HM=HM

[three-eyed monkey]

Hallis Mollen is the Hooded Man in Winterfell, there to do his duty as Captain of Guards and fulfil the last order Lady Stark gave him by returning Ned’s bones to the crypt.

 

The Hooded Man.

 

Outside the snow was coming down so heavily that Theon could not see more than three feet ahead of him. He found himself alone in a white wilderness, walls of snow looming up to either side of him chest high. When he raised his head, the snowflakes brushed his cheeks like cold soft kisses. He could hear the sound of music from the hall behind him. A soft song now, and sad. For a moment he felt almost at peace.

 

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 Turncloak. 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." ADwD, A Ghost in Winterfell.

 

The Hooded Man puts his hand to his dagger, his first instinct being to kill Theon. He then levels two charges against Theon, Turncloak and Kinslayer, in reference to Theon’s betrayal of Robb, and the Starks in general, and the supposed murder of Bran and Rickon. These sentiments seem very pro-Stark to me. In fact, the charge of kinslaying is interesting because everyone knows that Theon is a Greyjoy, not a Stark. Perhaps only someone who knew how close Theon had been to the Starks would make such a claim.

 

False is all you were, suggests to me that the Hooded Man knew and even trusted Theon, or at least considered him true, before he turned his cloak and slew his “kin”.

 

But wouldn’t Theon recognise the Hooded Man if it was Hal? Maybe he would. It was dark, snowing so heavily that Theon could not see three feet in front of him, and the man was hooded. Even when face to face their eyes met only briefly. I think Theon only glanced at the man and then looked away, possibly in shame, and he did not linger long enough to describe any of the man’s features. It is a fair question though.

 

Hallis Mollen.

 

Robb arrived before her food. Rodrik Cassel came with him, and her husband's ward Theon Greyjoy, and lastly Hallis Mollen, a muscular guardsman with a square brown beard. He was the new captain of the guard, Robb said. AGoT, Catelyn III.

 

Hallis Mollen was promoted to captain of guards at Winterfell by Robb after Jory Cassell went south with Ned.

 

Sometimes he would ride out with Hallis Mollen and be gone for days at a time, visiting distant holdfasts. Whenever he was away more than a day, Rickon would cry and ask Bran if Robb was ever coming back. Even when he was home at Winterfell, Robb the Lord seemed to have more time for Hallis Mollen and Theon Greyjoy than he ever did for his brothers.

...

 

Robb was seated in Father's high seat, wearing ringmail and boiled leather and the stern face of Robb the Lord. Theon Greyjoy and Hallis Mollen stood behind him. A dozen guardsmen lined the grey stone walls beneath tall narrow windows. AGoT, Bran IV.

 

Robb spent most of that day locked behind closed doors with Maester Luwin, Theon Greyjoy, and Hallis Mollen. AGoT, Bran V.

 

Hal was trusted by Robb and just happens to be mentioned in conjunction with Theon on several occasions in AGoT. It seems he was close with both.

 

Hallis Mollen went before them through the gate, carrying the rippling white banner of House Stark atop a high standard of grey ash. AGoT, Bran VI.

 

Hal Mollen rode beside her, bearing the banner of House Stark, the grey direwolf on an ice-white field. ACoK, Catelyn II.

 

A loyal Stark man, Hal is given the honour of carrying the House Stark banner when Robb marches south in AGoT, and again later when he accompanies Lady Stark to Renly’s camp.

 

"It should not be long now, my lady," Hallis Mollen said. He had asked for the honor of protecting her in the battle to come; it was his right, as Winterfell's captain of guards, and Robb had not refused it to him. AGoT, Catelyn X.

 

The Captain of Guards seems fully committed to his duty, as seen when he guards Lady Stark while Robb gave battle at Whispering Wood. Later, in ACoK, Hal is called upon once more to fulfil his duty as captain of guards. This time he is to escort Lord Eddard’s bones back to Winterfell.

 

"I am grateful for your service, sisters," Catelyn said, "but I must lay another task upon you. Lord Eddard was a Stark, and his bones must be laid to rest beneath Winterfell." They will make a statue of him, a stone likeness that will sit in the dark with a direwolf at his feet and a sword across his knees. "Make certain the sisters have fresh horses, and aught else they need for the journey," she told Utherydes Wayn. "Hal Mollen will escort them back to Winterfell, it is his place as captain of guards." ACoK, Catelyn V.

 

It made her wonder where Ned had come to rest. The silent sisters had taken his bones north, escorted by Hallis Mollen and a small honor guard. Had Ned ever reached Winterfell, to be interred beside his brother Brandon in the dark crypts beneath the castle? Or did the door slam shut at Moat Cailin before Hal and the sisters could pass? ASoS, Catelyn V.

 

From Riverrun Hal went north towards the Neck and Moat Cailin, and has not been seen or heard from since. Like a lot of readers, I’m assuming that Hal and Ned’s bones, unable to pass Moat Cailin due to the presence of the Ironmen, found refuge with the Crannogmen. The question is what happened then? To get to Winterfell without passing through Moat Cailin and using the Kingsroad, Hal had two obvious options, either one of which may have proven fruitful,  provided he had guides to lead him through the swamps.

 

East lies White Harbour. Lord Manderly clearly has a pro-Stark agenda and Hal and Ned’s bones could easily have been accommodated in the great column that left White Harbour for Winterfell, which included “Forty wayns full of foodstuffs. Casks of wine and hippocras, barrels of fresh-caught lampreys, a herd of goats, a hundred pigs, crates of crabs and oysters, a monstrous codfish …”

 

West of Moat Cailin would lead Hal up into the Barrowlands. Lady Dustin’s allegiance is not as clear to the reader as Lord Manderly’s. Personally I think she’s in the pro-Stark camp, so I don’t think she’s being fully truthful with Reek in this passage, as he is Ramsay’s creature after all. I don’t disagree with the theory that she went to the crypts to verify Wex’s story, but the trip may have served another purpose too. Could she have wanted to see for herself the final destination of the bones she was about to deliver?

 

Theon did not understand. "His … his bones …?"

 

Her lips twisted. It was an ugly smile, a smile that reminded him of Ramsay's. "Catelyn Tully dispatched Lord Eddard's bones north before the Red Wedding, but your iron uncle seized Moat Cailin and closed the way. I have been watching ever since. Should those bones ever emerge from the swamps, they will get no farther than Barrowton." She threw one last lingering look at the likeness of Eddard Stark. "We are done here." ADwD, The Turncloak.

 

In Summary, Hallis Mollen has returned to Winterfell with the help of first the Crannogmen, and then Lady Dustin and/or Lord Manderly, to fulfil his duty and complete the task assigned to him by Lady Stark before she was murderedm and return Lord Eddard's bones to theie rightful place in the crypts of Winterfell.

[TerrorVoid]

I'm sure, that I've already seen this x_X

[Lady Blackmont]

Hallis Moron is the HM...

Interesting.

[ilikethesebooks]

I can dig it

[three-eyed monkey]

I'm sure, that I've already seen this x_X

Team_Rob did a thread on the subject a couple of years ago. I think I was split between Harwin and Hal at the time but I think the timeline rules Harwin out so I've put forward the argument for Hal in countless hooded man threads since. I've seen arguments made for Blackfish, Jaime, Davos, Sandor, Benjen, Harwin, Robett Glover, Theon Durden, Aliser Thorne, Mance, Howland Reed, Syrio, and even Rhaegar and Ned since ADwD came out. Just wanted to give Hal a fair hearing.

Edit: Team_Robb's link. http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/92052-a-ghost-in-winterfell-hm-hallis-mollen/

[Slayer of Lies]

Team_Rob did a thread on the subject a couple of years ago. I think I was split between Harwin and Hal at the time but I think the timeline rules Harwin out so I've put forward the argument for Hal in countless hooded man threads since. I've seen arguments made for Blackfish, Jaime, Davos, Sandor, Benjen, Harwin, Robett Glover, Theon Durden, Aliser Thorne, Mance, Howland Reed, Syrio, and even Rhaegar and Ned since ADwD came out. Just wanted to give Hal a fair hearing.

This reminded me a I made the case for Septon Chayle a couple years ago too.

 

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/91827-septon-chayle-is-the-hooded-man-in-wf-theon-i-spoilers/

 

But who knows?  There aren't a lot of solid clues to go on.

 

:dunno:

[SinisterHydraCP]

Meh, Hallis Mollen is too boring to be the hooded man.

[sweetsunray]

I think you make a fair case for him, and it might be a reasonable and real possibility, both with the Hooded Man's words as well as Hal's pairing with Theon together with Robb before they ride south. 

 

GRRM is not one to only use the "exciting" characters. Take Harwin for example. Who'd have cared about him or any of the characters of the BwB, except maybe Beric, in aGoT and aCoK if people speculated at the time who might be in the Brotherhood. But GRRM picks up these mostly "only name" characters after a while and puts them in a more significant position afterwards.

[Lady Sharya]

Nice. I agree that Hallen is likely the HM. The way he greets Theon by announcing him by his 2 nicknames just screams of the habit of "always stating the obvious" that Catelyn notices about Hallen on the way to Renley's camp at Bitterbridge.

[three-eyed monkey]

This reminded me a I made the case for Septon Chayle a couple years ago too.
 
http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/91827-septon-chayle-is-the-hooded-man-in-wf-theon-i-spoilers/
 
But who knows?  There aren't a lot of solid clues to go on.
 
:dunno:

Oops, sorry Slayer. I knew I was missing someone. But yeah, very little to go on.

Nice. I agree that Hallen is likely the HM. The way he greets Theon by announcing him by his 2 nicknames just screams of the habit of "always stating the obvious" that Catelyn notices about Hallen on the way to Renley's camp at Bitterbridge.

Yes, that was one of the points made by Team_Robb in his thread as far as I remember. Good one.

Also, Hal liked to dice. Little Walder, the big one, had being playing dice with White Harbour men according to Big Walder, the little one. I didn't add it because dice is a very common game in Westeros, especially amongst men-at-arms. But still, I do wonder if it's a clue. Hal also had a "loose tongue" according to Catelyn, so maybe he said something he shouldn't have said in Little Walder's hearing which meant the Frey needed to be silenced? I know that Big Walder, the little one, is the chief suspect in the murder for many readers, myself included, but then he seems to have fallen under the influence of Lady Dustin. If Big Walder is siding with the pro-Stark camp, with a view to being Lord of the Crossing when the dust settles and everyone ahead of him in the Frey line of succession is dead, then maybe his murder of Little Walder was done to prevent him from blowing the whistle. Dunno.

[Lady Blackmont]

I'm a big fan of Big Walder.

[Poppa Chase]

The Hooded man is Boromir. It is known.

[Ronfried_IV]

This reminded me a I made the case for Septon Chayle a couple years ago too.

 

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/91827-septon-chayle-is-the-hooded-man-in-wf-theon-i-spoilers/

 

But who knows?  There aren't a lot of solid clues to go on.

 

:dunno:

Carlyle doesn't make sense, Jojen prophecied his death by the Ironborn and his greendreams proved on point so far, unlike mels.

[Poppa Chase]

Carlyle doesn't make sense, Jojen prophecied his death by the Ironborn and his greendreams proved on point so far, unlike mels.

People say he swam into the gods wood from the well. That's the how part of their reasoning.

[Ronfried_IV]

People say he swam into the gods wood from the well. That's the how part of their reasoning.

Jojen greendreams are symbolical he does not see exactly what happens, he saw a tide, not the ironborn. What I want to say he did not see how he was thrown in the wall and deducted "guess he is dead". No he saw that he died in his vision and they are pretty accurate so far.

[Poppa Chase]

Jojen greendreams are symbolical he does not see exactly what happens, he saw a tide, not the ironborn. What I want to say he did not see how he was thrown in the wall and deducted "guess he is dead". No he saw that he died in his vision and they are pretty accurate so far.

I agree.

[Good Guy Garlan]

I'd feel GRRM would be cheating if he's someone Theon knows/knew because of this bit:

"When they found themselves face-to-face their eyes met briefly."

I think this implies Theon saw his face and still didn't recognize him, which means it's a stranger to him. So I lean towards Raynald Westerling, as crackpot as it may be.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

It's as good a theory as any, and better than some.

 

 

I'd feel GRRM would be cheating if he's someone Theon knows/knew because of this bit:

"When they found themselves face-to-face their eyes met briefly."

I think this implies Theon saw his face and still didn't recognize him, which means it's a stranger to him. So I lean towards Raynald Westerling, as crackpot as it may be.

What about Mance?

[Good Guy Garlan]

It's as good a theory as any, and better than some.
 
 

What about Mance?

He knew Abel by sight at the time

[Poppa Chase]

It's as good a theory as any, and better than some.
 
 
What about Mance?

Mance was in the tent singing when Reek left it