This is a theory I wrote not long ago. I compare parallels to try giving an identity to the enigma that is Coldhands. Hope you enjoy.
Hello everyone. Hope you you all are having a wonderful day. Mine has been rather amazing considering all the wonderful conversation I've had.
To start I have to give credit to Kev at bridge4. If you aren't subscribed to his channel you are missing some of the best Game of Thrones and Westworld material being made.
First thing to note, I'm drawing comparisons from the 13th Lord Commander and the Night's Queen so this is what's given,
According to legend, Night's King lived during the Age of Heroes, not long after the Wall was complete. He was a fearless warrior named the thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Later, he fell in love with a woman "with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars". He chased her and loved her though "her skin was cold as ice", and when he gave his seed to her he gave his soul as well. Night's King brought her back to the Nightfort and after the unholy union, he declared himself king and her his queen, and ruled the Nightfort as his own castle for thirteen years.[1]
During the dark years of his reign, horrific atrocities were committed, of which tales are still told in the north. It was not until Brandon the Breaker, the King of Winter, and Joramun, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, joined forces that Night's King was brought down and the Night's Watch freed. After his fall, when it was discovered that Night's King had been making sacrifices to the Others, all records of him were destroyed and his very name was forbidden and forgotten. It is likely this led the lords of the north to forbid the Night's Watch to construct walls at their keeps, ensuring the keeps would always be accessible from the south.
-from A Wiki of Ice and Fire
Now my wheels started spinning, and I have no idea how I never noticed this before, but we have parallels to these characters already. Take a moment to consider this, Melisandre tells us in Dance With Dragons that she no longer needs to eat to live. She barely needs to sleep. The fires sustain her. She is taking the seed and soul of a King. Granted that happens in the South, not at the Wall, but that's what she is doing. You could argue the soul part, but she tells him she can't give him anymore children, also know as shadow babies, or it will kill him. I attribute that as the soul aspect. When we take in to consideration Martin's recent revelation of fire wight, it makes her thoughts that much more plausible. Parallels the nights queen are pretty hard to miss, in my opinion.
Now as far as the King, all the above applies, but we also know the Night's King took control of the Nights Watch. When we step back and look at the Stannis overall story, we see that he has integrated his troops into the Watch. They have started sending troops to other towers in preparation for the Long Night. When Jon Is killed, the Watch is left with no leader, leaving Stannis poised to take them under his control. I don't see Stannis as someone to let troops walk away. Then there's also the whole sacrificing thing. The Night Kings was sacrificing to the Others, and Stannis is sacrificing to R'hllor.
I think that is pretty cut and dry. It matches the story we are told of the Night's King and Queen. This made me wonder if there were other characters plaralleled. Do other characters have their story mirrored, similar if not the same as
shown?
Jon would be the obvious first character to look for comparison, being that he's such an important POV character. We know nothing, ha see what I did there, of past Lord Commanders before the 13th l, or Night's King, so can not look there for anything reliable. As far as we know, all Nights Watch fight wildlings and no one has seen Others in thousands of years, so can not find anything there.....
BUT.....
Jon did get stabbed to death. Most of us all agree that Jon will be brought back somehow. That Jon has went inside of ghost to start a second life. It's practically canon. Potentially, this could make him into an immortal being of sorts like we see with Beric Dondarrion and Lady Stoneheart. If we think about that, it does parallel someone we meet north the Wall. Coldhands.
Coldhands was obviously a brother of the Nights Watch as was Jon. I believe it's safe to assume, Coldhands is, at minimum, a skinchanger due to the communication with ravens. Jon has Ghost he wargs into unknowingly.. He killed "foes" who were the perpetrators of Crasters Keep. If we take what the show gives us for now, Jon kills the perpetrators of his murder, similar in fashion (and he kills the perpetrators of Craster's Keep in the show himself).
Coldhands tells us readers that he is Bran's monster. Leaf tells us "they killed him long ago". "They" isn't really specific, but does imply a collective. We also have a warning to Bran. Leaf warns him of the dangers of trying to bring someone back from the dead.
So here's my take on it, things I think we can glean from the past and apply to the future. From what Leaf says, "they," as in either the Others or the Night's Watch, were to blame for killing him all that time ago. Bran either, knowingly or unknowingly brought him back and now he is destined to spend the rest of his immortal life in ice(sidenote: this could allow a way for Jon to come back without Ghost having to die. Bran forcing it).
So he parallels Coldhands. Case solved. Right.....
WELLLLLLLLL...... Not exactly....
See when you stop and look, it does not quite add up. Mel is fire incarnate, whereas the Night Queen is ice. Stannis has a legitimate claim to be a King, whereas the Night's King took over then claimed it. So Coldhands is an undead being north of the wall. Jon will be undead south.
So I propose this. Because the Wall is what's known as a Hinge of the World, it does mirror the other side. But like any mirror, it reflects an opposite or flipped image. It's also portrayed by an actual hinge. Take a moment to look at the closest door. The hinge on them tells the story. They are identical, practically a reflection, but separate entities too, to move and function independently.
What I'm saying is this hinge, or mirror, reflect the ice and fire dicotamy. The focal point of the story. So armed with this possibility, Jon would the become a warmhands or firehands, so to speak. If the hinge holds true and reflects the opposite. That in turn finishes the parallel as thoroughly as possible. When we consider the narrative and how much time spent telling us about Jon's BURNED hand, it makes a lot more sense that way too. It's stiff, and he is always rubbing it. It's a focus point and never could figure out why til now.
Couple last things before we close. First, I think Joramun is our Coldhands and also a cousin of Brandon the Breaker. Old Nan says the Night's King could be a number of different houses, but says she believes he's a Stark, but not just any Stark. The brother to the King of Winter. Brandon the Breaker was King of Winter during the Night's King's defeat. This idea does not contradict what she said. Also Symeon Star-Eyes says he traveled to the Nightfort and saw hellhounds fighting. This easily could be symbolic of the direwolf sigils fighting each other. What it does not say I'd the amount.
I believe there were 3 there fighting. Brandon the Breaker, who formed an alliance with an estranged cousin, Joramun, to fight his brother the Night's King. So again, this doesn't contradict anything we are told.
As to why I believe it's Joramun, it's because of the name itself. Look closely you will notice there is Jon in the name.
JO---ramu---N
But that's not all the letters. We would be left with the letters ramu. I believe I cracked that code as well. RAMU or RAMA translates to the Hinduism diety called Lord Vishnu. Now interestingly enough, Vishnu shares the godly load with two others. Brahma and Shiva. They all have their own purposes as well. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the "preserver," and Shiva is the destroyer. So we have a connection or combination of Jon preserver or preserver Jon. I feel like that's an amazing little detail that only a mind of Martin's caliber would account for.
To end though, I want to ask a few questions to you all. Since our hinge, or mirror, seems to be a focus point that reflected rather nicely, could there be other thing deduced, in theory at least?
We have the Heart of Winter and Winterfell. To me, Heart of winter implies love and Winterfell implies death and hate even. Another dicotamy.
- Could they be another parallel opposite?
- What did Bran see in the Heart of Winter?
- Was it an Ice Palace in the shape of Winterfell?
- Did he look into this palace and see an Other version of himself sitting at the High Seat?
- How far could the mirror effect go? Even Genders?
- How do you feel about Stannis being the Night's King?
--------------------Edit---------------------
Have to give a shout out to my friend [Castalia Reed|https://t.co/iVH2PTT5jH] for pointing this out yesterday. She took the first question and showed me exactly why I rely on discussion with friends as much as I rely on personal research. She so helpfully pointed out that Winterfell was burned to the ground. It's a ruin basically. Roose ordered it rebuilt just for the wedding. Thus giving us Heart of Winter as Ice, and Winterfell as Fire. Again ice above fire below. Dualities
Thank you all for your time,
-Bran the Builder
