Theories

Theories may be removed if ...

Stated as questions or possibilities.
More appropriate for another article.
Illogical or previously disproven.
Proven by canon source, and moved to main page.
Speculative and lacking any evidence to support arguments.
Responding to another theory (use discussion page instead).

This does not include responses that are also standalone theories.
Usage of an indented bullet does not imply the statement is a response.

There are many still unanswered questions in A Song of Ice and Fire. Here we try to piece together answers from what we already know.

Parentage

Aegon Targaryen

Is Young Griff really Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar, heir apparent to the Iron Throne?

Brienne of Tarth

Does Brienne of Tarth have a claim (albeit distant) to the Iron Throne of the Targaryen dynasty?

Donnel Hill and Marei

Are Donnel Hill and Marei, or one of them, bastard children of Tywin Lannister?

Hodor

Is Hodor descended from giants, Ser Duncan the Tall, or the Freys? Why does he keep saying 'Hodor'?

Jon Snow

It remains unclear who Jon Snow's mother is, and possibly even if Eddard Stark is in fact his father.

True Identities

Alleras the Sphinx

It seems very likely that the novice Alleras is actually Sarella Sand, one of Oberyn Martell's illegitimate daughters.

Melisandre claims Stannis Baratheon with his magic sword is Azor Ahai come again, the prince who was promised. Maester Aemon remarks that his magic sword bears no heat though Lightbringer is supposed to be warm to behold and so believes someone else to be the prince who was promised.

Coldhands

While it seems clear Coldhands was, in life, a member of the Night's Watch, it's unclear who exactly he was.

Gravedigger

It is very possible that the novice gravedigger that Brienne encounters at the Monastery on the Quiet Isle is in fact Sandor Clegane.

Harpy

The Harpy is the alleged leader of the Sons of the Harpy, a resistance group of Ghiscari noblemen from the city of Meereen who defy the reign of Queen Daenerys Targaryen. However, the Harpy's existence has of yet been unproven. Under the assumption that the Harpy indeed exists, both characters in the books and readers of A Song of Ice and Fire have speculated about the Harpy's identity.

Knight of the Laughing Tree

A mystery knight named The Knight of the Laughing Tree fought at the Tourney at Harrenhal and defended the honor of Howland Reed. His true identity remains unknown, but he could have been played by Lyanna Stark, Howland Reed, or one of the younger Stark brothers.

Septa Lemore

Septa Lemore's belly shows stretch marks suggesting she has given birth before, which is in stark contrast to the celibacy of septas. This gives to rise to theories about her former identity as well as that of her possible offspring.

Night's King

It has been theorized that the Night's King was an avatar of the Great Other, analogous to Azor Ahai/the prince that was promised being an avatar or champion of R'hllor.

Olyvar Frey

It has been theorized that Olyvar Frey might be the unnamed ward of Lord Gyles Rosby.

Patchface

Patchface has a remarkable if largely unnoticed prophetic capability. His past and Lord Steffon Baratheon's reasons for bringing him to Westeros are known only in very broad strokes. Could there be more to him than meets the eye? What is the origin and nature of his predictions?

Perfumed seneschal

Quaithe warns Daenerys Targaryen about the "perfumed seneschal", but who or what is it?

The prince that was promised

Who is the prince?

Robert Strong

Little is known of Robert Strong, but evidence suggests he is either Ser Gregor Clegane, or a kind of Frankenstein's Monster created from Clegane's corpse.

Roose Bolton

Is Roose Bolton an immortal?

The Sailor's Wife

It's possible the Sailor's Wife is actually Tysha, Tyrion Lannister's first wife.

Urrathon Night-Walker

It has been theorized that Urrathon Night-Walker, a character supposedly living in Qarth mentioned in A Clash of Kings, is actually Euron Greyjoy using an alias.

Valonqar

Who is the 'valonqar' destined to kill Cersei?

Yoren

Is Yoren the member of the Night's Watch present at the Tourney at Harrenhal in 281 AC?

Unexplained Imaginings

Sansa Stark

Why does Sansa think the Hound kissed her in her bedroom during the Battle of the Blackwater?

Unexplained Murders

Balon Greyjoy

The people of Westeros are willing to believe Balon Greyjoy was simply swept off a bridge into the sea, but this may not be what truly happened.

Big Walder and Black Walder Frey

Big Walder Frey is theorized to have murdered his cousin, Little Walder Frey, during the string of murders at Winterfell following the marriage of Ramsay Bolton and "Arya Stark". Black Walder Frey is theorized to have murdered his grandfather, Ser Stevron Frey following the Battle of Oxcross; during the battle, Ser Stevron took a minor wound, said to be nothing serious, but is found dead on his tent three days later.

Jared, Rhaegar and Symond Frey

It seems likely that Lord Manderly murdered three Freys and had them baked into the pies he presented at Ramsay Bolton's wedding feast.

Laenor Velaryon and Harwin Strong

The main historical sources for these events differ in their suspicions on who may have been responsible—or if the two events were even directly related at all. A major linking thread is that Daemon Targaryen was suspected of murdering both of them. No single account suspected Daemon of both murders, however, but of one or the other (though the possibility remains he was responsible for both, or neither).

Yoren

Due to his manner of death, some readers have come to suspect that Yoren did not die at the hands of Ser Amory Lorch's men, but rather at the hands of the criminal Rorge, who Yoren had been bringing to the Wall.

Whereabouts

Benjen Stark

Benjen Stark has been missing for some time. In A Clash of Kings the Old Bear and Jon Snow discuss the empty wildling villages, realising that if Benjen found the villages empty, he would search for the reason.

Horn of Winter

Where is the true Horn of Winter?

Howland Reed

Howland Reed has also been missing for some time. In A Clash of Kings, he sent his teenaged children, Jojen and Meera, to pledge the Reeds to Robb Stark and defended the Neck against invaders from House Lannister to Ironmen. Despite being the Stark family's most loyal friend and the sole remaining survivor of the Tower of Joy, he has been notably absent. Given the Crannogmen's small stature, could Jojen actually be Howland? Is Howland a warg operating through animals/people to aid the Starks behind the scenes?

Jaqen H'ghar

Tracking a man who can change his identity at will is a bit difficult, but not impossible.

Jeyne Westerling

Conflicting descriptions by Catelyn Stark and Jaime Lannister suggest perhaps Jeyne Westerling has an imposter.

Loras Tyrell

Loras Tyrell may not have been grievously injured at Dragonstone, and may either be there for different reasons or elsewhere entirely.

Stonesnake

Stonesnake has been missing since Qhorin Halfhand's group was sent to scout the Skirling Pass prior to the Battle of the Fist of the First Men and may or may not be alive.

The bones of Eddard Stark

After Eddard Stark's execution in King's Landing, Ser Cleos Frey brings his bones to Riverrun. Catelyn Tully asks Hallis Mollen to carry them north to be buried at the Stark crypt at Winterfell, not knowing that Moat Cailin has fallen to the ironborn, blocking the only viable road. Since that time, Mollen's whereabouts, and Ned's bones, are unknown. When Barbrey Dustin and Theon Greyjoy investigate the crypt in A Dance with Dragons, no evidence of them is found, implying that Mollen has not yet made it to Winterfell.

The fingerbones of Davos Seaworth

Davos Seaworth lost his bag of fingerbones after the Battle of the Blackwater, making frequent reference to this afterwards, as his lost luck. In ADWD, when explaining the glamour used on Mance Rayder, Melisandre makes specific mention of a bag of fingerbones as the sort of trinket that might strengthen an illusion. Could she have somehow acquired them after Davos lost them, and be planning to create a false Davos?

Future events

The Brotherhood without banners

The "Red Wedding 2.0" theory states that the Brotherhood without banners will carry out a massacre of Freys and Lannisters during the wedding of Daven Lannister to his Frey bride.

Friends in the Reach

Randyll Tarly and Mathis Rowan might go over to Aegon VI Targaryen.

Randyll's insistently denies the identities of Jon Connington and Aegon.
Resentment over Brightwater Keep being awarded to House Tyrell instead of House Tarly, to which his wife, Melessa Florent, has a claim.
Mathis Rowan appers upset when Tywin Lannister talks about conceding justice to Doran Martell over the deaths of Elia Martell and her children during the Sack of King's Landing.

References