The Ghost of Winterfell is...

[Usrnmhsnomning]

Youre just flat out wrong. Sorry.

[danm_999]

Youre just flat out wrong. Sorry.

Care to offer a more convincing rebuttal?

[mindchap]

It was Old Man Manderly all along!

So what his cloak is made of a circus tent?

[Usrnmhsnomning]

Care to offer a more convincing rebuttal?

I have nothing to add to what I've already said, and nothing you've said is any different to any incorrect theory I've already read. The spearwives do not explicitly deny any murder except Little Walder. If you don't want to accept that, it's not really my problem.

[danm_999]

I have nothing to add to what I've already said, and nothing you've said is any different to any incorrect theory I've already read. The spearwives do not explicitly deny any murder except Little Walder. If you don't want to accept that, it's not really my problem.

Well as I've said, they do deny it, you just don't find the denial convincing. Which is fine, it's an interpretive issue anyway.

But if you're proposing the Spearwives-are-the-killers theory, when someone brings up logical problems with said theory (like why the Spearwives would want to be murdering people suspiciously when it's going to impede their goal to kidnap Arya/Jeyne) simply shutting down and telling them their wrong doesn't make for very engaging discussion.

[Usrnmhsnomning]

They don't deny it, they question why Theon came to that conclusion when they are just women made for sex. The whole point is that spearwives are killers. That's what they do. They laugh as they say "Us women?". They at no point ever state "It wasn't us" except in regards to Little Walder. To claim they deny it is absolute bollocks. They do not deny it once.

Why would they kill Bolton men? I don't know, why would the people doing work for Mel ever dare draw blades against Mel's enemies? You tell me, I can't work it out. And clearly the killings did absolutely nothing to harm their mission; not one person suspected Abel and his singers. Like I said, it's pretty blatant what happened. They do not deny their killings at all and it's fallacious to keep claiming they do. Shutting down? All you do is spout the same things that I'm clearly not going to agree with. What do you want me to do, exactly? What's the point in arguing in circles? I know who's right, so I'm going to let it end at that.

[Arya kiddin']

Hooded man..let it be...Howland Reed... >____<

That would be epic!

[diremitar]

I think hooded man is Harwin. He is not with LS in AFFC as I recall. Mayde she sent him in Winterfell to check out situation there. This theory and theory that hooded man is Theon are only theories without holes. Other candidates are not so likely to be hooded man

1 Blackfish is in Riverlands at the end of AFFC and there is no way that he arrived to Winterfell so fast. And what should he be doing in Winterfell in first place? It is more logical to me that he is gone to Vale or rescue prisoners from Twins

2 Howland Reed doesn't know Theon and hooded man seems to know Theon pretty well

3 Benjen Stark is probably dead and if he survived by some miracle he probably would go to Castle Black to report what happened to him

4 Robett Glover knows that Theon didn't slay Bran and Rickon so he wouldn't call Theon kinslayer cause he knows that Theon isn't kinslayer

And why I thought that spearwife said to Theon that she and her "sisters" killed Bolton's men?

[Buried Treasure]

It's an admission because with all the deaths, they laugh and say it couldn't be them because they are just women. Except we know they don't have that opinion of themselves; they are wildling spearwives. It's only with Little Walder that they actually vehemently state "It was not us". I mean come on, you really can't read into the way that scene is written? "You killed them!" "Hah, what, us little ol' women who are only good for sex?". We know for a fact spearwives are not only good for sex and are very good for killing. It's a blatant admission by the very fact that at no point do they actually say "No, we didn't kill those men" and instead make jokes about the deaths, and that's exactly why Theon immediately suspects them when Little Walder is killed. They do NOT expressly deny any involvement except in the case of Little Walder. Note the very different tones in responses to the two accusations by Theon. It's clear-cut, and killing people is exactly why Mance asked to take the spearwives in the first place.

I agree with all this. Further, Theon has no clue who the killer is before the spearwives take him to Mance - that is why he wonders if it might be the HM. After he has been taken into the wildlings confidence he no longer speculates who the killer might be - indicating he has learned the answer, and he thinks of the women as 'murderers'.

[Lady Arya's Song]

I totally agree with Usrnmhsnomning reading of the Ghost in Winterfell. I also have reread that chapter numerous times. The "washerwomen " aka spearwives killed all the men to create mistrust among the various factions inside WF. They did not kill

Little Walder, that murder was done by Big Walder to further his own claims to the Frey seat.

As to Theon the kinslayer. When Theon first took WF he was sleeping in Ned's bed..which is made of weirwood! During those nights he had terrible dreams and the dreams centered on his killing of the Miller's wife and her sons..one of which I think might have been Theon's own child. I think that is why he has nightmares about killing those boys...this would make Theon a kinslayer. They younger boy being old enough to be his own son.

It is possible that this was known by locals..that Theon was the father of one of the kids. Speculation at this point, but very possible. I do not think Theon is called a kinslayer up until this is said to him by the man in the hooded cloak, then one of the spearwives calls him that and when he says he is no kinslayer since he is iron born and was not blood to the Stark boys..she says Aye I know..but then she repeats to him..kinslayer. I think its possible that someone has given the information to the man in the hooded cloak..my opinion is its Glover. He was investigating what actually happened at WF when Theon first took it. Thinking back to Davos conversation with Manderly and Wex learning letters, its possible that Wex supplied the information to Glover about the killing of the Miller's sons and Theons nightmares. Wex was sleeping in the same room with Theon (Ned's weirwood bed ) Theon was yelling and screaming in his nightmares, they were so bad that Wex ran out of the room. Just clues to think upon. I suspect that underneath the surface Theon is also afraid that he has killed one of his own bastards.

The man in the hooded cloak could have been Mance who knows how to get out of WF and is in contact with Glover outside or it could have been Glover himself. I think there is a way to get into WF through the crypt but only the next book will confirm my theories.

[Ragnorak]

One of the things I've been wanting to take a closer look at is Theon's thought that he had seen this mummer's farce play out before. He seems to be thinking about his own time in Winterfell where the deaths that occurred were Ramsay killing those men who knew the truth about the miller's boys. If Theon's assessment is correct and there is a parallel between the deaths to cover up the truth about Bran and Rickon and these Ghost in Winterfell deaths this opens up some interesting possibilities. For example, Ramsay killing these people to cover up the truth about fake Arya would be almost a direct parallel to the murders in Winterfell under Theon. I'm not convinced that is specifically what's going on but Theon's mummer's farce thought has other potential scenarios as well so I thought I'd throw it out as food for thought.

[Lady Arya's Song]

That is another good posibility Ragnorak, I am going to mull that over.

[WhiteWalder]

Hooded man..let it be...Howland Reed... >____<

I would love to see Howland Reed and get a POV to find out how he killed Arthur Dayne and to see if R+L=J. By the Reed's stature and greenseer abilities, it seems they have CotF blood. You would think Howland is short and the hooded man would be described at small. I'm not the first to throw this out there..but the hooded man could be Benjen Stark. Bad things happen if there is not a Stark in Winterfell, so something led him there - maybe he met the Three-eyed crow or coldhands or the CotF. I think we find out more why the Stark bloodline is so important at Winterfell - maybe it's spelled to ward off the Others or something crazy like that. Maybe if there is a Stark in Winterfell, the spells in the Wall hold together? I like the maybes.

[FittleLinger]

I would love to see Howland Reed and get a POV to find out how he killed Arthur Dayne and to see if R+L=J. By the Reed's stature and greenseer abilities, it seems they have CotF blood. You would think Howland is short and the hooded man would be described at small. I'm not the first to throw this out there..but the hooded man could be Benjen Stark. Bad things happen if there is not a Stark in Winterfell, so something led him there - maybe he met the Three-eyed crow or coldhands or the CotF. I think we find out more why the Stark bloodline is so important at Winterfell - maybe it's spelled to ward off the Others or something crazy like that. Maybe if there is a Stark in Winterfell, the spells in the Wall hold together? I like the maybes.

I have seen the argument of "There must be a Stark in WF", so it could be Benjen, but I really don't see the logic behind it, in-book or literary. I mean, yes, there should be, but there is none, and shit is pretty tough. Very Martin-like if you ask me.

[What a Flayed Man Holds]

I've never understood these theories around the "hooded man". Theon looked the suspect in the face and didn't know who he was. And the spearwives take responsibility for all killings but Little Walder. There's no ghost walking around killing people, no Theon Durden pushing people off ramparts. It's all Mance and his spearwives. The only mystery is who killed Little Walder.

Absolutely.

Woah, what?

Roose feels the situation in Winterfell is getting too tense, so he has Ramsay murder an 8 year child of one of the two major factions in the castle?

Yes, I think Roose and Ramsay were acting in concert, and that Ramsay killed Lil Walder on Roose's orders. That theory is totally reasonable. Roose manipulates Ramsay to his own ends just like he does with everyone else. He knows there's a tool for every task, and in this case the task is a shocking child murder that will bring the Manderly-Frey tension to the brink. Ramsay is the perfect tool. So why would Roose and Ramsay do this terrible, profitable thing?

...And this disunity Roose is fostering is happening at a time when Stannis could attack at any moment

Roose knew exactly when Stannis would be able to attack--he has his own maester with the Karstark men, sending him maps [yes, Maester Tybald has since been compromised, but Roose does receive some reliable intel from him before this happened]. So Roose waited until Stannis was close enough for a pre-emptive strike, and lit the fuse on the Frey-Manderly tension right before he sent both forces out to attack Stannis. BUT WHY KILL LITTLE WALDER TO DO SO...

If he wants to cause a net loss amongst his enemies, why doesn't he just immediatly do what he does after Little Walder's murder, and send his enemies out to meet Stannis?

He does that. But before he does, he has his psycho bastard commit a murder that ensures that the Freys and the Manderlys want to kill each other just as bad as they want to kill Stannis. That way, whether they win or lose against Stannis, fewer Freys and Manderlys will be coming back, but they will eliminate some of Stannis' strength before they turn on each other--resulting a "net loss" of Bolton's enemies.

Why does he instead set something up that might cause Winterfell to erupt in rioting and sporadic infighting when their common enemy is at the gates?

Because Roose is sending the Freys and the Manderlys out to the other side of the gates, and if fighting erupts between them out there, Roose still comes out on top in the long run. The Freys are the most hated house in Westeros. Everyone's gunning for them. They're a huge liability as an ally, and Roose knows he needs to distance himself from them if House Bolton's going to continue as the top power in the North. The fewer Freys there are in the north, the better for Roose & Ramsay. As for White Harbor, it's not clear how much Roose knows about Lord Wyman's various side-bets and subterfuges, but he has to know that the Fat Man would turn on him at the drop of a hat. Moreover, Manderly is obviously plotting/executing revenge against the Freys for the Red Wedding, and if that goes on long enough, Manderly will find out that Roose was there.

By having Ramsay kill Lil Walder, Roose brought the Frey-Manderly tension to a tipping point, then sent them out to kill Stannis. Whether they kill Stannis or only kill each other, Roose still comes out on top; if his forces defeat or severely weaken Stannis and then turn on each other, he''ll be doing even better.

From the Theon Sample Chapter:

Roose Bolton wasnot a man to blunder blindly out into the snow, map or no. He would hold his main strength inreserve, keep his best men with him, trust in Winterfell's massive double wall. "The castle was too crowded. Men were at each other's throats, the Manderlys and Freys especially. It's them his lordship's sent after you, the ones that he's well rid of."

Reek is right, that's exactly what happened. I'm not saying that Roose's plan is going to work--in fact, I think it's going to be his final act before exits the stage in a bad way. I'm just saying that there's good evidence for attributing Lil Walder's murder to Ramsay [not the Hooded Man, or the spearwives, or Theon Durden], and that Roose definitely had a motive for ordering the killing done [getting the Manderlys and the Freys to kill each other off].

[Ser Arthyr Dracenstein]

The Hooded Man is Michael Praed.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5883/791/1600/r26.jpg

[Fleabottom Maester]

The interesting question is why kill anyone at all if their mission was to remain unnoticed and free fArya? IMHO the killings were used to create an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust among WF’s occupants (as others have said). The Boltons and company would be too busy looking over their shoulders and no one would think twice about these “washerwomen” who could come and go without anyone giving them a second thought.

I also found it interesting that we see no evidence that Mance/Able was involved in any killings and has never contacted Theon directly. It seems that he never leaves the Great Hall and is therefore always seen by the Boltons/Freys/Manderlays; removing him from suspicion. The spearwwives are his “catspaw” and Holly’s response to Theon confirms this. What? We’re just women. *wink wink saynomore* There is an obvious problem with this however, what does Mance/Able do after the spearwives leave? Everyone knows they arrived together. This might give the letter Jon received from Ramsay some credibility.

[George W. Lannister]

Remember the chapter when Reek, Ramsay, and Roose are alone in the same room together? Roose still owns Ramsay...for now. If you go back and read the last Winterfell chapter in DWD, Theon notices that Ramsay is in an especially foul mood the morning they bring Little Walder in. It's because 1) even Ramsay felt a little bit bad about murdering a kid who genuinely looked up to him and 2) Roose forced him to do it, in another reminder of his inferiority. Keep reading, and you'll notice that 3) Roose is talking louder than usual, which is weird 4) Ramsay finishes off one of his own men without any hesitation or remorse and 5) Ramsay admonishes a room full of his father's bannerman and threatens them savagely if they don't listen to his lord father; Roose nods approvingly and sends the Freys and the Manderlys out to kill Stannis and/or each other.

Love this theory. I thought something was odd about how Roose acted during this scene, like he was staging something. I had not pieced together that with the fact that Ramsay was in a bad mood to begin with, though. The whole scene is just odd, and this might explain it. Thanks!

[NPT]

I'm not saying it's him but what about bran. With Bran's warging ability and all. It coincides with the title, "The ghost in winterfell". Bran Is believed dead (ghost). Also ghosts aren't physical so you could call Bran a ghost by being spiritually there ie. Warging into someone.

PS. I know someone's going to debunk this, If this person is you, be gentle. I've hardly had any sleep.

[sansa's sworn sword]

the ghost of winterfell is hal mollen. you fools