The Gargoyle King Mystery on 'Riverdale' Is More Confusing Than Ever. Here Are Some Theories.
This post contains spoilers on all Riverdale episodes that have aired, including “Chapter Forty-Seven: Bizarrodale.”
Just like season two, season three of Riverdale is full of Bughead investigations (give these two a spinoff already) and a serial killer. Sort of. Instead of the Black Hood, the Fab Four and company are dealing with a creature called the Gargoyle King, a giant being with a bloody face, maybe a snout, horn-like structures, and branches sticking out of its back. It kind of looks like a walking tree, but scarier (because trees are kind of cute).
Betty and Jughead first encountered the Gargoyle King while looking for the bunker where Dilton Doiley and Ben Button played Gryphons & Gargoyles, the game that’s been more complicated to explain with each episode that’s aired. Dilton has since died from the game, while Ben is definitely, maybe dead after jumping out of a hospital window. Ethel Muggs has seen the Gargoyle King multiple times, first while recovering from a seizure at the hospital and also at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy.
In “Chapter Forty-Three: Outbreak,” it’s revealed that as far as the Sisters are concerned, the Gargoyle King is a figment of the patients’ imagination, something the asylum took advantage of. Per Sister Woodhouse, “the more disturbed” patients developed a fear for a gargoyle statue at the asylum years ago and created a game, aka Gryphons & Gargoyles. “We embraced it as a therapeutic tool and it worked because it embeds itself in the minds of the players. It makes them complacent, focuses them… It was never meant to leave these walls. It’s too powerful. A game born of madness.”
2019’s first episode of Riverdale following the winter break, “Chapter Forty-Four: No Exit,” might as well have been called “The Archie Show,” as KJ Apa gave viewers a bloody cliffhanger to talk about for one week (he is fine). But those following the Gargoyle storyline were left with close to nothing, as the so-called killer of season three was an afterthought.
Since then, both Tall Boy (R.I.P. for real) and Moose’s dad have pretended to be the Gargoyle King, each for his own terrible reasons (selling drugs and scaring his gay son, respectively). As FP says in “Chapter Forty-Seven: Bizarrodale”: “We keep taking down Gargoyle Kings and they keep popping up again. It’s like playing Whac-A-Mole.”
Below, some Gargoyle King suspects for your consideration as FP and company anticipate the next mole to “whac.”
1. Hermione
This is not insinuating that Hermione is the Gargoyle King, but there’s a good chance she hired someone (or a network of people) between seasons two and three to stir shit up. Now that she’s mayor, she’s got more on the line. And the timing of Warden Norton’s death (in “Chapter Forty: The Great Escape”) couldn’t have been more perfect: just before he drinks the cyanide concoction, he’s informed that the Mayor Lodge is here to see him.
As Betty says to the parents after tricking them to meet at Veronica’s speaks in “Chapter Forty-One: Manhunter,” the murderer they’re after is “someone in this room.” Hermione is the one who sways Hiram to stay and is the first to blame Penelope when discussing the origins of the poison. “My guess is maybe she brewed the poison in the greenhouse,” Hermione says, before Penelope points out you can’t grow cyanide. “A fact that only a Blossom would know,” Hermione says, sounding more like a soap opera than a primetime CW drama.
Some of this shady behavior was explained in “Chapter Forty-Six: The Red Dahlia” when it was revealed that Hermione was having an affair with Sheriff Minetta (yup, not dead as alleged earlier this season). For those who never liked Minetta-don’t worry, Hermione shoots him before the episode wraps, which is a solid reminder of what she’s capable of.
2. Sheriff Keller
Keller was also a suspect for the Black Hood (#TBT to all the close readings of his eye color!) so it’s only natural that he’s coming up again. For starters, he refuses to talk about Gryphons & Gargoyles, lying when Kevin and Josie ask him about it. “I mean, I knew some kids who played it but I wasn’t really into that stuff,” he says, adding that he was just in RROTC and the boxing team.
When Betty grills Keller at Pop’s about how Dilton Doiley’s father Daryl died (by oleander poisoning) in “Manhunter,” he’s quick to join Hermione in pointing the finger at Penelope. “The truth is, it could’ve been any member of The Midnight Club. But only one of us grows oleander in the greenhouse. I saw it when I was investigating Jason Blossom’s murder.”
Of course, his attitude about G&G changes in “Bizzarodale” when Moose’s dad, posing as the Gargoyle King, tricks Keller (and Josie’s mom) into meeting members of the Midnight Club at school to finish the game. Interesting... when under pressure/when his loved ones are in danger and the Gargoyle King is involved, Keller will literally drop everything and follow the rules of the game, whatever it may be.
3. Penelope
At this point, it seems too easy for Hermione and Keller to be right about Penelope being the Gargoyle King/murderer, even if she was one of the original two game masters when they played G&G as teens in The Midnight Club. As she later tells Betty, “Even if I wanted to poison Daryl Doiley, I wouldn’t leave traces,” before reminding her that it was Alice Cooper who wrote the original article reporting Daryl’s so-called suicide.
Still, there’s no obvious explanation for why she fainted (or fake fainted) when Cheryl and Veronica raided the parents meeting at school in “Outbreak.” Why did she give Hermione a look before the fall? Could her brothel (appropriately called “The Maple Club”) be a cover-up for something more dangerous, something orchestrated by the real Gargoyle King?
New theory: We now know from “Bizarrodale” that Moose’s dad was sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy after his family found out he was gay. He claims that it was at the Sisters where he “first met the King” and played G&G. Penelope, who also spent time with the Sisters as an orphan before being adopted by the Blossoms, was the one who screamed at Riverdale High when all the other members of the Midnight Club were searching for the chalices to finish G&G/Ascension night. Were they working together or, at the very least, did they team up so he could teach Moose a lesson? (Reminder: Penelope’s not a big fan of Cheryl’s relationship with Toni, either.)
4. Hiram
In “Outbreak,” during his praise of what Veronica did to uncover all his secret plans, he’s asked what he wants out of all of this. “Whatever the king wants: a kingdom,” he says. “And a legacy.” In the episode’s final moments, the Gargoyle King appears before Hiram as Riverdale is under government-ordered lockdown for the fizzle rocks breakout. (We now know that this image was likely Tall Boy in a costume.)
This is all a stark contrast to Hiram’s comments in previous episodes, where he called Jughead a “16-year-old nerd” who plays games (G&G) to live out “overactive hormonal fantasies” when Juggie accused him of being the Gargoyle King.
Even if Hiram isn’t the king, he’s definitely its most devout follower who’s simply using the chaos and obsession to his own advantage.
5. Edgar Evernever
It seems too easy to make someone who has yet to appear on the show the Gargoyle King, but it’s still possible. Edgar is, of course, the much-talked about leader of The Farm, the cult-like organization Polly gets Alice to join. So far, the only details we know about Edgar is that he has one daughter (Evelyn), and it’s so hard to meet him IRL you have a better chance at winning the Hamilton lottery on Broadway. (Seriously, Betty missed him by thismuch when he allegedly arrived at the Cooper house to take away all the Sisters of the Quiet Mercy kids back to The Farm. What gives?!)
6. FP Jones
Based on the Scream tribute in “Manhunter” alone, FP is a likely candidate for the Gargoyle King. There’s no logical explanation for this, but who else got chills when he magically showed up in Betty’s room the second the Gargoyle King was downstairs and someone was pounding on the door? (Again, we now know this was Tall Boy as the Gargoyle King, not FP. So do not get any ideas.)
In “Outbreak,” FP heads to Toledo to bring Jughead home, only to be rejected by state police during Riverdale’s first night of quarantine issued by the governor (and Hiram and Hermione) in response to the fizzle rocks (but actually, mysterious, shady stuff related to the Lodges). Unless Toledo is a quick hop and skip away from Riverdale (and FP was able to scare Hiram and go to Toledo in mere minutes), it’s unlikely FP is the Gargoyle King.
7. Jason Blossom
Like the other parents, young Clifford in the flashback episode was played by the Riverdale teen equivalent: Jason Blossom (actor Trevor Stines). His brief return to the show does make one wonder if he’ll have more scenes on season three and, if we’re lucky, a legitimate storyline.
Entertain this: what if Jason died and became the modern-day version of the Gargoyle King? What if he haunted Dilton and Ben towards the end of summer, lured them to drink cyanide, and has been working behind the scenes to seek revenge on the town that’s obviously moved on from his murder?
8. It’s someone from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
One can dream. The mini crossover Ben Button made from Riverdale to Greendale has only left fans wanting more. One possible suspect from Greendale: a minion belonging to the Dark Lord/Satan. But then again, why would Satan bother with another town when he’s got so much on his plate with Sabrina?
9. Chic (but really, not Chic)
The last time we saw fake Chic, he was running from the Black Hood after Betty gave her fake brother up at the cemetery. Like most of the suspects on this list, Chic doesn’t necessarily fit the build of the Gargoyle King, but maybe there are stilts involved? Either way, Chic’s story never felt finished, so here’s hoping he makes a return of some sort.
10. Reggie’s dad
As we know from the flashback episode, Reggie’s dad definitely played G&G with Alice, Fred, and company. When Reggie asks his dad about it, he receives a black eye instead. Mr. Mantle finally makes his Riverdale debut in “Manhunter,” but only to deliver what Betty calls “another lie” – denying that he hits his son on top of all the lies he’s already told about G&G.
He returns again in “Bizarrodale” to finish G&G (which we now know was a set up by Moose’s dad). Still, the episode revealed more details about the Mantle family business, the car dealership, and the strained relationship Reggie has with his dad. It’s still not enough to explain why Mr. Mantle would wreak such havoc on the town as the Gargoyle King though…
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