Simple Answers to 5 Complicated Questions About Game of Thrones’ Most Boring Storyline

Out of all the storylines in Game of Thrones, one always struck fans as the most uneventful, and frustrating to watch. Many fans admitted to fast-forwarding Arya’s House of Black and White scenes upon rewatch, and we don’t blame them: the majority of this arc consists of extremely boring and unnecessarily long scenes.

Thanks to its inability to keep the audience’s attention focused, the House of Black and White arc remains a blank spot for many fans who still believe in the most popular misconceptions about it. Here’s what really went down — just so you don’t have to genuinely rewatch that boredom fest ever again and still know the truth.

Who Are the Faceless Men?

The Faceless Men are the servants of the Many-Faced God, Death. They are unmatched assassins capable of assuming others’ identities; but to do so, they have to stop being who they were before serving the Many-Faced God. Since “everyone dies,” one must become a “No One” to truly serve Death without limitations.

The Faceless Men completely dissociate from their personalities and traits, shedding them like dead skin after exhaustive training. They do not need their identities as those only prevent them from being efficient.

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There are no personal choices and convictions the Faceless Men follow: all they do is dictated by the Many-Faced God.

What Are the Face Masks?

To fully disguise themselves as other people, the Faceless Men use special Face Masks. Despite the scenes that implied taking the facial skin from the dead, the Face Masks are more than that: they are created with powerful magic known only by the Faceless Men as these artifacts allow them to fully embrace their “new” identities.

Arya Stark managed to learn the craft of creating the Face Masks as proven by the fact that she made a Walder Frey mask for herself. Most likely, the many hours she spent working with the dead in the House of Black and White were directly related to that. This implies that a dead body is indeed required to make a Face Mask.

Why Did Arya Go Blind?

After murdering Meryn Trant, one of the primary targets on her list, Arya went temporarily blind. Many fans think it was due to the potion Jaqen H’ghar gave her as punishment for committing a self-motivated murder, but that wasn’t the case. Jaqen never punished Arya for that and even explained the reasons behind her blindness.

The Face Masks are complex magical artifacts with strict requirements for their wearers, and only a true No One can wear them. At the time of Meryn Trant’s murder, Arya was a long way away from becoming a No One, so the Mask’s magic itself punished her for using the Many-Faced God’s tools before she was ready.

Did Arya Become a No One?

Unlike the other Faceless Men we saw, Arya Stark found it extremely hard to dissociate from her true self. Her strong personality and convictions prevented her from shedding her identity, and for a long time, she couldn’t even understand the concept of a No One: that’s why she still treated Jaqen H’ghar as an actual person.

The murder of the Waif proved that Arya became a No One, according to Jaqen H’ghar. She rejected her ascension to the ranks of the Faceless Men, but her identity was never the same as most of Arya Stark was gone forever. That’s the reason why later, she was capable of wearing the Face Masks with no negative consequences.

Why Did Arya Leave the House of Black and White?

After choosing to not become one of the Faceless Men, Arya set off on her own journey. She did not lose her identity entirely but learned to shed it, and her personality was clearly altered by that fact, let alone her skills as an assassin. She could call upon her inner Arya when needed, but other than that, she was a No One.

Arya chose to use her new skills to serve her family instead of the Many-Faced God. Interestingly enough, the No One we know as Jaqen H’ghar seemingly approved of that choice: he told her what she “must” do to join the Faceless Men but he never said that she “should” do that. When No One known as Arya left, he was smiling.