>>15108921The big issue is that the original story from Bray's return was a convoluted mess that meandered for too long and never got finished.
From what I surmise: Howdy is something from Bray's childhood. A sort of nightmare that haunted him. After Bray sent the Fiend away he was "better" and wanted to be better. Howdy emerged and said Bray can't escape who he is, and that he'll never scape [his] Uncle Howdy.
Howdy would attack Knight during the Bray feud. It's likely this was actually Bray embracing his dark urges. To pull the wool over Knight, Bray had someone else adopt the Howdy persona to cover for him. If you interpret the lyrics to Shatter literally, the "lie for me brother" line stands out and supports the idea Bo was under the Howdy guise in kayfabe.
Bray embraced the darkness again, and was going to conquer WWE alongside Howdy. Wrheer this was "supposed" to be Bo or the "real" Howdy isn't clear.
Bray dies, and now the lingering presence of Howdy has attached itself to Bo. Bo wants to carry his brother's legacy, and to do so he has to embrace his "role" in playing Howdy. Whatever the "spirit" Howdy is has changed for as well to more closely resemble Bray. Bo lost his family and found a new one, and together with Howdy wants to punish people who betrayed theirs.
The nature of Howdy is really confusing because Bray didn't finish the story and it seemed to change a lot. Howdy at times seems to be a real person, an alternate persona (like the Fiend), or some type of malevolent spirit.
