23 replies to this topic

[Flea Bottom]

Was wondering what the show will do (and what the show should do) in regard to Theon for the next two seasons?  Following the books would mean that we won't see Theon until season 5 in 2015 when we get the first of the Feast/Dance seasons.  However, Theon has been such an integral character this season (and Allen has done such a terrific job with him) that I think it might be a problem to viewers to just have his storyline stop.  Also, it seems to me to be a problem for the showrunners to tell Allen, "hey good work this season, see you in a couple of years..."

So what seems like the best solution...??

1.  Let the viewers think Theon is dead and then create some surprise by bringing him back in two seasons.
2.  Pull his scenes from Dance into seasons 3 and 4
3.  Get creative with his storyline and add some new material in order to keep his character on the screen

Opinions?  Predictions?

[Neddy]

I reckon they will have seens of Roose Snow/Bolton caputring and torturing him as so far it has not been shown how evil and twisted Bolton is whereas in the books we hear tales of this long before he appears in the guise of Reek. This will become part of the set up for the Red Wedding as it will flesh out the House Bolton backstory.
As for Season 4 it depends whether Storm of Swords is split into two seasons or not if it is we will probably see him appearing occasionally beofre the red wedding to set up the Boltons and Season 5 should include only his parts in Feast for Crows where they cross over with Dance of Dragons (no way they would just ditch the major PoV character for a season). Probably only his escape attempts and important parts will be included in this as his torture would have been covered and their are many stories to try and include at this point.

[YTDN]

Assuming Storm of Swords in split into two seasons, for Season 3 I can see them using him as a way of introducing Ramsay, showing his torture, a bit of Ramsay backstory, and some stuff with him and Kyra (or whatever stand-in they have for her), ending with his failed escape attempt and Kyra's death being the final straw that causes him to snap and fully become Reek. Season 4 (SoS part 2) he'd have maybe a few scenes, again as part of the Ramsay storyline as the Boltons get into the Lannister's good graces, and as a foil to the Ironborn scenes (assuming the Kingsmoot is moved to Season 4), ending with his first DwD chapter and him leaving the Dreadfort. Season 5 & 6 would then cover the rest of his DwD chapters, although I'm not sure where the cut-off point will be.

[protar]

Well firstly, I think that the Sack of Winterfell may be moved into season 3. Aside from the fact that it gives Allen more screen time there are a few reasons for this:

• It saves the need to cast Ramsay.
  
• It opens S3 with a bang to remedy the rather slow pace of this season.
  
• It explains the early reveal of Bran and Rickon hiding in the crypts, which doesn't make sense if the Sack is happening in E10.

So that gives Alfie Allen something to do. I also think we'll get 3 or 4 scenes of his R+R session at the Dreadfort. We really just need:

• His arrival.
  
• A couple of torture scenes.
  
• His attempted escape

Which coupled with The Sack, gives enough material for Theon to appear in 5 episodes. After that he can be absent from season 4 till the last episode, where his first ADWD chapter translated on-screen would make a good plot hook.

[House Snow]

/i agree with the above.  I think Theon becomes the backdrop to the story of the Boltons is season 3.  They can definitely integrate some of the stuff that we are told about the boltons, just showing it instead of telling it.

[victim]

While I think they'll probably show him in torture scenes next season, I don't think they should. Leave Alfie out of the show for one season to let audiences curious as to what's going on with him, maybe after a mention here or there. Then plunge right into the Reek story in Season 4, or any story variation that somehow shows he is Ramsay's pet given that Reek doesn't exist in the show yet.

[Frumpus]

I think Theon will be killed off and his entire ADwD/TWoW storyline is cut.

[protar]

Frumpus, on 26 May 2012 - 12:43 PM, said:

I think Theon will be killed off and his entire ADwD/TWoW storyline is cut.

This idea is good.

[I'll pay the iron price]

protar, on 26 May 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

This idea is good.

Depends if Theon has any meaningful story in Winds of Winter

[protar]

I, on 26 May 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

Depends if Theon has any meaningful story in Winds of Winter

Well I was being sarcastic in case you missed it. There'll certainly be some meaningful stuff with him in TWOW and his Dance arc was important to.

[Pliskin]

I, on 26 May 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

Depends if Theon has any meaningful story in Winds of Winter

You can't be serious...
Who cares about his story in TWOW...
All I know is that his arc in ADWD is the best arc in the entire series...
Cutting it would be like... well, no, it would be like nothing. You can't cut it.

[Joffrey Baratheon]

I will be very disappointed if they don't show Ramsay's sack of Winterfell this season and end it with Winterfell burning and the kids escaping.

[SerGregori]

We already know that Ramsey is on his way to Winterfell. There is no pretence that he could enter winterfell under false pretences so I assume he will just take it with superior numbers. Somehow we will be introduced to the concept of Reek and the rest of the season will be the systematic torture /breaking down of Theon and the building up of the new Reek. At least I hope this is how it will go

On a side note, does anyone else think Alfie Allen could have made a good Ramsey? Obviously he is knocking it out of the park as Theon, but I also think, maybe with a few pounds added, he could have made a fantastic (and terrifying) Ramsey.

[Reznak mo Reznak]

I'm betting Luwin convinces Theon to take the black, and they'll have ramsay accept, only to slaughter everyone in the castle when they let him in. It would still have the treachorous Ramsay angle, and you don't even have to show Ramsay if they choose to to do it next episode.

[IVI4RCU5]

Reznak mo Reznak, on 28 May 2012 - 04:36 PM, said:

I'm betting Luwin convinces Theon to take the black, and they'll have ramsay accept, only to slaughter everyone in the castle when they let him in. It would still have the treachorous Ramsay angle, and you don't even have to show Ramsay if they choose to to do it next episode.

I think this is a REALLY good idea.  It's the only way they can somewhat salvage the terrific moment of Ramsay's surprise betrayal.

Edited by IVI4RCU5, 30 May 2012 - 08:45 PM.

[Chelly]

I don't know if they are going to leave Alfie Allen/Theon out for an entire season or two(since ASOS is being split). As much as I love watching Alfie Allen/Theon, I wouldn't mind if he's not in at least the next season. Maybe a mention or two of wondering about Theon's whereabouts to hint that he is still alive somewhere and will return to the story, but I think his total absence from some of the story makes his experience at the Dreadfort with Ramsay seem all the more terrifying and sickening. In ADWD, we only saw the result, and we only got glimpses of Theon's memory of how Ramsay mutilated and tortured him. Its what is not seen and  leaving to our imagination of what Ramsay did to him makes his story so much more compelling and frightening. If they do add Theon, I just hope they use the "less is more" approach, if they do in fact show him at the Dreadfort as Ramsay's prisoner.

I also think revealing Theon too early or too much will diminish the impact of his return back to the story. Maybe one scene at the very end of the season will suffice?

[Which Tyler]

Well, personally, I think Season 4 will have some Feast and Dance in it anyway; with the S3-4 split coming about 2/3 through Storm.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a couple of scenes in S3 showing Theon's descent into Reek; but they'd likely do so hoping we've forgotten that he's not with Ramsay (or try to give the impression it's his own Ironborn doing it; eg. by having Dagmer/Lorren defect and morph into 2x Walders Frey, and carry out the actual torture).
The alternative would be to reinforce the impression that Ramsey's gone rogue - after all, they're not going to want us knowing that Bolton's plotting against Robb too soon. Problem with that is that there's still no casting call for Ramsay, and if it's just 1-2 scenes in the season, they're not likely to want to cast him, if the job can be given to someone else for 1 season (see Dagmer/Lorren theory above)

[heathergalaxy]

I also think that next season will be showing Theon with his "friends" Kyra and Reek, only for at the end of the season for Ramsay to reveal himself as Reek after killing Kyra. Then the following season will have Theon as Reek... I'll be curious what DwD material moves into earlier seasons.

[jlk7e]

Which Tyler, on 08 June 2012 - 03:37 AM, said:

Well, personally, I think Season 4 will have some Feast and Dance in it anyway; with the S3-4 split coming about 2/3 through Storm.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a couple of scenes in S3 showing Theon's descent into Reek; but they'd likely do so hoping we've forgotten that he's not with Ramsay (or try to give the impression it's his own Ironborn doing it; eg. by having Dagmer/Lorren defect and morph into 2x Walders Frey, and carry out the actual torture).
The alternative would be to reinforce the impression that Ramsey's gone rogue - after all, they're not going to want us knowing that Bolton's plotting against Robb too soon. Problem with that is that there's still no casting call for Ramsay, and if it's just 1-2 scenes in the season, they're not likely to want to cast him, if the job can be given to someone else for 1 season (see Dagmer/Lorren theory above)

I'd heard that there is a casting call for Ramsay, even if he's not listed in the EW list.

[The Lost Lord]

An audition video has leaked. There's still some debate over which characters are portrayed in it, but I think it's pretty clear that it's a conversation between Ramsay (onscreen) and Theon (offscreen), because no other characters really fit the situation. Here's the full transcript from W-I-C:

Quote

R: “Ah. You run from me?” (Spits, slap, slap, slap) “You know what we do to runaways here? Huh? Do you?” (chuckles) “Take off his pants.”
T: “No, please, I beg you, I beg you, listen to me.”
R: “I’m gonna fuck you into the dirt.” (spits)
T: “Listen to me, listen, listen.”
[goes to black, so maybe this is a cut to a new scene, or it could just be the same scene spliced together with different takes]
T: “Where is my father? I want to see my father.”
R: “He doesn’t want to see you.”
T: “Take me to him. I want to see him now. If you hurt me, my father will kill you.”
R: “That’s not what he said.”
T: “Let me go now and no harm will come to you. You have my word.”
R: “Ahhh, your word, is it? What would you say if I told you that it was your father that ordered this?”
T: “No. ___.”
R: “He may have loved you once. But now– no one’s coming for you. Not until you tell me the truth. No?”
T: “Wait. No — wait. Stop.”
R: “Tell us the truth.”
T: ___
R: “Don’t question. Just answer.”
T: “Answer what? I don’t know. I don’t know what you want.”
R: “I want the truth.”
T: “What truth? All right, I’ll tell you, please–”
R: “No more excuses”
T: “I’ll tell you, stop, listen to me. I’ll tell you anything, just tell me what you want, please please please”

I think this gives us some big clues to Theon's S3 arc. Since the offscreen "arc" in the books is merely Theon getting tortured, they have apparently decided to add some drama to it. So it looks like Theon and the viewer will start the season being led to believe that Theon is back at Pyke and that his torturer is ironborn (since Theon keeps demanding to see his father). The torturer ("Reek," perhaps?) will press Theon for some sort of confession, and he'll eventually "admit" that he killed Bran and Rickon under duress. (Robb/Cat still need a way to find out this info.)  Eventually we'll get the twist that the torturer is really Bolton's bastard. At the end of the season, perhaps Theon will take the name "Reek"?

Edited by The Lost Lord, 11 July 2012 - 04:55 PM.