Now that the end of Game Of Thrones is in sight, fans are angling more than ever for their favorite characters to somehow make a return — even if they’ve been dead for several seasons. Some viewers have gone to great lengths to create increasingly complicated theories for how they might comeback, too. While most of these can quickly be dismissed, there’s one that revolves around Ned Stark that actually deserves your attention.
Ned Stark’s death was one of the most shocking moments in the show’s history, as we saw the patriarch’s head chopped clean off before it was then placed on top of a spike. But it has now been alleged that the person who was beheaded wasn’t actually Ned Stark.
Instead it has been suggested that Ned traded bodies with the Faceless Man Jaqen H’ghar just before we watched Ned being executed. That would actually make sense, because the first time we meet Jaqen we see him being removed from the Red Keep, where he’d been held as a prisoner.
Considering what we now know about Jaqen, who proved to be a highly skilled swordsmen in the subsequent seasons, it’s hard to imagine him being captured so easily. That’s why it has been theorized by Fire And Blood that Jaqen was imprisoned on purpose. Then, off screen, Varys paid Jaqen to either take the place of Ned Stark, or find a replacement. That would mean that Jaqen was the man inside Ned Stark’s body when the former Lord Of Winterfell was beheaded, while Stark was able to escape as Jaqen.
To back up this suggestion, the theory reminds us that even Ned Stark’s nearest and dearest insisted his body looked different after he was executed. If it proves to be true, though, Ned Stark would have plenty of explaining to do, as most of his family have been killed off since his supposed death. But at least it would be a rare example of Sean Bean outwitting the grim reaper on screen.
