Chris Cheng Yeah I've heard that one, but I don't think that theory is true. It just seems to obvious, both Braavos and everything. And I don't know why Syrio would have any reason not to tell Arya who he is as Jaqen. Still, its fun to think about
Yeah, I don't think it's true. But I feel like he is a very underrated character in the books, and the actor who plays him did quite a job and won me over :D
Syrio is such an excellent teacher. He doesn't reprimanded Arya for not wanting to practice, but still manages to get her into the lesson. He wants to take her mind off her troubles for a little while and imparts wisdom to her so she can learn how to stand even when she can't
He slays this scene: 1) it's great advice 2) he knows how to channel her energy from distraction into training. And to use training as a means of coping with her serious life issues 3) he clearly cares about his student and wants her to succeed in life
well this aged rather well on 07/19/2024 when the blue screen of death, after an apparent security software update, grounded airlines and disrupted business.
"My tongue lied, my eyes shouted the truth" One of the best characters in the story, and he managed to be so awesome in such a short time. "What do we say to the god of Death?" ... "Not today." Long live the First Sword of Braavos!
I hear a metal sword hitting the floor and the sound of many men screaming, not the sound of a wooden sword or a dual between two men. it sounds like death, the death of many.
That's because the first sword of Braavos is also Jaquen H'gar! Trant ran away after he killed all the guards. Then he changed his face and put himself in a cell going to the Wall. So he could follow Arya!!!!!!!!!!!!
+Smith Smith When Arya is running away, I don't know about you, but I hear the sound of a metal sword hitting the floor...not the sound of a broken wood sword hitting the ground. This is Game of Thrones, they aren't shy about showing death...if Syrio Forel was dead, they'd have shown it. I think he knocked Meryn Fucking Trant out and escaped.
Well when arya runs away you hear a screaming AND a sword drop but listen well if you listen verry good do you hear the sworrd drop of a metal sword? or a wood sword? yea thats right a metal sword if A wood sword drops it will not make that sound and then the scream it didnt sound like syrio like AT ALL
For me the most telling thing that Syrio might actually be Jagen are these two lines of dialogue directed towards Arya. Syrio- "There is only one god and his name is death" Jagen- "There is only one god and a girl knows his name"
Travis Rubin not sure but syrio says "my tongue lied, my eyes shouted the truth". it reminded me of jaqen testing arya's honesty. unless that's just a braavosi thing
The character of Syrio Forel brings so much honour to the character and nature of drawing a sword against another. So well written and adapted to screenplay - very glad this scene was directed this way.
Reminds me of the warmaster, Gurney Halleck, in the book Dune: “Mood? What has *mood* to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises--no matter the mood! Mood’s a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset. It’s not for fighting.”
Whoever wrote the character of this swordsman and casted the actor, was genious. Actor was genius. Scene's are brilliant and heart wrenching. Haven't read the books or seen the show, but this one strikes me as one truly honorable, dedicated professional character in entire show / story.
POTENTIAL SPOILER !!!! 1:00 Syrio: "How can you be quick as a snake? As quiet as a shadow, when you are someone else?" 1:24 Syrio: "Do you pray to the gods?" Arya: "The old and the new." Syrio: "There is only one god and his name is Death, and there is only one thing we say to Death: "Not today". IS SYRIO FOREL JAQEN H'GHAR ???? Also Jaqen seems to know Arya when they first meet...how can he? Unless...?
aznxCOOLxguy There is a lot of sense here... I'd like to add a bit more: Have you ever wondered how did Jaqen gets into the jail? Have you ever though about Syrio not dying by Meryn Trant, but instead getting prisoner? It DOES make sense, but ANYWAY, Syrio and Jaqen have totally different personalities (Syrio doesn't seems to be an assassin), they also differ in height (I'm pretty sure)... But who knows...
aznxCOOLxguy there has been a theory about this already for years, since the books came out, Bravossi's usually do not come to Kings Landing, yet you get the most famous man in Bravos show up just when Robert dies, it is thought the faceless men were hired to kill Robert, so one of them went undercover at the castle as Syrio Forel, it is possible Jaqen is a possible Warg too, which is part of the theory, that he warged into a Boar which was what led to Roberts death, since drink alone wouldn't have done it, Robert was a big drinker and he could handle his drink and Jaqen would not come to the capital unless he was there for an assassination. Also Syrio calls her a boy when he meets her, then Jaqen does the same thing, he also leaves a clue later saying "give this coin to anyone in Bravos and they will bring you to me" meaning he is the most famous man in Bravos and everyone knows of him.
My guess: At the sound of a steel sword dropping, Arya turns her head back. The makers of the show probably timed that sword dropping and Arya's reaction on purpose. So, after Syrio disarms Meryn Fucking Trant, Meryn wets himself, jumps off the edge and luckily survives, which could explain why he is shown later in the story, while assuming the first sword of Braavosi would never run. And I guess the reason Syrio sent Arya away was because he didn't want to show the guards' gruesome deaths to a child. Jaqen H'ghar = Syrio Forel is also a pretty plausible theory. A couple clues are; Jaqen H'ghar says he always knew that Arya was a girl(everyone else thought she was a boy). And trivially, I heard that Syrio and Jaqen has some similarities while speaking, such as "Just so".
Bringman John A Faceless Man passing himself off as a Lorathi criminal named Jaqen H'ghar became a recruit of the Night's Watch, then joined the Brave Companions before changing his identity. .........now SPOILERS A man calling himself the Alchemist poisoned Novice Pate and presumably took his place at the Citadel. It seems that these identities are used by the same Faceless Man, since the appearance that Jaqen H'ghar assumes when he leaves Arya Stark is the same as that of the Alchemist
GIORGOS KAPETOURAKYS Moreover, he knows the name of Arya Stark since the beginning. ("Farewell... Arya Stark.") Except being former Syrio Forel, he couldn't know his name, right?
one of my favorite scenes from the entire series! A great lesson on mental toughness, focus and definiteness of purpose. Syrio Forel is the ultimate badass.
Well, good theory. To the question: why Meryn is still alive, the answer could be indeed that he fought with his sword made of wood, so he just knocked him down, as he did for the guards. And to the question why Meryn never said anything about that, we have got another potential answer: Meryn fears Cersei (in the second book with Tommen's case she almost wants him dead) so if he said that he failed to take Arya Stark and has been knocked out by a little man with a training sword, I don't think he would in the royal guard anymore.
I mean theres clearly more than one guy screaming and it doesnt sound like syrio so unless the dumbass lannister guards started hitting each other im pretty sure syrio picked up a sword or somehow tricked them into stabbing each other.
If you listen carefully you hear someone dropping a metal sword before the screaming. So I'm sure Syrio is alive ;) The First Sword of Bravos cannot be killed that easily :)
I agree, on all except for one thing, when Arya reach's the end of the hall you can hear a sword hit the ground, a wood sword wouldn't make that sounds. I'm guessing Syrio dissarmed him, then used his own sword to kill him and finish his men.
Harry Drake I dissagree. there is no other screaming that can be heard in the area during the entire scene. ALL of the screems are coming from that immediate area, not the surround whole area. I'm guessing Syrio is a boss and kill them all with that big guys own sword. A wood sword wouldn't make a tinging sound when hitting the ground, like the one heard when Arya turns around at the end of the hall
Atty J.J. or if the first episode of s6 ended with Syrio appearing from nowhere, saving arya from behind stabbing her attacker and saying ''not today''
imagine arya kills the waif and takes her face and underneath her face is aryas face, and that day arya is known to be dead in bravos, so she carries on her journey as no one(waif), as the episode name suggests
Spoiler. I think you're close. I believe Arya will not end up as No One. She will kill the waif but it won't be Arya that dies. I think the "not today" line will come up again.
Possible but no way is he Jaqen H'ghar. He presumably gave his life to protect her and Jaqen okay'd her death when she left the Faceless Men. They also have completely different mannerisms.
As a Braavosi, the cumbersome heft of a full steel longsword would have been more of a hindrance than a benefit to Syrio, as he is far more experienced with lighter weaponry.
The books were much gorier about this scene. He killed all of them except Meryn if I recall. He was gouging out eyes, slamming the lead filled sword into necks, it was my favorite part of AGOT
+ Dim Papanick books leave it with arya running out with syrio facing meryn with a broken sword like the series. Arya hears his battle cry as she runs out which could be what tht screaming is ... or he could be dead. up to martin if he wants to bring him back
2:23 "Watching is not seeing, dead girl." This scene was immediately after Littlefinger's betrayal of Ned Stark. This was no accident of the dialogue shown. Perfectly shows the backstabbing, lying, and games of Kings Landing and how everyone says one thing, but does another, and then you're dead. Had Ned truly seen through the motives of Varys, Baelish, Cersei, Renly, Jamie and many others in the capital, he could have lived & avoided so much. Sansa "There is no honor in tricks" Baelish "No honor, quite a bit of gold" Also, not to mention this all the sets the stage for her eyes later in the series when she's training with the many faced god.
Syrio is still one of my favorite characters from the show and books despite his brief appearance. I have never felt like they would go to the trouble of building up how bad ass he is in this scene simply to let him immediately die. As Arya runs away we hear a sword either falling to the ground or striking steel as well the sounds of more than one man screaming. Syrio wouldn't scream, and didn't have a sword. Soooo, unless those sounds were unrelated, it seems like he must have picked up a blade (in which case he most definitely escaped alive) or somehow disarmed the knight. The comment that Martin has made about him being dead don't necessarily mean anything. The series isn't over and he would be giving away a major revelation if he did intend to bring Syrio back.
The shouting and clanging steel was from the men on the staircase, not Syrio and the Kingsguard. In the book it distinctly says that, but the way it was shot in the TV show makes that a bit unclear. But since Ser Meryn Trant makes numerous appearances later in the series, it's obvious Syrio didn't kill him. If he had picked up a sword, Trant would certainly either have been maimed or killed, so best case scenario Syrio disarmed Trant or rendered him unconscious with his wooden sword and then left. But that seems a bit out of character, he would have gone to find Arya and protect her. Since he didn't, it's almost certain he lost the fight, and Trant would never have left him alive.
I read the book, and the passage there didn't seem to parallel what happened in the show very much. How would Syrio have found Arya to protect her? Nobody else was able to find her so if he survived - which is admittedly unlikely - he probably would have just escaped on his own because he had no other choice.
fakjbf And yet it's never spoken of again. So one continues to wonder. Since the show will end before the books, this is one instance where i would not mind the two mediums diverting and we see Syrio again.
The sound was Aria looking up the stairs to where the Stark chambers are. There are people being killed up there, which is why she chooses to run in a different direction.
@@obesechicken13 With what? The broken wooden sword? And honestly I could go on forever about how stupid it was that he was able to take down even nameless goons considering they were wearing armor and he had a practice sword, I don't care how skilled he is or how incompetent the bad guys have to be. GRRM loves his videogame logic where knights in armor are slow and clumsy and they get hard countered by a small quick fighter, See: Arya vs. Brienne. He tells a hell of a story but he doesn't care to know the first thing about medieval fighting.
To all the people complaning about Syrio not picking up a sword: Notice what he says to Arya concerning the god of death. He made Arya say "Not today" but Syrio never said it. Syrio accepted his death that day. His focus wasn't on killing the knight (Who'se name escapes me, Ser Myr or something) his focus was on keeping him busy long enough for Arya to escape. If Syrio picked up a sword he wasn't accustomed to, it would hinder him, slow him down. So Syrio must have focused on evading and distracting the knight long enough for Arya to escape.
Sword hitting the ground when she left was metal. After that, Syrio disappeared. Meryn isn't about to tell people that he got beat by a Braavosi with half a training sword, so he kept quiet about it. :DDDDDDDD
i really like the fact that the actor they got to play syrio had hair. i saw the "artist's rendition" on the wiki, and he just didn't have as much personality as this dude. sometimes changes are for the best, eh?
BoB n fishy True, true! But besides that: G.R.R. Martin said that he's totally okay with that change because the skills of the character are more important to him.
You have to appreciate the performance put forward by Maise/Arya. I honestly believe her depiction of Arya Stark is as good a performance as possible. Not even "starlets" could have done better.
Cool scene, but I have to say the fight as described in the book is even more awesome. A guardsman gets his eye stabbed out and Forel dodges a downward cut and the guy misses and slices open another Lannister!
Characters like him are the reason why i loved the starks and why they were crucial to their survival. Syrio taught her to be quick, to be attentive, and saved her from being captured. Sandor protected sansa from joffrey by advising her to play along, saved her from rapists, and even protected arya and taught her too.
Am I the only guy who thinks that he survived and killed them all? If you listen closely you will notice a sword being taken out (the grabs a guards sword) and then there is too much yelling.
+wolfjester44 you know, he had to have survived! if he wasn't still alive and killing then there'd be no reason for all the screaming and he couldn't very well go about butchering the downed men with the more skilled opponent attacking him.
+wolfjester44 That wouldn't explain why Meryn is alive then? I mean he would of been killed but later in the show and books hes alive which would not fit the theory.
I never understood while watching the show or reading the books, why syrio never carried a real sword with him, someone as good as him really should have been. he didnt pick one up off the ground because he wasn't proficient with those types of swords, so all the more reason to carry one with him that he could use because there weren't any like them in kings landing
he's at the point where he could fight all those five men in his sleep,... and when he's done, he can pick any one of them, and relive the fight in spectator mode. he doesn't need a sword.
Since Arya's lessons were being kept a secret, it's possible he didn't bring a sword because it would give him away. Bad idea to let any secrets slip in Kings Landing. That, or he had a sword and it simply wasn't with him during the lesson. Could've been hidden wherever he was sleeping.
He could have, but those are westerosi broad/long/straight swords, not Braavosi blades. And if he would have dropped his stick for even a second I'm sure mr. Kingsguard would have destroyed him, he had full head to toe armor on.
Encore vi The Kingsguard is in full plate, he is slow and telegraphs his movements. He is also very off-balance when he swings. It would be simple to dodge a blow, move and grab a sword from one of the downed guards and return to form in that time. Also, a sword is a sword in a survival situation and Syrio would not be picky about what cutting object he has when he is fighting. He could fight with any sword.
Lieutenant Fred someone wearing plate armor has actually a good amount of balance due to the extra 50-80 pounds of gear, Its amazingly hard to "off balance" a man who is fully armored
If you listen when Arya runs, you can hear the guardsmen screaming and the sound of swords cutting. Syrio must have picked up a sword and started doing his thing.
Reasons why he is alive:1. The obvious, "what do we say to the god of death part"2. After Arya leaves the place you hear a iron sword drop3. When Miltos Yerolemou (the actor who played Syrio Forel) was asked why he didn't pick up a sword from the ground, he said, "who said I didn't"
From the sounds of swords clashing for so long as Arya ran away is really impressive because to me it means Syrio managed to steal someone’s sword before Trant or the others could get up and stop him, and put up a damn good fight before Trant beat him. (Sometimes I think Syrio lived and got himself thrown in the black cells, and turned into Jaqen before Yoren went to recruit men for the Night’s Watch)
Syrio is a Faceless Man who killed all of them and then impersonated Meryn Trant, and then long after Arya killed her best friend thinking she was avenging him. But it wasn't that bad since Syrio was secretly a pedophile. Do it, D&D. You already raped Stannis' legacy. Now go assassinate another beloved character's character.
Bob Snow I like the theory that Syrio was Jaqen. Killed the Lannister guards, escaped Trant. Trant claimed that he had killed him since it would be humiliating for a Kingsguard to lose to some random Braavosi. Jaqen/Syrio then hid in the dungeons.
Let me give you hope then. In the last part of the video as you see Arya running through the castle with a torch, you hear a sword clank to the ground and a scream. Now, why would a wooden sword make a metallic sound? So, who dropped their sword and made Arya look back?
You're right. I think he is alive and well. I never believed that he dies. If you know what happened, please do not tell me. I am still watching and I will read the books soon.
She didn't look back. She reached a point where she could follow 2 paths. She heard Lannisters killing people on one of the paths (and the victims dropped their swords) so she went the other way. I want to believe too but it's unlikely.
Syrio Forrel was an amazing character. He was skilled, he knew his game, he was never afraid of anyone and apparently *worshipped* Death. He was a badass and a realist, with some honor.
The only thing I liked in Season 8 Jon's reunion with Ghost Arya saying Not Today to Melisandre about God of Death remembering her master Syrio Forel..
omg, stop toying with my brain, that would be the single most greatest untold truth in my GOT fantasy ;alowekfja;lfjikas;ojias;fsjdiaf;sdlfkja;fkja;ewojfasfdf
It's hard to imagine how the city watch captured Jaqen H'ghar, considering his skill. A theory I have is that, after defeating Ser Meryn, Syrio made his way out of the keep to assess the situation. After witnessing Yoren save Arya at Ned Starks execution, Syrio changed his face to jaqen's and proceeded to be captured by the City Watch to get recruited by the Night's watch in order to keep watch over Arya.
Yes, you may have heard a metal sword fall, but Sir Meryn Trant was still alive and killed later on, doubtful he would have escaped unless Sirio spared him
I regularly play dungeons and dragons and in just about every game I find some way to tell the god of death "not today". That saying has become a staple in the dnd world
I like how dramatic they made the fighting with the first guards. In the book its really emphasised how much Syrio was actually playing with Arya, and demonstrates the power he has.
Chuck Merry She wasn't much of a fighter at this point to begin with. Granted she defeated Joffery but he was a pushover. I don't think the Lannisters would have her killed.
Wing Adept She wouldn't need to fight. She would be able to use it to make her way through by defending from attacks/capture or some thing while running away from them.