'Daredevil's Blacksmith Mystery Might Not Be Over

Can we all agree that there was a lot going on in Daredevil Season 2? Between Matt Murdock attempting to keep Frank Castle from killing people, then attempting to keep Elektra from killing people, and dealing with the return of Stick who brought an ancient war with him to Hell's Kitchen, the series was pulled in many different directions. One piece of the puzzle is the mystery of the Blacksmith and how he ties into Frank's backstory. So is Colonel Schoonover the Blacksmith on Daredevil, wrapping up this particular mystery in too nice of a bow for those of us who love a good conspiracy? Fair warning, spoilers for Daredevil Season 2 ahead!

Let's start with what we know for sure about the Blacksmith: He is a drug dealer operating in New York City. Because the Blacksmith was bringing massive quantities of drugs into the city, he became a target of the district attorney, who set up a sting in order to bring him in. But the sting went south and Frank's family was caught in the crosshairs, leaving him the sole survivor. When Season 2 begins, Frank is on his warpath of vengeance, leading him down a rabbit hole of violence in an effort to track down the Blacksmith and exact revenge.

Frank seemingly gets his revenge in the penultimate episode, "The Dark at the End of the Tunnel," when it's revealed Colonel Ray Schoonover, an old Marine friend of Frank's, is most likely the Blacksmith. He gives himself away entirely when Karen Page goes to his home to question the Colonel about his history with Frank, but she recognizes a man from the Colonel's photographs as a member of the Blacksmith's crew. As I'm sure Matt and Foggy would tell you, I don't think that would necessarily hold up in court, but then the Colonel takes Karen hostage and antagonizes Frank — pretty much proving himself to be the Blacksmith.

Although the Colonel never has a specific moment when he admits to being the Blacksmith, it seems like an open and shut case. He had a history with Frank and specifically manipulated the circumstances so that Frank and his family would be in the crosshairs on the day of the sting. Plus, in Marvel Comics, Ray Schoonover was Frank Castle's commanding officer who smuggled drugs while in the Marines. That's all the proof we need, really!

But, what if the Colonel's drug smuggling business extends even beyond what we've seen? After all, Frank did kill the Colonel before he could really say too much. Sure, maybe my love of conspiracies is running amok, but what if the title of the Blacksmith is like other mantles within comic book superhero lore and can be taken up by someone else? As Hydra has proven, you can cut off one head and two more will take its place.

Plus, what's with that mysterious CD Frank retrieved from his family's home before he burned it to the ground? Something tells me there's plenty more to this story and Daredevil hasn't finished unraveling it yet.

Images: Patrick Harbron/Netflix, Netflix (2)