104 replies to this topic

[Lord Littlefinger's Lash]

Ser Pollo Loco, on 11 March 2012 - 03:08 PM, said:

No clue, i hope he shows back up though.......I thought he was cold hands, but it seems like Bran would have figured it out/martin would have told us.

How would Bran figure that out?

[Lord Littlefinger's Lash]

Justice for Elia, on 11 March 2012 - 01:40 PM, said:

Coldhands cannot be Benjen; Coldhands was "killed long ago." If Benjen returned as an Other or wight, would it really matter? It is not as if he could be saved.

Long ago, like at the beginning of GoT

[Arya Targaryen]

Lord Littlefinger, on 11 March 2012 - 03:13 PM, said:

Long ago, like at the beginning of GoT

For a 200-year-old Child something that happened 3 years ago (at the beginning of GoT) wouldn't be "long ago".
IMO Benjen is the hooded man in Winterfell, that would be cool. Or, he is somewhere in the north - he could go to Hardhome and meet Cotter Pyke there.
Coldhands is a long-dead Stark, possibly the Night King.

[Thunderfist]

He deserted, killed his companions, said "f-ck this cold", scaled the wall and went south, to Dorne

[Lord Littlefinger's Lash]

Arya Targaryen, on 11 March 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

For a 200-year-old Child something that happened 3 years ago (at the beginning of GoT) wouldn't be "long ago".

says u not her

Quote

IMO Benjen is the hooded man in Winterfell, that would be cool. Or, he is somewhere in the north - he could go to Hardhome and meet Cotter Pyke there.
Coldhands is a long-dead Stark, possibly the Night King.

None of those things explain why Benjen would desert from the Night's Watch.

[dtones520]

I like the idea of him being the hooded man, but I'm not sure it's possible for him to know about the events that lead to there being no Stark in Winterfell. He went North of the Wall before Ned even got to Kings Landing, let alone before Theon sacked it. So, I don't know how he would have known to go there. Unless Bloodraven told him to.

He'll turn up somewhere, who knows where, or if he will be alive.

[Ser Pollo Loco]

Lord Littlefinger, on 11 March 2012 - 03:12 PM, said:

How would Bran figure that out?

Voice, i don't know if coldhands is Benjen i feel martin would have revealed it when he met bran and not just continued the mystery for mysteries sake

[redriver]

He's kept going North,right into the Heart of Winter to see what all the fuss is about.

[Artos Stark]

I just have a hard time believing that someone who is hundreds of years old would refer to something happening two years ago as being "long ago"

[Ser Ilyn's Tongue]

I'm not sure where I think he is, but I don't think he's dead.  Until we see a body (or an undead corpse), I'll guess he's north of the Wall doing some ranger stuff somewhere!  I don't think he's Coldhands, though.

Edited by Ser Ilyn's Tongue, 11 March 2012 - 06:41 PM.

[Dark Rider]

I think he has to be alive.

The Night's Watch has ZERO intelligence on the Others. They don't know the size of their host, they don't know how well organized they are, they don't know what their movements are, and pretty much they're totally blind to what is coming.  If Martin wants to give the Night's Watch any kind of a chance against the Others he's going to need to give them some decent intelligence at some point. I think Benjen can provide that.

Just because he hasn't made it to the wall yet doesn't mean he's dead.  He could have found himself deep inside territory held by the Others and sometimes in an escape and evasion plan it makes more sense to travel in a direction your enemy wouldn't expect you travel.  I mean if the Others are looking for the Night's Watch (assuming they're intelligent) they're going to look for you to be heading south so if you're in an evasion mode you might instead initially head north.  He might have headed east or west if he thought it would take him over broken grown or through rivers that would make it more difficult for the Others to pursue him.  There any number of scenarios where someone as experienced as the First Ranger might have made it.  Benjen's no new recruit, he's earned his position as First Ranger through merit so I'm not counting him out.

[Lykos]

He´s in another cave like Bran, and learns the way of the Wood dancers ( the Children warriors ).

[Zombie Coldhands]

I don't have any clues as to where he might have gone or if he's even alive, homever i believe that he might have discovered something important and powerfull that might have done something to his mind (a la Night King), only to be found by Bran later in the books. Either that or he found some knowledge about the COTF that will reveal their true intentions. I refuse to believe GRRM would have gone through all the trouble of making this fantastic and intricate web for grey characters then cheap out and introduce a complete Black and White side of the story (COTF and Wights/White Walkers), so Benjen's would be a good to shed some light into these misterious peoples.

[the savage]

Given that we still don't have a full map of the Lands of Always Winter, it is possible that above the FrostFangs there are entire CITIES up there (populated by one race or another) and Benjen is up there doing something very important.  He is not a deserter if he is still keeping to his vows and protecting the realms of Men.  Given that Benjen's been gone three years, I doubt that he is entirely "roughing it," as if that was the case he would probably be dead yes.  So he has help, in some form or another.

[Dave Goldblatt]

he's def coldhands.

[Lady of Long Lake]

the savage, on 11 March 2012 - 09:04 PM, said:

Given that we still don't have a full map of the Lands of Always Winter, it is possible that above the FrostFangs there are entire CITIES up there (populated by one race or another) and Benjen is up there doing something very important.  He is not a deserter if he is still keeping to his vows and protecting the realms of Men.  Given that Benjen's been gone three years, I doubt that he is entirely "roughing it," as if that was the case he would probably be dead yes.  So he has help, in some form or another.

I've thought of that too. In one of the Wiki's, it says there's tens of thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands of wildlings up North. We hear about 3k at HardHome and 3k that pass through the Wall with Jon's help. Where the heck are the rest? All dead?

[Lady of Long Lake]

Dave Goldblatt, on 11 March 2012 - 10:03 PM, said:

he's def coldhands.

Welcome to the forums Dave!

[Gentso]

Well, it's obvious that Benjan and his companions got attacked by the Others during their ranging. Othor got reanimated as a White Walker and Benjan's horse returned to the Wall. In the prologue of the first book the others left one ranger alive, so it's possible they also left Benjan alive. But I don't know he'd still be doing north of the wall if that were the case. Otherwise, he's either plain dead or a wight. Maybe he got turned into an other somehow, they look quite a lot like humans in the show. Maybe the great other is the one who reanimates the dead, and chooses only the elite corpses to reanimate into the walkers, haha.

[lostinwesteros]

Dark Rider, on 11 March 2012 - 06:47 PM, said:

I think he has to be alive.

The Night's Watch has ZERO intelligence on the Others. They don't know the size of their host, they don't know how well organized they are, they don't know what their movements are, and pretty much they're totally blind to what is coming.  If Martin wants to give the Night's Watch any kind of a chance against the Others he's going to need to give them some decent intelligence at some point. I think Benjen can provide that.

Just because he hasn't made it to the wall yet doesn't mean he's dead.  He could have found himself deep inside territory held by the Others and sometimes in an escape and evasion plan it makes more sense to travel in a direction your enemy wouldn't expect you travel.  I mean if the Others are looking for the Night's Watch (assuming they're intelligent) they're going to look for you to be heading south so if you're in an evasion mode you might instead initially head north.  He might have headed east or west if he thought it would take him over broken grown or through rivers that would make it more difficult for the Others to pursue him.  There any number of scenarios where someone as experienced as the First Ranger might have made it.  Benjen's no new recruit, he's earned his position as First Ranger through merit so I'm not counting him out.

   I believe he's alive and that he has old, deep connections, as Starks have always had, with TCOTF.  My personal theory is that he has reached the city of TCOTF and that he will emerge in TWOW in a prominent and powerful role.  I think he was the one who left the dragon blades (do I have the right term?) buried at the tree near the Fist of the First Men for other NW rangers coming that way to find.  I think that Bran is still in 'apprenticeship' mode with Bloodraven and that when he progresses further, there will be a connection with Benjen.  The city of TCOTF is surrounded by mystery, and I do think many of 'the answers', for lack of a better word, are to be found there, and that that's Benjen's role now.

Edited by OldOne, 11 March 2012 - 11:48 PM.

[Howling Mad]

chris999, on 11 March 2012 - 01:24 PM, said:

I think that Benjen has found the same truth that the Nightsking found. The same truth that was considered so bad, that they wiped everything about the Nightsking from history.

I like your thinking