The Many-Faced God, the God of Death
SyncreticMonotheistic
The Faceless Men worship Death, whom they believe is the only god. The cult is actually a syncretic religion: its followers believe that Death is unknowingly worshiped by devotees of all the religions in the world, simply under different names. Every religion either has a god of death (in polytheistic faiths), or has a god with dominion over death (in monotheistic faiths). The Faceless Men believe that all of these gods are simply different aspects, or "faces", through which Death has revealed Himself to humanity - hence they formally refer to their deity as "the Many-Faced God".[1] Statues of death gods from other religions in the House of Black and White, the Lion of Night and Black Goat - believed to simply be other "faces" of the one true god. There is no one symbol of the Many-Faced God, simply the icons used to represent death gods in other religions. The temple of the Faceless Men in Braavos, known as the House of Black and White (due to the color of its doors), contains a large public sanctuary with statues of death gods from all other religions displayed equally:
Another statue of the Stranger from the Faith of the Seven - believed by the Faceless Men to be yet another incarnation of the Many-Faced God. The Faceless Men see death as a gift from the Many-Faced God to end human suffering: either to euthanize the sick or bereaved who can no longer stand the suffering of living, or as a "gift" to end the lives of those who are causing suffering to others. As a result, these assassins view themselves as Death's servants, strictly bound to His service. In their at times inscrutable beliefs, they feel that they are only helping to carry out Death's will, and cannot choose their own targets (for personal reasons, such as revenge): they can only target those whom death has selected - the targets of assassination contracts they have accepted. The Faceless Men practice extreme self-abnegation, each devotee believing that they are "no one", with no personal desires, and living only to serve the Many-Faced God.[1][2] Faceless Men are also frequently quote the High Valyrian phrases "valar morghulis" ("all men must die [sooner or later]") and "valar dohaeris" ("all men must serve").[3][1]
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the "Many-Faced God" is alternatively known as "Him of Many Faces", yet never the "God of Death", and is worshipped particularly by the Faceless Men, a guild of assassins based out of the Free City of Braavos.
The death-worshipping cult of the Faceless Men and the Many-Faced God actually originated in Valyria, in the vast slave mines under the Fourteen Fires. The thousands of slaves from a hundred different lands faced death on a daily basis, and over time, the belief developed among some of them that while they came from many different lands and followed many different religions, all of these religions were fundamentally the same, because they all worshipped death in some fashion. In time this turned into a syncretic belief system worshipping Death as "the Many-Faced God". They started out by giving the "gift" of death to slaves who were suffering particularly horribly in the mines, to ease their pain - and in time, they learned to surreptitiously give the "gift" to some of their Valyrian masters as well, becoming skilled assassins. Many centuries later, after Valyria was destroyed, the surviving Faceless Men relocated to Braavos, which was founded by ex-slaves who had escaped from Valyria. The Braavosi welcomed them because they had both formed in opposition to the Valyrians, and in Braavos the Faceless Men established a firm headquarters where they continued to operate for the next four centuries.
There seems to be some confusion both in the books and the TV series between the God of Death and R'hllor, the Red God. It stems from a piece of dialogue spoken by Jaqen H'ghar in both mediums, in which he refers to the god he worships (presumably the God of Death, as he is a Faceless Man) as the "Red God" — that is, R'hllor, the Lord of Light. While this confusion has yet to be cleared up, a likely explanation lies in the fact that the "Many-faced God of Death" is a syncretic religion, which holds that every god or set of gods is just another facet of the god of death. Another possibility is that, just like he's imitating the speech style of a Lorathi, he also mentions the Red God as part of his cover identity. In the show, Arya hands Jaquen an axe in time for the three prisoners to break their way out of their cage before it is consumed by fire--which is how the Lord of Light doles his death. It is possible that if Arya had rescued the men from drowning, then Jaquen would have declared that Arya stole three deaths from the Drowned God, and the three subsequent kills would have been in the Drowned God's name instead.
In Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series, specifically in the two last episodes, the ideology of taken or save a life so other can live or die it's very present, between eight determinant characters in which four of them are chosen to die so the others four can live.
Summer Islands religion v • d • eBraavos
The Arsenal · Titan of Braavos · House of Black and White
Bravos · Water Dance · Moonsingers · Many-Faced God Retrieved from "http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Many-Faced_God?oldid=303379"
The Many-Faced God, the God of Death
SyncreticMonotheistic
The Faceless Men worship Death, whom they believe is the only god. The cult is actually a syncretic religion: its followers believe that Death is unknowingly worshiped by devotees of all the religions in the world, simply under different names. Every religion either has a god of death (in polytheistic faiths), or has a god with dominion over death (in monotheistic faiths). The Faceless Men believe that all of these gods are simply different aspects, or "faces", through which Death has revealed Himself to humanity - hence they formally refer to their deity as "the Many-Faced God".[1] Statues of death gods from other religions in the House of Black and White, the Lion of Night and Black Goat - believed to simply be other "faces" of the one true god. There is no one symbol of the Many-Faced God, simply the icons used to represent death gods in other religions. The temple of the Faceless Men in Braavos, known as the House of Black and White (due to the color of its doors), contains a large public sanctuary with statues of death gods from all other religions displayed equally:
Another statue of the Stranger from the Faith of the Seven - believed by the Faceless Men to be yet another incarnation of the Many-Faced God. The Faceless Men see death as a gift from the Many-Faced God to end human suffering: either to euthanize the sick or bereaved who can no longer stand the suffering of living, or as a "gift" to end the lives of those who are causing suffering to others. As a result, these assassins view themselves as Death's servants, strictly bound to His service. In their at times inscrutable beliefs, they feel that they are only helping to carry out Death's will, and cannot choose their own targets (for personal reasons, such as revenge): they can only target those whom death has selected - the targets of assassination contracts they have accepted. The Faceless Men practice extreme self-abnegation, each devotee believing that they are "no one", with no personal desires, and living only to serve the Many-Faced God.[1][2] Faceless Men are also frequently quote the High Valyrian phrases "valar morghulis" ("all men must die [sooner or later]") and "valar dohaeris" ("all men must serve").[3][1]
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the "Many-Faced God" is alternatively known as "Him of Many Faces", yet never the "God of Death", and is worshipped particularly by the Faceless Men, a guild of assassins based out of the Free City of Braavos.
The death-worshipping cult of the Faceless Men and the Many-Faced God actually originated in Valyria, in the vast slave mines under the Fourteen Fires. The thous
ands of slaves from a hundred different lands faced death on a daily basis, and over time, the belief developed among some of them that while they came from many different lands and followed many different religions, all of these religions were fundamentally the same, because they all worshipped death in some fashion. In time this turned into a syncretic belief system worshipping Death as "the Many-Faced God". They started out by giving the "gift" of death to slaves who were suffering particularly horribly in the mines, to ease their pain - and in time, they learned to surreptitiously give the "gift" to some of their Valyrian masters as well, becoming skilled assassins. Many centuries later, after Valyria was destroyed, the surviving Faceless Men relocated to Braavos, which was founded by ex-slaves who had escaped from Valyria. The Braavosi welcomed them because they had both formed in opposition to the Valyrians, and in Braavos the Faceless Men established a firm headquarters where they continued to operate for the next four centuries.
There seems to be some confusion both in the books and the TV series between the God of Death and R'hllor, the Red God. It stems from a piece of dialogue spoken by Jaqen H'ghar in both mediums, in which he refers to the god he worships (presumably the God of Death, as he is a Faceless Man) as the "Red God" — that is, R'hllor, the Lord of Light. While this confusion has yet to be cleared up, a likely explanation lies in the fact that the "Many-faced God of Death" is a syncretic religion, which holds that every god or set of gods is just another facet of the god of death. Another possibility is that, just like he's imitating the speech style of a Lorathi, he also mentions the Red God as part of his cover identity. In the show, Arya hands Jaquen an axe in time for the three prisoners to break their way out of their cage before it is consumed by fire--which is how the Lord of Light doles his death. It is possible that if Arya had rescued the men from drowning, then Jaquen would have declared that Arya stole three deaths from the Drowned God, and the three subsequent kills would have been in the Drowned God's name instead.
In Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series, specifically in the two last episodes, the ideology of taken or save a life so other can live or die it's very present, between eight determinant characters in which four of them are chosen to die so the others four can live.
Summer Islands religion v • d • eBraavos
The Arsenal · Titan of Braavos · House of Black and White
Bravos · Water Dance · Moonsingers · Many-Faced God Retrieved from "http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Many-Faced_God?oldid=303379"