Unsolved Game of Thrones Mysteries - Part 2

To continue my series of Unsolved Game of Thrones Mysteries, according to IGN, I'm bringing you theories 4-6 today!

Check Part 1 out

SPOILERS BELOW!
If you haven't caught up on Season 5 of Game of Thrones and/or you haven't finished reading the available book series, don't read this post!!
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4. What Happened to Syrio Forel?

Just a refresher, since we haven't seen him since Season 1, Syrio was the swordsmaster that was teaching Arya how to fight way back in 2011. The last time we saw him, he was taking on a room full of Kingsguard (led by the creepy Meryn Trant, who unfortunately for him ran into Arya in the last episode of season 5) with a wooden training sword. We are led to believe that he has died...but we have come to expect a death scene for every "official death" now and we didn't get one with Syrio.

So? Is he dead or not? As a book reader, I have always thought that Syrio was in fact Jaqen H'ghar, the faceless man who is now training Arya in the show. It seemed that Jaqen had a strange connection with Arya and that could be because he met her as Syrio earlier in the story. We also get a small clue to Jaqen's whereabouts in the books (he is not training Arya in the House of the Black and White in the books) with Pate in Feast for Crows...but for the most part both Syrio and Jaqen have gone missing from the pages.

In the show however, I'm not sure if they will even bring up the fact that we didn't get a death scene for Syrio. I think that his scenes were so long ago coupled with the fact that Arya brought justice for Syrio's supposed death, it may be stretching it by bringing him back into the story. We are starting the back stretch of this wonderful story...and I just don't see how bringing Syrio back to life would help much with the show.

Now, the behemoth sized books are a different stor, you could fit a few Lord of the Rings stories into the size of the books and it would still leave you with 400 pages of content. I don't think Syrio is dead in the books, honestly. Bring Syrio back if needed, have him help Arya out. But it isn't worth the screen time on the show, in my opinion.

5. What Happened to Benjen Stark?

Ok, I'm going to start this answer off with a quick WTF to HBO for making book readers pretty much crap their pants with the "Previously On..." segment for the last episode. When they referenced Benjen in the recap my heart skipped a beat! How could you HBO! You and your teasing ways!

Ok, enough of that. Does anyone remember Benjen? Well, again, the last time we saw him was in Season 1. He had come down to Winterfell, spent some time with his brother, Ned, and recruited Jon to join the Night's Watch. Once back up on the Wall, Benjen went missing on a ranging mission and we haven't seen him since.

Jon has been searching for him through most of the following seasons, as he circled around different plot lines beyond the Wall. But, nothing. No trace. So, what happened to him?

Well, I've had a theory for a long time that a character in the books, Coldhands, is actually Benjen...however I've read several articles debunking this, and Martin has actually pretty much dismissed the idea. I don't want to get too far into Coldhands, but let's just say he is an asterisk on the White Walkers story line. He is a "good guy" White Walker, that helps Bran get to the Three-Eyed Raven. Makes sense: if Coldhands was Benjen, he would help his nephew, right?

So, if he isn't Coldhands...where the heck is he?! Good question. I have no idea. Again, Martin tends to definitively write when someone is dead or not and we haven't seen that with Benjen. I have a VERY strong feeling that he will come back before the series is over, in some capacity and play a pretty large role for the Stark family. We will just have to wait and see what Martin cooks up.

6. What happened to Balon Greyjoy?

Argh. I hate this guy. Poor Theon, he just wants his Dad's approval. Well, you know what, never mind poor Theon, he freakin' turned his back on Robb...but Balon is a douche.

If you don't remember, the last time we saw Balon, he was hanging out with Theon's sister, Asha/Yara (name is different in the book/show) when he receives a package (no pun intended) from Ramsay Bolton that had some pieces of his son, Theon. Balon shows no interest in helping his son, but Yara is like...screw this, I'm saving my brother! Her rescue attempt was pretty poor, but it is the thought that counts.

*spoiler warning for TV watchers in this paragraph!*
Balon hasn't been seen since...nor has any Greyjoy other than Theon. In the books, the Greyjoys start playing a bigger role because of a...um...completely random fatal stumble off of a sky bridge by Balon. That's right, the ruler of the Iron Islands, Balon, falls off a sky bridge and dies. Theon's uncles (who haven't appeared in the show yet) and Yara, try to make their claim for the Iron Islands through most of book four, while Theon is being tortured and turned into Reek by Ramsay. So, that's the answer to this mystery...he randomly dies...in the books.

The show will take a little bit different approach to this, I'm assuming. Since no other Greyjoy has played a significant role in the story, I think Balon will be sticking around a bit longer...if only to introduce some of the rest of the Greyjoy family or progress Yara's story. I think the ending for his tale will be the same, he will most likely die in Season 6 to start the wheels turning on the other Greyjoys.