Robb Stark lives on... after a fashion
Mar 30, 2016 16:18:04 GMT
voice, SlyWren, and 3 more like this
Post by Gwindor on Mar 30, 2016 16:18:04 GMT
I have previously posted this theory on Westeros.org a couple of months ago. During the discussion, I had some additional ideas, so, since the theory in its latest revision became spread all over the thread, and since it seems the main reason Lady Dyanna invited me to this forum , I've decided to post it here with all later additions and modifications.
From the Prologue to ADwD, we learned a great deal about skinchanging, and specifically about the 'second life'. Many have deduced, not without reason, that inclusion of such information in the very beginning of the book served as foreshadowing about Jon's fate after his assassination near the book's very end. Indeed, warging into Ghost (and maybe later back, somehow) seems one of the most plausible versions of Jon's survival. Like many, I think, I also wondered for a short while whether the same could have happened to Robb and Grey Wind, before remembering that the wolf had also been killed.
But we already knew something about the second life, we saw what happened to Orell (did you know, by the way, that his name means 'eagle' in several East European languages?). Is there perhaps something else GRRM tells us in that Prologue?
Doesn't it look vaguely similar? As far as I know, these are the only two examples of such kind of self-inflicted wounds in the books, and both happened in presence of a dying warg. Note that Catelyn can feel something tearing her face, taste the blood on her lips, see it on her hands and arms, and feel it tickle as it run beneath the sleeves of her gown, but she seemingly fails to feel the very movements of her fingers inflicting these wounds. She is not doing it, it is done to her, although with the help of her hands.
I received a lot of negative responses to this idea in the original thread, in many of which something like "This is the Holy Mother's Grief! How dare you desecrate this purest notion with your blasphemous analysis!" reads easily between the lines. Apparently, some people couldn't bear being deprived of such an epitome of motherly love. But please, do not let savage emotions and attachment to characters cloud your judgment. GRRM doesn't write things to satiate the reader's internal emotional berserk, he writes life. Clawing at one's face because of the loss of children, while somewhat believable, still looks very theatrical. Very un-GRRM-y theatrical. And clawing at one's face without realizing it, while still making notes to oneself "hmm, something ravages my face, damn it hurts! Funny how my hands are so red.", well... Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just not that much possible as to declare it canon and forsake all further research.
So, the idea is the following. Before death, Robb warged into Catelyn. I don't think he wanted to, or that he even knew he could, but it just happened, most likely, instinctively. Robb might have tried to warg Grey Wind first, but the wolf might have been dead already, so I can't say for sure whether he was a part of it at all. Then Robb suddenly finds himself in another body, horrified, I imagine, struggling for it with the primary owner of the body. In his panic and confusion, he uses the parts of the body he managed to take control of (the hands) to attack the parts he didn't (the face). Naturally, for any observer this would look like Catelyn has gone mad, and it's better to put an end to it, although she was originally intended to be a hostage.
So, a very intriguing, in my opinion, question is: what exactly died when Raymund Frey cut Catelyn's throat, and what exactly got resurrected by Beric when they pulled Cat's body from the river?
I emphasize, Robb probably didn't do it on purpose. I think we can assume that when a warg dies, they can instinctively start their 'second life', whether or not they even understood their powers. He might have tried (again, maybe instinctively) to reach Grey Wind (maybe that's why the wolf's name was the last thing Robb muttered?), but if the wolf were killed earlier or mid-process, what would happen? Could this desperately reaching consciousness attach itself instead to another close living being, like a mother?
Now, to address some of the most common counter-arguments. I think it's the best way to further explain the theory.
1. Robb wasn't a fully developed warg, so such a trick was beyond his powers.
To be precise, Catelyn never saw him warg. I wonder what else she didn't see? Her perception of him is biased in the first place: her son and her king, her pride and her responsibility; and we never saw him from another POV since he left Winterfell. And, besides, wouldn't you imagine a 15-16-year old would behave differently depending on whether or not his mother were around? There's this very curious exchange, which I have astonishingly ignored during three rereads:
Sure, Robb would never do such a thing... while his mother watched. Which she didn't, all the time he warred in the Westerlands, in the company of men like the Greatjon, the Blackfish, and Rickard Karstark. It seems very believable Robb would make such a show for his bannermen's amusement, especially considering this:
and this:
and this:
There are also similar examples with Grey Wind. The point is: the boy loved showing off in a masculine, militaristic manner. And while his earlier attempts were rather clumsy - I find the last quote particularly hilarious, with this taking the sword from the squire, then giving it back to take a parchment - heart fed to wolf sounds actually awesome in comparison: if that rumor is true, he's clearly been practicing his acting skills.
And anyway, he wars in the West, wins battle after battle, conquers castle after castle, the thrill of battle, the triumph of victory, and him always in the front lines - surely he enjoyed all of it, and behaved accordingly, without his mother to restrain him.
Most importantly, one could argue that with all that adrenaline Robb actually had the best chance of all his siblings for his powers to manifest. I imagine a person in such state of mind would be most susceptible to that, otherwise dormant, more animal side of the warg's psyche. And how do you imagine Grey Wind showed him the way around the Golden Tooth, tugging at Robb's sleeve and dragging him towards the goat track?
Why don't we see his powers upon his return to Riverrun? By then, he had already distanced himself from Grey Wind because a) the wolf disliked the Spicers and frightened Jeyne; b) perhaps he was becoming uncomfortable about this connection, scared of turning into a beast; c) because after receiving news of Bran and Rickon's deaths he might have lost faith in the 'gift of the Old Gods'.
So, Robb might have actually grown to be quite a decent warg, but he had no one to explain to him what was happening, and therefore got frightened and confused, and tried to shut it off (not unlike Jon, by the way).
2. How could Robb succeed where Varamyr, the greatest of skinchangers, failed?
We can't be sure about the true extent of Robb's powers, see above. Varamyr was very sick, he was dying of his wound, so I don't imagine he was at the peak of his talent, and he attempted to warg an unfamiliar woman who knew about skinchanging and that it's a real thing, and actively resisted. She was healthy and focused, so she immediately noticed the intrusion. Which leads us to another question:
3. Why then wasn't Catelyn aware she was being warged, while Thistle understood it very well?
First of all, Catelyn was in a great deal of shock. There was lots of grief, pain, and confusion, which must have impaired her perception of immediate reality to an extent. Second, unlike Thistle, she didn't know about skinchanging or at least that it was real, not just a story for children. Third, Robb's presence might have felt much less alien to Catelyn, than Varamyr's to Thistle, and even perhaps welcome, due to the circumstances.
There was something funny happening, like Cat wasn't aware that she was clawing at her own face. I also half believe she might have mistook Robb's presence for Ned, hence her pleading to him to stop the pain.
And after all, if this theory is true, you wouldn't expect GRRM to state it explicitly at that point. Which leads to:
4. But how will it be revealed?
That's an interesting question. If I'm right, Robb's pretty f****d up. I mean, how would the BwB react if Lady Stoneheart clutched at her throat and croaked "I am Robb Stark"? In this condition, Robb would be very much limited in asserting his identity.
A possible option would be an encounter with someone he warred with in the West, like the Blackfish, who I strongly believe is currently catching up with the BwB. Then Robb could somehow prove his identity to Blackfish, for instance, remembering something about the western campaign, something only the two of them knew, and Catelyn couldn't possibly know. Or maybe the BwB will rescue Jeyne, that would be one awkward encounter.
Or maybe it will never be explicitly revealed. Still, as long as this theory has no solid undeniable counter-evidence, I think it's interesting to speculate on this point.
5. What about Brienne? If Lady Stoneheart isn't Catelyn, what does their whole encounter mean?
I understand the presumption. Brienne has sworn an oath to Catelyn, and seemingly has broken it. Now she has to be executed, but UnCat gives Brienne another chance to prove her loyalty.
Well, that does sound suspiciously like one of Sansa's favorite songs. ASoIaF is a different kind of song. Death must change a person, I understand that, but nothing must flatten GRRM's characters into two-dimensional cliches from Arthurian legends.
What Lady Stoneheart needs is Jaime Lannister, and what she has is a person who can lead to Jaime Lannister. But the person refuses to do so, so she must be threatened into cooperation. Nobody cares whether Brienne is guilty or innocent. And Robb has no less reason to search Jaime than Catelyn, because Bran, Karstarks, "Jaime Lannister sends his regards", and the fact that Jaime is militarily and politically important. No personal interest in Brienne is required for this conversation to happen as it did.
6. Why do we need this theory at all? Lady Stoneheart is resurrected Catelyn, that's clear. Why create a mystery where there's none?
Because I don't believe it a coincidence that the only two people in the series to claw at their own faces did so while a warg was dying nearby. Besides, GRRM is known for hiding mysteries precisely in places where there seem to be none.
When you were getting to the end of ASoS for the first time, if asked "who killed Jon Arryn?", what would you reply? "Cersei Lannister, of course!" There seemed to be no mystery, no need for a different explanation. Cersei fit perfectly. And then we learned the truth. Was it, by the way, foreshadowed, in hindsight? Well, Cersei denied her involvement to Tyrion. So what? She's a lying bitch, everyone knows that. Lysa was acting weird and paranoid. Well, the miscarriages must have taken their toll (I wonder if maybe any suggestions to explain her inadequacy by anything other than the mother's fear for her baby would have met a furious denial back then ).
So, I guess, apparent absence of clear necessity for a theory is not a very good counter-argument. Occam's razor is a useful blade, but quite often it becomes a hindrance in reasoning. The simplest explanation is not always the best.
7. But why? What's the narrative purpose? and a variation: We had Catelyn given a second chance to get justice/revenge/her daughters back, it was so just/right/good, and you want to take it away for a cheap shocking trick with nothing to add to the narrative?
Well, to be honest, Catelyn given a second chance is just lame. Seriously, if it is what it seems, that's probably the weakest subplot in the whole series. A cheap shocking trick. If an author undermines the credibility of his writing by bringing characters back to life, they'd better do it for a damn good reason. Judging from this thread, I am not alone in this impression.
As to the narrative purpose of my theory, for one, it's further exploration of the loss of identity. Evidently, one of our author's favorite topics, and this would be an identity loss/crisis of unprecedented scale. It would be unimaginable horror and tragedy, nothing like we've ever seen before, to be trapped in half-rotten body of his dead mother. The story of a mother who got resurrected so that she could get her revenge pales in comparison. I'll leave it to you to imagine the details.
If you read some of GRRM's earlier works, by the way, you'll find all kinds of creepy stuff, almost always dealing with some kind of telepathy, shared consciousness, mind control etc. So this seems to fit perfectly into his style.
8. Wouldn't Robb personally behead his captives instead of hanging them?
A nice observation. Well, maybe those half-rotten arms cannot lift a sword, much less behead someone. Also, personal executions are deeply connected with the concept of honor, and honorable treatment of the condemned, which might have suffered some alterations during Robb's transformations.
9. The mechanics of warging have been thoroughly explained. We know exactly what and how happens, and some of this undoubtable knowledge directly contradicts the assumptions of this theory.
Apparently, some people feel that way. To me, however, the mechanics of warging seem to have been given only vague and partial description in the books, leaving a wide space for speculation. We've only heard about four skinchangers dying, one of which was in memory, and another one was Robb.
That's pretty much it. I'm looking forward to any feedback. In conclusion, here's a quote and a picture for you to ponder upon in light of this theory:
From the Prologue to ADwD, we learned a great deal about skinchanging, and specifically about the 'second life'. Many have deduced, not without reason, that inclusion of such information in the very beginning of the book served as foreshadowing about Jon's fate after his assassination near the book's very end. Indeed, warging into Ghost (and maybe later back, somehow) seems one of the most plausible versions of Jon's survival. Like many, I think, I also wondered for a short while whether the same could have happened to Robb and Grey Wind, before remembering that the wolf had also been killed.
But we already knew something about the second life, we saw what happened to Orell (did you know, by the way, that his name means 'eagle' in several East European languages?). Is there perhaps something else GRRM tells us in that Prologue?
He summoned all the strength still in him, leapt out of his own skin, and forced himself inside her.
Thistle arched her back and screamed.
Abomination. Was that her, or him, or Haggon? He never knew. His old flesh fell back into the snowdrift as her fingers loosened. The spearwife twisted violently, shrieking. His shadowcat used to fight him wildly, and the snow bear had gone half-mad for a time, snapping at trees and rocks and empty air, but this was worse. "Get out, get out!" he heard her own mouth shouting. Her body staggered, fell, and rose again, her hands flailed, her legs jerked this way and that in some grotesque dance as his spirit and her own fought for the flesh. She sucked down a mouthful of the frigid air, and Varamyr had half a heartbeat to glory in the taste of it and the strength of this young body before her teeth snapped together and filled his mouth with blood. She raised her hands to his face. He tried to push them down again, but the hands would not obey, and she was clawing at his eyes. Abomination, he remembered, drowning in blood and pain and madness. When he tried to scream, she spat their tongue out.
Thistle arched her back and screamed.
Abomination. Was that her, or him, or Haggon? He never knew. His old flesh fell back into the snowdrift as her fingers loosened. The spearwife twisted violently, shrieking. His shadowcat used to fight him wildly, and the snow bear had gone half-mad for a time, snapping at trees and rocks and empty air, but this was worse. "Get out, get out!" he heard her own mouth shouting. Her body staggered, fell, and rose again, her hands flailed, her legs jerked this way and that in some grotesque dance as his spirit and her own fought for the flesh. She sucked down a mouthful of the frigid air, and Varamyr had half a heartbeat to glory in the taste of it and the strength of this young body before her teeth snapped together and filled his mouth with blood. She raised her hands to his face. He tried to push them down again, but the hands would not obey, and she was clawing at his eyes. Abomination, he remembered, drowning in blood and pain and madness. When he tried to scream, she spat their tongue out.
Prologue, A Dance with Dragons
Finally someone took the knife away from her. The tears burned like vinegar as they ran down her cheeks. Ten fierce ravens were raking her face with sharp talons and tearing off strips of flesh, leaving deep furrows that ran red with blood. She could taste it on her lips.
It hurts so much, she thought. Our children, Ned, all our sweet babes. Rickon, Bran, Arya, Sansa, Robb... Robb... please, Ned, please, make it stop, make it stop hurting... The white tears and the red ones ran together until her face was torn and tattered, the face that Ned had loved. Catelyn Stark raised her hands and watched the blood run down her long fingers, over her wrists, beneath the sleeves of her gown. Slow red worms crawled along her arms and under her clothes. It tickles. That made her laugh until she screamed. "Mad," someone said, "she's lost her wits," and someone else said, "Make an end," and a hand grabbed her scalp just as she'd done with Jinglebell, and she thought, No, don't, don't cut my hair, Ned loves my hair. Then the steel was at her throat, and its bite was red and cold.
It hurts so much, she thought. Our children, Ned, all our sweet babes. Rickon, Bran, Arya, Sansa, Robb... Robb... please, Ned, please, make it stop, make it stop hurting... The white tears and the red ones ran together until her face was torn and tattered, the face that Ned had loved. Catelyn Stark raised her hands and watched the blood run down her long fingers, over her wrists, beneath the sleeves of her gown. Slow red worms crawled along her arms and under her clothes. It tickles. That made her laugh until she screamed. "Mad," someone said, "she's lost her wits," and someone else said, "Make an end," and a hand grabbed her scalp just as she'd done with Jinglebell, and she thought, No, don't, don't cut my hair, Ned loves my hair. Then the steel was at her throat, and its bite was red and cold.
Catelyn VII, A Storm of Swords
I received a lot of negative responses to this idea in the original thread, in many of which something like "This is the Holy Mother's Grief! How dare you desecrate this purest notion with your blasphemous analysis!" reads easily between the lines. Apparently, some people couldn't bear being deprived of such an epitome of motherly love. But please, do not let savage emotions and attachment to characters cloud your judgment. GRRM doesn't write things to satiate the reader's internal emotional berserk, he writes life. Clawing at one's face because of the loss of children, while somewhat believable, still looks very theatrical. Very un-GRRM-y theatrical. And clawing at one's face without realizing it, while still making notes to oneself "hmm, something ravages my face, damn it hurts! Funny how my hands are so red.", well... Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just not that much possible as to declare it canon and forsake all further research.
So, the idea is the following. Before death, Robb warged into Catelyn. I don't think he wanted to, or that he even knew he could, but it just happened, most likely, instinctively. Robb might have tried to warg Grey Wind first, but the wolf might have been dead already, so I can't say for sure whether he was a part of it at all. Then Robb suddenly finds himself in another body, horrified, I imagine, struggling for it with the primary owner of the body. In his panic and confusion, he uses the parts of the body he managed to take control of (the hands) to attack the parts he didn't (the face). Naturally, for any observer this would look like Catelyn has gone mad, and it's better to put an end to it, although she was originally intended to be a hostage.
So, a very intriguing, in my opinion, question is: what exactly died when Raymund Frey cut Catelyn's throat, and what exactly got resurrected by Beric when they pulled Cat's body from the river?
I emphasize, Robb probably didn't do it on purpose. I think we can assume that when a warg dies, they can instinctively start their 'second life', whether or not they even understood their powers. He might have tried (again, maybe instinctively) to reach Grey Wind (maybe that's why the wolf's name was the last thing Robb muttered?), but if the wolf were killed earlier or mid-process, what would happen? Could this desperately reaching consciousness attach itself instead to another close living being, like a mother?
Now, to address some of the most common counter-arguments. I think it's the best way to further explain the theory.
1. Robb wasn't a fully developed warg, so such a trick was beyond his powers.
To be precise, Catelyn never saw him warg. I wonder what else she didn't see? Her perception of him is biased in the first place: her son and her king, her pride and her responsibility; and we never saw him from another POV since he left Winterfell. And, besides, wouldn't you imagine a 15-16-year old would behave differently depending on whether or not his mother were around? There's this very curious exchange, which I have astonishingly ignored during three rereads:
"How did the king ever take the Tooth?" Ser Perwyn Frey asked his bastard brother. "That's a hard strong keep, and it commands the hill road."
"He never took it. He slipped around it in the night. It's said the direwolf showed him the way, that Grey Wind of his. The beast sniffed out a goat track that wound down a defile and up along beneath a ridge, a crooked and stony way, yet wide enough for men riding single file. The Lannisters in their watchtowers got not so much a glimpse of them." Rivers lowered his voice. "There's some say that after the battle, the king cut out Stafford Lannister's heart and fed it to the wolf."
"I would not believe such tales," Catelyn said sharply. "My son is no savage."
"As you say, my lady. Still, it's no more than the beast deserved. That is no common wolf, that one. The Greatjon's been heard to say that the old gods of the north sent those direwolves to your children."
"He never took it. He slipped around it in the night. It's said the direwolf showed him the way, that Grey Wind of his. The beast sniffed out a goat track that wound down a defile and up along beneath a ridge, a crooked and stony way, yet wide enough for men riding single file. The Lannisters in their watchtowers got not so much a glimpse of them." Rivers lowered his voice. "There's some say that after the battle, the king cut out Stafford Lannister's heart and fed it to the wolf."
"I would not believe such tales," Catelyn said sharply. "My son is no savage."
"As you say, my lady. Still, it's no more than the beast deserved. That is no common wolf, that one. The Greatjon's been heard to say that the old gods of the north sent those direwolves to your children."
Catelyn V, A Clash of Kings
"Gods," Robb swore, his young face dark with anger. "If this is true, he will pay for it." He drew his sword and waved it in the air. "I'll kill him myself!"
Ser Rodrik bristled at him. "Put that away! The Lannisters are a hundred leagues away. Never draw your sword unless you mean to use it. How many times must I tell you, foolish boy?"
Ser Rodrik bristled at him. "Put that away! The Lannisters are a hundred leagues away. Never draw your sword unless you mean to use it. How many times must I tell you, foolish boy?"
Catelyn III, A Game of Thrones
"Any man of the Night's Watch is welcome here at Winterfell for as long as he wishes to stay," Robb was saying with the voice of Robb the Lord. His sword was across his knees, the steel bare for all the world to see. Even Bran knew what it meant to greet a guest with an unsheathed sword.
"Any man of the Night's Watch," the dwarf repeated, "but not me, do I take your meaning, boy?"
Robb stood and pointed at the little man with his sword. "I am the lord here while my mother and father are away, Lannister. I am not your boy."
"Any man of the Night's Watch," the dwarf repeated, "but not me, do I take your meaning, boy?"
Robb stood and pointed at the little man with his sword. "I am the lord here while my mother and father are away, Lannister. I am not your boy."
Bran III, A Game of Thrones
When the guards brought in the captive, Robb called for his sword. Olyvar Frey offered it up hilt first, and her son drew the blade and laid it bare across his knees, a threat plain for all to see.
[...]
"An offer of peace." Robb stood, longsword in hand. [...]
"Olyvar, the paper," he commanded. The squire took his longsword and handed up a rolled parchment.
[...]
"An offer of peace." Robb stood, longsword in hand. [...]
"Olyvar, the paper," he commanded. The squire took his longsword and handed up a rolled parchment.
Catelyn I, A Clash of Kings
And anyway, he wars in the West, wins battle after battle, conquers castle after castle, the thrill of battle, the triumph of victory, and him always in the front lines - surely he enjoyed all of it, and behaved accordingly, without his mother to restrain him.
Most importantly, one could argue that with all that adrenaline Robb actually had the best chance of all his siblings for his powers to manifest. I imagine a person in such state of mind would be most susceptible to that, otherwise dormant, more animal side of the warg's psyche. And how do you imagine Grey Wind showed him the way around the Golden Tooth, tugging at Robb's sleeve and dragging him towards the goat track?
Why don't we see his powers upon his return to Riverrun? By then, he had already distanced himself from Grey Wind because a) the wolf disliked the Spicers and frightened Jeyne; b) perhaps he was becoming uncomfortable about this connection, scared of turning into a beast; c) because after receiving news of Bran and Rickon's deaths he might have lost faith in the 'gift of the Old Gods'.
So, Robb might have actually grown to be quite a decent warg, but he had no one to explain to him what was happening, and therefore got frightened and confused, and tried to shut it off (not unlike Jon, by the way).
2. How could Robb succeed where Varamyr, the greatest of skinchangers, failed?
We can't be sure about the true extent of Robb's powers, see above. Varamyr was very sick, he was dying of his wound, so I don't imagine he was at the peak of his talent, and he attempted to warg an unfamiliar woman who knew about skinchanging and that it's a real thing, and actively resisted. She was healthy and focused, so she immediately noticed the intrusion. Which leads us to another question:
3. Why then wasn't Catelyn aware she was being warged, while Thistle understood it very well?
First of all, Catelyn was in a great deal of shock. There was lots of grief, pain, and confusion, which must have impaired her perception of immediate reality to an extent. Second, unlike Thistle, she didn't know about skinchanging or at least that it was real, not just a story for children. Third, Robb's presence might have felt much less alien to Catelyn, than Varamyr's to Thistle, and even perhaps welcome, due to the circumstances.
There was something funny happening, like Cat wasn't aware that she was clawing at her own face. I also half believe she might have mistook Robb's presence for Ned, hence her pleading to him to stop the pain.
And after all, if this theory is true, you wouldn't expect GRRM to state it explicitly at that point. Which leads to:
4. But how will it be revealed?
That's an interesting question. If I'm right, Robb's pretty f****d up. I mean, how would the BwB react if Lady Stoneheart clutched at her throat and croaked "I am Robb Stark"? In this condition, Robb would be very much limited in asserting his identity.
A possible option would be an encounter with someone he warred with in the West, like the Blackfish, who I strongly believe is currently catching up with the BwB. Then Robb could somehow prove his identity to Blackfish, for instance, remembering something about the western campaign, something only the two of them knew, and Catelyn couldn't possibly know. Or maybe the BwB will rescue Jeyne, that would be one awkward encounter.
Or maybe it will never be explicitly revealed. Still, as long as this theory has no solid undeniable counter-evidence, I think it's interesting to speculate on this point.
5. What about Brienne? If Lady Stoneheart isn't Catelyn, what does their whole encounter mean?
I understand the presumption. Brienne has sworn an oath to Catelyn, and seemingly has broken it. Now she has to be executed, but UnCat gives Brienne another chance to prove her loyalty.
Well, that does sound suspiciously like one of Sansa's favorite songs. ASoIaF is a different kind of song. Death must change a person, I understand that, but nothing must flatten GRRM's characters into two-dimensional cliches from Arthurian legends.
What Lady Stoneheart needs is Jaime Lannister, and what she has is a person who can lead to Jaime Lannister. But the person refuses to do so, so she must be threatened into cooperation. Nobody cares whether Brienne is guilty or innocent. And Robb has no less reason to search Jaime than Catelyn, because Bran, Karstarks, "Jaime Lannister sends his regards", and the fact that Jaime is militarily and politically important. No personal interest in Brienne is required for this conversation to happen as it did.
6. Why do we need this theory at all? Lady Stoneheart is resurrected Catelyn, that's clear. Why create a mystery where there's none?
Because I don't believe it a coincidence that the only two people in the series to claw at their own faces did so while a warg was dying nearby. Besides, GRRM is known for hiding mysteries precisely in places where there seem to be none.
When you were getting to the end of ASoS for the first time, if asked "who killed Jon Arryn?", what would you reply? "Cersei Lannister, of course!" There seemed to be no mystery, no need for a different explanation. Cersei fit perfectly. And then we learned the truth. Was it, by the way, foreshadowed, in hindsight? Well, Cersei denied her involvement to Tyrion. So what? She's a lying bitch, everyone knows that. Lysa was acting weird and paranoid. Well, the miscarriages must have taken their toll (I wonder if maybe any suggestions to explain her inadequacy by anything other than the mother's fear for her baby would have met a furious denial back then ).
So, I guess, apparent absence of clear necessity for a theory is not a very good counter-argument. Occam's razor is a useful blade, but quite often it becomes a hindrance in reasoning. The simplest explanation is not always the best.
7. But why? What's the narrative purpose? and a variation: We had Catelyn given a second chance to get justice/revenge/her daughters back, it was so just/right/good, and you want to take it away for a cheap shocking trick with nothing to add to the narrative?
Well, to be honest, Catelyn given a second chance is just lame. Seriously, if it is what it seems, that's probably the weakest subplot in the whole series. A cheap shocking trick. If an author undermines the credibility of his writing by bringing characters back to life, they'd better do it for a damn good reason. Judging from this thread, I am not alone in this impression.
As to the narrative purpose of my theory, for one, it's further exploration of the loss of identity. Evidently, one of our author's favorite topics, and this would be an identity loss/crisis of unprecedented scale. It would be unimaginable horror and tragedy, nothing like we've ever seen before, to be trapped in half-rotten body of his dead mother. The story of a mother who got resurrected so that she could get her revenge pales in comparison. I'll leave it to you to imagine the details.
If you read some of GRRM's earlier works, by the way, you'll find all kinds of creepy stuff, almost always dealing with some kind of telepathy, shared consciousness, mind control etc. So this seems to fit perfectly into his style.
8. Wouldn't Robb personally behead his captives instead of hanging them?
A nice observation. Well, maybe those half-rotten arms cannot lift a sword, much less behead someone. Also, personal executions are deeply connected with the concept of honor, and honorable treatment of the condemned, which might have suffered some alterations during Robb's transformations.
9. The mechanics of warging have been thoroughly explained. We know exactly what and how happens, and some of this undoubtable knowledge directly contradicts the assumptions of this theory.
Apparently, some people feel that way. To me, however, the mechanics of warging seem to have been given only vague and partial description in the books, leaving a wide space for speculation. We've only heard about four skinchangers dying, one of which was in memory, and another one was Robb.
That's pretty much it. I'm looking forward to any feedback. In conclusion, here's a quote and a picture for you to ponder upon in light of this theory:
"I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror."
Arya IV, A Storm of Swords