[ADWD SPOILERS] The Ghost in Winterfell / "There must ALWAYS be a Stark in Winterfell

[Net-Viper X]

Ok, reading crackpot theories has given me one, and since all my theories are crackpot to start with, this one might actually be more of a crackpipe theory, but here it is.

Some people have mentioned perhaps a warging into the body of someone commited the killing, some have mentioned the spirits of Winterfel. Now I dont see how a spirit with no physical form could kill or harm anyone, nor do I think that Bran has enough free time on his hands at the moment to go greenseeing off to his old homeland to kill some punk kid....BUT....

What if there really are spirits, and there really is warging going on, and its the spirits of Winterfel doing the warging? Maybe a spirit warged Walder to kill the other Walder. [Que Twilight zone music.]

[iNinja]

Its Ned Stark. Maybe HBO asked for a creative way to include Sean Bean in future seasons. Also, we know Ned's sword was not with him which may alow for his remains to be brought back to winterfell. Did'nt we possibly see Ned's ghost somewhere in Arya chapter in one of the books? HBO can now take its creative liberties and make Ned a Ghost in the TV series without ruining the books.

Or it was a clever chapter title to allow GRRM to disguise future chapters about Jon Snow as Ghost's POV.

[CrypticWeirwood]

Its Ned Stark. Maybe HBO asked for a creative way to include Sean Bean in future seasons. Also, we know Ned's sword was not with him which may alow for his remains to be brought back to winterfell. Didn't we possibly see Ned's ghost somewhere in Arya chapter in one of the books? HBO can now take its creative liberties and make Ned a Ghost in the TV series without ruining the books.

No, Arya “seemed to hear” Ned’s voice in the godswood. Leading theories include one or more of the following:

1. Arya hallucinating her wish-fulfilment fantasy
   
2. Ned’s ghost as assimilated by the weirwood memory network
   
3. Bloodraven in real time, using either his greenseer powers or sorcery (these are two different things)
   
4. Bran from the future reaching back in time using his time-travelling super greenseer powers
   

Number 1 I discount as an unlikely cop-out in a fantasy series.

Number 4 has serious causality issues, but must not be completely discounted.

Number 3 seems the more likely of the two remaining possibilities, but it is also possible that some combination of numbers 2 and 3 are together at work here.

[Johnny Midknight]

It seems very odd to me that Big Walder would cut his brother's throat, but many miles away other brother's are cutting their Lord Commander's throat and stabbing him. Is it possible that someone is skinchanging into these people to carry out the attacks? Food for thought ... Bran is the only one that comes to mind readily as being powerful enought o do it.

Interesting theory. What of Sixskins? He was attempting to enter people's bodies in the Prologue. What if he succeeded? Though he wouldn't occupy his time killing of people like this would he? Strike that, he would, but not for the same purpose that "ghost" seems to be.

What if it was Jaquen? The faceless men seem to get their faces from the dead... It is a stretch that he might have Eddard's face. But, he did change into the Pate when he was the alchemist without removing the actual face if I am not mistaken (unless he did it afterwards). Nothing would really substantiate this theory though that I can see.

[ZacharyB]

Am I the only one who doesn't like warging in general as an explanation for this? Just seems like a cop out for me.

[Sand Snake No. 9]

There are some creepy things kind of hinted at regarding the dead Starks. Ravenblood told Bran "not to call his father back from the dead". There must always be a Stark in Winterfell... because, the warding of the premises keeps the dead Starks from emerging from the crypt to walk again? I know, crazy right? Explain uncat, ungregor, coldhands, whyte walkers. I would love to see when the North is in its darkest hour, the Crypt at Winterfell opened and see emerging in Stone armored effigies with their swords and stone wolves coming forward from the grave to fight for their land, their people. That would be a site. We would see Eddard again. We may or may not.

With dragons from stone? Hmmmnnn . . .

[Johnny Midknight]

Am I the only one who doesn't like warging in general as an explanation for this? Just seems like a cop out for me.

I wouldn't necessarily call it a cop out. It is a stretch though, and it doesn't really fit. If it was really such, I think GRRM would have given better clues to that fact. Though Bran warging and exacting revenge of Ramsay Bolton and the likes would really fit. I have to reread the chapters in order to look into it better.

I personally like the idea of an Undead Stark coming back to get revenge though...

[Jennavere]

Does anything about Bran's personality really point at his involvement though? Im not sure it does. IF he has grasped his greenseer/wierwood network powers to the point that he could warg in and kill people, why LW? No, he would take out Theon, Roose Bolton, adult Frey's. I agree with others that more than likely BW took out LW, and the hooded man is Theon. It has been speculated that this is Theon's split personality and that Theon has been gelded. Could Theon have taken out Yellow Dick in the same manner he was treated? Food for thought. Speculation of course.

[Johnny Midknight]

Does anything about Bran's personality really point at his involvement though? Im not sure it does. IF he has grasped his greenseer/wierwood network powers to the point that he could warg in and kill people, why LW? No, he would take out Theon, Roose Bolton, adult Frey's. I agree with others that more than likely BW took out LW, and the hooded man is Theon. It has been speculated that this is Theon's split personality and that Theon has been gelded. Could Theon have taken out Yellow Dick in the same manner he was treated? Food for thought. Speculation of course.

Like a split personality Reek/Theon. Where the real Theon is exact justice, but Reek is unawares? And Reek being reek, is assumed not to be capable of the acts.

[Jennavere]

Like a split personality Reek/Theon. Where the real Theon is exact justice, but Reek is unawares? And Reek being reek, is assumed not to be capable of the acts.

Yes!!! Exactly. Especially if Theon really did lose his man parts, the Yellow Dick murder would be poetic justice. Plus it would then make sense the spear wives are shocked that he thinks its them, and they arent being sarcastic when they say its not them, it really isn't them.

I could see it going either way, as far as the other random murders.........could be spear wives, could be Theon. But I would like to see Theon show some balls here....no pun intended. I'm not saying I like him, but I would hope that at least a little bit of the cocky, rash Theon still exists to do some justice as repentance, otherwise, just kill him already.

[ZacharyB]

Does anything about Bran's personality really point at his involvement though? Im not sure it does. IF he has grasped his greenseer/wierwood network powers to the point that he could warg in and kill people, why LW? No, he would take out Theon, Roose Bolton, adult Frey's. I agree with others that more than likely BW took out LW, and the hooded man is Theon. It has been speculated that this is Theon's split personality and that Theon has been gelded. Could Theon have taken out Yellow Dick in the same manner he was treated? Food for thought. Speculation of course.

I don't think Bran would really take out anyone. I'm sure he'd be mad that there are Freys and Boltons in his home, but does Bran really have the compassion to kill them? He's only a child, and he definitely isn't made out of the same stuff Arya is.

@Jenna: I think we're starting to see the old Theon come back a bit. Reek would not have even gone through with sneaking Jeyne out, and I think we were seeing the bold Theon when he jumped.

[Jennavere]

@ZacharyB. - I couldn't agree more. Bran was the kind of child that dreamed of being a knight so he could joust. Not so he could be some Badass killing machine. Even after his fall he became more introverted, not outwardly angry. I don't think Bran's presence (if he is indeed in the Wierwood, I think he is) would be malicious at this point, he is too young, and too empathetic.

[Daenerys Faithful Servant]

The Hooded Man thing is something I honestly just ignored and moved on from as I really didn't consider him anything more than some guy. Considering it now, he probably is important somehow, but I don't see the Reek thing working. I don't see where the personality of Reek would manifest itself as anything except a broken and useless being. The Theon personality taking on the Hooded Man role would have made more sense if it was a mental crack that was making him see things.

Oddly enough the House Banefort, a Westernlands House, have a Hooded Man on their banners and their forces were at Harrenhal at one point. The Lord of the House fought and was captured at the Battle of the Whispering Wood, giving some connection to Theon. Though, my theory would the character being foreshadowing of an heir of Banefort as the Lord was last seen heading for Casterly Rock.Banefort, Dreadfort, Hooded Man, Flayed Man, both banners above Harrenhal at different times, both Lords loyal to Tywin Lannister, some mysterious figures recognizes Theon and such a person (an Heir to House Banefort) could have easily joined up with the Frey Host on their march north.

[gonzoaster11]

Ok, reading crackpot theories has given me one, and since all my theories are crackpot to start with, this one might actually be more of a crackpipe theory, but here it is.

Some people have mentioned perhaps a warging into the body of someone commited the killing, some have mentioned the spirits of Winterfel. Now I dont see how a spirit with no physical form could kill or harm anyone, nor do I think that Bran has enough free time on his hands at the moment to go greenseeing off to his old homeland to kill some punk kid....BUT....

What if there really are spirits, and there really is warging going on, and its the spirits of Winterfel doing the warging? Maybe a spirit warged Walder to kill the other Walder. [Que Twilight zone music.]

I actually like this. I keep thinking about the 'swords to keep the spirits at rest' idea, and given the prevalence of warging in the Stark family, I wouldn't rule this out of the question.

Back on topic:

I do think the Hooded Man is real, not the Theon alter-ego looking down upon Reek. Reek would have recognized him. Nor is it Bran or Bloodraven reaching out. That goes beyond the ridiculous. Bran may not have liked the Walders, but he is far from a murderer. Killing someone as a knight is a lot different than slitting a throat of an (I'm assuming) unarmed child. Sorry to be a downer.

[Kanyin Snow]

Calling Theon "kinslayer," I think, has got to be key. It has to be someone incredibly close to the Starks and Theon to think to call him that. In CoK Rickard calls Theon "turncloak" over and over again (I think it was 4 or 5 times in one small conversation but never "kinslayer" as the hooded man calls him, and Rickard was there with them, even taught Theon to fight. It has to either be Theon himself, warging Bran, or Ned. Though I dislike the Ned theory because you can only bring so many people "back to life" before it becomes ridiculous. I like the split Theon theory but I don't know that he feels they are his kin. As Rickard is calling Theon turncloak Theon is arguig to himself and to Rickard that his cloak had never turned, he was never a Stark.

Maybe it's Howland and he's had a closer tie to the Starks in the past 10 years than we know. I think some people have hypothesized that he was a warg. Maybe he's warged into a stable boy or other servant (since Theon didn't recognize him). Arya's POC chapters have sure brought to light how invisible servants are to the highborn.

[CrypticWeirwood]

Calling Theon "kinslayer," I think, has got to be key. It has to be someone incredibly close to the Starks and Theon to think to call him that. In CoK Rickard calls Theon "turncloak" over and over again (I think it was 4 or 5 times in one small conversation but never "kinslayer" as the hooded man calls him, and Rickard was there with them, even taught Theon to fight. It has to either be Theon himself, warging Bran, or Ned. Though I dislike the Ned theory because you can only bring so many people "back to life" before it becomes ridiculous.

Hm, don’t you mean Benjen, not Ned?

And how do we know that Theon didn’t recognize him?

That still begs the question of who would call Theon a kinslayer. Would an actual Stark ever say that? I don’t really think so.

Maybe it was the miller’s wife.

[MtnLion]

Hm, don’t you mean Benjen, not Ned?

And how do we know that Theon didn’t recognize him?

That still begs the question of who would call Theon a kinslayer. Would an actual Stark ever say that? I don’t really think so.

Maybe it was the miller’s wife.

Or, maybe the miller, but I don't see why he wouldn't take action against Theon, unless he was gratefully relieved of his wife. :P

[ZacharyB]

Calling Theon "kinslayer," I think, has got to be key. It has to be someone incredibly close to the Starks and Theon to think to call him that. In CoK Rickard calls Theon "turncloak" over and over again (I think it was 4 or 5 times in one small conversation but never "kinslayer" as the hooded man calls him, and Rickard was there with them, even taught Theon to fight. It has to either be Theon himself, warging Bran, or Ned. Though I dislike the Ned theory because you can only bring so many people "back to life" before it becomes ridiculous. I like the split Theon theory but I don't know that he feels they are his kin. As Rickard is calling Theon turncloak Theon is arguig to himself and to Rickard that his cloak had never turned, he was never a Stark.

Maybe it's Howland and he's had a closer tie to the Starks in the past 10 years than we know. I think some people have hypothesized that he was a warg. Maybe he's warged into a stable boy or other servant (since Theon didn't recognize him). Arya's POC chapters have sure brought to light how invisible servants are to the highborn.

If it was really a Stark ghost like some are saying it is, the hooded man could have meant kinslayer as in slayer of my kin as opposed to your ​ kin. Regardless, I still think the hooded man is Theon's other half. Later on in the chapter when he's at the Godswood, he refers to himself as a brother to Ned's children. He felt he was a Stark, regardless of what he tells himself and others.

[king lare]

I think the ghost of Winterfell is a someone such as Bran who can project consciousness.

[Lord Damian]

The whole Winterfell scene with the Northmen like Bolton, Manderly etc... This was the best storyline in ADwD and will the most anticipated in the next book as to its resolution.