A theory aboutThe Winds of Wintersuggests one possibility for a long-standing mystery, and another upcomingGame of Thronesspinoff could supplement the idea. Thelong wait forThe Winds of Winterhas left fans with fourteen years to speculate on many of the book series' biggest points of intrigue. Matters likethe Prince That Was Promised prophecy, the sender of the Pink Letter, and the identity of Coldhands are among the subjects readers are most eagerly awaiting George R.R. Martin’s resolution for.
TheGame of Thronesendingprovided some speculation on how the book series will end, and while it seems that some matters, like Bran becoming king, are set to transpire in the novels, others may not.Game of Thronesseason 6 reintroduced Benjen Stark after his disappearance way back in season 1, claiming that the Children of the Forest saved his life after he was stabbed by a White Walker blade and ended up in a half-dead state, preventing him from returning south of the Wall. This was the show’s fulfillment of the Coldhands theory.
What We Know About Coldhands In A Song Of Ice & Fire
Coldhands is a mysterious character beyond the Wall whom audiences have seen inA Storm of SwordsandA Dance with Dragons. He’swearing Night’s Watch attire, has a pale face, and wields a sword, riding around on an elk with a flock of ravens that follow his ordersand scout for him. Like Varamyr inA Dance with Dragons, Coldhands is the sort of mystical character that we see inA Song of Ice & Fireonly in the true North or deep in Essos, establishing a sense of mystery and intrigue about his identity.
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Coldhands is dead and can’t pass through the Wall, similar to Benjen inGame of Thrones.However, his eyes aren’t blue like the Others (White Walkers). In his first appearance, Coldhands meets Sam and Gilly after they flee Craster’s Keep. InA Dance with Dragons, Coldhands kills Night’s Watch mutineers from Craster’s Keep, thenescorts Bran, Jojen, Meera, and Hodor to the Three-Eyed Crow’s cave, which he also cannot enter. These are the facts we know about this character, and they raise a number of possibilities for who he might be.
Coldhands Won’t Be Benjen Stark in The Winds Of Winter
GRRM Has Confirmed It Won’t Be Benjen Stark
WhileGame of Thronesmerged the storylines of Benjen Stark and Coldhands, the two threads are going to remain separate inThe Winds of Winter. In 2015,Martin confirmedthatColdhands is not Benjen Stark inA Song of Ice & Fire, eliminating one of the major and likely the most obvious candidatesfor who the character might be. Other common theories include Brynden Rivers (who’s also widely believed to be the Three-Eyed Crow), one of the characters from a group called the Raven’s Teeth, the Night’s King, or either Waymar Royce or Will from theAGoTprologue.
The Night’s King is a separate character from the books, not the “Night King” of the White Walkers fromGame of Thrones.
These are all the characters we know of who are missing Night’s Watch brothers, so unless Coldhands is someone entirely new, he’s likely one of these candidates. We only know of the Raven’s Teeth from the Dunk & Egg novellas andThe World of Ice & Fire, and Brynden Rivers and the Night’s King aren’t ever mentioned in the TV show. Combining the story with Benjen Stark’s in the TV series was a way of simplifying the plot and not incorporating new elements. The books will take a different route.
Theory: Coldhands Is One Of Brynden Rivers' Raven’s Teeth
The Raven’s Teeth Are The Most Likely Candidates
First, Brynden Rivers was a Targaryen bastard of King Aegon IV who lived during the time of the Blackfyre Rebellions and served as the Hand of the King for Aerys I and Maekar I. During the reign of Aegon V, also known as “Egg,“Brynden Rivers was sent to the Wall to join the Night’s Watch. He eventually rose to become the Lord Commander, then disappeared beyond the Wall. It’s commonly believed that Brynden Rivers became the Three-Eyed Crow.
If Brynden Rivers is the Three-Eyed Crow, then one of his supporters could be Coldhands.
If Brynden Rivers is the Three-Eyed Crow, then one of his supporters could be Coldhands. TheRaven’s Teeth were a group of guardsmen personal to Brynden Rivers who fought beside him in Westerosand then eventually joined him when he was sent to the Night’s Watch. Leaf, one of the Children of the Forest, mentioned that Coldhands died long ago, confirming that he wouldn’t be Benjen or one of the other two Night’s Watch rangers. We also know that the Night’s King betrayed the Night’s Watch and made sacrifices to the Others, which would be counterintuitive to Coldhands.
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The Raven’s Teeth are the strongest candidates, though it’s an anticlimactic theory in a way, as it withdraws a sense of individuality. We don’t have a name or personality attached to any of these men, which might push some readers away from supporting the hypothesis. Still, it undeniably adds up, andHouse of the Dragoneven bolstered the idea by suggesting Brynden Rivers was their version of the Three-Eyed Raven.
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Could Introduce The Raven’s Teeth
The New GOT Spinoff Could Further The Theory
We’ve already seenHouse of the Dragontake a stab at some classicA Song of Ice & Firetheories, providing the showrunners' takes on George R.R. Martin’s mysteries. For example, the decision to have Laenor Velaryon flee to Essos clears up a vague moment from Martin’s text,the Aegon’s Dreamsuggestion adds supplementary material to the motives in the Dance of the Dragons, and, as mentioned, the Brynden Rivers ordeal. Hopefully,A Knight of the Seven Kingdomscan continue to do the same.
We won’t see Brynden Rivers inA Knight of the Seven Kingdomsseason 1, which is set to be released later in 2025 as an adaptation of “The Hedge Knight.” However,wewill meet Brynden and likely some of the Raven’s Teeth if the show goes on to season 2, as they were introduced in “The Mystery Knight.” They’ll be brought back again in “The Sworn Sword.”
Of course,A Knight of the Seven Kingdomsisn’t confirmation of what will happen inThe Winds of Winter, but theGame of Thronesprequel has been celebrated by George R.R. Martin.If the show finds success and one of the Raven’s Teeth stands out as a character, it could provide a suggestion as to who Coldhands will be, providing material Martin has yet to reveal in his books.
