Coldhands is former Lord Commander Hoare

[King of the Narrow Sea]

The identity of Coldhands has long been a mystery that has bugged fans. But that ends today. So let's find out just who Coldhands is.

 

Now Coldhands is a former Night's Watch member

 

 "Brother!" The shout cut through the night, through the shrieks of a thousand ravens. Beneath the trees, a man muffled head to heels in mottled blacks and greys sat astride an elk. "Here," the rider called. A hood shadowed his face.

He's wearing blacks. Sam urged Gilly toward him. The elk was huge, a great elk, ten feet tall at the shoulder, with a rack of antlers near as wide. The creature sank to his knees to let them mount. "Here," the rider said, reaching down with a gloved hand to pull Gilly up behind him. Then it was Sam's turn. "My thanks," he puffed. Only when he grasped the offered hand did he realize that the rider wore no glove. His hand was black and cold, with fingers hard as stone.

 

Who happens to know secrets of the Nightfort

 

 "You won't find it. If you did it wouldn't open. Not for you. It's the Black Gate." Sam plucked at the faded black wool of his sleeve. "Only a man of the Night's Watch can open it, he said. A Sworn Brother who has said his words."

 

Despite the Nightfort having been abandoned 200 years ago

 

 "This seems an old place," Jojen said as they walked down a gallery where the sunlight fell in dusty shafts through empty windows.

"Twice as old as Castle Black," Bran said, remembering. "It was the first castle on the Wall, and the largest." But it had also been the first abandoned, all the way back in the time of the Old King. Even then it had been three-quarters empty and too costly to maintain. Good Queen Alysanne had suggested that the Watch replace it with a smaller, newer castle at a spot only seven miles east, where the Wall curved along the shore of a beautiful green lake. Deep Lake had been paid for by the queen's jewels and built by the men the Old King had sent north, and the black brothers had abandoned the Nightfort to the rats.

That was two centuries past, though. Now Deep Lake stood as empty as the castle it had replaced, and the Nightfort . . .

 

Therefore Coldhands was a member of the Night's Watch sometime prior to 100AC. So let's figure out who he is then.

 

We have only one really good descriptive feature for Coldhands apart from the features that occur because he's dead (the pale skin and black hands for instance): that he has black eyes

 

The ranger killed a pig. Coldhands stood beside the door, a raven on his arm, both staring at the fire. Reflections from the flames glittered off four black eyes. He does not eat, Bran remembered, and he fears the flames.

 

So with that in mind, here's every other black eyed person/culture in the ASOIAF universe that I can find in an attempt to find out who Coldhands is

• Jon Snow’s eyes are a grey so dark they appear black
• Aliser Thorne
• Aegon V’s eyes were a purple so dark they appeared black
• Darkstar’s eyes are a purple so dark they appear black
• Aegon VI’s look black depending on the light but are purple
• Rhaegar’s eyes were purple and darker than Aegon VI’s eyes which appear black in the right light
• Aeron Greyjoy
• Victarion Greyjoy
• Euron Greyjoy in one eye
• Tyrion Lannister in one eye
• Bronn
• The Dothraki
• Mirri Maz Duur
• Yoren
• Shae
• Chataya’s daughter
• The Great Other
• Small Paul
• Some Unsullied
• The Ghiscari
• Lady Merryweather
• Oberyn
• Salty and sandy Dornishmen
• The man the wildlings encounter on the trip to attack Castle Black that Jon was supposed to kill
• Satin
• Alleras
• Nymeria Sand
• The Waif
• Mord
• Arianne
• The Fat Fellow
• Lorcas
• Godric Borrell
• The Widow Merchant
• Shavepate
• Borroq
• The Tickler
• Black Betha Blackwood
• Members of House Hoare
• Summer Islanders
• The Tall Men

As you can see from this list members of House Hoare have black eyes. And we know that there just so happens to have been a member of House Hoare who was in the Night's Watch during a time in which the Nightfort was still open: Lord Commander Hoare.

 

 “The men who formed the Night’s Watch knew that only their courage shielded the realm from the darkness to the north. They knew they must have no divided loyalties to weaken their resolve. So they vowed they would have no wives nor children.
“Yet brothers they had, and sisters. Mothers who gave them birth, fathers who gave them names. They came from a hundred quarrelsome kingdoms, and they knew times may change, but men do not. So they pledged as well that the Night’s Watch would take no part in the battles of the realms it guarded.
“They kept their pledge. When Aegon slew Black Harren and claimed his kingdom, Harren’s brother was Lord Commander on the Wall, with ten thousand swords to hand. He did not march.

 

And this would have been back when the Nightfort was the main castle for the Watch

 

 

 "This seems an old place," Jojen said as they walked down a gallery where the sunlight fell in dusty shafts through empty windows.

"Twice as old as Castle Black," Bran said, remembering. "It was the first castle on the Wall, and the largest."

 

So the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch would definitely know that there happens to be a hidden tunnel in his castle that only a Night's Watch brother may open, thus how Coldhands knows about the Black Gate as he used to be to in charge of it.

 

Coldhands also happens to fear fire.

 

 He does not eat, Bran remembered, and he fears the flames.

 

Yet he's not a traditional wight

 

 He wore blacks, like a brother of the Watch, but he was pale as a wight, with hands so cold that at first I was afraid. The wights have blue eyes, though, and they don't have tongues, or they've forgotten how to use them."

 

Where fire is the only thing that kills them so his fear of fire is sort of out of place. But would Lord Commander Hoare have a reason to fear fire? It just so happens that he would

 

Though House Hoare had ruled the riverlands for three generations, the men of the Trident had no love for their ironborn overlords. Harren the Black had driven thousands to their deaths in the building of his great castle of Harrenhal, plundering the riverlands for materials and beggaring lords and smallfolk alike with his appetite for gold. So now the riverlands rose against him, led by Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun. Summoned to the defense of Harrenhal, Tully declared for House Targaryen instead, raised the dragon banner over his castle, and rode forth with his knights and archers to join his strength to Aegon's. His defiance gave heart to the other riverlords. One by one, the lords of the Trident renounced Harren and declared for Aegon the Dragon. Blackwoods, Mallisters, Vances, Brackens, Pipers, Freys, Strongs...summoning their levies, they descended on Harrenhal.

Suddenly outnumbered, King Harren the Black took refuge in his supposedly impregnable stronghold. The largest castle ever raised in Westeros, Harrenhal boasted five gargantuan towers, an inexhaustible source of fresh water, huge, subterranean vaults well stocked with provisions, and massive walls of black stone higher than any ladder and too thick to be broken by any ram or shattered by a trebuchet. Harren barred his gates and settled down with his remaining sons and supporters to withstand a siege.

Aegon of Dragonstone was of a different mind. Once he had joined his power with that of Edmyn Tully and the other riverlords to ring the castle, he sent a maester to the gates under a peace banner, to parley. Harren emerged to meet him—an old man and grey, yet still fierce in his black armor. Each king had his banner-bearer and his maester in attendance, so the words that they exchanged are still remembered.

"Yield now," Aegon began, "and you may remain as Lord of the Iron Islands. Yield now, and your sons will live to rule after you. I have eight thousand men outside your walls."

"What is outside my walls is of no concern to me," said Harren. "Those walls are strong and thick."

"But not so high as to keep out dragons. Dragons fly."

"I built in stone," said Harren. "Stone does not burn."

To which Aegon said, "When the sun sets, your line shall end."

It is said that Harren spat at that and returned to his castle. Once inside, he sent every man of his to the parapets, armed with spears and bows and crossbows, promising lands and riches to whichever of them could bring the dragon down. "Had I a daughter, the dragonslayer could claim her hand as well," Harren the Black proclaimed. "Instead I will give him one of Tully's daughters, or all three if he likes. Or he may pick one of Blackwood's whelps, or Strong's, or any girl born of these traitors of the Trident, these lords of yellow mud." Then Harren the Black retired to his tower, surrounded by his household guard, to sup with his remaining sons.

As the last light of the sun faded, Black Harren's men stared into the gathering darkness, clutching their spears and crossbows. When no dragon appeared, some may have thought that Aegon's threats had been hollow. But Aegon Targaryen took Balerion up high, through the clouds, up and up until the dragon was no bigger than a fly upon the moon. Only then did he descend, well inside the castle walls. On wings as black as pitch, Balerion plunged through the night, and when the great towers of Harrenhal appeared beneath him, the dragon roared his fury and bathed them in black fire, shot through with swirls of red.

Stone does not burn, Harren had boasted, but his castle was not made of stone alone. Wood and wool, hemp and straw, bread and salted beef and grain, all took fire. Nor were Harren's ironmen made of stone. Smoking, screaming, shrouded in flames, they ran across the yards and tumbled from the wallwalks to die upon the ground below. And even stone will crack and melt if a fire is hot enough. The riverlords outside the castle walls said later that the towers of Harrenhal glowed red against the night, like five great candles...and like candles, they began to twist and melt, as runnels of molten stone ran down their sides.

Harren and his last sons died in the fires that engulfed his monstrous fortress that night. House Hoare died with him, and so too did the Iron Islands' hold on the riverlands.

 

House Hoare, other than Lord Commander Hoare, was extinguished by Aegon the Conqueror when Balerion burned Harrenhal. And those members of House Hoare that Balerion killed by fire? They happened to be his brother and his nephewS

 

When Aegon slew Black Harren and claimed his kingdom, Harren’s brother was Lord Commander on the Wall

 

So Lord Commander Hoare would have reason to fear fire as that's how his entire family was extinguished

 

CONTINUED IN POST #2

[King of the Narrow Sea]

CONTINUED

 

Many also theorize that Coldhands wears a scarf to hide wounds on his neck.

 

Just ahead, the elk wove between the snowdrifts with his head down, his huge rack of antlers crusted with ice. The ranger sat astride his broad back, grim and silent. Coldhands was the name that the fat boy Sam had given him, for though the ranger's face was pale, his hands were black and hard as iron, and cold as iron too. The rest of him was wrapped in layers of wool and boiled leather and ringmail, his features shadowed by his hooded cloak and a black woolen scarf about the lower half of his face.

 

Perhaps that wound happens to be a bruise? Like one caused by someone who was hanged, which is the method of execution for the Night's Watch?

 

"As you will." Jon nodded to Iron Emmett. "Please take Lord Janos to the Wall—"

—and confine him to an ice cell, he might have said. A day or ten cramped up inside the ice would leave him shivering and feverish and begging for release, Jon did not doubt. And the moment he is out, he and Thorne will begin to plot again.

—and tie him to his horse, he might have said. If Slynt did not wish to go to Greyguard as its commander, he could go as its cook. It will only be a matter of time until he deserts, then. And how many others will he take with him?

"—and hang him," Jon finished.

 

Why specifically think he was hanged though and that's what's hiding under his scarf? Because Coldhands voice rattles and his throat is notably thin and gaunt
 

His voice rattled in his throat, as thin and gaunt as he was.

 

Which could indicate that his throat was somehow damaged. Which certainly would be the case had Coldhands been hanged.

 

But why would Lord Commander Hoare have been hanged? Well as we have explored earlier, he was brother to Harren the Black who Aegon killed. So Lord Commander Hoare would have been the Lord Commander who had to hear the news that his entire family happened to have been roasted alive by this new king in Westoros. Perhaps he'd have wanted revenge? Well historically speaking, we're told that Lord Commander Hoare stayed put when his family was roasted alive despite having 10,000 men under his command.
 

 “The men who formed the Night’s Watch knew that only their courage shielded the realm from the darkness to the north.They knew they must have no divided loyalties to weaken their resolve. So they vowed they would have no wives nor children.
“Yet brothers they had, and sisters. Mothers who gave them birth, fathers who gave them names. They came from a hundred quarrelsome kingdoms, and they knew times may change, but men do not. So they pledged as well that the Night’s Watch would take no part in the battles of the realms it guarded.
“They kept their pledge. When Aegon slew Black Harren and claimed his kingdom, Harren’s brother was Lord Commander on the Wall, with ten thousand swords to hand. He did not march.

 

Perhaps he did not stay put though, but instead decided, much like Jon did, that he wanted revenge and DID attempt to march south. For which his men killed him for desertion but kept the news hushed up, hence the possible neck bruises on Coldhands. The story that Lord Commander Hoare stayed put is just a story then. And if Lord Commander, AKA Coldhands did desert, then it would explain why he cannot cross through the Black Gate

 

  

"Why didn't he come with you?" Meera gestured toward Gilly and her babe. "They came with you, why not him? Why didn't you bring him through this Black Gate too?"

"He . . . he can't."

 

Because the Black Gate requires your Night's Watch oath, and more specifically the part where you vow to guard the Wall
 

  "Who are you?" the door asked, and the well whispered, "Who-who-who-who-who-who-who."

"I am the sword in the darkness," Samwell Tarly said. "I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers. I am the shield that guards the realms of men."

"Then pass," the door said.

 

Which Lord Commander Hoare would have broken if he deserted. He cannot cross as he broke his oath and the door will therefore not let him.

 

As to how Coldhands is dead

 

 

They killed him long ago

 

Yet still is moving around, Harrenhal happens to have contained an old book that Roose Bolton read and burned that many theorize to have been a magical tome.

 

    

Roose Bolton was seated by the hearth reading from a thick leatherbound book when she entered. "Light some candles," he commanded her as he turned a page. "It grows gloomy in here."

She placed the food at his elbow and did as he bid her, filling the room with flickering light and the scent of cloves. Bolton turned a few more pages with his finger, then closed the book and placed it carefully in the fire. He watched the flames consume it, pale eyes shining with reflected light. The old dry leather went up with a whoosh, and the yellow pages stirred as they burned, as if some ghost were reading them.

 

If it was indeed a magical tome there could have some kind of death cheating spell in there thus how Coldhands is alive but not alive as he could have read the book 300 years ago when it was in House Hoare's possession. He knew the spell prior to his death. Or Coldhands is simply just a freak and alive through some other method.

 

And those black hands of Coldhands?

 

He's wearing blacks. Sam urged Gilly toward him. The elk was huge, a great elk, ten feet tall at the shoulder, with a rack of antlers near as wide. The creature sank to his knees to let them mount. "Here," the rider said, reaching down with a gloved hand to pull Gilly up behind him. Then it was Sam's turn. "My thanks," he puffed. Only when he grasped the offered hand did he realize that the rider wore no glove. His hand was black and cold, with fingers hard as stone.

 

While they're explained as the result of him being dead

 

   The ranger studied his hands as if he had never noticed them before. "Once the heart has ceased to beat, a man's blood runs down into his extremities, where it thickens and congeals." His voice rattled in his throat, as thin and gaunt as he was. "His hands and feet swell up and turn as black as pudding. The rest of him becomes as white as milk."

 

It just so happens that members of House Hoare were said to have black blood

 

   Archmaester Hake tells us that the kings of House Hoare were, "black of hair, black of eye, and black of heart." Their foes claimed their blood was black as well, darkened by the "Andal taint," for many of the early Hoare kings took maidens of that ilk to wife. True ironborn had salt water in their veins, the priests of the Drowned God proclaimed; the black-blooded Hoares were false kings, ungodly usurpers who must be cast down.

 

So Coldhands' hands would have double cause to be black if he was the dead Lord Commander Hoare as he would have possibly had black blood originally if the tales were at all true, and because he died which would have made his blood congeal and darken.

 

I'm sure some will see these two huge posts and not be bothered to read the wall of text so:

 

TL;DR Coldhands is former Lord Commander Hoare, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch during Aegon's Conquest  

[Lord Wraith]

Interesting and informative. Kudos for the list of black eyed people, shows the dedication.  Certainly seems plausible to me.

[winterfellbeyondthewall]

Nice work there! I find it quite plausible.

[Ser Arthur Hightower]

Well it makes more sense than Benjen or most of the other suggestions. Good OP (though I'm still not convinced we should care who Coldhands was).

[King of the Narrow Sea]

Interesting and informative. Kudos for the list of black eyed people, shows the dedication.  Certainly seems plausible to me.

Nice work there! I find it quite plausible.

 

Thanks! Though I believe him to be Lord Commander Hoare, I doubt that we'll ever find out who Coldhands was (I think GRRM's done with the character)

[Free Northman Reborn]

He is just a random meat suit worn by Bloodraven. His knowledge is actually Bloodraven's knowledge. He is some random brother who died and who is now animated by Bloodraven. When Bloodraven is not wearing him he is just a corpse.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

Now Coldhands is a former Night's Watch member, who happens to know secrets of the Nightfort, despite the Nightfort having been abandoned 200 years ago
 
Therefore Coldhands was a member of the Night's Watch sometime prior to 100AC. So let's figure out who he is then.

 
No. Does not follow. As we see (from your own quotes), Sam, a brand new crow, knows a little about Nightfort, and  Bran, a boy raised in Winterfell, knows this and that, too. In other places, Bran will recall more old legends slash history of the Wall, and Jon Snow will, too. Therefore your assumption that Coldhands must have lived in Nightfort, is completely unfounded.
 

We have only one really good descriptive feature for Coldhands apart from the features that occur because he's dead (the pale skin and black hands for instance): that he has black eyes

 
And were his eyes black, too, when he was still alive? I don't know. Neither do you. Another unfounded assumption.
 

Coldhands also happens to fear fire, yet he's not a traditional wight, where fire is the only thing that kills them so his fear of fire is sort of out of place.

 
He might not be a traditional wight, yet be particularly vulnerable to fire all the same. His wariness of it is not sort of out of place, it's perfectly in place.
 

But would Lord Commander Hoare have a reason to fear fire? It just so happens that he would

 
Lord Commander Hoare was not in Harrenhal when Aegon burned it down, he was thousands of leagues away. As a family member, he has no more reason to resent fire than, say, a relative of any of the ten thousand people who perished on the Field of Fire. Or, say, Ned Stark. Does he seem more afraid of flames than your average man? I didn't notice. No, Lord Commander Hoare did not have a good reason to be visibly afraid of fire.
 

But why would Lord Commander Hoare have been hanged? Well as we have explored earlier, he was brother to Harren the Black who Aegon killed. So Lord Commander Hoare would have been the Lord Commander who had to hear the news that his entire family happened to have been roasted alive by this new king in Westoros. Perhaps he'd have wanted revenge? Well historically speaking, we're told that Lord Commander Hoare stayed put when his family was roasted alive despite having 10,000 men under his command.

Perhaps he did not stay put though, but instead decided, much like Jon did, that he wanted revenge and DID attempt to march south. For which his men killed him for desertion but kept the news hushed up, hence the possible neck bruises on Coldhands. The story that Lord Commander Hoare stayed put is just a story then. And if Lord Commander, AKA Coldhands did desert, then it would explain why he cannot cross through the Black Gate

 

Yes, if we dismiss and outright contradict everything we know about characters to fit our theory, we can go very far indeed. Hell, with that play in our arsenal, there's no limit! Yet if the only account of the events says flat and firm that Hoare stayed put, I'm going to go with the books instead of your fanfiction.

[Jubal]

Sorry to nitpick, but just because the Nightfort was abandoned 200 years ago doesn't mean that the knowledge of the Black gate was forgotten - in fact I'd say it's highly probable that this knowledge would have been passed on in case rangers needed to cross the wall there.

 

Having said that, your theory is no less credible than any other, we simply have no idea who Coldhands is.

[redeagl]

I think that his theory is the most pausible Coldhands theory. ( I hope GRRM will not pull a Tom Bombadill on us.)

[Lady Isis]

Good Detective work there.... and I say it is pretty plausible

[Eden-Mackenzie]

CONTINUED

...

[font='times new roman', serif]Yet still is moving around, Harrenhal happens to have contained an old book that Roose Bolton read and burned that many theorize to have been a magical tomb.
 
If it was indeed a magical tomb there could have some kind of death cheating spell in there thus how Coldhands is alive but not alive as he could have read the book 300 years ago when it was in House Hoare's possession. He knew the spell prior to his death. Or Coldhands is simply just a freak and alive through some other method.
...
And those black hands of Coldhands?

While they're explained as the result of him being dead

It just so happens that members of House Hoare were said to have black blood[/font]
...

Sorry to nitpick, but I think you mean tome instead of tomb. I was following along quite nicely up until this point, when my mind derailed trying to figure out how I had missed people claiming Roose Bolton burnt a horcrux. Also, black blood is typically a figurative descriptor rather a literal one, indicative of a traitor just general nefariousness, both of which could be attributed to House Hoare by their enemies.

Overall, a very interesting read, and it is so nice to see an actual thought-out and researched thread instead of the deep thoughts of people who admit to not having read the books. While it would be much more satisfying to learn Coldhands had been someone rather than Random Brother No. 1,452, I agree at this point it looks like the latter is more likely than the former.

One (three-part) question though: what is Lord Commander Hoare's motivation in helping Bran reach Bloodraven as opposed to say helping stranded Brothers of the Nights Watch return safely to the south side of the Wall? If he was executed for desertion, wouldn't he be more likely to be sentenced to spend his days assisting his Brothers rather than assisting a fellow Lord Commander who appears to have essentially deserted as well? And what was he doing during the interim? It is these aspects of Coldhands's existence that make me inclined to believe he was one of the members of the Raven's Teeth sent to the Wall with Bloodraven, but again, I doubt we will ever know his identity with any amount of certainty.

[Sage of Westeros]

Very interesting theory, I am quite convinced.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

It's a decent theory, though it has it's holes.

 

For one thing it's the voice that's thin, not his throat.  Bran/Sam/whoever can't see his throat, thus they must be talking about his voice.  Lady Stoneheart's throat was cut and by the end of AFFC she is getting some of her voice back.  Thus the voice description is consistent with facts already in evidence in the series relating to a character who's throat was cut.

 

For another, if Harren, as you suggest had decided to go south after finding out his family was killed (though at that point there would be nothing he could do), he would be hanged on the SOUTH side of the Wall.  Regardless of why Coldhands can't go through the gate, it's unlikely that LC Hoare's body was transported north of the Wall for burial. 

 

The book Roose burned might have been one that he himself owned. So I doubt the death-cheating spell idea.

 

Please check out my Wighting Theory with regards to why Coldhands is different from standard wights.  We may never really know, but it's one possibility.

 

I have to agree with FVR on a number of points, specifically the fear of fire bit.

[King of the Narrow Sea]

 
No. Does not follow. As we see (from your own quotes), Sam, a brand new crow, knows a little about Nightfort, and  Bran, a boy raised in Winterfell, knows this and that, too. In other places, Bran will recall more old legends slash history of the Wall, and Jon Snow will, too. Therefore your assumption that Coldhands must have lived in Nightfort, is completely unfounded.

 

There is quite a big difference from having heard legends of the Nightfort to knowing that there's a secret door in the well of the Nightfort's kitchen. Bran, Sam, and Jon all know legends and vague details. Coldhands knows intimate details of the fort. So it's a much better fit that he actually spent time in the Nightfort than that he had heard a legend detailing the Black Gate when no one else in the story has ever heard of this gate.

 

 

And were his eyes black, too, when he was still alive? I don't know. Neither do you. Another unfounded assumption.

 

We don't know what his eyes were in life, but as you can see from the list of black eyed people that I provided there is not a single person who has black eyes or eyes that look black that aren't their natural color. Coldhands would have to be the only person in story who did not have black eyes while he was alive.

 

 

He might not be a traditional wight, yet be particularly vulnerable to fire all the same. His wariness of it is not sort of out of place, it's perfectly in place.

 

We have no indication that he is vulnerable to fire beyond what any normal person is as he's not a typical wight that can only be killed by fire. He's more of a Beric wight and Beric could still be killed by any normal means. So it's better to think that he's just as vulnerable as any human like Beric was than that fire is the only thing that could kill him when he's more similar to Beric than a wight.

 

 

Yes, if we dismiss and outright contradict everything we know about characters to fit our theory, we can go very far indeed. Hell, with that play in our arsenal, there's no limit! Yet if the only account of the events says flat and firm that Hoare stayed put, I'm going to go with the books instead of your fanfiction.

 

Officially Jon Snow has deserted the Night's Watch 3 times and so far no one beyond the Wall actually knows this. No reason to suggest that every single desertion would be recorded or made official.

 

Symbolically, it also does make sense that Lord Commander Hoare did desert because Aemon brings it up in the conversation with Jon Snow right before Jon himself does desert. Jon is reminded by Aemon of how the Night's Watch plays no part in the southern battles and gives Lord Commander Hoare as an example of a Night's Watch member who had a brother go to war while he stayed at his post because he'd sworn a vow. Jon's brother Robb is going to war and we know that Jon himself did not stay at his post despite having sworn the same vow that Hoare would have. So if Jon deserted in the same situation that Hoare was faced with, then symbolically it makes more sense that Hoare tried to desert as well than that he didn't.

 

Also, in the entire conversation which is omitted but instead only focused of the Hoare part, Aemon asks Jon what Ned would have done if faced with love or his duty and Jon says that Ned would have done what is right to which Aemon replies that Ned is one man in a thousand. The entire conversation is about how love is stronger than duty, and that that's why the Night's Watch members must forswear love as it's the bane of duty. But that it's still extremely rare for a man to do his duty over his love. So Lord Commander Hoare would have had to have been one of those 1/1000 men who chooses to do their duty over obeying their hearts. The odds therefore are that he wouldn't have chosen to do his duty over his love to his family.

 

Also, GRRM is very found of saying that when history differs from legend, print the legend. What's the better story when trying to showcase the length of dutifulness of the Night's Watch members then how dutiful Lord Commander Hoare stayed at his post while Aegon burned his family alive, or that Lord Commander Hoare did not stay at his post?

 

Sorry to nitpick, but just because the Nightfort was abandoned 200 years ago doesn't mean that the knowledge of the Black gate was forgotten - in fact I'd say it's highly probable that this knowledge would have been passed on in case rangers needed to cross the wall there.

 

Having said that, your theory is no less credible than any other, we simply have no idea who Coldhands is.

 

Sam, Jojen, Meera, Jon, Stannis, etc. all have no knowledge of the Black Gate existing until Coldhands shows it to Sam. The knowledge clearly was forgotten otherwise someone would have known about it.

 

And that's assuming the knowledge was ever commonplace instead of a guarded secret.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

There is quite a big difference from having heard legends of the Nightfort to knowing that there's a secret door in the well of the Nightfort's kitchen. Bran, Sam, and Jon all know legends and vague details. Coldhands knows intimate details of the fort. So it's a much better fit that he actually spent time in the Nightfort than that he had heard a legend detailing the Black Gate when no one else in the story has ever heard of this gate.

 
Sam and Jon were pretty much noobs at the Wall, Bran not even that. And now a few more people know about the Black Gate simply because someone told them. Well, Coldhands could have learned exactly the same way. It's not as if he actually displays any intimate knowledge of the castle.
 

We don't know what his eyes were in life, but as you can see from the list of black eyed people that I provided there is not a single person who has black eyes or eyes that look black that aren't their natural color.

 
 The logic of this argument is borderline painful. Yes, the living people have their natural eyes color (and it actually extends on all colors, not only black). How is that relevant? Since Coldhands died a long time ago, and yet somehow walks and talks, it's silly to assume normal rules apply to him. Wights raised by the Others inevitably change their eye color to blue. Well, maybe Coldhands was revived by someone else, maybe through some unique ritual, one that effects in black eyes.
 

We have no indication that he is vulnerable to fire beyond what any normal person is

 
But we do: he fears it. People who lost relatives due to fire, thousand of leagues away, don't seem to. That's how we work. You don't acquire a conditioned response through reading a dispatch, you acquire it by actually burning your skin. The Hound fears fire, Ned Stark does not.
 

Officially Jon Snow has deserted the Night's Watch 3 times and so far no one beyond the Wall actually knows this. No reason to suggest that every single desertion would be recorded or made official.

 
Again: Hoare's alleged desertion is something you completely made up. Prove me wrong. And since that event is completely made up, you can hardly expect anyone to accept is as an argument reinforcing your theory.
By the way, it isn't said that Coldhands can't pass the Black Gate. It's said he can't pass beyond the Wall, period. Well, deserters from the Night Watch can pass the Wall just fine, no matter, over or under. Gared could. Mance could a few times.
 

Symbolically, it also does make sense that Lord Commander Hoare did desert because Aemon brings it up in the conversation with Jon Snow right before Jon himself does desert. Jon is reminded by Aemon of how the Night's Watch plays no part in the southern battles and gives Lord Commander Hoare as an example of a Night's Watch member who had a brother go to war while he stayed at his post because he'd sworn a vow. Jon's brother Robb is going to war and we know that Jon himself did not stay at his post despite having sworn the same vow that Hoare would have. So if Jon deserted in the same situation that Hoare was faced with, then symbolically it makes more sense that Hoare tried to desert as well than that he didn't.

 

No, actually, in context it would have made more sense, had Maester Aemon said: Hoare tried to march south and was hanged for his trouble.

[King of the Narrow Sea]

 
Sam and Jon were pretty much noobs at the Wall, Bran not even that. And now a few more people know about the Black Gate simply because someone told them. Well, Coldhands could have learned exactly the same way. It's not as if he actually displays any intimate knowledge of the castle.

 

So no one has ever heard of the Black Gate prior to Coldhands

 

 

 The logic of this argument is borderline painful. Yes, the living people have their natural eyes color (and it actually extends on all colors, not only black). How is that relevant? Since Coldhands died a long time ago, and yet somehow walks and talks, it's silly to assume normal rules apply to him. Wights raised by the Others inevitably change their eye color to blue. Well, maybe Coldhands was revived by someone else, maybe through some unique ritual, one that effects in black eyes.

 

There is not a single person in the story who's black eyes aren't there natural color unless you invent that Coldhands aren't his. But you don't seem to have a problem with inventing backgrounds for characters for your arguments, only when someone else does it. Curious.

 

 

But we do: he fears it. People who lost relatives due to fire, thousand of leagues away, don't seem to. That's how we work. You don't acquire a conditioned response through reading a dispatch, you acquire it by actually burning your skin. The Hound fears fire, Ned Stark does not.

 

Okay, let's play ball: why would Coldhands fear fire then? Are we going to invent that he's an Others wight who can only be killed by fire when he's not an Others wight? Why should he fear fire when we have no indication that fire would do anything special to him beyond what it would due to anybody else? How can he have a conditioned response to fire when as far as we can see he doesn't have any reason to fear fire as there's no indication that only fire can kill him. He's not an Others wight, he's more like Beric who died every single time his body was put in a situation that a regular humans would have. So his fear of fire doesn't make sense.

 

 

Again: Hoare's alleged desertion is something you completely made up. Prove me wrong. And since that event is completely made up, you can hardly expect anyone to accept is as an argument reinforcing your theory

 

Of course it's completely made up. The only ever mention of Hoare is the one sentence by Maester Aemon. We know absolutely nothing about the guy beyond that he was Lord Commander when Aegon made his conquest. If I wasn't making some things up to fill gaps this thread would just be a presentation of Lord Commander Hoare, the Lord Commander during Aegon's Conquest.

 

 By the way, it isn't said that Coldhands can't pass the Black Gate. It's said he can't pass beyond the Wall, period. Well, deserters from the Night Watch can pass the Wall just fine, no matter, over or under. Gared could. Mance could a few times.

 

Neither of which happen to be possible resurrected dead deserters so this argument doesn't even apply.

 

 No, actually, in context it would have made more sense, had Maester Aemon said: Hoare tried to march south and was hanged for his trouble.

 

Only if Aemon knew of such an event could he say that. Again, Jon's deserted 3 times now and the only people who know are those around him. Janos Slynt was killed for disobeying an order and no one knows but those at the Wall. Qhorin Halfhand's dead and no one knows beyond the Wall. You're assuming it would be common knowledge if someone deserted or tried to desert when the series shows that almost everything that happens at the Wall doesn't become widespread knowledge.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

For the record--although it makes zero difference--Rhaegar's eyes were indigo.

[King of the Narrow Sea]

One (three-part) question though: what is Lord Commander Hoare's motivation in helping Bran reach Bloodraven as opposed to say helping stranded Brothers of the Nights Watch return safely to the south side of the Wall? If he was executed for desertion, wouldn't he be more likely to be sentenced to spend his days assisting his Brothers rather than assisting a fellow Lord Commander who appears to have essentially deserted as well? And what was he doing during the interim? It is these aspects of Coldhands's existence that make me inclined to believe he was one of the members of the Raven's Teeth sent to the Wall with Bloodraven, but again, I doubt we will ever know his identity with any amount of certainty.

 

Whoever Coldhands is I'm not really sure if they're the person they were when alive beyond being really that person's physical body. Coldhands could be a vastly different person than Lord Commander Hoare, while still being physically Lord Commander Hoare if that makes any sense. I only started this thread after noticing that Coldhands had black eyes and tried to work to find someone who could have fit being a brother who had black eyes and knew the Nightfort in which case I found Lord Commander Hoare who's a brother, would have known the Nightfort as it was his castle, and has black eyes. Much of it was then trying to fit different pieces around to see how Coldhands could be Lord Commander Hoare after those 3 points, but I don't think that characteristically Coldhands still needs to be whoever he was in life. He could just be Lord Commander Hoare's body and is dancing to whatever tune is keeping him alive.

 

It's a decent theory, though it has it's holes.

 

For one thing it's the voice that's thin, not his throat.  Bran/Sam/whoever can't see his throat, thus they must be talking about his voice.  Lady Stoneheart's throat was cut and by the end of AFFC she is getting some of her voice back.  Thus the voice description is consistent with facts already in evidence in the series relating to a character who's throat was cut.

 

I assumed it's the thin neck because it's also gaunt and I don't think you can really have a gaunt voice. But even then if the voice is thin I believe it would still be consistent with someone's who was hanged as his ability to speak would still have been diminished by the damage done. IIRC Lady Stoneheart can only speak when she closes the gap in her neck and Coldhands never does that to speak so I don't think it fits that he had his throat cut.

 

 

For another, if Harren, as you suggest had decided to go south after finding out his family was killed (though at that point there would be nothing he could do), he would be hanged on the SOUTH side of the Wall.  Regardless of why Coldhands can't go through the gate, it's unlikely that LC Hoare's body was transported north of the Wall for burial.

 

I don't think he'd have been hanged south. When the 79 sentinels were killed for abandoning their post they were entombed in the Wall facing north so that they'd never desert again. They were faced north to remind everyone that the Night's Watch's duties lie to the north not south so if Hoare tried to go south I'd imagine they'd throw him off the north side to remind people that their duties were northern. Unless they're somewhere where the Watch hangs someone to the south that I'm missing of course.

[King of the Narrow Sea]

For the record--although it makes zero difference--Rhaegar's eyes were indigo.

 

I only included him because Connington says that Rhaegar's eyes were darker than Aegon's and Aegon's look black by lamplight. So Rhaegar's, while actually indigo, could at least appear black in certain situations if his eyes are darker than his son's which do that. But I did write that Jon, Rhaegar, Aegon VI, Aegon V, and Darkstar were the only people on the list who's eyes only appear to be black but are actually either purple or grey.