Hunter and Belos Grimwalkers
With “Hollow Mind” drawing near and being the crew’s favorite episode, I wanted to explore the Grimwalker theory since “Eclipse Lake”. (It has taken me months to write this theory due to my life and bad health, but here it is!). According to the synopsis of “Hollow Mind”, Hunter and Luz enter a mindscape that becomes twisted. From the promos and clip we have seen, this is related to Belos/Philip’s past and plans since they are entering his mind. This may include Hunter’s real origin of being a Grimwalker and his true purpose to Belos. In “Eclipse Lake” we see a book having ingredients of creating Grimwalkers, which seems to be clones. Because of the similarity to Hunter (nose and eyes) and unknown origins, it is highly speculated he is a Grimwalker and there is much evidence to prove it. However, Hunter may not be the only Grimwalker in existence.
Belos could be a partial Grimwalker. From “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” it seems Philip (who is Belos) is the creator of the Grimwalker recipe. In the past, it seems he was beginning to experiment with creating Grimwalkers (this includes resurrecting Basilisks to study their ability to drain magic). “Eclipse Lake” shows a book with ingredients to create Grimwalkers, meaning Belos/Philip were able to perfect the cloning process. At first, I thought Belos would be a full Grimwalker of Philip. Philip is human and extending his life either requires a special elixir or transferring his soul/mind into a Grimwalker. That theory seems to be debunked after “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” showed Philip’s body becoming unstable from engraving multiple Glyphs on his arm and absorbing palisman essence/magic (that seems to make the scar from Lilith’s punch grow and change color). However, there is a possibility Belos is a partial Grimwalker. His body may have changed because of the curse (height, pointy ears, and turning into a mud monster, which probably got worse from the scar). But there was a detail in “Agony of a Witch” that caught my eye: the stone heart in Belos’s throne room. Many thought this was the Titan’s heart/bile sac. However, when Belos was angered, the heart started to beat fast as if it was his own. We also saw in the book the ingredient for a heart is Galderstones and the season one poem stated “two hearts of stone”. Although Belos acquired power from Glyph magic and technology, it is very unstable and is already putting a tremendous amount of strain on his body. It also seems he never leaves the castle throughout the series. To keep his body more stable outside of draining palisman and possibly keeping drained magic, Belos created a giant Grimwalker heart to either sustain his unstable/aging body and/or storing drained magic. This makes Belos/Philip a partial Grimwalker and the giant stone heart may be a part of his body. The heart could even be a part of Day of Unity.
Hunter is a Grimwalker of Philip’s brother. The Grimwalker image from “Eclipse Lake” resembles Hunter, especially the red eyes and hook nose. We also have the statues of Philip and his brother in “Yesterday’s Lie” and a doodle image of the two brothers in “Elsewhere and Elsewhen”, all resembling Hunter. We also learned he is Belos’s “nephew” from “Hunting Palisman” but that may be false since Hunter’s past is unknown and Belos is known to fabricate stories to fit his narrative. With loads of evidence, it is highly possible Hunter is a Grimwalker of Philip’s brother.
Why would Belos create a Grimwalker of his brother? Philip never mentioned anything about his brother in the journal and in “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” Philip was defensive when Luz asked who the other character was next to Philip in the journal. Either Belos has a grudge/difficult relationship with his brother or something happened that he wishes not to speak about. In “Hunting Palisman” Belos blamed wild magic for destroying his family and that may not be completely false. Something may have happened between his brother and himself that involved magic. Especially in “Yesterday’s Lie” when Jacob the museum curator said two brothers were tricked into the Demon Realm by a witch (possibly Philip and his brother). However, it is still unknown if Philip and his brother were in the Demon Realm together in the beginning (Eclipse Lake theory) or if his brother joined him after Philip’s journey on the Boiling Isles ("Yesterday's Lie" history). However, the two were together in the Boiling Isles, something did happen between the two brothers. Now to the question of Belos creating Hunter in the image of his brother. It is unknown if Philip has always been apathetic to sacrificial offering for gain. Quite disturbing to see someone sacrifice many without remorse. From the doodle in his journal, Philip looks sad/apathetic while his brother looks happy. There is a possibility he either sees himself lesser than his brother for some reason (Lilith and Eda sister relationship similarity) or is grieving of his brother and blames himself for it. He may have made Hunter a Grimwalker of his brother out of sentiment or a grudge. In “Young Blood, Old Souls” and “Elsewhere and Elsewhen”, Philip/Belos have no issue with sacrifice if it leads to succession of his plans. Depending on how he feels about his brother, Belos has no issues sacrificing his brother’s Grimwalker (Hunter), possibly a second time or for a greater purpose. All we know is Belos created a Grimwalker of his brother for his plan for Day of Unity and his reasoning is unknown for the time being.
Whatever Belos’s reasons are for cloning his brother, he does have a purpose for Hunter. That purpose is definitely related to Day of Unity as he stated the Titan has a big plan for Hunter in “Eclipse Lake”. That is already suspicious as Philip (“Elsewhere and Elsewhen”)/Belos (“Young Blood Old Souls”) will use sacrifices to attain his goal. There is a theory that Hunter is going to be sacrificed as a vessel and that theory is likely to happen. The question is a vessel for what/who? There are a few possibilities. 1) New body for Belos/Philip. Belos’s body is starting to become more unstable because of the Glyph curse. He has only been able to stabilize because of palisman but that is becoming scarce from overharvesting. So it would make sense for Belos to acquire a new body. But why use his brother? He could have made a Grimwalker of himself. But the issue is his curse. His curse could be easily spreadable to the Grimwalker and he needs a Grimwalker close to human DNA to become transferable. There could also be an inferiority complex and by using his brother’s Grimwalker, he gains more confidence in himself. However, this is all pure speculation on my part and Belos/Philip may not need a new body after Day of Unity. 2) Resurrecting his brother. This seems highly unlikely as Belos/Philip is very apathetic. However, he did state in “Hunting Palisman” how wild magic destroyed his family and that may be true. We also saw a small doodle of the two brothers in “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” meaning he could have felt guilt at what happened to his brother and wants to resurrect him. This is only if he feels remorse and this plan seems more intricate than simple resurrection (but the series has pulled the wool over our eyes before and it’s worth mentioning. 3) Possible vessel for the Titan. There have been multiple theories of Belos wanting to resurrect the Titan. It could be possible, but there are many holes. For Day of Unity, he only wants to transport the skull and uses his connection to the Titan as a ruse to gain favor of the citizens. Besides having a powerful monster on your side, there isn’t much the Titan can offer, especially if it’s been dead for a while. Honestly, this theory is less likely as there is no purpose in resurrecting a being long gone and Hunter’s body may not be able to house it. 3) Used as a vessel for the draining spell. After learning about this spell in “Them’s The Breaks, Kid”, its main function is to drain Coven witches of their magic and to draw it at the eclipse. This will probably activate the modified portal door to unite the realms. The spell will be drained from the Coven brands on witch’s wrists, transferred to the 9 heads, and use a single point towards the eclipse. However, if the portal door is moved, how will Belos harness that magic in a single point. That single point will be Hunter, since Belos had plans on using him for Day of Unity. With Hunter being a powerless witch, he would be able to absorb the magic. However, this will put tremendous strain on his body and definitely kill him. This could also coincide with Belos needing a new body and may have a plan to keep Hunter’s body intact. Basically a two birds with one stone scenario. Whichever is used, Hunter is doomed to be a vessel for Belos’s plan on Day of Unity.
Hunter is definitely a Grimwalker and Belos could possibly be a partial Grimwalker to keep himself alive. “Hollow Mind” is drawing near and with promos, clips, and photos, we will be exploring Belo’s past and intentions with Hunter and Luz. This will also include the mysterious purple kid, who is quite possibly young Philip. The kid is sporting a wooden Belos mask and in “Understanding Willow” there is always an inner self. This young Philip/Belos may help us understand his plan as well as tell us his true intentions for the Boiling Isles. Belos has created a false narrative and erased history to paint himself as the savior and rightful ruler to create the current magic system. In “Through the Looking Glass Ruins” Philip wanted to harness the Titan’s power just to create a portal door, but in “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” we learn it’s to put his plan to fruition. We also had a foreshadowing of “Hollow Mind” in “Yesterday’s Lie”. When meeting the trio of campers, the fortune teller said, “a past connection has left a mark on your soul and is asking you to shed your old ways and enter a metamorphosis! Becoming the spiritual leader you were meant to be.” This could possibly be Hunter starting to fully realize Belos’s plans and finally rethink his whole worldview/thoughts to save the Boiling Isles. This won’t be immediate as future titles are hinting that Day of Unity is still happening. Either way, Hunter will figure out he is a Grimwalker of Belos/Philip’s brother to be used as a vessel for Day of Unity and possibly find out about how Belos became Belos, possibly being a partial Grimwalker.