  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Valar Morghulis | „ |
| ~ A phrase associated with the Faceless Men. |
| “ | Do you have any idea how costly they are? You could hire an army of common sellswords for half the price, and that's for a merchant. I don't dare think what they might ask for a princess. | „ |
| ~ Lord Petyr Baelish on the price of Faceless Men assassinations. |
| “ | Are you a god, to decide who should live and who should die? We give the gift to those marked by Him of Many Faces, after prayers and sacrifice. So has it always been, from the beginning. [...] All men must die. We are but death's instruments, not death himself. When you slew the singer, you took god's powers on yourself. We kill men, but we do not presume to judge them. | „ |
| ~ The Kindly Man |
| “ | However, there is in this city a certain...guild, let us say...whose members are very skilled at their chosen profession. They could not destroy King's Landing, nor fill its streets with corpses. But they could kill...a few. A well-chosen few. | „ |
| ~ The Sealord of Braavos threatening to hire the Faceless Men to assassinate the Targaryens. |
| “ | The Faceless Men don't post a list of prices on their door. The way it works, you go to them and tell them who you want killed, and then they negotiate the price. The more prominent the victim, the more difficult to get to, the more dangerous for the assassin and the guild, the higher the price. | „ |
| ~ George R.R. Martin on the Faceless Men. |
The Faceless Men are supporting characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. They are a mysterious but religious and fairly old society, guild, and cult of assassins who reside in the Free City of Braavos and are based in the House of Black and White, though they are believed to have originated during the time of the Valyrian Freehold. The Faceless Men are known to worship a deity of death called the Many-Faced God.
The Faceless Men are usually symbolized by the colors black and white, and a common phrase associated with the cult is valar morghulis (High Valyrian: All men must die). The traditional response to the phrase is valar dohaeris, or All men must serve. Well-known members of the cult are the Kindly Man, Jaqen H'ghar, the Waif, and Arya Stark.
History[]
Origin[]
The Faceless Men originated in the volcanic slave mines of the Fourteen Flames of Old Valyria, prior to the founding of Braavos and the Doom. According to a tale, the cult's beginnings are centered around an unknown figure who is known as the first and original Faceless Man. During his time in the slave mines, he heard various slaves praying to various gods, leading the man to conclude that they all prayed to the same god with "hundred different faces" called the Many-Faced God. Believing himself to be "that god's instrument," this led him to give the most desperate slave the "first Gift".
Later, when he discovered another slave frequently making a prayer for the death of his Valyrian master, the man granted his prayer in exchange for the slave joining him in serving the Many-Faced God. Eventually, thousands of other slaves came to develop the same belief as the first Faceless Man, as while they came from different regions and followed their respective religions, they were all fundamentally the same since they worshipped death in some fashion. In time, they came to develop a syncretic belief system where they worshipped the Many-Faced God.
Seeing the horrible conditions of their fellow slaves, the first Faceless Men began giving them "Gift" in order to ease their pain. They would come to learn on giving it by their cruel "Valyrian masters, becoming expert assassins in the process. The led scholars to believe that the cause of the Doom of Valyria was due to the too many assassinations of the mages who maintained the spells used to control the Fourteen Flames.
Centuries later, following the Doom of Valyria, the Faceless Men that survived the apocalyptic disaster permanently relocated to the city of Braavos, which was originally built in secrecy by slaves who had rejected Valyrian rule and had escaped from Valyria. The Braavosi welcomed the Faceless men, now ex-slaves, into their city, as they also oppose the Valyrians. In their new home, the Faceless Men established a firm headquarters that would be known by many as the House of Black and White.
Early history[]
Centuries later, following the Doom of Valyria, the Faceless Men that survived the apocalyptic disaster permanently relocated to the city of Braavos, which was originally built in secrecy by slaves who had rejected Valyrian rule and had escaped from Valyria. The Braavosi welcomed the Faceless men, now ex-slaves, into their city, as they also oppose the Valyrians. In their new home, the Faceless Men established a firm headquarters that would be known by many as the House of Black and White.
When Prince Harlan Hoare, the son of King Qhorwyn Hoare, died after allegedly falling from his horse, it was suggested that Harlan's younger brother, Harwyn Hoare, was to blame, while others believed that a Faceless Man was responsible for Harlan's death.
After the Dragon's Wroth, in which King Aegon I Targaryen and his sister-wife Queen Visenya Targaryen unleashed mass destruction on Dorne following the death of Queen Rhaenys Targaryen, Princess Deria Martell, the daughter of Prince Nymor Martell, was sent to bring terms of peace to King Aegon. As Aegon was about to refuse the peace terms, Deria handed him a private letter from her father. The contents of the letter are of much speculation. According to Grand Maester Clegg, Prince Nymor threatened to spend all of Dorne's wealth to hire the Faceless Men to murder Aegon's son and heir, Prince Aenys, a contract bound to be fulfilled unless King Aegon would back down.
After an unknown half-naked woman killed Septon Moon, a leader of the Faith Militant, by slitting his throat, some believed that the woman was one of the Faceless Men. This claim was supported when they cited her sudden disappearance as if she "melted into the night" and also by the fact that Septon Moon's guards have no knowledge of what she looks like. This was doubted by scholars, however, as the Faceless Men are more subtle in their work, as they ensure that their assassinations will look like their targets suffered a natural death.
Ever since Elissa Farman had stolen three dragon eggs and taken them with her to Braavos, Septon Barth, the Hand of the King to Jaehaerys I Targaryen, went to treat with the Sealord of Braavos, whom Elissa had sold the eggs to in order to secure the funds for the construction of her dream ship, the Sun Chaser. During the ensuing confrontation, Barth threatened that King Jaehaerys would respond with dragon fire should the eggs hatch, and the Sealord retorted back by threatening to hire the Faceless Men to kill the Targaryens, due to the fact that the Braavosi have a long and bitter history with the Valyrians and House Targaryen itself is of Valyrian origin.
According to court fool Mushroom, Ser Denys Harte hired the Faceless Men to assassinate a rival in King's Landing. Many attribute the deaths of Lysandro the Magnificent in Lys and Drazenko Rogare in Sunspear to the Faceless Men, since the powerful brothers died within a day of each other.
Religion[]
Aside from the Faceless Men, followers of the Many-Faced God consider death to be part of the natural order of things and a merciful end to suffering. According to the guild, their god is present in many religions under different names. They claim he is called the Black Goat in Qohor, the Lion of Night in Yi Ti, and the Stranger in the Faith of the Seven. However, as there are other statues of gods in the House of Black and White, such as the Horse God of the Dothraki, the Many-Faced God is also called by many other names. These include the Weeping Lady of Lys, the Moon-Pale Maiden, Bakkalon of Essos, and the Merling King of the Narrow Sea. In the Game of Thrones TV series, other names include the Old Gods of the northern region of Westeros, the Drowned God of the Iron Islands, and R'hllor, the Lord of Light.
Every morning at dawn, one of the priests leads the acolytes and novices in prayer as they kneel around the black pool. There is another prayer in the evening. Other than that, there are no formal services, songs, or paeans to the god. Sometimes a worshipper will ask to speak with a priest, who will meet with them in the sanctum. The priests of the Many-Faced God wear cowled robes that have black on the right side and white on the left. The robes of the acolytes have no cowls and are black on the left side and white on the right. Novices wear a black and white robe with a black undertunic, while Servants of the Temple wear a tunic of undyed wool, baggy breeches, linen smallclothes, and cloth slippers. Blind acolytes are common in the House of Black and White.
House of Black and White[]
The House of Black and White as it appears in the TV series.
The House of Black and White is a temple dedicated to the Many-Faced God and is the home and headquarters of the Faceless Men. It sits upon a rocky knoll made of dark grey stone. It has no windows and a black tile roof, while its carved wooden doors are twelve feet high. The left door is made of weirwood, while the right is made of ebony. In the center of the doors is a carved moon face ebony on weirwood and weirwood on ebony. The steep steps of the temple are made of grey stone and lead down to the shadowed dock. Besides the front door, there are also secret tunnels and hidden passages that allow entry to the House of Black and White. A winding stair leads to the garret, and a steep wooden ladder reaches the rooftop's door and a windy perch.
The doors of the House of Black and White.
The temple proper has rows of long stone benches and a rough stone floor, and hard stone beds are located in shuttered alcoves at the walls. In the center of a large sanctuary is a black pool of poisoned water ten feet across, lit by dim red candles. Statues of many death gods stand around the room. There are tall statues of thirty gods in all. Among them are Bakkalon, the Black Goat of Qohor, the Hooded Wayfarer, the Horse God, the Lion of Night, the Merling King, the Moon-Pale Maiden, the Stranger, and the Weeping Woman. There are no services or songs of worship within the temple. There are also small alcoves along the walls that contain stone beds. Some alcoves, called "dreaming couches," have special candles that bring visions of the past for a sweet and gentle death.
Some visiting worshippers light candles for their god, then drink from the poisoned pool using a stone cup, then lie in one of the alcoves. The religious order refills the fountain with poison, sometimes referred to as "the Gift" of the Many-Faced God, so that drinking from the fountain leads to a painless death. When a body is found, it is checked to see if the person is completely dead, and then serving men will take the body down into the vaults. The acolytes will strip and wash the bodies, which are then taken to a lower sanctum where only the priests may go.
The third level features the many faces/masks of the dead.
The knoll upon which the House of Black and White sits holds many passageways cut from the rock, with a maze of vaults and tunnels located beneath the temple proper. The vaults and storerooms contain armament and clothing; the possessions of people who die in the temple are separated by the servants. The sleeping cells of priests and acolytes are located on the first level beneath the main floor, while the sleeping cells for the servants are on the second. On the third level of the temple lies the holy sanctum, which is only available and accessible to priests. A heavy iron door leads to steps that descend below the canal. At the bottom, another iron door leads to a chamber filled with a collection of hanging faces used as disguises by the Faceless Men. In the TV series, it is called The Hall of Faces. One side passage is walled with bones and supported by columns of skulls, and another passage leads to steps that descend even further.
Inner workings and assassinations[]
The Faceless Men will agree to kill anyone in the known world for a price, considering this contract to be a sacrament of their god. However, as they have philosophical and religious motivations, this will lead them to reject commissions, but only if they clash with those motivations. The price of assassinations is always high or dear, but within the means of the person if they are willing to make the sacrifice. The cost of their services also depends on the prominence and security of the target.
Being an elite group of followers within the House of Black and White, the Faceless Men are trained to perform this task. Only a few Faceless Men have been women. Even more rarely would they train a child. They are trained to use all their senses to root out deception and create disguises, seemingly possessing magical abilities that allow them to change their appearance at will. Discarding their true identity in a nihilistic way and thinking of themselves as "no one" is also part of the training.
Whenever they have to discuss potential assignments and dole out contract assassinations, Faceless Men will convene in a chamber in the House of Black and White for discussions and assignments. While discussing potential deaths, they speak in Braavosi, though some of them may speak in High Valyrian. Debates can also be heated. If they are unfamiliar with a certain target, then that's the only time when a Faceless Man will accept an assignment.
When killing their targets, the Faceless Men use a variety of methods, including a poison called the strangler. The assassination technique of a Faceless Man must not be haphazard, killing only the intended target, the only one "marked and chosen" by the Many-Faced God. Their fee is for a precise killing, often looking like an accident, rather than an outright murder. They consider it best if the target never even notices the assassin. A novice must perform an assassination correctly before becoming an acolyte and receiving their first apprenticeship.
The Faceless Men cure the faces of the dead who come to die in their sanctuary, hanging these skins in deep vaults below the temple as masks, which they would use to disguise themselves during assassination contracts. However, these are more than simple leather masks. The wearer drinks a tart-flavored potion, and their face is cut, causing blood to stream over their features. When the new face is applied, it is moistened by the blood, becoming soft and supple. The magic causes the wearer to look exactly like the original person's appearance, including broken teeth or other injuries. (Though they themselves cannot tell the difference, sensing only their own face and features.) When the faces is first applied, the wearer may experience some of the memories of the dead person and may dream of those memories as nightmares.
To help their disguises, the Faceless Men often use sorcerous glamors and mummers' tricks. Clothing that is taken from the dead and stored in the vaults of the House of the Undying can be found to match the disguise. If a Faceless Man gives a special iron coin to any man of Braavos and says "valar morghulis," that Braavosi who received the coin will then obey him, responding "valar dohaeris".
Gallery[]
.png "Coins of the faceless men (alternate).png (184 KB)")
External Links[]
- Faceless Men on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Faceless Men on the Game of Thrones Wiki.
