Im sorry that my first post is about such nasty aspect of the story, but theon became one of my favorite characters, and his narrative in the fifth book, the whole physical and mental torture, the obliteration of his identity until he begins to really reflect over his life and what he has done, it always intrigued and horrified me. He actively wishes theon was dead so he can declare his daughter, asha. Game of thrones goes off book and enrages its female fans. Theon greyjoy is the only living son, and heir apparent of balon greyjoy. Welcome to the unofficial gathering of meta as to why book.
His hair gray, he is thin and malnourished, and he has lost several fingers, toes, and teeth. Greyjoy blood runs through his veins, but he was raised on. Balon greyjoy and his daughter yara asha in the books receive a parcel, a special gift, and a mysterious letter, sealed by what looks like piece of skin and house boltons flayed man sigil. After his capture by the boltons, he has been extensively tortured by ramsay snow into adopting a second personality called reek, serving as the igor to ramsay. Ramsay snow is the bastard son of roose bolton, lord of the dreadfort and head of house bolton, and is known as the bastard of bolton and the bastard of the dreadfort. The reaction of his haters has been interestingly polarized.
Feb 11, 2016 its a story rich with political intrigue and dark fantasy, but at its heart its a story about people. In game of thrones, theon greyjoy is tortured, sexually and otherwise, by ramsay bolton, so that he assumes a new identity and a new name. For those not familiar with the books, the character of theon greyjoy is captured and tortured, badly, by ramsay snow later ramsay bolton. Because of his torture and emasculation by ramsay, theon is now mentally. Valar morghulis, valar dohaeris theon rescuer plottwist my father died in. Game of thrones, game of thrones 3x06 the climb, game of thrones ramsay snow iwan rheon theon greyjoy alfie allen i betrayed robb. And today id like to talk about probably the single most misunderstood and frankly, human character in the entire series. Prince theon greyjoy was the youngest son of king balon greyjoy of the iron islands and the. In last nights episode of game of thrones, we witnessed the first battle scene of season 7 when euron.
Although the detention and torture starts in the previous books, it is in a dance with dragons that it takes on a completely new meaning and effect. Before the events of the books his father leads a rebellion against the throne and declares the iron islands independence. Game of thrones fans roast theon with hilarious memes after. A controversial characters that many hated in acok, theon became sympathetic to many readers in adwd. In the book, when i found out what happened to theon who is tortured off page i cheered.
Being theon greyjoy, or why this dick in a box matters. The book is able to show how he goes from theon to reek but it would be too much of a shift for tv as we arent in his head. The rebellion is quickly quelled by king robert and lord stark, and theon s older brothers are killed in the process. Following the sack of winterfell, ramsay and his men take theon to the dreadfort, where the ironborn prince is subjected to gruesome tortures. How bad was theon tortured in the books as compared to the show. Theon greyjoy is a member of house greyjoy and is the sole surviving son and heir apparent of balon greyjoy, lord of the iron islands. Though theon does not appear as a pov character, catelyn stark receives a piece of theons skin from roose bolton and learns that he is being flayed by ramsay bolton. Hes had flesh, teeth, and small limbs removed and is implied to have been castrated to some extent by ramsay. Game of thrones star honors the surprising death of his character.
Ramsay bolton, the man torturing theon greyjoy is the son of roose of house bolton, lord of the dreadfort, banner man of the starks. Theon greyjoy and the messy road to redemption watchers on. Was the only thing holding lord greyjoy back the fact that theon was a hostage. Embarking on a twisted campaign of psychological manipulation, ramsay poses as an ironborn emissary of theon s sister, yara, and falsely claims to have been sent by her to liberate him. Theon greyjoy is the heir apparent and only living son of balon greyjoy. If what theon wanted was for someone to pay attention and treat him as a greyjoy, then his wish has been granted tenfold, for he is tortured because of his ironborn name. Game of thrones goes offbook and enrages its female fans. Theon greyjoy and the messy road to redemption watchers. How game of thrones managed to avoid double standards the following is an article written and submitted by dcmarvelgirl 1997, who is a friend of mine and a talented young writer. How long does the torturing of theon greyjoy storyline. S03e04 theon greyjoy, meet ramsay snow, the bastard of bolton. Imo, theon s arc is one of the best in asoiaf, but ill get into that a little more in the comments. Everyone is roasting theon greyjoy for his shocking game of.
His eldest siblings are rodrik, maron, and asha named yara in the tv series. In the television adaptation game of thrones he is portrayed by iwan rheon ramsay has a group of menatarms who stand high in his favor and follow him loyally, although their true allegiance lies with lord roose. It pisses me off, im sure it pisses everyone else off except of course this moral degenerate belphegor who thinks its a good idea. Theon greyjoy alfie allen may be one of the most tragic characters on game of thrones. An archive of our own, a project of the organization for transformative works. Book of the stranger theon pledges his support to yara. Theon greyjoy jack fishers official publishing blog. May 16, 20 theon greyjoy takes winterfell, asha comes and tells him to sack the city and take all the loot he can and return to the iron islands what he really should have done in retrospect. He comes out of no where and i havent read the books. Alfie allen theon reek torture ptsd scenes ramsey prep. Also in this page spoilers are allowed and encouraged. Exxtra history theon the clever greyjoy greyjoy alla. This is dedicated to stannis mormont, go check out his channel.
Theon has nothing to do until much much later, so its a way to keep him on screen. Game of thrones s03e10 roose bolton and walder frey talks, ramsay bolton officially revealed duration. Theon is the youngest son of balon greyjoy and the heir to the iron islands. Game of thrones s03e04 theon greyjoy, meet ramsay snow. Jun 07, 2015 and, while the results are basically the same, the way in which the viewerreader gets there is probably the biggest disparity in ramsays awfulness from book to screen. Jul 25, 2017 this weeks episode of game of thrones was not terribly good, but one issue stood out in particular. Theon was tortured by boltons bastard, ramsay snow, and turned into the wretched servant reek. Things you never knew about theon and reek screenrant. He cant contend for the throne, but as a blist character, he wreaks a fair amount of havoc in the war of the five kings by betraying the central stark family when they allow him some power. He is shown in adwd catching and promptly devouring a live rat when the jailer suddenly comes in and his. At the end of the season, theon is betrayed by his own ironborn soldiers and given over to ramsay bolton as a prisoner offscreen. In a series of events, euron greyjoy attacks their ship in the dead of the night. This scene is from game of thrones season 3, episode four. Sansa and theons history on game of thrones popsugar.
Soon enough, house bolton took control of winterfell, leaving theon to be tortured into servitude by ramsay snow, the cruelhearted bastard of roose bolton. Dec 03, 20 this weeks character discussion will be on theon greyjoy. Ten years before the events of the series, theon was taken hostage by eddard stark. Ramsay watches theon s torture while disguised as a servant boy.
Theon is the narrator for a total of thirteen chapters in the second and fifth novels, a clash of kings and a dance with dragons. Theon proved himself to be an incredibly ruthless and almost monstrous man in his subjugation of winterfell, but suffered greatly for his arrogance and winterfell was taken from him however, after later events in the books, specifically his torture at the hands of ramsay bolton, he becomes subdued and hopeless. Theon greyjoy is described as being an arrogant nineteenyearold at the start of a game of thrones, with black hair and a cocky grin. As written in a song of ice and fire, theon grejoy is one of the most interesting. Theon greyjoy, the prince of winterfell, book two version season two of game of thrones, and book two a clash of kings are pretty close in regards to theon s storyline. He is the younger brother of rodrik, maron, and asha greyjoy.
Theon greyjoy is played by alfie allen in the television adaptation of the series of books. Theon didnt commit this particular crime in the books either, as he did. Something about seeing what actually happens puts a different more humane view into my head not only that, but i. At the dreadfort, theon greyjoy has been chained up in a dungeon after being knocked out before the sack of winterfell. Martin, and its television adaptation game of thrones. This was forfeited when their uncle euron, won the seastone chair in the kingsmoot. Following his fathers failed rebellion against the iron throne, theon was taken as a ward initially hostage to lord eddard stark. After eddards execution, theon initially pledged his loyalty to robb stark, in the subsequent war of the five kings. I finally managed to get around to reading a dance with dragons, the fifth book in the game of thrones series. Mar 18, 2020 exxtra history theon the clever greyjoy greyjoy alla breve fic. The treatment in the show was mild and gentle compared to the levels of psychological and physical torture theon is subjected to in the books.
He is the thirdperson narrator for thirteen chapters throughout a clash of kings and a dance with dragons. Game of thrones why is theon greyjoy being tortured by the. Sep 06, 20 theon s torturing scene from game of thrones. Book theon will likely never hold a bow again due to his severed fingers and toes. Prince theon greyjoy is the fourth and youngest child of lord balon greyjoy, ruler of the iron islands, and his wife lady alannys. Men come in, some wearing ironborn clothing, and interrogate him. Jons speech to theon on game of thrones popsugar entertainment.
He had the miller hanged and violently raped his wife under the tree where the miller was hung. Theon was the heir to the iron islands, though his father favored asha, theon s older sister. What on earth is game of thrones doing to theon greyjoy. Theon expects to recruit his father to robb starks cause, but instead finds balon greyjoy not willing to take anything offered by the hated stark family, and instead will. He began the series by being a selfabsorbed, highly insecure ward of the starks. He is the sole surviving son of balon greyjoy, lord later king of the iron islands. Book spoilers about the depiction of theons torture on the. On the show, the creators decided that alfie allens performance was too good to keep him off the show for a year.
He is the only surviving son of lord balon greyjoy and lady alannys harlaw. Jan 18, 2017 i finally managed to get around to reading a dance with dragons, the fifth book in the game of thrones series. Before sansa becomes ramsays bride, the bolton bastard has already made theon a eunuch and put him through. Ive seen a lot of good, wellsupported meta in favor of the theory that this poor guy had his penis flayed and amputated, so consider this the opposition. Im not sure how good this video is but the idea came from him. Luwin, the maester of winterfell at the time, had nothing but praise for young theon, remarking that within six months there was nothing left to teach the boy and come another sixth months it was no longer luwin teaching theon, but it was luwin who was learning from theon furiously scribbling away the young protege.
Theon greyjoy, on the show, is an heir to the hardscrabble, piratical, profoundly macho nobles of the iron islands. For me, and i believe for a considerable amount of people, one of the most disturbing aspects when reading about the torture of theon greyjoy. Forced to give his son up as a hostage to the starks after the greyjoy rebellion, hes left resenting theon deeply in the books despite theon bearing no responsibility for this consequence. Ramsay warns balon to withdraw his troops from the north or else more boxes will follow with more theon. Post torture theon in the show has a few too many teeth and fingers, but thats understandable given how long it would take to recreate all of the injuries the character sustains in the books. Apr 21, 20 this scene is from game of thrones season 3, episode four. Theonreek is tortured, and the resilient sansa will endure whatever it takes to survive. But lately i dont understand why is theon held captive and tortured ive read the books resumes on the internet so i understand in big lines the story. Those of you that have sailed under her, and there are many of you here, you know what she is. Theon greyjoy is tortured to such a degree, that he takes on a completely new persona, the character of reek. Although the two grow up considering each other brothers, theon greatly. At the end of greyjoy s rebellion, theon was taken to winterfell as a hostage and ward to lord eddard stark. Balon greyjoy is murdered by his younger brother, euron greyjoy. I watch the game of thrones show on hbo and i enjoy it very much.
Ramsay captured theon under the orders of robb stark and his father for invading winterfell. Apr 26, 2019 tearful reunions abound in game of thrones season 8, but perhaps one of the most surprising has been that of the nowintimidating, sansa stark sophie turner and the oncemeek reek, the. Game of thrones theon greyjoy characters tv tropes. Theon, the castrated viking history behind game of thrones. Could someone tell me why is it that ramsay bolton has theon greyjoy held captive and tortured. Apr 12, 2019 as theon got older, and the game of thrones became more complicated, theon struggled with his identity and with where his loyalties lay. He is reportedly never far from his master, and is almost as renowned for his cruelty as ramsay is, and appears to practice necrophilia. During the imprisonment, ramsay severely tortured theon physically and psychologically before emasculating him and mockingly. Theon executes two small farm boys in the north, passing them off as bran and rickon stark. After taking the salt throne, euron launched an open attack against his niece and nephew, theon and yara. Years ago, roose discovered that a miller had wed without his permission. Aug 31, 2017 to say that jon snow and theon greyjoy have a complicated relationship on game of thrones would be an understatement. Slowly returning to his former self, theon returns to the iron islands, where he learns of his fathers death at the hands of his uncle, euron greyjoy, who is later elected king of the iron islands via kingsmoot. How bad was theon tortured in the books as compared to the.
However, this line of reasoning betrays a limited understanding of what a true redemptive arc could and, id argue, should be. After his deal at winterfell he just disappeared for 2 books then showed up again in book 5 where we heard that he had been tortured. In retaliation, theon flees with yara to seek out an alliance with daenerys targaryen in meereen. Theon greyjoy is a member of house greyjoy and is the sole surviving son and heir apparent of balon. And right now theon is one of the most hated characters in the show, second only to joffs. Its implied fairly strongly in the books that ramsay has cut off theons, uh, little ironborn. In the books, theons torture happens off the page, which likely saved us from some of the more brutal aspects of his transformation into reek.
He actually wasnt shown being tortured in the books. He just keeps torturing him and giving hints on who he is. Jun 11, 20 for the shows sake, its just stupid to show people being tortured. This scene is from season 2 episode 10, valar morghulisfinale of game of thrones. Lord ramsay bolton, born ramsay snow, was the legitimized bastard son of roose bolton, lord of the dreadfort, and the unidentified wife of a miller. Theon has been tortured repeatedly by ramsay snow, who has since been legitimized by king. The show doesnt use flashbacks or internal narration. Later they use a foot press to torture him, slowly turning a screw into his foot until it is bleeding freely. In season three, theon is brutally tortured by the psychopath ramsay bolton at this time ramsay snow. Show theon, once he manages to shake some of the stress, is capable of decently holding his own in a scrap. In adwd, theon remembers the tortures visited on him and we get disturbed, in addition to the awfulness his present state. Theon greyjoy how game of thrones characters look in the. What the hell is game of thrones doing with theon greyjoy s arc.
Character analysis theon greyjoy tea, books and critical. Theon is the youngest son and presumptive heir of balon greyjoy, taken as a ward by lord eddard stark following balons failed rebellion. Apr 24, 2019 during his time with ramsay, the greyjoy heir is beaten, tortured, and degraded. Ramsay boltontheon greyjoyreek works archive of our own. Theon greyjoy is a fictional character in the a song of ice and fire series of fantasy novels by american author george r. Oct 04, 2017 if theons redemption did, indeed, hinge on stark forgiveness, then, yes, theons mission to rescue his greyjoy sister would be an extraneous subplot.
When he asks what they want, the master torturer simply says this and starts prying his fingernail off with a knife. This story contains spoilers for game of thrones season 7, episode 2, stormborn. Psychological torture most notably, ramsay intentionally allowed theon and a woman named kyra to escape, only so he could hunt them down and drag them back to the castle. Theon greyjoy is a major character in the book series a song of ice and fire and its television series adaptation game of thrones. He is initially arrogant, cocky, and proud, but becomes more fragile after being tortured by ramsay snow. Theon greyjoy is a fictional character in the a song of ice and fire series of fantasy novels by. After he is tortured by the despicable ramsay bolton, theon becomes thin and his hair turns white from the trauma. Theon reek is tortured, and the resilient sansa will endure whatever it takes to survive. Since theon started out on this hunt with robb and bran to test the young starks new harness that would let the cripple boy ride a horse, theon had been trying to figure out what was different about robb, and he finally had. On the night of the wedding, reek, once again assuming his previous identity as theon greyjoy, arrives to escort sansa to ramsay, though sansa, still angry with him, refuses to allow theon to hold her arm, even when theon claims ramsay will punish him. Game of thrones ramsay snow torturing theon greyjoy. What the hell is game of thrones doing with theon greyjoys arc.
By the end, he makes theon forget his own name, crafts an entirely new identity, and breaks the smiling prince into a writhing creature terrified of. During this time, theon was castrated and given the pet name reek. Book spoilers about the depiction of theons torture on. Ramsay bolton takes the garrison of the dreadfort and theon goes out to fight them with his men and gets taken off the field. Obviously from season 3, theon just wants to have his real family back. Apr 29, 2019 theon paid for his betrayal when lord bolton retook winterfell on behalf of cersei lannister. Prince theon greyjoy was the youngest son of king balon greyjoy of the iron islands and the younger brother of rodrik, maron, and yara greyjoy. Prince theon greyjoy is a major character in the a song of ice and fire and its tv adaptation game of thrones. The eldest son of balon greyjoy lingered his shrewd eyes on robb. Most notably, ramsay intentionally allowed theon and a woman named kyra to escape, only so he could hunt them down and drag them back to the castle.