in the books, the coin is only for free and courteous passage to Braavos. The captain's son rows her to shore before arriving to avoid customs and then she makes here own way to the House of Black and White (I don't recall how she found it).

 

[Venardhi]

Who says there isn't friction? For the most part the services that the Faceless Men offer are too costly for political or economic use though.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Who says there isn't friction? For the most part the services that the Faceless Men offer are too costly for political or economic use though.

Perhaps there's been MAD-type standoff between the Faceless Men and the IB for centuries but now the Faceless Men are using Arya to undermine the IB and its support for slavery. Or are the Faceless Men not supposed to have any agenda beyond their religious devotion?

 

[Reverend]

For the show, yes, but in the books, the coin is only for free and courteous passage to Braavos. The captain's son rows her to shore before arriving to avoid customs and then she makes here own way to the House of Black and White (I don't recall how she found it).

Nevertheless, just that any random Braavosi Captain would see that coin and know it means free passage without compensation (so far as we know anyway) must mean they all know who gives those coins out and why it's not a good idea to refuse them.

Then there's the small matter that the first of the Faceless founded the free city of Braavos after fleeing Valyria...according to the faceless men anyway.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Perhaps there's been MAD-type standoff between the Faceless Men and the IB for centuries but now the Faceless Men are using Arya to undermine the IB and its support for slavery. Or are the Faceless Men not supposed to have any agenda beyond their religious devotion?

The latter, if I recall their precepts properly. The FM are apolitical. People come to them, pray to their respective gods for retribution, pay what they can afford and the FM goes off and conducts their business, regardless of the ideologies and motivations involved. Jacquin Hagal very much wanted to drive that point home to Arya who didn't think the murder of one of her marks was the right thing to do. They are all "no one", and "no one" has no agendas and judgments regarding a job. Such agendas would compromise the "purity" of their tradecraft and to the FM, reputation is precisely everything. If anyone believed they were slipping or in any way going lax on their established values, everyone from the IB down to the Second Sons would come to Braavos to wipe them all out.

 

[Mr Awe]

^ That makes it sound like they'll be after Arya then for stealing and misusing their craft. Sounds reasonable.

 

[Mr Awe]

The army was moving on a heavily traveled trade route that may well even be paved in places. That does make it seem unlikely that no one would have gotten word to them of the majority of the Lannister host moving south however.

Varys, you have ONE job, c'mon man.

Or, is Varys the spy in Danys midst that helped Euron find her fleet so easily?

 

[Vandervecken]

I can't believe the Faceless Men as an order and the IB are in conflict. The Faceless Men do their deeds for money. Symbiosis is inherent in their functioning, but their purposes are not in conflict (as they would be with, say, the High Sparrow and Sparrows, or a fascist ruler, or a smash-it-all conqueror). But I also doubt they are particularly connected.

I would really love it if, somehow, the Faceless Men had been subverted by the Night King--and not magically, but through paid human agents on the southern side of the wall. I would like it very much if the force that projects itself through the dead in the north was a strategizer and not just an overwhelm-them-by-brute-force thing. What if killing off the Freys, for example, merely weakened the north? Who is that good for?

I am sure Martin didn't go there (haven't read books though), but it'd be cool, IMO.