A man talks about his return to Game of Thrones

On this past Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones, a man who hadn’t appeared on the show since Season 2 returned. If you don’t know who that man is, best stop reading now. If you watched, you know that’s it’s Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha), the soft-spoken assassin who helped Arya bump off her enemies during her stay in Harrenhal.

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, Wlaschiha sat down with a Entertainment Weekly to talk about what his return means, starting with how it’ll affect Arya’s story. Arya has grown since she and Jaqen parted ways back in “Valar Morghulis.” Now that she’s arrived in Braavos and gained admittance to the mysterious House of Black and White, her relationship with Jaqen will change.

What was important to me was when we left Arya at the end of season 2, you could almost get the impression [Arya and Jaqen H’ghar] were friends…I thought it would be fun to start the new season with a different vibe. Even though she’s found him, she’s grown up and is much more conscious in her choices. So he is going to teach her, as promised, but he is not going to make it easy for her. We will learn different sides of Jaqen and how the whole group at the House works.

At the moment, it looks like Arya’s story will follow the same outline it does in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels: she’ll be trained in the ways of the Faceless Men and learn how to become a professional killer, a terrifying prospect for a girl with so much revenge on her mind. If Wlaschiha’s interview is any indication, the show will preserve the Faceless Men’s unique philosophy, which combines murder with charity.

The Faceless Men are a somewhat religious sect and they worship the Many-Faced God—it was a bit confusing for me at times. There are many deities and I never figured some out. Some of the Faceless Men work as assassins and will kill people for a very high price. But they’re not common killers. They also are able to hand out the gift of death to people who are sick, or in need. It’s like the ultimate merciful gift. And what I like about the House of Black and White and Faceless Men is they’re both outside of things. For them, everybody is equal. It doesn’t matter if somebody is powerful or poor. They have a gift to give and they will give it regardless of who that person is.

I like that Game of Thrones hasn’t ironed out the interesting wrinkles related to the Faceless Men as described in the books. Also, it’s charming to hear Wlaschiha admit to confusion over the multiplicity of gods in this world. There are a lot of them, and I know that a few fans, especially those who haven’t read the novels, sometimes have trouble keeping them all straight. Jaqen H’ghar is right there with you.

The Entertainment Weekly article covers a couple of other topics, including how Wlaschiha is occasionally approached by random people who say “Valar Morghulis” to him, which could be construed as a threat if you think about it. The other prize quote from the interview, however, comes when Wlaschiha talks about Jaqen’s visit to Westeros back in Season 2. “And we still don’t know why he surfaced in first place. He was a prisoner in King’s Landing. Why was he there? Was it all part of a bigger plan and, if so, who is behind it? I like that his character is so mysterious.”

These are questions that have yet to be answered in the books. The fact that Wlaschiha is talking about them indicates that the show may address them, which isn’t something I expected. Things are further complicated by the fact that, in the books, Jaqen’s whereabouts are unknown (although fans have their theories), so the show may get to dive into this topic before the books have a chance.

Finally, Wlaschiha addressed another popular fan theory in an interview with Vulture. That website asked Wlaschiha whether Jaqen was, in fact, Syrio Forel, Arya’s beloved dancing master who presumably died back in Season 1. “I have no idea!” he said. “I don’t think so, but I couldn’t give you any good reasons why not. They both certainly have a different function in the story for Arya. They both teach her important things, over a certain period of time. I think it would be too easy. I don’t think they’re the same. But who knows? Syrio’s face could be underneath Jaqen’s face. We don’t know. Jaqen is no one.”

• Published on 04/21/2015 at 12:01 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:05 PM CDT