Theme Of Archetypes In Game Of Thrones

In the HBO series, Game of Thrones, many characters take on aspects of the archetypes made famous by Carl Jung. This series originally aired in 2011, based off of a book series written by George R.R. Martin. Carl Jung was a psychiatrist who is known for not only his work on the Collective Unconsciousness, but also the concept of archetypes. In his book, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Jung discusses behavior patterns that he calls archetypes. He describes these as “...inborn tendencies which shape the human behavior.” (“Concept of Archetypes at Carl Jung”). Although Jung believed that there was no limit or fixed number of archetypes, he was able to break them down into four major categories. The four main archetypes identified by Jung are, The Persona, The Shadow, The Anima or Animus, and The Self.
While the persona archetype might not mean a literal mask, in the series Game of Thrones, Arya Stark can be closely related to this archetype when she encounters Jaqen H’ghar. Jaqen is a prisoner being taken from King’s Landing to the Wall since he is a murder. While traveling Kingsroad, a fire sets loose surrounding the wagon that is holding Jaqen. After Arya saves him from being killed, Jaqen states that he owes her three deaths and will kill those of her choosing. After Jaqen follows through on his promise, Arya is in awe of how he was able to accomplish these murders and expresses her interest in learning his skills. Jaqen invites Arya to Braavos to train with the Faceless Men at which time Arya declines. It is then that she is presented with a coin that if she ever changed her mind would reunite her with