Or a wooden practice sword. 
It’s not definitive proof one way or the other. I suppose if Syrio/Jaqen was some sort of master ninja he wouldn’t need to pick up one of the fallen guards swords, since he’d be able to kill them all just fine with the practice one.
-XT
At the end there, it looked like Syrio’s ‘sword’ was all broken and jagged, and he was holding it as if he’d be happy to slip it in under the armpit of the knight and rip him a new one that way. 
Ah, just remembered something else that really annoys me about the latest episode in particular and the series in general: Hodor. In the book he’s got serious mental problems, but physically he’s extremely tall and muscular. Bran says at one point something like ‘Hodor, if you still had your wits you would be the greatest knight in the world’. And I think that’s going to play into the future story. But in the series Hodor is fat and not all that big and strong, based on the scene of him standing naked in the gods-wood.
-XT
Yeah, that bothered a few folk, I think. I’m not sure anyone <apart from Martin, apparantly> thought of him as being that old and beer-bellied.
I remember thinking ‘Ok, he was at least ‘built’ enough that Osha was impressed; Osha would not be impressed with this guy’. Then last night’s episode…maybe when she was referring to his ‘giant blood’, it wasn’t his height she was impressed with. 
You do know that Hodor isn’t his real name, right? Turns out it’s ancient Valyrian for “Anthony Weiner.”
I sure wish that guy would stop sexting me.
But that’s just The opinion of some seven year old kid, who is especially jealous of hodor’s ability to walk. I don’t give bran’s opinions a lot of weight b
I don’t see any reason why we should think Jaqen didn’t know who Arya was all along. Even if he would have told her at some point that he was Syrio, why should she believe him? Once he paid his debt of three lives, why did he give her the coin and even offer to take her across the Narrow Sea?
You also have to wonder which makes more sense: that Jaqen, a guy who can change his face with the wave of his hand, was captured and thrown in the dungeons, or that he willingly put himself in a situation that assured he’d be removed from King’s Landing?
I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other regarding Syrio/Jaqen, but I can at lease see how it’s wide open for that possibility.
But why was he hanging around being a dancing instructor? All those juicy nobles hanging around and nobody dies mysteriously?
Maybe he just likes teaching fencing when he’s not pursuing a contract but I’m not sure I buy that.
-Joe
Ned mentions that Syrio came with an excellent reputation. So I guess we can assume that he was, indeed, teaching someone else before. However, he is apparently unknown to the kingsguard as they genuinely believe him to be a dance instructor. Needless to say, Syrio’s background is quite foggy.
Checking out Syrio’s first appearance in A Game of Thrones, I realized he refers to Arya as “boy” at their first lesson.
It’s possible that the Syrio we met is not the real Syrio.
And he’s for sure not Spartacus.
Ironically, I consider this evidence against Jaqen being Syrio.
The strong implication is that Jaqen spoke with a Braavosi accent, as did Syrio. But it’s much easier to fake an accent than to change your face, so why would Jaqen bother to change his voice but retain his accent when he took on his new identity?
And then when he took on his next identity, we are told that his face and hair changed, but nothing about his voice changing.
However, arguing against myself, after Jaqen “died,” he told Arya he couldn’t stay, because he had other duties, which implies that something kept him at Harrenhal up to that time. And the only things we know of that he did there had to do with Arya — he killed some of her enemies (although he allowed her to make very poor choices — I wish we could see what would have happened if she had named the Mountain and Tywin Lannister instead of some lowly supervisor of scullery maids), and took over the castle, apparently against his better judgment. So it does seem as if he was there because Arya was there, and why on earth would that be if he were not Syrio?
But if he was Syrio, why join the absolute dregs of the dregs? Why not just change his face and become Joe Blow, who joined the Watch and went with Yoren just for assurance of bed and board? Surely if his motive was to protect Arya, he could have done a better job from outside his cage?
The main theory is that he didn’t have a choice. Trant captured Syrio and they threw him in the black cells. He changed his face in front of Rorge and Biter, which is why they’re so freaked out by him, and emerged as Jaqen.
I don’t buy it, but that’s the dominant theory.
It also makes no sense, since he’s trying to travel incognito, that he would take on such a striking appearance — red and white hair, and a face so handsome that the girls of Harrenhal are atwitter at first glance. Seems like he would opt for looks that were unremarkable, like the Tickler.
Unless he was hiding in plain sight, so to speak. In other words, whoever he changed FROM would have been fairly well known or recognizeable, to the point that someone so obviously NOT him would never be suspected.
Syrio was neat and all, but nothing in the stories indicate he would have had to go that far to be incognito. I can’t think of ANYone else who mysteriously disappeared in the books who might have shown up as Jaqen, so…I think we’re just spinning wheels, here. If Jaqen does have a backstory, it’s not one we’re going to be able to piece together logically.
For what it’s worth, Jaqen was explicitly described as Lorathi, not Braavosi. Similar, but different.
I guess GRRM is the only one who knows, and even he might not have decided for sure.
I wonder how they’re going to disguise Barristan later on in the series.
I mean, in the books it’s pretty obscure (at least to me it was - I was surprised at the reveal that Arstan was Selmy). But the Varys/Illyrio scene with the dragon skulls made me realize that it’s harder to obscure things on TV. Maybe they won’t even try to hide it.
My boyfriend hasn’t read past the 2nd book, and I accidently let loose a minor spoiler at the scene where Cersei dismisses Selmy - I said “Big mistake, Cersei” out loud. “Why?” my boyfriend asked me curiously. I stared at him. “Shit. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
Long hair, long beard, and a long absence?
I don’t buy it either. If Syrio lost, it doesn’t seem likely that Trant would have captured him rather than just killing him, especially considering that Syrio’s interference allowed Arya to get away. Syrio is nothing to Trant or the Lannisters. He had no value as a hostage. There’d be no reason to keep him in the black cells.