Riverdale Season 3: 9 Theories On The Gargoyle King's True Identity

Riverdale sure loves a good mystery.

The show's first season heavily revolved around the murder of Jason Blossom and the investigation that followed, forcing all of the town's residents (and the show's viewers) to wonder just who was responsible for the heinous crime. Similarly, Season 2 saw the town subjected to a horrendous murder spree that gripped viewers as Jughead, Betty, Archie and Veronica all attempted to figure out one thing - the identity of the Black Hood.

Season 3, however, has posed a different kind of mystery, and it all has to do with the mysterious Gargoyle King. While the question of identity is once again at the front of our minds, we're less inclined to wonder who the Gargoyle King is and more what he is.

That said, as much as it seems like the supernatural has come to Riverdale, the writers love to pull the rug out from under us with a major twist, and it usually involves a clue that was right under our noses the entire time. With two impostor Gargoyle Kings having already been unmasked, it's time for real answers.

Tall Boy was one character that it just seemed like the Riverdale writers never really knew what to do with. He first showed up as senior member of the Southside Serpents, all of whom had Jughead's back when his father was prison - a role he played just fine. Then, in Season 2, he randomly became insubordinate before he was "killed off" off-screen in one of the most disappointing "shock deaths" in recent memory (when it was revealed that he was the second Black Hood).

However, it was all a rouse on Hiram Lodge's part as Tall Boy would later return as (wait for it) the Gargoyle King himself! Well, actually a stand-in Gargoyle King that Hiram hired because, well, it's all very confusing really. In a bizarre twist, he was then killed off-screen again when the Serpents accidentally shot him during a struggle - except this time, we saw his body.

It was admittedly a little underwhelming to see the writers recycle the exact same narrative with Tall Boy, by having him become a [insert villain name here] impostor only to terminate him off-screen again. It was an unnecessary and frustrating plot thread that didn't need to happen once let alone twice. However, could this simply be a clever ploy to divert our attention elsewhere?

There is a possibility that the writers have been attempting to hide the truth in plain sight and that Tallboy has actually been the King this whole time.

He was always angry about something so he's certainly got the motivation, but at this point, another Tallboy twist would be little more than another disappointment.