The Hooded Man new (?) theory...(possible spoilers)

[Yakman]

Nobody talks like the Hooded Man except for Blackfish.

It's the Blackfish and he came to get Arya and kill Freys.

[Lord Flashheart]

Nobody talks like the Hooded Man except for Blackfish.

It's the Blackfish and he came to get Arya and kill Freys.

What reason would the Blackfish have for leaving Theon alive? Or any of the candidates for that matter. It is one of the reasons I like Theon Durden.

[Ser Greg of House House]

I still say it was all Theon's imagination.

[House Stark for Life]

At this point I am leaning towards Harwin, or maybe Hallis Mollen. It has to be a person who would recognize Theon, but at the same time they were surprised that he was alive. So we know it was not someone who was in Winterfell for the wedding. Calling him kinslayer also suggests that they knew him well enough in that he was raised as a brother to the Stark children (or as close to a brother as possible while being a hostage). The brotherhood was up the neck the last time we heard from them, so it is very possible that Harwin is back spying and trying to gather information. If the hooded man was part of the GNC, they would most likely know Theon still lived......but that is conjecture. The Blackfish is also possible as Theon spent a lot of time with him during Robbs campaign. The Glover who sailed towards the Reeds is also an option, and if he just made it to Winterfell he would not be aware that Theon was still alive........and would not know Bran and Rikkon lived. I think the main points are 1) Has to have known Theon in person, and to know him well due to the kinslayer reference 2) Due to the surprise at seeing him alive this person is a recent arrival to Winterfell 3) They may not be in on the GNC after referring to him as kinslayer, but that could be a trick as Manderly is still playing dumb in public about the Stark boys being alive. As of right now my guess is 33/33/33 between Harwin/ Hallis Mollen or the Blackfish.

[Mayura]

To be honest, I have no opinion (yet) about the hooded man as too many things make me uncertain about his identity :

• The HM is not only a killer (if he is responsible for the murders), he also mutilated a victim afterwards, whether to spread fear among the people present at WF or because he purely wanted to be cruel. I still don't see why someone would take the time to mutilate Dick after his death and to put his manly parts in his mouth. It seems pretty extreme and it initially made me think the killer must have been someone who knew of YD's doings and who had a particular aversion for him.
  
• The HM doesn't kill Theon although he knows him. It is not impossible at all that Theon saw and recognised the man as their eyes crossed. But the HM seems not to fear the fact Theon could tell Ramsay there is a spy in WF. And this even though the HM now knows Theon is being tortured by Ramsay (and hence knows information could be forced out of Theon and that Theon Turncloak would like tell)
  

So it is either someone who doesn't care about his identity being revealed. Or it could very well be Theon himself, indeed, although this conversation seems a bit too "real".

[King of Winters]

Theon Durden :commie:

[Kevin Stark]

Robert Glover :drunk:

[House Stark for Life]

To be honest, I have no opinion (yet) about the hooded man as too many things make me uncertain about his identity :

• The HM is not only a killer (if he is responsible for the murders), he also mutilated a victim afterwards, whether to spread fear among the people present at WF or because he purely wanted to be cruel. I still don't see why someone would take the time to mutilate Dick after his death and to put his manly parts in his mouth. It seems pretty extreme and it initially made me think the killer must have been someone who knew of YD's doings and who had a particular aversion for him.
  
• The HM doesn't kill Theon although he knows him. It is not impossible at all that Theon saw and recognised the man as their eyes crossed. But the HM seems not to fear the fact Theon could tell Ramsay there is a spy in WF. And this even though the HM now knows Theon is being tortured by Ramsay (and hence knows information could be forced out of Theon and that Theon Turncloak would like tell)
  

So it is either someone who doesn't care about his identity being revealed. Or it could very well be Theon himself, indeed, although this conversation seems a bit too "real".

All the killings in Winterfell except for Walder were from Mance and the six wildling women with him. It could be theorized that the HM killed Walder.........but the body was found with frozen blood on it. The other Walder had blood on his clothes, implicating that he was the killer. If he found the dead body it would have been hard for him to get frozen blood all over himself.

[armidil0]

Liddle for me. Bran and Co. saw him on their way North. The only problem I have is that the Liddle might have been the old man that Ygritte killed right before Jon ran away.

[Korgon The Reaver]

Winterfell is crawling with Stark Loyalists... it could have been anyone, and that's kind of how I interpreted it when I read it. More of a nod to how many SL's were at Winterfell (we know Manderly's vast host is all SL), than introducing or re-introducing some new mysterious character.

[Korgon The Reaver]

Winterfell is crawling with Stark Loyalists... it could have been anyone, and that's kind of how I interpreted it when I read it. More of a nod to how many SL's were at Winterfell (we know Manderly's vast host is all SL), than introducing or re-introducing some new mysterious character.

[Korgon The Reaver]

.

[Lazy Lion]

Mance Rayder.

[Maidenpool?]

I like the idea of it being Jamie.. or for that matter, any other scout sent by Catelyn Stark. Could it not be Brienne? She would be mistaken for a man if she wore a cloak. Or Gendry? I always thought it could be one of these three.

Stoneheart catches wind of "Arya" being at Winterfell, and Jamie isn't sure whats going on. (I don't think he knows shes fake) Thus Stoneheart sends someone as a scout.

[Kasporio]

Brynden, Harwin, Jaime... Unbelievable. Winterfell is really north to the north. Well not the most northern point but its a long way.

Anybody from the riverlands should travel at least for MONTH in war torned country. Ok, Brynden is a tough guy but he's almost sixty. Harwin is a young bad northerner but he can't fly. Jaime, well... even a dumb could identified the kinslayer, and UnCat would prefer to see him dead than sendin' him on a mission, like she previously did when he screwed it.

More likely, its Mance. Washerwomen consider Theon a kinslayer, they're the only one to call him that way. In they're harsh ways, wildlings value children more than anything else it seems to me, because so few reach adulthood (or even past the first year...) Example : Sixskins killed his bro as a warg, his father didn't killed him, even if he was a monster and a kinslayer. Ok, Roose is a crazed monster, but he didn't killed his bastard, devious son, even after he killed his trueborn sibling, so this undermine my theory...

But the washerwomen almost admited (or never denied) they killed the first 2 victims (both grown up) and were horrified they could be suspected for big wal death. Which was probably killed by a manderly man. If a guy could cook and eat 3 weasels, he could send someone to deal with a child.

I'm a big fan of the durden theory anyway. To me, the hood wasn't surprised to see Theon alive, he meant "how the f... could you be alive when many people far better than you died?" When theon said Ramsay isn't done with him yet, it could express his reek persona.

Calling him a kinslayer, he regrets to have, in a way, betrayed Robb and all starks when they were in need, since they're the closest form of family he had. We have no clue that Balon ever tried to ransom him back. 9 years is long as a hostage, most ironborn nobility probably came back far earlier.

For the liddle... Mance ASKED for 6 pretty and young girls. Spearwives are what they are, determined survivalists, who could survive an awful winter and accustomed to fight.

[Daphnaerys Seaworth]

Have no idea if this has been proposed here but...

What if the Hooded Man is actually not ONE man but more than one men who have agreed to do the killings using the hood as a disguise.

They definitely have to be Northerners in Winterfell taking revenge for all the shit that has happened.

I believe it could be possible.It would be easier for let's say ,e.g 3 men to pull this off.They would act swiftly,confuse everyone,make killings either simultaneously or withing short time of the other,no one would be able to find who the killer is easily and ultimately they could even make others believe that the HM is a sort of ghost.

I don't have the books with me , to re-read and actually see if my theory has any ground.

Edit:

Although, since the first moment I read the chapter "A Ghost in Winterfell" somehow my mind went to Theon. All this trauma could easily cause him a personality split.And the fact he hasn't got all his fingers doesn't mean anything to me.People can do things far from their normal abilities sometimes.

Edit:If my theory is right, which I am not very sure of(it is quite unlikely).Then the encounter of the HM with Theon where he seems to know him well does not really disprove it.One of the killers has to know Theon from Winterfell.

[Booknerd2]

I'm starting to look at the HM again as a possible BWB man.

Quick things that struck me. There could be more and I have not checked specific text yet, so this is all from recall.

The tone of the HM towards Theon is condescending, disgusted, dismissive, and reminds me a bit of the way Merrit Frey and Brienne were talked to right before he was hanged, and right before she was about to be.

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.

Threatening? Reflex? Trying to scare someone who is a shell of their former self for the hell of it?

"Theon Turncloak. Theon Kinslayer.

The BWB seem to like to "play with their food." before they hang them. Taunt, label, use and call out names, reminding them of betrayel and treachery.

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

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

Uncat and the BWB gave the False Friend speech to Brienne already.

"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.

While stuck with BWB the Hound is told that the Red God is not done with him yet.

[naik2902]

Ned's mother.

[StormRhage]

There is a great documentary about Windsor Castle in England. Today, there is a room, old office, (you can actually see furniture, an old computer, papers, etc. lying around. Looks like an ordinary spare room. Then the host moves something and lifts a carpet. There is this hidden trap door and she lifts it. The stairs are wide and going down the tunnel, the stone is still from medieval times. It was so cool.

It leads from the castle directly outside if men had to escape or get out and fight. Massive and long and you would never know it was there. And the coolest part is it is hidden in this fairly modern looking room and then all this medieval castle orginal splendour is still there. It made me think of Winterfell and what is there.

I totally believe the crypts are passageways and there damn well sure are others throughout the WF complex. And the whole point is not to tell the world where all your secret exits are. I have posted before and I still believe that whoever it is knows their way around somewhat. Or got that info from someone who was at WF.

There must be a ton of secret passages/tunnels in Winterfell...if someone mastered them they would own the intruders.

[Jon of the Dead]

There must be a ton of secret passages/tunnels in Winterfell...if someone mastered them they would own the intruders.

Well, I think that takes Mance out. If he knew a secret passage in and out of WF, the washerwomen might have escaped through said passage, and not jumping down from the battlements.

Unless Mance is playing a game of his own, but I don't think so, since everytime he entered WF he's had to dress up as a singer, so I don't think he knows any secret passages.