Syrio Forel alive or dead? Game of Thrones showrunners finally give definitive answer

They shut down Maisie Williams' Jaqen H'Ghar theory

Given that death seems to only be a minor, reversible nuisance in the Game of Thrones universe, many were hoping that Arya Stark’s season 1 sword fighting instructor, Syrio Forel, was somehow still alive.

For starters, his death occurred off-screen and was only implied. Then there was the theory that he was in fact a Faceless Man.

“I always was like, ‘Oh, no, I feel like he’s still alive.’ I always had my own theory that he and Jaqen [H'ghar] were the same person,” Maisie Williams told IGN this week.

A widely-circulated theory

However, when she put this theory to show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, they quite unequivocally told her: "No, he is dead."

"I was like, 'Oh, OK,’” Williams laughed. "So that put that to bed really quickly, but I guess we can all still dream."

IGN did point out that this doesn’t necessarily mean Forel is dead in the eyes of George R. R. Martin though.

"Yeah, exactly," she said. "Maybe if it's not in the show, it will be in the book, and that will be great."