Game of Thrones: Was S5 Jaqen H’ghar the Same Man Who Met Arya in S2?

Summary:

• The S2 and S5 Jaqen H’ghars could be separate men since their personalities were very different and in the books, the OG Jaqen was still in Westeros.
• They could also be the same person as Arya’s assignments in Braavos were related to her list, and there was only one Jaqen H’ghar Face Mask.
• This question boils down to which option you prefer, and Arya Stark really wanted to believe it was her old friend from Season 2 teaching her.

Young Arya Stark considered Jaqen H’ghar her friend when the two spent some time together and he invited the girl to Braavos. Little did she know that Jaqen H’ghar had never existed in the first place, and even when her future mentor explained that he was a No One, Arya didn’t grasp the concept and kept referring to him as Jaqen.

Later, when the girl arrived at the House of Black and White, she met a No One wearing Jaqen H’ghar’s face once again and began studying the craft of the Faceless Men under his mentorship. But was it the same No One or a different one?

Could It Be the Original Jaqen H’ghar Still?

While the Faceless Men change Face Masks easier than common people change gloves, there are a few arguments in favor of Arya encountering her old friend in Braavos in Season 5 instead of meeting an entirely different No One.

First and foremost, the original Season 2 Jaqen H’ghar specifically suggested Arya go to Braavos and learn the Faceless Men’s craft to finish her list which he knew of. During her time in the House of Black and White in Season 5, Arya received two assignments that were relevant for her list.

One was an insurance fraudster who worked near the dock. Soon after Arya received the assignment, a Westeros ship arrived at said dock, and list member Meryn Trant was on it. Second, Arya was tasked to kill an actress who portrayed Cersei Lannister — and Cersei was on the girl’s list, too.

Apart from that, there’s a logistic issue. If the OG Jaqen H’ghar was still in Westeros, how did he pass his Face Mask along so that a different No One could wear it? We highly doubt the Faceless Men use raven mail for intercontinental mask deliveries.

Could It Be Another No One Wearing Jaqen’s Face?

Personal matters and logistics, there’s still a good chance that the Season 5 Jaqen H’ghar was a completely different person. The assassin from Season 2 could have indeed turned in his Face Mask along with the instructions about Arya Stark.

The personalities of the two Faceless Men Arya met were very different. The original Jaqen H’ghar was down-to-earth and humorous, an easy fellow to get along with. At the same time, the “second” Jaqen was grim and serious and didn’t have a single funny bone in his body. All he cared about was his craft and Arya’s studies.

But the strongest argument in favor of Arya meeting a different No One in the House of Black and White comes from George Martin ’s books. In A Song of Ice and Fire, Arya Stark studies under another Faceless Man she calls “the Kindly Man,” and the good old Jaqen H’ghar is still in Westeros, completing his assignment in Oldtown.

Book lore and show lore are famously different, though, so there’s an equal chance of Arya meeting the same and a different No One in Braavos. It’s the matter of what you want to believe in — and Arya Stark definitely wanted to believe it was her old friend who taught her the assassin’s craft.