Hooded Man is a red herring

[forod]

So I've seen a lot of posts about the identity of the HM on the forum lately, and I was going to leave a comment but it got really long so thought I would just write a post. 

The most popular options to have been suggested so far are Benjen, the Blackfish, Robett Glover, Theon Durden, or a random Northener. 

Farther on, he came upon a man striding in the opposite direction, a hooded cloak flapping behind him. When they found themselves face-to-face their eyes met briefly. The man put a hand on his dagger. "Theon Turncloack. Theon Kinslayer."

"I'm not. I never...I was ironborn."

"False is all you were. How is it you still breathe?"

"The gods are not done with me," Theon answered, wondering if this could be the killer, the night walker who had stuffed Yellow Dick's cock into his mouth and pushed Roger Ryswell's groom off the battlements. Oddly, he was not afraid. He pulled the glove from his left hand. "Lord Ramsay is not done with me."

The man looked, and laughed. "I leave you to him, then."

Now someone we can rule out straight away is the Blackfish. Yes it's a nice theory, but chronologically it is not really plausible. But even more than that, Theon's exchange with the HM proves it is not Brynden. The man speaks to Theon with bitterness and disgust, as the Blackfish would, but he doesn't kill him, nor has he killed him yet. Why smuggle yourself from Riverrun to Winterfell in Winter? Well if he did make that journey, the Blackfish's only real motive would be to either avenge Robb and Catelyn, or to raise anti-Bolton forces. If he were out for revenge, Theon would be top of his list, so Theon's life proves it is not the Blackfish. 

Additionally, we can surmise it is not a random unknown. Thematically it is unrewarding, and it would be an unsatisfying end to the mystery. But more than that, we hear the hooded man is well spoken, and eloquent, which heavily implies he is nobility or grew up with nobility. Additionally, and this was spotted by Bran Vras some times ago so props to him, the man carries only a dagger and wears no sigil. Therefore, while whoever this is seems to be posing as one random soldier among thousands in Winterfell, he does not belong to a house, and is not carrying the arms given to the soldiers for when they do guard duty. 

Benjen's fate is a complete unknown, and it is difficult therefore to rule him out. But assuming he disappeared beyond the Wall, and stayed there for at least some time, if he is still alive and in the North, then he would most likely not know enough of what has gone on to speak to Theon as he does. Additionally, if it were Benjen, why kill the people he does? Why not murder higher ups. There is also the issue of his Nights Watch Vows, barring him from participating in the wars of Men. Furthermore, he has met many of the Lords at Winterfell, and Mance Rayder knows what he looks like. Benjen can't wear a hood forever, and barring a dramatic change in appearance, surely someone would have noticed Benjen Stark, and at least murmurings would have been present in Theon chapters. 

Robett Glover seems the most likely choice, but the issue persists that someone might have recognised him. Additionally, we learn from commoners Glover was in White Harbour trying to rouse the Manderlys against the Boltons, so this information would probably have been known by the Frey's too, and therefore by their northern allies in time. Of course the secret Glover-Manderly alliance throws another factor in to consideration, however why would one of the heads of such an alliance placed himself in Winterfell to kill random people. If he planned on doing real damage, and killing Lords, he would not make them suspicious and urge them to fret for their own safety by killing inconsequential soldiers and followers. We also need to consider the exchange between Theon and the HM. He calls Theon a kinslayer, when Robett knows full well this is not the case. It all seems muddled, and points to the HM not being Glover. 

At this point I want to point out, the HM is totally unimportant. It's one of the nice little mysteries that keep us interested between books, but really his emergence teaches us nothing we did not already know. It confirms what we know; people hate Theon. Additionally, just because Theon suspects him of being the murdered, does not act as evidence Theon is correct. Our POV characters are wrong most of the time with things like this. And this man implies he would kill Theon. Why alert him to something like this, knowing he reports to Roose and Ramsay, when they are on the hunt for someone killing people who a Stark-loyalist would hate. 

So really, we can sum up that the HM is either Theon himself, imagining a conversation, or no-one, and not the killer. The lack of detail the HM has, his anonymity, his eloquence and his sense of humour do kind of support the Theon Durden theory. I think this is really much more likely than any of the other notable candidates for the identity of the HM, but even more likely is the existence of a red herring, and that the HM is no-one at all. 

 

[Adam Yozza]

I thought it was confirmed by Squirrel that it was her and the other spearwives who committed all the murders, barring Little Walder.

I personally think the hooded man is Howland Reed, and that he is there to spy on the Bolton's not to kill anyone; yet.

[forod]

Yes, however we don't know if we can actually trust squirrel,and the question still exists of who killed LW

[Northernmonkey]

I'm think it's Harwin, sent by LS to investigate whether FArya is real or not. He knows Winterfell, knows Theon and is a good rider so would be able to make it from the Riverlands to Winterfell in a short space of time. I doubt it's just a random person. 

[Shireen Purratheon]

I thought we pretty much knew that Big Walder totally killed Little Walder.

My figure is that the Hooded Man didn't kill anybody, but is probably someone relevant whose name will have an impact. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Robbett Glover.

ETA: Glover's not trying to do real damage, as he isn't the murderer. My guess is he mostly wants to be on the inside of Winterfell when the Manderly force betrays the Frey Bolton alliance in the field. Now there's a good, loyal, healthy man in the castle who's on Stannis' side when he marches on it.

[YOVMO]

I like the Howland Reed theory too.

 

Quick question because I seem to not be locking onto this detail today...the HM calls him Theon Turncloak, ok that one is obvious, but then calls him Theon Kinslayer. However, is Theon a kinslayer? Are we saying that his killing of bran and rickon (obvi he didn't but they don't know that) is kinslaying because they were raised as brothers? Or turning on Robb? They aren't actually kin though. Has he killed any Greyjoys?

[Melisandre's White Pubes]

I think he's Septon Chayle.  He knew Theon well, he was described as quick to laugh, he'd get a laugh out of Theon saying the gods weren't done with him yet, and as a long time Winterfell resident he had a good chance of knowing if the Miller's children were actually Theon's.

[forod]

41 minutes ago, YOVMO said:

I like the Howland Reed theory too.

 

Quick question because I seem to not be locking onto this detail today...the HM calls him Theon Turncloak, ok that one is obvious, but then calls him Theon Kinslayer. However, is Theon a kinslayer? Are we saying that his killing of bran and rickon (obvi he didn't but they don't know that) is kinslaying because they were raised as brothers? Or turning on Robb? They aren't actually kin though. Has he killed any Greyjoys?

He's talking about killing Bran and Rickon - not really kin but as good as

[forod]

43 minutes ago, Shireen Purratheon said:

I thought we pretty much knew that Big Walder totally killed Little Walder.

My figure is that the Hooded Man didn't kill anybody, but is probably someone relevant whose name will have an impact. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Robbett Glover.

ETA: Glover's not trying to do real damage, as he isn't the murderer. My guess is he mostly wants to be on the inside of Winterfell when the Manderly force betrays the Frey Bolton alliance in the field. Now there's a good, loyal, healthy man in the castle who's on Stannis' side when he marches on it.

Still, one of all those lords would probably have noticed him at some point. 

[Curled Finger]

5 hours ago, northernmonkey said:

I'm think it's Harwin, sent by LS to investigate whether FArya is real or not. He knows Winterfell, knows Theon and is a good rider so would be able to make it from the Riverlands to Winterfell in a short space of time. I doubt it's just a random person. 

I like Harwin for it, too, (those long reaching tentacles of the BWB), but let's not leave out Hallis Mollen, for there are some fine arguments in favor of his fulfilling this role.  Though I do tend to agree with the OP in that the HM seems to be something the readers have latched onto rather than something GRRM intended to thrill anyone with.   We may never know...

[John Doe]

1 hour ago, Melisandre's White Pubes said:

I think he's Septon Chayle.  

Wasn't he killed?

[Neolaina]

4 minutes ago, Curled Finger said:

I like Harwin for it, too, (those long reaching tentacles of the BWB), but let's not leave out Hallis Mollen, for there are some fine arguments in favor of his fulfilling this role.  Though I do tend to agree with the OP in that the HM seems to be something the readers have latched onto rather than something GRRM intended to thrill anyone with.   We may never know...

We've latched because of how much time has passed, neh? As I'm fond of thinking, the experience of reading a series as it's released piecemeal is something wholly different than being able to read a completed series. No time for overthinking, and placing undue importance on certain things with the latter.

But we'll know. We'll know.

The character has a familiarity with Winterfell and Theon's position there. Harwin/Hallin/Glover all make excellent, and probable candidates. Frankly, for me, minutiae aisde, I'd be fine with any of those choices, enough to leave the HM's identity a little more generalized. The impact comes from someone being familiar enough with Theon to condemn Theon in the way that the HM does. Suggestions such as the Blackfish or Howland Reed could work, but I'm not sure they'd be as satisfying to the narrative than compared to people more present in Winterfell over the course of Theon's stay there.

2 minutes ago, John Doe said:

Wasn't he killed?

I thought so.

[Melisandre's White Pubes]

22 minutes ago, John Doe said:

Wasn't he killed?

He was thrown alive down a well by Theon's men.  The well that is likely connected to the cave system beneath Winterfell.  He told Bran that he was a skilled swimmer.

[Ruhail]

I thinks its a manifestation of Theon's inner psyche and guilt

[Northernmonkey]

2 hours ago, Curled Finger said:

I like Harwin for it, too, (those long reaching tentacles of the BWB), but let's not leave out Hallis Mollen, for there are some fine arguments in favor of his fulfilling this role.  Though I do tend to agree with the OP in that the HM seems to be something the readers have latched onto rather than something GRRM intended to thrill anyone with.   We may never know...

Agreed, it could just as easily be Hallis Mollen. 

[Northernmonkey]

1 hour ago, Melisandre's White Pubes said:

He was thrown alive down a well by Theon's men.  The well that is likely connected to the cave system beneath Winterfell.  He told Bran that he was a skilled swimmer.

But Jojen has a vision of Chayle, Mikken and Alebelly dying before it happens. We know the other two die so it's likely that Chayle is dead as well.

[LordToo-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse]

anyone knows of a compilation of all the theories around the Hooded man?

[Ygrain]

7 hours ago, northernmonkey said:

I'm think it's Harwin, sent by LS to investigate whether FArya is real or not. He knows Winterfell, knows Theon and is a good rider so would be able to make it from the Riverlands to Winterfell in a short space of time. I doubt it's just a random person. 

Yeah, my money is on Harwin, as well. Radio Westeros made a very compelling case for him, and if not Harwin, then Hallis or another of the northerners in BwB. Personally, I am leaning towards Harwin because of the fire in the stables - he is horsemaster's son, after all, it would be sort of his thing to do.  BwB was seen heading to the Neck; they may be up North already. - Wouldn't it be epic if Winterfell was retaken by LS and Ramsay fed to his dogs... a girl can dream, no?

[bent branch]

3 hours ago, Shireen Purratheon said:

I thought we pretty much knew that Big Walder totally killed Little Walder.

My figure is that the Hooded Man didn't kill anybody, but is probably someone relevant whose name will have an impact. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Robbett Glover.

ETA: Glover's not trying to do real damage, as he isn't the murderer. My guess is he mostly wants to be on the inside of Winterfell when the Manderly force betrays the Frey Bolton alliance in the field. Now there's a good, loyal, healthy man in the castle who's on Stannis' side when he marches on it.

There are a large number of people who believe that Big Walder killed Little Walder, but it is not definitively stated so in the book. It seems like some people are so convinced that Big Walder did it that they think a consensus has been reached. That's okay though, I'm just as convinced that Big Walder didn't do it. To me it's just as obvious that the HM killed Little Walder. Little Walder's body is found buried in a snow bank across from the entrance to the crypts. I think it is obvious that Little Walder saw HM coming out of the crypts and HM killed him to keep him from raising the alarm.

I think Harwin is a good option for HM. Whoever is revealed as HM (and we will find out) will have these characteristics:

1)  Knows Theon well enough to recognize him on sight despite the changes in his appearance.

2)  Theon recognizes this person at a glance.

3)  Theon believes the person he is seeing to be dead and that he is seeing a ghost.

[Curled Finger]

57 minutes ago, LordToo-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse said:

anyone knows of a compilation of all the theories around the Hooded man?

Gads, that's a tall order.   I know when I was lurking there were a bunch of theories in the citadel, but the very best place to find all the really good arguments is to join in a conversation like this.    There was a topic last year that went several pages.    I know bemused is a huge proponent of Benjen being the HM so you can get her take on it if search her topics.    Harwin and Hallis are both pretty well covered by the Riverlands Web folks.  The others just seem to pop up all over the place.    I'm not certain what survived the great update, but there was a great thread about the Theon Durdin argument from probably 4 years ago.    I haven't seen Septon Chayle come up in this one yet, but it is an utterly fascinating thing to ponder and bandy about.