The kindly man is the priest in charge of the House of Black and White, the temple of the Many-Faced God, and headquarters of the most feared assassin league in the known world, the Faceless Men. He met Arya Stark after she reached Braavos, and upon meeting her, he gave her many tasks, including learning to detect falsehood. He, alongside the waif, teaches Arya how to become an assassin. Though the kindly man had a name, he never gave it out, as he claimed to be no one, the perfect persona for a killer with no identity. When he meets Arya, he tries tricking her with an illusionary spell, but she sees through him and passes the test.
Appearance and Personality
The kindly man is wise and endearing, with a tall build and a gentle voice. He wears a cowled robe with two colors: white on the left and black on the right. He is the only servant at the temple of the Many-Faced God besides Arya, who knows Westeros’s common tongue. The kindly man salts his eggs and frequently chews orange rinds to sweeten his breath.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Feast for Crows
When Arya Stark arrives at the House of Black and White in Braavos, she meets the waif and a man and asks them about Jaqen H’ghar. When they do not recognize Jaqen, Arya shows them the iron coin he gave her in Harrenhal. When the priest asks Arya for her identity, she lies and tries to hide her identity. He then asks her if she fears death and lowers his cowl.
Arya sees a hideous figure of a yellow skull with scraps of skin and a white worm coming out of an eye socket as the man’s head. She leans and kisses the man to reveal the kindliest old man she has ever seen. For passing the test, she becomes a servant at the house of Black and White.
While serving in the temple, Arya learns to become no one. When she continually fails at discarding her identity, the kindly man tells her to toss all she owns from her past life. When she completes the mission, he tells her how the Faceless Men originated from the mines of the Valyrian Freehold to give the gift of death to those who prayed, and he lets her become a novice. The kindly man assigns her to the waif, tasking her to learn the Braavosi Tongue and teach the waif the Common Tongue.
After learning to speak Braavosi, the kindly man tasks Arya with becoming the Cat of the Canals. He arranges for her to stay with a fish merchant named Brusco. While active in her personal, Arya uses a wheelbarrow to transport and sell clams, mussels, and cockles, and when the moon is black, she returns to the temple to tell the kindly man all the secrets she learned from the streets. On one of the nights as Cat, Arya sees Dareon, a man of the Night’s Watch, and kills him for abandoning his vows. When he learns of her actions, he orders the waif to give her some warm milk, and she wakes up blind.
A Dance with Dragons
Arya changes her identity to Blind Beth. She continues revealing the secrets she learned from the streets to the kindly man. Arya surprises him by revealing who hit her with a stick. However, unknown to the priest, she had been dream-walking in a cat’s body.
Impressed with Arya’s skills, the kindly man restores her sight. He attends a meeting with eleven servants of the Many-Faced God. After the event, one of the priests, Plague Face, tasks Arya with assassinating a man. He leads her into the holy sanctum and changes her face into that of an ugly girl. After Arya completes the mission, the kindly man gives her a new robe of an acolyte and sends her to Izembaro for further training.
Appearance in Adaptation
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Jaqen H’ghar replaced the kindly man. The possible reason for this was that the show’s producers did not want to give any spoilers for the yet-to-be-completed novels, as in the books, Jaqen travels to Oldtown to infiltrate the Citadel.
The Kindly Man: A Priest of No Identity
As a member of the Faceless Men, the kindly man achieved one of the ultimate goals of being an assassin, becoming no one. With no identity and definition, he could see through the falsehood of others and easily detect when Arya lied about herself. He also saw death as a means to peace. Because he knew the world was unfair to many people, he served a crucial role in giving people serenity in the form of death.
FAQs
Why was the Kindly Man not in Game of Thrones?
The producers of Game of Thrones had to remove him to prevent any spoilers for the future books of A Song of Ice and Fire. Merging him with Jaqen H’ghar proved to be the easiest route.
Is the Kindly Man one of the Faceless Men?
Yes. He is a priest at the House of Black and White. He is the highest-ranking personnel at the temple and has enough power to give missions and directives.
What did the Kindly Man do to Arya?
When he learns she killed Daeron, the Kindly Man instructs the waif to give Arya some warm milk that blinds her. He then asks her for more information under a new alias, Beth.
Is the Kindly Man still alive in the books?
Yes. After Arya passed her mission, he changed her rank and sent her to Izembaro for further training.
