SPOILER - Lets call him Peter Paddington for now...

because whats in a name anyway?

So the big reveal is that the bones are the remains of the real Raymond Reddington. A so called shocker that has actually upset lots of fans thus far, judging by comments on post finale articles.

Personally, I am neither all that surprised or bothered by this news. He is still the same character we've known for the past five years and they even flashed back to moments from the first 2 seasons where characters such as Naomi, Sam and Diane all actually knew he wasn't the real RR. Diane even implied the switcharoo dates back to the night of the fire.

So here is my theory, and its probably the most innocuous and least offensive one to fans who are put off by this revelation...My theory is that Peter Paddington assumed Raymond Reddingtons identity prior to the night of the fire, or on the night of the fire.

The 'Red' we Know is just what he seems to be, just not WHO he says he is. I think Raymond Reddington was a real Naval intelligence officer, and the father of Jennifer and LIKELY Masha/Liz.. but he didn't have ANY intent to be a criminal. He was the man Liz shot in her memory while Paddington was some unknown man (possibly a Russian agent/Katarina's handler/cabal member) who was being threatening to her mother for some reason. Likely because he was in love with her himself, maybe he was a sibling.

When Reddington died, Paddington stole his identity and felt protective of the two girls he orphaned...but ALL of Red's 'personal color', his anecdotes, his life and history as a criminal... all comes from AFTER he stole the Reddington name.

I think THIS^or something that tracks closely to it is the likeliest scenario. It also proves that Red did indeed never lie to Liz. When she said, 'you're my father' last season, he never replied. In season 1 when she asked him point blank, 'are you my father?', he said 'no.' When she said in season 2, 'I shot my father that night. I killed my father.' He says, 'yes.'

So I would say ultimately, its not much of a reveal. And it doesn't change much aside from Liz's perceived relationship to the character.