Children Of The Forest Pretend To Be People - So who are they? 

When you mentioned her being three feet tall, about 9 minutes in, my immediate thought was "Leaf is Mushroom?"

Old Nan. She’s been around for forever, and she taught Bran a lot through her stories.

Aegon the Conqueror is two children of the forest in a trench coat

Re babies being thrown down wells ---- they mustn't have stayed down there, because if they had, the wells would have spoiled and people would have stopped doing it. You can't just throw a body down a well and have it rot in there and keep getting decent water from it. People would have stopped doing it to preserve their wells. Conclusion: if the babies were being thrown down there, they weren't being left there.

She says 'men are the children' because Meera seemed struck by the fact she was at least 200 years old. She's like, yeah I'm old, you're the child.

Weasel is Leaf on her way back north. She was getting intel on the war, the crows, and spent some time with Arya. When the Mountain and his men captured the other kids, she snuck off into the woods, never to be seen again.

Alys Rivers is a candidate. She’s said to have been a wet nurse to Harwin, Larys, and possible even Lyonel Strong. I believe this is implying she’s a lot older than speculated. She also lives in Harrenhal which is adjacent to the God’s Eye and Isle of Faces, all which have close connections to the children of the forest.

Oh man i really love this theory because it solidifies a theory i've had for a while, that all the magic in this story is part of the same origin. Fire and Ice, opposing sides, but dragonglass is fire made ice, Jon Snow has fire and ice heritage, comets streak across the skies like swords made of fire but are actually made of ice. The many faced god implies all gods and all religions are actually serving the same god, just in different disguises. So, following that train of thought, all magic in this story is different sides of blood magic. Dany's eggs only hatch after a funeral pyre, and it's been theorized that dragon binding is a form of blood magic that explains the targaryen incest and why they have dragon babies and are able to bond to dragons. On the other side of this coin, the magic of the children, of wargs, and of greenseers is all tied to the weirwoods, which also require blood sacrifices to function. The Others haven't been explained yet, but i suspect they are tied to the weirwoods somehow, possibly the consciousness of past greenseers that were kicked out of the weirwood net and put into a non living object, like ice. The children knowing how to glamour themselves makes me think they taught the faceless men how to do it, and since doing it would require a blood sacrifice, it's only natural that you just simply turn into the person you just killed, as that's the most practical thing to do. Also, yes the children are creepy af and possibly neutral to unintentionally evil. The books distinguish between Bloodraven and the 3 eyed crow, and treats them as separate with Bran believing them to be the same, but not really described as being the same. It's possible Leaf is the 3 eyed crow, going behind Bloodraven's back to influence Bran herself and get the outcomes she desires.

The small crannogmen...so WHY did Howland Reed feel compelled to hone his "magic" at the Isle of Faces for months,then drop in on the Harrenhal tourney and find the Starks?The cotf hanging with the crannogmen?

dear community, as i have officially turned into a fan of michael by now, i feel like we as a community should help michael to get more range to even be seen by people. we need shares, likes and clicks to enhance youtubes algorythm for his theories to reach more people! i am old and asoiaf is my passion for many years already. this is literally the only youtuber who ever got me wanting to actively participate in the creative exchange, after years of just silently reading and listening. you young folks should know how to help him better :o)

if Old Nan is secretly a COTF, id actually argue that leaf herself is her! Saying she has been in disguise for a hundred or so years maybe specifically for Bran. id also like to think it is either revealed or HINTED at that maybe the real old nan died in the tragedy of summer hall, connecting her and dunk and the she wolves of Winterfell ect ect. Also sort of makes Hodor kind of more important in a weird way, like the show did, only this time more complex.

It's cool to think that Leaf is saying she spent 200 years wandering human lands to talk to Bran, but the impression I got is that she's saying she's speaking the common tongue for Bran's benefit and then explaining how she learned the common tongue.

I also believe dany's handmaid missandai is also a child of the forest... she's described as a one

Olenna Tyrell. She is described as a short old lady, Queen of Thorns is in line with Leaf and Nettles, and the implications of a Lords Paramount having CotF blood is massive. King Bran would certainly benefit from having the Reach on side. It would also set an interesting dynamic in Reach politics to have the Oldtown Andal style power bloc vs the nature themed CotF old magic power bloc. That parallels the Blackwood Bracken feud in the Riverlands, and kinda tracks with Ice and Fire.

Old Nan. Nobody even has a guess at how old she is. She couldve been at winterfell the whole time.

"Really Old Nan" confirmed!

I don't think she's there to "help" Bran, more like recruiting Bran.

Thanks for laying this out. I have always suspected the children of the forest were questionable at best. Their tactics definitely seem to benefit only themselves through history so why should that change now??

Oh man Nettles is so cool! How exciting. I was gonna say Alys Rivers “The witch queen of Harrenhall” but i looked it up and honestly don’t know if that fits. She has some magic stuff going on but idk if it’s COTF stuff lol. So I have no idea, can’t wait for next episode.

One of the dwarves that stole the dragon egg at Whitewall might have been Leaf using a glamour

Who else could be children of the forest in disguise? I guess some woodswitches like the Ghost of the High Heart. Maybe some dwarf jesters

Basically Leaf is everyone. She's the night king She's king Robert She's Ned Stark... she's all the dire wolves She's probably even Bran

I'm guessing your number one will be Millsandra but a bigger bomb might be that Varis little birds were infiltrated by a singer

This is for sure one of the better channels on RU-vid discussing GOT theories.

the whole stories like bran the builder and the age of heroes theme is like a correspondence to the current timeline with bran and it just came to me could old nan and nettles be children in a glammer? Grumkins and STarks?

Love your videos Micheal. ❤keep up the good work. Big fan.

#1 guess...Old Nan

Man.... Once again phenomenal. I love ur videos buddy.

@michaeltalksaboutstuff hello, hello... another absolute stunner! well done, exceptionally well done. i have NEVER, as of yet, heard a more plausible, well connected and interwoven essay on the cotf EVER before! BUT man, what did you do to us?? i was excited to (finally) see you had posted the next video. the wait nearly killed me, but i guess that is how it's supposed to be with all the good things. the theory had me hooked instantly. after like a third of the video i started grinning ever more broadly. around two thirds through it, i started to giggle and being more than tempted to pause this and comment... so glad i didn't because i was gonna make fun of you, because i thought you had missed the no.1 obvious candidate for a cotf... then you started telling that you know there's the most obvious one missing and of course she deserves at least her own video! so, you asked for people to give their guess in the comments, here's mine: of course it's old nan. she's described as being tiny, maybe the oldest person in westeros and all that, but that's easy to connect. to add all the rest with your theory in mind is what's fun! first the most obvious: her stories. she knows things no other living person even remembers, or has ever heard of. stories can be a kind of magic in themselves. that particular cotf could not even admit to real magic or such things as prophecy, the starks wouldn't have let anyone like that even near their kids. old nan was perfectly placed to see generations of starks grow up and influence their personality, character and even their desires right from the moment they were born. plus she simply disappears when the boltons take over the castle. it is specifically mentioned that they couldn't find old nan among the dead. the glamour part is interesting. my money would be on her knitting needles to be the equivalent to the armor of the lord of bones. she is still small, still old, and what is attributed to her the most apart from that is the sound of her needles. and what consequence that connection has on the long run! wow. that means, if we add the 200 years and go back, that same cotf would have to have been rohanne webber before. she was also described as being extremely short but way younger and more beautiful. and if THAT is also correct, then there's the proximity in which that puts said cotf to egg via dunk! so far i think we know of at least two cotf walking amongst men "pretending to be a person" . old nan, who might have been leaf all the time, which would match in every aspect if i didn't forget sth. and who -according to your personal opinion- just recently returned. it would fit. but if leaf is or was old nan, then there's still the ghost of high heart. living, walking and talking. could very long white hair, which has to be grown and can thus not simply be passed on, be used for a glamour? does it have to be a thing? what was described attributed to her when she turned up for the first time? i need to check for that, for sure! i think i remember some kind of walking stick dimly. (edit: rohanne was attributed with unusual long hair, too. dunk kept a lock of her hair. now i'm confused) and she is old and everyone knows that she was the woodswitch that came to court with jenny of oldstones and made the prophecy for the prince that was promised to be born of the line of aerys and rhaella. maybe she had to, because they were not actually supposed get married before that prophecy. so that's my first guess after listening to your theory. i am very sorry if i (maybe) spoiled too much, feel free to delete this instantly ^^ you asked for it, though! ugghhh... now i have to wait ANOTHER week for the next one... you are a very clever, but slightly mean person ;o) chapeau. edit: well, looks like i'm officially a fan now. just posted on reddit, ten minutes ago. 192 views so far. i wish you the best of luck!

Tyrion, he was not thrown back up as a baby, he was glimmered

So, i kind of had this theory for a while about the children not only in Westeros, but everywhere being fundamental to human society and specially Valyrian or Ashaii ones, tho now im more convinced than ever... First, a few creatures are said to be interestingly white haired with red/purple eyes, some of them valyirians, some of them not, aka House of Dayne, some northern nobles i think and very much, children or possible CotF, like Ghost of High Heart, which is an interesting, but not unusual trait among children, specially the eyes and the fact that a possible member rode a dragon, mixed with a possible origin for them being cave wyrms or litteral worms, like the ones implied to be underground and under the sea even, then the question of who taught these white haired, purple or red eyed sheppards to ride and fly these incredible flamethrowing winged, horned worms, why they alone can connect to them, where does the fire come from, where did the ice powers of the white haired others come from? Children i think hold the answer to this song, more than any other group or being or race in the story, as for Ashaii, just seems interesting how that place with so many wonders falls flat to knowledge of a bunch of woods people to the point of some characters marveling at it and then the Maester who went there from Westeros and had no business becoming a litteral teacher to immortal witch people

Besides Nettles, have any of these travelled? I would imagine the Children would have some fey-like restrictions to their behavior.

Yeah, Old Nan has to be a descendant of the Children of the Forest.

Having now watched a good amount of your videos I'd like to applaud you specifically because the memes you sprinkle into the video have grown increasingly more hilarious over time. "I just want you to stop saying odd $hit" made me do a real lol

Look up Frog Gods in Mythology and Folklore. Frogs were very old mother/creation goddesses. It was super prevalent Egypt.

At no point did she say she was in disguise, she wandered but children of the forest could be amazing at staying hidden, there are trees scattered everywhere in Westeros for them to hide among

Can’t wait for Davos POV chapters in WoW. I bet he hits extremely rough seas and sees the “dead things in the water” mentioned in Qottar Pikes letter in Dance. Then finds rickon but is chased south by thousands of wights from nearby hardhome. I wonder if wights can sail ships, if so they’re definitely taking that nights watch fleet south good lord

People just don’t talk that much about Leaf in general I feel.

New theory u locked: sir Robert strong = leaf on stilts wearing a huge armor

honestly i love the lore behind it. My favorite fan theory is that westeros is really a post apocalyptical society. And the magic is really like this ancient tech.,

Doesn’t say Leaf has been disguised as a human, just that she walked the world of men. Could have just been sneaking around and hiding in our forests etc.

Which POV character do you think first witnesses the God’s Eye/Isle of Faces? And under what circumstances? Or do we never see it directly?

This connects well with a theory that the lands of always winter is connected to the lands beyond the shadow or at the very least the children of the forest are related to the "skin walkers". Also a lot of the magic Melisandra uses is not the magic of Red Preists, so they could have been taught these types of magic such as glamours by the "skin walkers". This could also explain who the Valyrians learned their blood magic from. Powers like the greensight and waarging only present themselves (i believe) in people that possess the blood of the children or the green men. Meaning there are human children hybrids and there has probably been for thousands of years. This tracks well with your theory that there are children living at the bottom of these wells, considering the thousand year practice of "The first night" and the saying "There is power in kings blood". I understand why GRRM is taking so long with these books, it seems massively interconnected.

Shiara Seastar... Makes sense that that is how they lured Blood Raven into the north and away from the Night's Watch

I have a few thoughts. The stinky dwarf who stole the egg. Not serious, but it gave me a giggle. Serious guess, Lady Webber, she's so very short.

I googled what Weir means and this popped up "dam in a stream or river to raise the water level or divert its flow." Which strengthens your theory about weirwoods being in the wall

Interesting. I mean, on one hand we have a lot of secret identies already, but on the other, Leaf's comment is pretty clear here. There's just so much behind the scenes movement in this story. I wonder if they ever infiltrated the maesters ( along with everyone else ). I'd think an old-woman glamor could get hired as staff.

Maegi the Frog being a CotF would explain why no one could pronounce her name 🤔 there is also the Woods Witch wife of Harlon and Herndon the founders of House Tarly, she was a lover of those twins and as long as they were together, the men didn't age

Great vid. Fun theory.

Awesome Video man!

How about Howland? Everyone's guessing chick's but we know George likes to gender bend roles.... Howlands pretty pivotal. Not saying he's Leaf but certainly would have been in a lot of right places and right times

Maybe Mirri Maz Duur could be a Child of the Forest?

George was pissed that the show skipped over Jay II in the show, and that was his only mandate for HotD is to rectify that.

Missandei. An 11 year old who speak 19 languages, wise, voice like a song, golden greenish eyes. Often refers to herself as "this one". Nah. She a child of the Forrest. Maybe from a different area. But I don't think they're secluded to westeros.

The Children of the Forest are like entities. Shapeshifters. Manipulators. Witches.

I think Maggie the frog was just a woman. Cercies arc is, I think, more about her paranoia. I think it would be more fitting for the prophecy to be made up or false, the woman just a woman. It is a representation of Cerci's fear of other powerful women. I do think it would be poetic for Lief to be Old Nan. The nice old woman who has guided Bran, still guides him but is no longer pretending to be the nice old lady she was. I also like the idea that Nan says that Crows all lie, crows being representative of false info in the books. And then Bran makes his way to the Blood Raven, which is representative of fact. He goes from being lied to and manipulated to diving head first into the reality of the world. Thematically its also common in the books for people to confuse Crows and Ravens, again, thematically its about confusing fact and fiction.

Hvala!

Weasel, the war orphan, is a likely option. So many important characters seemed to be in that night’s watch caravan in ACOK. There are too many coincidences and all the details line up. Arya’s whole story in that book centered around deception and it would be really cool if the greatest deceiver wasn’t the faceless assassin Jaquen after all.

This echos Arya disguise in Harrenhall. And the information she gathered along with subtle influence of events.

A group of diminutive people who don't speak the common tongue? I wonder if Varys was getting hot tips from a child of the forest playing a little bird.

Sorry just got to the end. Milisandra is my guess lol. Wait... That means they are both existing at the same time.... I'm stick to that guess lol

Throwing a wild guess out there that Qybern is a CotF. He isn't big. He has more skill with odd things than he should. Master of Whispers is exactly what a CotF does. If he is one that can speak the common tongue, who is to say what language his little birds speak? Little birds hang out on tree branches just like leaves.

Merry Maz Duur potentially? A wich and has impact on the birth of dragons. Old Nan, but this honestly seems inconsequential. What would it change if it is Old Nan... Also mayhaps Walder Frey? He is far too old... But he commits a crime that old gods would never forgive, he kills guests... So i am not sure there.

Preston Jacobs has mentioned thar Mushroom is in two places at once which seems an error. It'd be pretty cool if one is a CotF. Could be cool to see Tyrion in two places at once sometime.

I've toyed with this idea, I liked where Greyarea took it. Especially suggesting BR is kinda Daemon 2.0. I think I know who you're going to suggest, though there are a couple options. Instead I want to add to your list at the bottom. I think it's possible Lomas Longstrider was a CotF. The name makes the figure sound tall, but calling a short person "giant" has been done. There's only one explicit example of a child going through a well and that's Bran. Sacrifice or not, he was delivered to the CotF, not the Others. In fact, I think it's reasonable to consider the idea that the standing goal of the Others is to prevent babies from being delivered to them. Where Craster is concerned there is an interesting question. Is his Keep warded against wights by the CotF like the cave, or do the Others ignore him because he gives them gifts? I can see either arguement. As spies I don't think we need to dig into magic. GRRM has set up several examples od people hidinf in plain sight. Varys' little birds foe example. But he dresses Tyrion to look like a boy so he wouldn't be noticed. Arya's story in Harrenhal is also a good example of mundane artifice being more than enough to prevent odd features from being noticed. There is probably a parallel to be made between the methods used by the Faceless Men and those used by the CotF. As such I would suggest there is a parallel figure in the story that is a CotF pulling off something similar to Alchemist/Pate. A female figure though. I won't it for you.

Old Nan is my Guess. Even though she is allegedly Hodor's grandmother. Could she not at some point been a substitution by the Glimoured Leaf?

I liked Leaf. This is a character of ASOIAF that I wish was explored more in depth.

Nettles and Maggie aren’t Leaf. The Children only have 4 fingers but Nettles and Maggie have five. Nettles and Maggie are Leafs DAUGHTERS sired by Men!

Old Nan is my #1

If Maggy the Frog is a CotF, then that would be proof positive that humans can breed with CotF, since she's a progenitor of House Spicer (and therefore related to Jeyne Westerling, Robb's wife)

Named Sheepstealer. Sheep or lambs are classic symbols of sacrifice. Sheepstealer steals away the sacrificial lambs, mayhaps?

do you really think jon is the prince that was promised? that always felt like show fanfiction to me

Jojen

I am convinced that even Bran is not human, or Bran , more like someone took his body and using it. This is why the end of the series have a vibe of someone manipulated everything and danger is yet to come, humanity is in danger more than we thought....but we do have to see the ending of the books, if it ever happens.

I definitely think it is Old Nan. Had anyone considered that Tyrion might be a grumkin? It would explain a few strange things about him.

Misandi !

Leaf is the mother of Rohanne Webber. That's why she had so many miscarriages. Tywin's eyes are even partly yellow, and the children's eyes are supposed to be green or yellow.

I agree with all of this...except I don't think Nettles Number 1 is old Nan

How do you feel about Syrio Forel being a child of the forest in disguise? He is smaller and bald in the books and has an odd accent, which could just be due to him being Braavosi.

Old Nan COTF confirmed?

No 1 is Melisandre ;) the date is 19 january, me first... Just imagine Leaf and Her as opposite ways of doing something, one is using the trees with people, other may be burning (the trees) it all maybe ?

Mirri maz duur?

Old Nan

Yes. To all of this.

Penny

I could like and subscribe someday. Potentially.

If you do another like this, Leaf was pretending to be a human, sh was already a person. My dog is a person.

MMD

You're right, in the show Maggy is SO HOT😂😂

Leaf is Nettles. I stick by that theory. 😂

Missandai ?

theyre probably old nan

Old Nan. Easy pick.

Algormancy!

Old Nan!

Nan. What about Wex?

or olenna

Yeah man. You're ON to something. not just something. a TON of shit... i'm in!

Me likey 👌🏻

Old nan