Game Of Thrones: 13 Crazy Fan Theories That Could Actually Be True

On the, um, face of it, the Faceless Men are one of the coolest concepts in Game of Thrones. A mysterious band of religious assassins who can take on any number of different appearances and kill without ever being noticed, they should be really interesting and exciting.

Unfortunately, the concept hasn't quite managed to turn into a story with real meat on the bones, especially in the show. There, it's been all centred on Jaqen H'ghar, and Arya's misguided plot. It's similar in the books, but with a bit more mystery to it.

At the Citadel, a novice by the name of Pate encounters a character known as the Aclhemist, the description of whom matches that of Jaqen. The Alchemist boasts he can turn iron into gold, and offers Pate a gold coin in return for the iron key of Archmaester Walgrave. The novice eventually agrees, but when they complete the transaction the Alchemist has him bite down on the coin, and when Pate leaves he ends up falling to the ground and dying.

Later, however, Sam Tarly is introduced to a novice, with the same features as Pate. He listens to Sam's tales of the Others and dragonglass and so on, and offers him a sleeping cell beneath his own, near the chambers of Walgrave.

There are a couple of key quotes that clinch the idea that the novice Sam meets is a Faceless Man, and probably Jaqen. For one, when he meets Sam, he introduces himself as "Pate like the pig boy", while the actual Pate hated that description. Meanwhile, the Alchemist tells Pate of his identity: "[I'm] a stranger. No one. Truly."

But what do the Faceless Men want in Oldtown? Well, being agents of death, the conspiracy theory is that they're infiltrating the Maesters and working in league with the Others. They want to bring 'peace' to the world, and that means killing everyone, so Jaqen is entering the Citadel to discover the secrets that will allow them to invade Westeros.

Another possible motive is that it doesn't quite go that far, but instead they want to research dragon lore, in order to kill Daenerys' dragons. Why? The Faceless Men originated as mercy killers for slaves in Valyria, so they're out for revenge on the beasts that helped enforce the slavery.

Muddying the waters further at the Citadel is the presence of Alleras, widely believed to be the Sand Snake Sarella (reverse the spelling). Alleras is training to be a Maester, and since women cannot enter the Citadel, the disguise is necessary for Sarella. Meanwhile, 'he' claims to have a Dornishman for a father, is "no Lord's son", and has similar features to Oberyn. So, accepting this is Sarella, why would she infiltrate the Citadel? Just to become a Maester, or to help get revenge on her father? Admittedly this stands separate from the Faceless Men conspiracy, but the presence of both is intriguing, and Alleras surely has more to play for than a Maester's chain. One likely possibility is that it's to get close to Marwyn the Mage, who is something of an outlier among Archmaesters, since he dabbles in magic and researches shadowbinders and such like, and is off to help Daenerys, which might give a clue to Alleras' larger purpose.