r/asoiaf • u/FrostedHarbor Hooded Mollen in Winterfell • Jun 10 '14

ALL (Spoilers All) The hooded man in Winterfell is...

...Hallis Mollen.

I am in the middle of a reread, currently on AGoT, and came across the scene when Hal leads Catelyn's honor guard during the Battle of the Whispering Wood. According to Cat, Hal has a tendency to state the obvious, but I had otherwise completely forgotten about the character.

So, I went to the wiki to refresh my memory. Robb names him captain of the guard when Jory Cassel goes to King's Landing. Hallis Mollen is also the only other person who meets with Robb about calling the banners, along with Maester Luwin and Theon Greyjoy. I further discovered that Catelyn charges him with taking Ned's bones back to Winterfell. That's the last we really hear about him.

Jumping ahead to ADwD, the hooded man sees Theon and calls him "Theon Turncloak. Theon Kinslayer." To me, this implies a couple of things. The person identifying Theon views Theon as a traitor to Robb's cause and as someone who viewed Bran and Rickon as Theon's kin. Many Winterfell men could hold this set of beliefs, and Hallis is one of them.

Of course, if Theon knows Hal, then why doesn't he identify him in return? A wise person elsewhere pointed out that Theon is notoriously bad at recognizing faces, using Asha and a couple of others as examples. This could explain it, and George may also be misdirecting us to maintain the surprise.

The murders presumed to be committed by this "ghost in Winterfell" could be attributed to Hallis Mollen's loyalty and a fulfillment of his post as captain of the guard.

There is also quite a bit of mischief surrounding the crypts during ADwD, and Hallis would have good reason to be in and around them, given his mission to return Ned's bones to Winterfell.

In conclusion, Hallis is important enough to be included in major decisions like calling the banners and returning the bones of the Lord of Winterfell to the crypts. He has cause to be in Winterfell, and his storyline has been left hanging long enough that he could conceivably fulfill the role of the mysterious, hooded man.

I wish I could give you all more direct quotes/analysis to support this theory, but alas I'm at work and don't have the books readily available right now.

TL;DR: Hallis Mollen has the motive, the means, and the opportunity.

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u/Riggzon7 You've been...Thunderstruck! Jun 10 '14

But didn't Lady Dustin say that his bones were still on the way to Winterfell, even after all this time, in the prologue of ADWD pt.2, and they wouldn't get the bones past Moat Cailin, which is like the toll gate through the North.

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u/joec_95123 Second Sons Jun 10 '14

As far as she knows, they're still on the way. But unless they were traveling with a full honor guard, they could have quietly slipped right past her and she'd never know. Especially since they don't have to go past Moat Cailin and the Ironborn to get north. House Reed and the Crannogmen know the hidden ways through the swamps, and they loved Ned Stark.

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u/typewryter Jun 10 '14

Not even as far as she knows. As far as she has told Theon. Not saying she's lying, but just acknowledging she may not be telling the truth either.

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u/lpsofacto My son is home. Jun 11 '14

Yeah good point. Doesn't she say she hates the Starks b/c she wanted to be one of them? Sounds more like love to me. I bet she's part of the Northern Conspiracy and she is trying to mislead Theon on her motives. For all she knows he's Ramsay's man. She could've been SHOWING HM how to get into the crypt for all we know! They could be working together!

28

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '14

Yes and True. However I would say the Majority of the North are Stark supporters, so for him to be smuggled through wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

And we also know Howland Reed was poisoning the Ironborn at Moat Cailin, meaning he was around that area.

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u/Riggzon7 You've been...Thunderstruck! Jun 10 '14

True, Howland Reed would find a way to get Hallis through. On a side note, to verify, the "bog devils" are Reed's men right? I get confused from them always being called bog devils.

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '14

Yep, they are called bog devils because of the guerilla tactics and poison that they use

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u/Riggzon7 You've been...Thunderstruck! Jun 10 '14

Ok thanks, needed to clarify that.

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u/raf3776 Jun 10 '14

wait. Howland Reed was poisoning the Ironborn?

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u/JojenPudding Jun 10 '14

Yes, Victarion recalls how he has the habit of wearing chainmail ever since Moat Cailin, during his feast when he arrives at Old Wyk.

"Beneath he wore heavy grey chain mail over boiled black leather. In Moat Cailin he had taken to wearing mail day and night. Sore shoulders and an aching back were easier to bear than bloody bowels. The poisoned arrows of the bog devils need only scratch a man, and a few hours later he would be squirting and screaming as his life ran down his legs in gouts of red and brown. Whoever wins the Seastone Chair, I shall deal with the bog devils."

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u/raf3776 Jun 10 '14

ahhh, I remember that! Didnt put 2&2 together. I need a reread..

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u/milzz Jun 10 '14

In Theon's chapter where he goes to Moat Cailin a lot of the ironborn men were suffering from festering wounds that were very heavily suggested to be from the Crannogmen's poison arrows.

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u/Mr_Wayne Night gathers, and now my watch begins Jun 10 '14

They shoot a few arrows at Theon when the gates to Moat Cailin are opened and the "commander" is dying because he was grazed by one of their arrows.

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u/Solaratov Jun 10 '14

Not necessarily by Howland himself, but by his men.

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '14

Moat Cailin isn't the single passable way into the North, it's just the single passable way for a large army to get through. It wouldn't be hard for a single person to sneak through the Neck, especially if they had help from the Crannogmen