I recently ran across a theory that Ser Sharick the Mad Mouse could be Howland Reed in disguise, looking for Sansa, and planning to smuggle her out of the Vale. I’m admittedly intrigued by the theory, but I’m curious what a more seasoned ASOIAF analyst like yourself thinks of it.

bonesoaked:

racefortheironthrone:

goodqueenaly:

As far as I can tell, the only evidence for this “theory” is that Shadrich is short and crannogmen are short, which is, at its most charitable, flimsy. Is every character ever described as short a secret crannogman in disguise? Is Littlefinger Howland Reed too? What about the black brother Bedwyck, even shorter than Shadrich? What about Arianne – she’s exactly the same height as Ser Shadrich? Are they all secret crannogmen, or is it remotely possible that there are other short people in Westeros besides Howland Reed and his kin?

Moreover, the attempt to make Ser Shadrich’s backstory mysterious is, in my opinion, unwarranted. Shadrich is not evasive about his past or motivations, far from it: he point blank tells Brienne that he fought for Stannis at the Blackwater, paid a huge ransom, and is looking for Sansa Stark because of the rich reward Varys offered for her capture. Why should we the audience not believe him? Is there some indication in the text that he’s lying, or otherwise withholding the truth (as was clearly the case when, for example, Illyrio was discussing his plans with Tyrion)? We know the reward is true: Kevan tells Tyrion before his trial that “Varys has offered a hundred stags for word of [Sansa’s] whereabouts, and a hundred dragons for the girl herself”. Is it so impossible to believe that someone would know about this publicly offered bounty and want to collect on it, especially if that person had lost quite a bit of money recently?

In my opinion, Shadrich is Shadrich, exactly who he claims to be. I’m fully in agreement with my bestie @poorquentyn that Shadrich (whose realization of “Alayne Stone”’s true identity was emphasized in Sansa’s released TWOW sample chapter) is going to try, but fail, to seize the girl worth a hundred dragons, thus revealing that Littlefinger’s supposed bastard is in fact the last living trueborn heiress of House Stark in Westeros (or so most anyone knows). He’s not important in himself so much as he is important in kickstarting Sansa’s narrative toward Winterfell and home.

So yeah, any theory which has Howland Reed being anyone but Howland Reed I find silly and extremely unlikely to be true. Give Howland Reed his just due, and let him reveal himself, as himself, in a fashion which suits the narrative.

Ser Shadrich ain’t no crannogman, see? Yeah, and if youse says anything like that again, you’re gonna get one like that, and one like that, and you’ll have to carry your teeth in a sack, I don’t care how big youse are!

Oh my gosh, the Mad Mouse is a wise guy. THAT’S why I like him so much despite so little content.

He is somewhat Joe Pesci-ish.