Reek's task is to masquerade as Theon Greyjoy. Outside of Moat Cailin , Ramsay goes over Reek's mission with him one last time: he is to enter Moat Cailin under the guise of Theon Greyjoy, prince of the Iron Islands, and attempt to negotiate with the ironborn garrison holding it in an attempt to convince them to surrender the fortress to the Boltons. Reek rides up to the fortress gate, and almost blows his cover when asked to identify himself, yet manages to regain his composure and convince the ironborn to let him to enter.
Reek enters the ruined fortress of Moat Cailin under the guise of his former self. Upon riding into Moat Cailin, Reek finds it in a state of death and decay, littered with corpses and the few remaining men ravaged by disease and exhaustion. He introduces himself as Prince Theon and truthfully informs the ironborn that he has been a prisoner of House Bolton and has been sent to Moat Cailin as their envoy. He reads the terms that House Bolton has laid out for the ironborn, promising them safe passage home if they peacefully surrender Moat Cailin.
However, Ralf Kenning , the garrison commander of the ironborn, decries Reek's words as those of a "whipped dog" and that he is no true ironborn, nearly causing Reek to become unnerved and drop his facade. However, Reek is saved when one of Kenning's own men suddenly buries an axe in his head and accepts Reek's terms of surrender.
However, the ironborn are promptly massacred and flayed by Ramsay and his men after they surrender. Ramsay reveals to Theon that he never intended to let the ironborn go, and congratulates him by patting him.
In the aftermath, Ramsay meets with his father and presents him with the Greyjoy banner that was flying over the fortress. In recognition, Roose presents Ramsay with a decree of legitimization , making him officially a member of House Bolton.
Delighted at the knowledge he will succeed his father as Warden of the North , Ramsay and Reek accompany Roose's army as it approaches the ruins of Winterfell, with Ramsay gleefully informing Reek that he's ready for a hot bath. Reek walks through the partially-repaired Winterfell and is clearly shaken when he sees freshly flayed corpses being hung on the castle walls, which reminds him of the burned corpses of Jack and Billy.
Later, while Ramsay and Roose Bolton discuss their delicate position as the new Wardens of the North , Reek serves them their food. When his childhood friend, Sansa Stark , arrives in Winterfell, Reek watches her arrival from a distance. Later, as Sansa explores the courtyard, Reek avoids her but appears to be struggling not to call out to her.
Later, while sleeping in the kennels, Reek is accosted by Sansa, who had been led there by Myranda. Reek shakes his head at her and tells her she shouldn't be there. Ramsay later confronts Reek about how Sansa approached him and chastises him for keeping it a secret from him.
Though he seems like he will punish Reek, he ultimately forgives him. He then suggests that Reek should walk Sansa down the altar at their coming wedding with the rest of her family allegedly dead, which visibly angers Sansa and discomforts Reek. 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.
Theon walks Sansa through the Godswood to the Heart tree and gives the bride away. After the wedding, Theon leads Sansa and Ramsay to their new chambers, but Ramsay orders Theon to remain with them to watch what is to come. Having personally been on the receiving end of Ramsay's brutality, Theon tries to look away, but Ramsay repeats the order, and Theon is forced to watch, which he does. Theon is visibly horrified as he watches Ramsay rape his childhood friend, making her cry, and silently cries himself.
Though Theon is still too weak to intervene, a brief flash of anger spreads across his face. A few days later, Reek brings Sansa her breakfast, closing the window when he notices her shivering in bed. When Sansa realizes Reek is there, she tries to talk to him and get him to help her.
Reek continues to deny that he is Theon, until Sansa accuses him of betraying her family, and reminds him that he is Theon Greyjoy, son and heir of Balon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, and that he can redeem himself by lighting a candle in the broken tower in order to signal Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne to come and rescue her. Though Reek takes the candle, he reluctantly informs Ramsay of Sansa's plan in order to spare her further pain should it fail, but it is implied during his conversation with Sansa that his original personality of Theon Greyjoy is slowly beginning to resurface.
When Reek next brings Sansa breakfast, she confronts him about why he revealed her plan to Ramsay, and he responds that it was to protect her, since he has found out there is no escape from Ramsay: as Theon Greyjoy, he tried numerous times, but Ramsay always found him and took away pieces of him until there was nothing left of Theon anymore, only Reek.
Sansa coldly expresses approval, adding that if she could do what Ramsay did to him all over again, she would. Reek shamefully owes to her that he deserved it as he did terrible things, specifically killing "those boys.
In light of this admission, Sansa's anger towards Reek cools, but when she presses him as to where they might have gone, calling him Theon again, he breaks down and runs out the room, crying, "Not Theon! When Sansa finally succeeds in breaking out of her room and lighting the candle in the tower, she is confronted by Reek and Myranda on the catwalks, with Myranda pointing a bow at her.
Reek begs Sansa not to resist, but Sansa welcomes her fate. However, when Myranda claims that she will spare Sansa and merely maim her, Reek remembers the role Myranda played in his castration.
Unwilling to let Sansa suffer the same fate, Reek grabs Myranda and pushes her off the catwalk to her death. Now Theon Greyjoy once again, he takes Sansa and they run when the Bolton cavalry arrives after defeating Stannis Baratheon at the Battle of Winterfell. With no other choice, and aware of what will come when Ramsay finds Myranda's body, Theon and Sansa jump from the parapet to the snow below.
Pursued by Ramsay's men and hounds, Theon and Sansa cross the river and take shelter, but their scent is picked up by the hounds. Theon urges Sansa to flee to her half-brother Jon Snow at Castle Black while he holds them off, but they see through his ruse and find Sansa.
Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne arrive to fight the Bolton soldiers, and Theon kills the last one, saving Podrick's life. He witnesses Brienne pledge her service to Sansa, which this time she accepts. As Brienne talks with Sansa, Theon overhears that she crossed paths with Arya, Sansa's sister, while gathering wood to help Podrick start a fire.
Theon is wary of the fire, since it may alert Ramsay or his men. Sansa and Brienne decide to head to Castle Black to get to Jon, who will protect them from Ramsay, and though Sansa promises to tell Jon the truth about Bran and Rickon, Theon believes that Jon will still kill him for betraying Robb, executing Rodrik Cassel, and slaughtering Jack and Billy.
Theon claims he does not want to be forgiven, even by joining the Night's Watch, and instead decides to return home, knowing that Sansa will be safer with Brienne and Podrick. Before his departure though, Sansa embraces Theon in gratitude for helping her escape Ramsay.
Theon arrives at the Iron Islands and receives a harsh reception from Yara, who is still angry with him for refusing to be rescued from the Dreadfort, saying good men were lost that night. Weeping, he apologizes several times, but she doesn't want to hear it.
She accuses him of trying to take advantage of their father's murder to become King of Pyke. Theon vehemently denies this, saying he had no idea Balon was dead until he arrived. She demands to know what he wants, and he says she deserves to be the ruler of Pyke and he will support her claim to the Salt Throne.
During the Kingsmoot , Theon stands before his fellow Ironborn when it is his turn to speak. Though he is visibly nervous, most likely because of his role in the surrender of Moat Cailin , he openly declares his support for Yara's claim to the Salt Throne; stating that she is a warrior, a reaver, and most importantly Ironborn. Choking back tears as he swallows what little pride he has left, Theon concludes, "This is our queen.
Yara then accuses Euron of murdering their father. To their surprise, Euron admits to murdering Balon but claims that he did it because he was leading them to defeat and apologizes for not doing it years ago.
Theon counters that would have been hard to do as Euron was off gallivanting on the high seas and having a grand old time, prompting his uncle to once again bring up his emasculation. Theon ignores his uncle's insult and reminds everyone that Euron had left, and meanwhile, Yara was leading Ironborn ships and men in battle. When Yara proposes building a massive fleet to conquer the mainland, Euron counters by offering to seal an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen in order to defeat the mainland lords.
The crowd then elects Euron to be their next king. While Euron is being baptized by Aeron, Theon, his sister, and their supporters flee to Essos on the best ships in the Iron Fleet , knowing that Euron will kill them in order to cement his claim.
Theon and Yara take the Iron Fleet to Volantis to hide and rest. While sheltering in Volantis, Theon and his sister visit a bar where the Ironborn are entertained by prostitutes. Theon is still traumatized by his ordeal with Ramsay and is also troubled by his guilt over his role in the deaths of the orphan boys. He also has little interest in the prostitutes and ale. Yara urges her brother to regain his self-confidence since she needs his help to travel to Slaver's Bay and secure an alliance with Daenerys.
Yara plans to return to the Iron Islands and seek revenge against Euron, but tells Theon that if he's irreparably broken, he should kill himself and be done with it - but if he wishes to journey with her to Meereen, she needs the real Theon Greyjoy. At that moment, Theon fiercely locks eyes with Yara, a gaze reminiscent of his former, ironborn self. Pleased that Theon's old personality is resurfacing, she kisses him on the forehead and proceeds to go bed the prostitute she was fondling earlier.
Tyrion reminds Theon of how he teased the dwarf about his height and sees this as unbecoming of a noble, which Theon acknowledges was long ago. When Tyrion informs Daenerys about Theon's alleged role in the deaths of Bran and Rickon Stark , Theon insists that he did not, but he did commit other crimes, which he has paid for. Theon explains to Daenerys that Euron murdered their father, usurped the Salt Throne and would have killed them too had they not fled.
He offers to provide Daenerys with a hundred ships in return for helping them eliminate Euron and recognizing the independence of the Iron Islands, on the basis that if Daenerys refuses them and accepts Euron's offer, Euron will kill her and rule the Seven Kingdoms himself, though Theon makes it clear that it is to support Yara's claim and not his, deeming himself unfit to rule, to Daenerys's surprise.
Daenerys agrees to their terms in return that the Ironborn cease raiding, pillaging, and raping the mainlanders. Yara is reluctant at first but assents to the agreement when Theon gives her a nod. On the voyage back to Sunspear , Ellaria drinks Ironborn liquor with Yara and Theon, which she compares unfavorably to Dornish wine. Ellaria asks Yara if she had ever been to Dorne, to which Yara responds that she has been there a few times.
Ellaria responds that there is a boy in every port in Dorne, which Yara responds, "A boy, a girl. Depends on the port. Yara tells Ellaria that Theon will serve as both her bodyguard and adviser.
Yara puts her feet up on the table. Ellaria bends over Yara and spreads her legs apart across the table.
Ellaria moves her hand up Yara's leg towards her crotch. Ellaria invites Theon to have a threesome with her and Yara, but Yara tells Ellaria to "Leave him be. While Yara and Ellaria began kissing, Yara's ship is struck. On the deck above, they discover that their fleet has been ambushed by Euron Greyjoy 's portion of the Iron Fleet, lead by the imposing Silence , which is significantly larger than the Black Wind , ramming into it and using a levy to board Yara's forces.
Despite fighting bravely and cutting down many of Euron's men, Theon watches helplessly as Euron takes Yara hostage, daring him to intervene. After witnessing the defeated soldiers being tortured and mutilated by Euron's men, Theon returns to his despondent state and jumps overboard.
Upon surfacing, Theon can only watch as Euron's flagship sails away, having decimated their entire armada, and sees the corpses of Obara and Nymeria Sand impaled and hanging from the ship's bowsprit. Theon is later rescued from the Narrow Sea by one of the few surviving ships loyal to Yara.
When their captain, Harrag , questions him about Yara's fate, Theon claims that he tried to save her. An unimpressed Harrag chides Theon, begrudgingly telling him he would be dead if that were true. Theon later returns to Dragonstone and is shocked to be met on the beach by none other than Jon Snow; the two have not seen each other since Jon left Winterfell for the Wall, over six years ago.
Theon hesitantly greets him and asks Jon if Sansa is all right; Jon angrily grabs him by the collar, saying that Theon saving Sansa from the Boltons is the only reason he won't kill him then and there for betraying House Stark in the first place. Theon informs Jon and Davos that Yara was taken captive by Euron and he needs Daenerys's help to get her back, only for Jon to tell him that she has left Dragonstone to carry out her own attack on the Lannister armies.
Theon accompanies Jon's group to the meeting with Queen Cersei, where Euron attempts to force him to swear fealty in order to save Yara. Theon refuses, openly admitting Euron's own dwarf jokes to Tyrion aren't very good.
Later, back at Dragonstone, Theon meets with Jon before he prepares to return to the North with Daenerys. As they reflect on their enmities, Theon admits he was conflicted between his birth family and the Starks, though Jon retorts that Ned was more of a father than Balon ever was. Jon assures Theon that he is both a Stark and a Greyjoy, encouraging him to rescue his sister from Euron. At the beach, Theon attempts to rally Yara's remaining supporters.
However, Harrag refuses, chiding Theon as a coward for abandoning Yara. Theon fights Harrag, though the captain gains the upper hand and almost beats Theon to death when he refuses to stop. Unaware of Theon's castration at the hands of Ramsay, Harrag fails to injure Theon by kneeing him in the groin and is beat into submission.
Finally earning the respect of the ironborn, Theon rallies them to rescue Yara, washing his bloodied face in the salt water before leaving. While Euron is distracted in the Red Keep , with Queen Cersei Lannister finally giving in to his lust following the departure of her brother and lover , Theon and his remaining ironborn sneak aboard the Silence.
After silently murdering members of Euron's crew, they find Yara inside the ship. He awkwardly unties her before she hauls herself to her feet, proceeding to headbutt him, knocking him to the ground, due to his earlier abandonment of her. However, she then drags him to his feet, and the two share a mutual look of respect. The two then make their escape, spanning their minimalist forces across Theon's three ships.
While Yara expresses her desire to reclaim the Iron Islands, Theon is somewhat forlorn, despite Yara's promise of refuge from the threat of White Walkers on the mainland. Theon states that he will follow his Queen, but Yara recognizes he wants to fight in the North. Having done his duty to House Greyjoy, she lets him go. Theon makes it to Winterfell , where he is greeted by both Daenerys and Sansa. After he explains to Daenerys that Yara has sailed with her men to retake the Iron Islands from Euron in the name of House Targaryen, he asks permission from Sansa to fight for the North, and they share a hug as they are reunited.
Theon later takes part in a meeting in preparation for the great battle to come, and announces that he will defend Bran Stark in the godswood , as reparation for having previously taken the castle from him. Theon is later seen sharing a hot drink with Sansa shortly before the army of the White Walkers arrives. In the Battle of Winterfell , Theon stands guard for Bran along with the Ironborn and several other soldiers. When the Wights attack, he fires several arrows with dragonglass arrowheads, but it does little to stop the onslaught.
When the Night King arrives with several other White Walkers to kill Bran, Bran calls Theon a good man and thanks him, having redeemed himself. Knowing that there is no escaping death at this point, Theon chooses to die with dignity.
He nods at the Night King, challenging him, the Night King steps forward and Theon charges at the him with a dragonglass spear. The Night King easily stops Theon and breaks his spear in half, then takes hold of the sharp end and stabs Theon through the stomach with it. Theon falls to the ground, and bleeds to death as the Night King makes his approach towards Bran. Theon's death was not in vain, however, as it bought just enough time for Arya Stark to arrive and kill the Night King, preventing Bran's death.
In the aftermath of the battle, Theon's body is retrieved and put on a funeral pyre. He is mourned by Sansa, who places a pin with the insignia of House Stark on his chest piece, as a sign of gratitude and recognition of what Theon did for Sansa and her family since they escaped from Ramsay. Theon's body is then burnt along with the thousand others who died in the battle against the dead. Before his capture by Ramsay Snow, Theon is shown to be arrogant, narcissistic and vain, but fundamentally not malicious.
For example, when he returned to the Iron Islands, he expected to receive a hero's welcome for being the only living heir of Balon Greyjoy. He was both baffled and offended that he did not receive such a welcome when he landed in Pyke. Also, in order to appear like a strong, accomplished young man, he would gloat over things in an almost ridiculous way - he gloated to Osha that he was the man who captured her, even though Robb Stark fought and captured her.
Beneath his confident exterior, however, Theon is insecure, weak, and unsure of himself. This stems particularly from his conflicted family allegiances. Even though he grew up alongside the Stark children - Robb Stark and Theon considered each other best friends - Theon never forgot that he was an outsider since he was not of their blood, and would be executed if his father tried to rebel again.
This outsider status weighed heavily on Theon, demonstrated when Ros and Tyrion Lannister mention it. This insecurity eventually leads him to question which is his true family: the Starks or the Greyjoys.
When Robb sends Theon to Pyke to convince his father Balon and sister Yara to help the Starks fight against the Lannisters, Balon and Yara are initially successful in using their family bond to sway Theon to their side to instead fight the Starks and not aid them against the Lannisters. Even though Theon agrees to go along with his father's plan, this still causes a great deal of conflict in Theon and he almost warns Robb of Balon's plan before deciding against it.
Theon tries to become a ruthless ironborn raider to gain his biological father's approval and find a true home but the conscience that he developed living with the Starks makes it difficult for him to live up to these expectations. When he seizes Winterfell, he promises Bran that no one will be harmed if Bran surrenders - which is something an honorable northerner would promise but no true ironborn would ever do - but minutes later, Theon shatters his promise by beheading Ser Rodrik Cassel when Cassel spits in his face, an unforgivable act among the ironborn.
The seizure of Winterfell shows that Theon has tactical skills, but also that, like his father, he is a total ignorant in strategy. He fails to consider what Yara explains him very bluntly: that Winterfell is surrounded by hostile forces and too far from the sea, thus the ironborn garrison cannot be reinforced and eventually will be destroyed. Yara urges Theon to leave Winterfell, but he foolishly insists to keep his "prize", refusing to understand how poor his position is.
Even throughout Theon's "rule" of Winterfell, he is shown to be in a constant battle with himself, implying he knows deep down that invading his childhood home for his father was far from the right thing to do. Maester Luwin even points out to Theon that all of this is just an act to live up to his father's expectations and that Theon himself must know that his betrayal at Winterfell is wrong.
Theon resignedly admits to Luwin that he is correct, but that he can't stop because he has already come too far to be forgiven, and refuses to join the Night's Watch, where all of his crimes would be forgiven, out of shame and partially out of fear that Jon Snow might kill him in retribution for allegedly murdering Bran and Rickon.
It is only after Theon becomes a prisoner of the Boltons and realizes that his father has no intention of rescuing him that he admits to himself and to Ramsay Snow that Ned Stark was his "real father" and laments Ned's execution in King's Landing. After being tortured by Ramsay Snow in the dungeons of the Dreadfort for over a year, Theon's original personality has been seemingly obliterated, and he is little more than a broken and half-insane prisoner.
Among various tortures, Ramsay cut off several of his fingers and toes, flayed off sections of his skin, and even had Myranda and Violet arouse Theon in order to castrate him.
Ramsay even mockingly renamed him "Reek", physically and psychologically coercing Theon into denying his identity as "Theon Greyjoy" and accepting "Reek" as his new name and identity. Ramsay also psychologically tortured him with fake escape attempts or promises of rescue, before recapturing him.
As a result, Reek thinks any possibility of escape or fighting back against Ramsay is simply another ruse. He lives in great fear of Ramsay, desperate to avoid angering him and is in such a state of traumatic shock that he is very withdrawn and submissive.
However, despite his previous actions, Reek appears to have retained a strong love and loyalty to the remaining Starks, demonstrated on several occasions: he is visibly shocked when Ramsay gloats about Robb's death, briefly holding a razor to Ramsay's neck and appearing on the verge of slitting his throat though he doesn't, because Roose and Locke are present ; he appears hesitant about telling them that Bran and Rickon may be sheltering at Castle Black with Jon Snow, knowing that it may lead to their deaths, but does so anyway to avoid angering Ramsay; he silently cries and briefly looks angry when Ramsay rapes Sansa, and does his best or what he thinks is the best to keep Sansa from angering Ramsay and suffering more at his hands, and even goes as far as to confess to Sansa that he deserved what he suffered under Ramsay and that he deserved to be Reek for what he did to the Stark family.
However, when pushed too far, Theon ultimately abandons his Reek persona and chooses his loyalty to the Starks over Ramsay, by killing Myranda and helping Sansa escape from Winterfell, though still believing himself unworthy of anyone's forgiveness for betraying the Starks, who were the only ones who ever treated him like family.
Despite this admission, Theon still expresses shock after learning of his father's death when he returns to the Iron Islands. Though his sister Yara is still angry with him for refusing to be rescued, they reconcile when Theon offers to support Yara's claim to the Salt Throne. While initially despondent, Theon regains some of his confidence during the Kingsmoot to select the next ruler of the Iron Islands. Giving a brief rousing speech, he manages to convince many of the gathered Ironborn to join him in supporting his sister's claim to the Salt Throne, his speaking skills demonstrating that the original Theon Greyjoy is starting to resurface, though he and Yara are outmaneuvered by Euron, who wins many over by offering to seal an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen.
After escaping Euron with his sister Yara, Theon slides back into his despondent state and is troubled by his role in the death of the orphan boys; believing that he should hang for his crimes. Yara counsels him to rediscover himself so that they can secure an alliance with Daenerys and retake the Iron Islands from their uncle Euron. While negotiating with Daenerys, Theon does not display reluctance for the ironborn to cease raping, pillaging and reaving, and nods at Yara to tell her to agree with Daenerys, demonstrating that despite his recovery, he is still greatly traumatized by his torture by Ramsay, and apparently wishes to lead a more peaceful life in order to prevent it from happening again.
By the time of the alliance between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, Theon has shown himself to have changed with one particular act: he fought Harrag over the next move of the surviving ironborn. This act shows: Theon, who once demanded the respect of the ironborn he had not earned when he first returned to Pyke, approaches the ironborn as an equal and attempts to rally them to rescue Yara; he was willing to admit publicly that he was a coward to flee from Euron, something he never would have done previously; furthermore, Theon will fight to the death over what he believes, instead of fleeing or submitting as he has in the past.
Even though Harrag was significantly stronger than him, he continued to fight, and when Harrag loses his advantage Theon seizes his chance and overpowers him, finally earning the respect of his sister's warriors. This shows that the Theon who betrayed House Stark, as well as the Reek who was a prisoner and lapdog of Ramsay Bolton, is dead and gone, and that the new Theon Greyjoy stands in his place, a brave and strong man willing to fight for what he believes in.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Theon was a young boy when his father's rebellion was crushed and his two brothers were killed. He has one surviving sibling, his sister Asha called Yara in the TV series. Theon has been raised at Winterfell since the age of ten; of all the Starks, he has become close friends with Robb Stark.
He considers Robb as a younger brother, more a brother to him than his brothers Rodrik and Maron; that does not stop him from betraying Robb, though. In the beginning of the first novel, Theon is nineteen years old, five years older than Robb and Jon.
Theon is cordial but distant with the rest of the family, and has a bitter rivalry with Ned Stark's illegitimate son Jon Snow; both Theon and Jon are close with Robb, but Theon resents Jon because he is accepted and treated as a son by Ned despite being a bastard, while Jon dislikes Theon for his arrogance, highborn status and Robb's regard for him.
In the show, Theon appears to be friends with both Robb and Jon. Theon is known for his arrogance, as he is the heir to House Greyjoy, one of the Great Houses of Westeros, despite not having seen home in a long time. He is said to smirk a lot as if everything in the world amuses him. During the first novel A Game of Thrones , Theon announces that " Lord Eddard is a second father to me, " but that statement is far from the truth.
His true feelings toward Eddard Stark are revealed in his first POV chapter in the second novel, A Clash of Kings : he muses that Eddard had tried to play the father from time to time, but to Theon, Eddard had always remained the man who'd brought blood and fire to Pyke and taken him from his home. As a boy, Theon had lived in fear of Eddard's stern face and great dark sword. In A Dance with Dragons , Theon recalls that as a boy, he once hoped that he would be betrothed to Sansa so Ned could claim him as a legal son, but that was just a child's fancy.
At one point, Theon notices a statue of a past Stark king from centuries ago in the crypts of Winterfell named Theon Stark, and remarks that he was his namesake - though it isn't clear if this was specifically true or if Theon was just speaking generally "Theon" is not an uncommon name in history. Theon does not have any happy childhood memories of his homeland. On the contrary, he remembers the Iron Islands as stern and stony places, scant of comfort and bleak of prospect; death is never far, and life is mean and meager; men spend their nights drinking ale and arguing over whose lot is worse, the fisherfolk who fight the sea or the farmers who try and scratch a crop from the poor thin soil.
Moreover, his late brothers Rodrik and Maron used to bully him. Generally, his living conditions among the Starks were better conditions.
Eddard spanked Theon only once after he bumped into Old Nan and knocked her to the floor, and that was almost tender in comparison to the beatings he used to receive from his brothers. Soon after Theon is out of the Starks' control, he shows his true colors in sharp contrast with his "sugarcoated" portrayal in the TV show : a ruthless sociopath villain, rapist and mass murderer, who has no qualms about harming innocent people simply because they are weak and defenseless, including small children ; in short, the kind of villain the Mountain is.
When Theon arrives at Lordsport, full of himself, he expects a proper welcome as the heir to Pyke and the Iron Islands. Soon, however, he is deflated and disillusioned: no honor guard is waiting to escort him to Pyke, and nearly everyone around treats him coldly or mockingly, or even ignores his presence. His statement about inheritance rights is scornfully dismissed as "the laws of the green lands" which do not bind the ironborn by his uncle Aeron, father and sister.
Theon realizes that he is considered not only as a foreigner among the ironborn, but worse - as a soft boy from the green lands. Dagmer is the only one who treats him fondly; he explains to Theon that his father does not know him well, since without his three sons - Asha was his only solace, and he got used to rely on her. He encourages Theon by claiming that there will be other wars, and he shall do great deeds. Theon's initial raid at Stony Shore is the start of the overall ironborn invasion.
The outcome is luridly described: bodies have been looted and mutilated. Of the fishing village, nothing remained but cold ashes that stank when it rained. The men had been put to the sword, all but a handful that Theon had allowed to flee to bring the word to Torrhen's Square. Their wives and daughters had been claimed for salt wives , those who were young enough and fair. The crones and the ugly ones were raped and killed.
If they had useful skills and did not seem likely to cause trouble, they were taken to be thralls. After this "victory", Theon proceeds to capture Winterfell. The conquering of Winterfell occurs similarly to the show, except that three of the servants are murdered in compliance with Jojen 's dream : Alebelly the guard, Mikken and Septon Chayle. Theon murders Chayle himself, not for resisting, but because "you and your gods have no place here now.
At Theon's order, a tavern wench named Kyra is brought to Winterfell. Theon keeps her as a bedwarmer. As Theon's position at Winterfell deteriorates, he becomes so furious and frustrated, that takes it out on Kyra: he climbs on top of her and rapes her very brutally with a fury he'd never known was in him; by the time he finishes, she is sobbing, her neck and breasts covered with bruises and bite marks.
Then he shoves her from the bed and tells her to get out. Theon accepted Ramsay at his service, unaware of his true identity. It was Ramsay, not Dagmer, who advised Theon to kill two unnamed miller's sons as a cover-up for the escape of the Stark boys the mother of the two unnamed boys was also killed at Theon's command.
After Asha left Winterfell, leaving Theon with only seventeen men, Ramsay suggested to bring reinforcements; and Theon reluctantly agreed, though he did not fully trust him. Ser Rodrik rallied reinforcements and besieged Winterfell. Theon went to parley with him, after ordering his men to put a rope around Beth Cassel's neck.
Theon spoke arrogantly to Ser Rodrik, demanding him to swear fealty to Balon as the king and to Theon as the prince of Winterfell. Filled with disdain at Theon's arrogance and the way he treated Beth, Rodrik called Theon a "viper" and "Theon Turncloak" the latter phrase has become Theon's derogatory nickname.
Theon threatened to hang Beth and an additional hostage every dawn and dusk. Returning to Winterfell, he was aware of his hopeless situation: hanging Beth would provoke the storming of Winterfell, and failing to hang her would hollow out future threats.
Maester Luwin suggested to Theon that he surrender and take the black. Theon liked this suggestion, albeit not as the selfless act of redemption as Luwin intended. Instead, Theon fancied himself becoming the chief of rangers, or even the glorified Lord Commander. As Lord Commander, Theon believed he could captain ships, and have sex with many wildling women.
While he reminded himself that Benjen Stark and Jon Snow both voluntarily joined the Watch, he fails to consider that Jon might kill him for the latter's atrocities. Ramsay returned with Bolton men - they were welcomed by the other Northerners, but promptly turned on their allies. What followed was not a true battle but a massacre as Rodrik and his army were killed in their own camp. Having broken the siege, Ramsay rode into Winterfell - only then did he reveal his true identity to Theon. Without provocation, Ramsay punched Theon with a mailed fist so hard that it broke his jaw, then ordered his men to kill the remaining ironborn, as well as the Stark servants and commoners of the castle, and to burn everything.
As he faded out of consciousness, Theon watched helplessly as the Dreadfort soldiers killed Black Lorren and Maester Luwin. The last thing he saw was his horse Smiler, screaming and rearing, his mane on fire. Due to his actions, mainly the alleged killing of Bran and Rickon, Theon earned the hatred of the people in the North, and put himself to shame and disgrace in the eyes of the ironborn.
Ever since he is referred to as Theon Turncloak. In the novels, Theon's actions at Winterfell have a significantly greater effect on Robb's eventual downfall than in the show: the alleged murder of Bran and Rickon causes Robb to have sex with Jeyne Westerling out of grief; afterwards, Robb feels honor-bound to marry her, and thus he breaks the alliance with the Freys, setting into motion the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the Red Wedding.
Moreover, the grief over Bran and Rickon causes Catelyn to release Robb's most important captive, and that rash act results in the loss of the Karstark troops, which makes Robb's position even worse. Thus Theon unwittingly serves as a catalyst of the Red Wedding, although he has no idea of it and it has never been his intention very similarly to the way Ramsay unwittingly serves as a catalyst of the mutiny at Castle Black in the novels, by sending the Bastard Letter.
Theon does not appear at all in the third and fourth novels, and he is only mentioned briefly. Roose shows them a piece of skin, claiming it is from the little finger of Theon's left hand, which Ramsay enclosed to the letter Roose received from him.
Robb says sharply that he wants Theon's head, not his skin. Roose suggests to keep Theon alive until the North is liberated from the ironborn in order to demand concessions from them, and Robb reluctantly agrees. Since Roose turns to be a traitor and most of his report is revealed to be false, it is unclear to the readers if he lied about Theon too. In A Feast for Crows , Theon is mentioned several times. Most of the ironborn, including his sister Asha presume he is dead, but are uncertain since his body was never found.
Ramsay never sends a taunting letter to Balon in the books, so no one knows if he is even alive, or if he is, where he is being held. Ramsay does send a warning message to Asha, to which he encloses a piece of Theon's skin not any body part without specifying Theon's status, but it happens much later. Neither Asha nor anyone else ever intend to try to rescue him. Asha herself actually did return to Winterfell with a few soldiers after the Bolton army withdrew, in the hope that Theon may have survived by hiding, but all they found were badly mutilated bodies, which convinced Asha that Theon was probably dead.
Even if she knew that he was alive, and specifically at the Dreadfort, the Boltons' castle is so strong and located on the other side of the entire continent that it was actually logistically impossible to mount an assault on it with a few longships. Theon's torture by Ramsay is only revealed in flashbacks throughout the fifth novel, but the TV series chose to present these events in the chronological order that they happened.
Since he makes his choice, he goes through hell. Ramsay turns him into Reek with a combination of physical and mental abuse no person should ever have to suffer. The lingering effects of what Ramsay does to Theon still haunt him. First of all, Balon wanted revenge as he blamed the Starks for killing both his eldest sons in the first rebellion. Theon is highborn, but never felt like the Starks other than Robb truly excepted him. He resented the fact that he was a hostage when he thought himself more as a ward.
Theon Greyjoy Theon Alfie Allen has done some terrible things, including betraying the people who raised him. But he eventually makes good with his adoptive family, even giving his life to protect Bran from the Night King.
He never really did anything to get back into our good books. Who Is Nick Jonas? Iwan: No. Access: Do you think Ramsay was fascinated by Theon or was it more the torture he was fascinated by?
Iwan: I think he is interested in Theon because of his history. And I think that kind of thing fascinates him and I think he sees a very weak person that he can destroy, basically. Did you spend time together in the hotel gym? Iwan: Um, no. Not really. We spent some time in the hotel bar laughs. Does that count? Is that working out? Was that tough to film? Iwan: It was tough to film in the sense [that] I had to eat a sausage for a whole morning — [a] big sausage with mustard on it all morning.
Access: You end the season in charge of the North, by proxy. Bring it on, I would say laughs. Access: Obviously George R. Iwan: Oh God, no! Keep him away from that thing.
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