Decoding the pink letter

[Springtime for Bolton]

First of all, sorry for my disappointing level of English. I do the best I can. Second, my apologies for starting this, my first post, with such a controversial theory. My only excuse: it´s just for fun!!!

Let´s go.

I don´t know at all if there´s something true in my saying or maybe I´m just nuts, but I´ve been searching for a code in the infamous Pink Letter, on the basis on Mance´s Rayder authority, the only one who has complete knowledge of the whole content of the letter.

Why? Because the text has the structure of a song or a poem: seven verses of five lines, all of them with seven phonetical syllables, except the fifth line, with only five phonetical syllables. (The sixth verse has lines of eigtht syllables and seems the chorus of a song.)

I know many of you considers Mance Rayder as a villain, with a hidden agenda, wanting revenge. But I never believed it: Mance has honour and respect Jon Snow. Why not? He protects his people and his babe, and acted in a compassive way during Mance´s burning. Tormund and Mance must think the same: the commander of the NW is a man of Word. A man you can trust. A Stark.

Then… Why a hidden message? Melissandre advised Jon of his enemies and told him to look at the sky… because of a crow, bringing a letter.

Melissandre knew a letter was coming. Melissandre had an agreement with Mance as we saw in her POV. And Mance is forewarned of the presence of traitors in the NW, conspiring against their Commander.

The real message has to be hidden, not to alert the Black Crows of its content (no doubt, some letters are read, and destroyed or even modified before getting to the Lord hands). And there´s another purpose: to bring Jon Snow to Winterfell as true heir of the Stark blood.

If there´s a hidden message, there has to be a code. I tried with many variations: first word of the first line of the first verse, second of the second line… a madness.

The code has to be very simple, easy to be understood just listening. Then I thought: the message is addressed to “Bastard”. Uh? Maybe the word “bastard” is also the KEY of the code. Could be the word that points out the real content of the letter: the following sentence after the word, maybe, or the previous one, depending of the position of the word “bastard” in the line.

(Reading the text, the words “king” and “back” are also repeated and use at the end of a line, followed by a point. The code may be more complex and the “translation” may include other lines)

The rhyme has to be also important for the understanding of the text. Lines with less than seven phonetical syllables have not to be considered (they are of no interest or have no meaning). And also, the meaning of the sentence changes if you read the line separately of the previous words (apparently in the same sentence, but belongs to another line).

The result:

Bastard

Your false king is dead bastard.

He and all his host were smashed

in seven days of battle.

I have his magic sword.

Tell his red whore.

Your false king's friends are dead.

Their heads upon the walls

of Winterfell. Come see them,

bastard. Your false king lied,

and so did you.

You told the world you burned

the King-Beyond-the-Wall.

Instead you sent him

to Winterfell to steal

my bride from me.

I will have my bride back.

If you want Mance Rayder back,

come and get him. I have him

in a cage for all the north to see,

proof of your lies.

The cage is cold, but I have

made him a warm cloak from

the skins of the six whores who

came with him to Winterfell.

I want my bride back.

I want the false king's queen. I want

his daughter and his red witch. I want

this wildling princess. I want his

little prince, the wildling babe. And

I want my Reek.

Send them to me bastard, and

I will not trouble you or

your black crows. Keep them from

me, and I will cut out your bastard's

heart and eat it.

Ramsay Bolton,

Trueborn Lord of Winterfell.

Of course, there are other possible codes. I play with the idea that the sign of Ramsey Bolton has to be changed with the name of Mance Rayder (just in the middle of the letter), and maybe to include into the message the phrase: “come and get it, I have him in a cage for all the north to see”, alluding to the Bastard of Bolton. Or maybe the structure in verses is not exactly as I´ve thought, and the content of the code is different than mine.

Forgive my vehemence, but I believe there´s something on it. Why on earth would have Mance sent this message, anyway? My theory is: Stannis and the northerner won the battle of the ice and the Freys are eliminated with the Bolton forces; Jon has to be brought to Winterfell as true heir of the kingdom and advised of the presence of traitors who are conspiring against his life.

I know many of you maybe thinks: “But the letter was sent to provoke Jon and the reaction of the NW”. Well… I´m not as sure. The conspirators were working harder since two books ago. The letter causes no reaction, is just a mere excuse. In fact, I´m starting to think that the stabbing is consequence of the speed of the events. The wildlings support Jon massively, and the raid to Winterfell is going to start immediately. The conspirators have no time to make ready, and the reaction comes at the first chance: the fighting of Sir Patrick and Wun-Wun, wich distracts Jon supporters making him vulnerable and unprotected.

Once again, be compassive of me and don´t treat me too bad. It´s only a theory. But opens a new way to investigate that I believe is, at least, interesting .

[Roose The Weddingcrasher]

I approve.

[BearIslander]

Putting this as a verse seems very interesting. However, I didn't understand the exact result. Sorry for being stupid :)

[Springtime for Bolton]

You´re absolutely sorry, Bearlslander!

Putting this as a verse is the proof that Mance Rayder has to be the author of the letter.

Following this theory, I believe the text has to be coded. Tanaggaro, I think, has a similar opinion. I read this idea in other posts and didn´t believe them at first sight.

Then I intended to find out the possible code. Without success, I suppose, because you didn´t understand the exact meaning.

...but I still believe in a hidden message. And seems logical to me that the word "bastard" would be an ingenious key for the code.

[Consigliere]

Interesting angle but I don't agree that the letter is coded.

If the letter is coded then it does not make sense to me for Jon to be the intended recipient. Jon has obviously taken the letter at face value so what is the point of sending an encoded message if the recipient has no clue how to decipher said message.

Are the bolded portions of the letter in your OP the actual message? If so then the final output does not make sense to me as only 3 out of the 7 verses are deemed relevant. What about the other 4 verses? That's far too much information to simply be written off as being irrelevant.

[Jayc]

I like what you have done as well. I agree with the Titans Bastard that the message is not coded. I do agree with most everyone that the letter was either written by someone else like Mance or Stannis or if it was written by Ramsey then most of it is false.

My question about the letter. Isn't Reed and fake Aria with Stannis? If so, if Stannis' host destroyed, wouldn't Reek have been killed or captured?

Also, I think the first reference about "Seven Days of battle" has some meaning or hints. If it came from Ramsey, why would he care it took seven days, why reference it? If it came from Stannis or Mance or someone else then I think it might provide a clue as to who wrote it.

[Consigliere]

My question about the letter. Isn't Reed and fake Aria with Stannis? If so, if Stannis' host destroyed, wouldn't Reek have been killed or captured?

Also, I think the first reference about "Seven Days of battle" has some meaning or hints. If it came from Ramsey, why would he care it took seven days, why reference it? If it came from Stannis or Mance or someone else then I think it might provide a clue as to who wrote it.

Theon is with Stannis but Jeyne is on her way to The Wall with Tycho Nestoris and Justin Massey.

Regarding the seven days. Roose receives word from the Karstarks that Stannis' host is three days ride from Winterfell. So three days to Stannis' camp, one day of battle and three days ride back would account for the seven days.

[Jon of the Dead]

I like the theory, but I'm not sure if I believe there's some sort of code.

The thing with the letter that we have to ask ourselves is why. What was the author's intention when he sent it to Jon?

I often see the speculation that the letter was written by either Stannis, Asha or Mance to provoke Jon into marching south and help against the Boltons. But I see this as a flawed hypothesis:

1) Stannis would never pretend to be Ramsey and ask Jon to deliver his own wife, daughter and mistress to the Boltons. That is a risky gamble if I ever saw one.

2) Asha. Ok, yeah, she wants to kick some Bolton ass I hope, but mainly she wants to take Theon and get the hell out of there. She has more chance of escaping (as I think she will do) in the battle between Stannis and the Boltons. What does she win by telling the NIght's Watch to come? Well, yeah, I think she prefers if Stannis prevails, but she has no reason to think Jon could be a friend to her. For all she knows, Jon hates Theon and the Ironborn as much as he hates the Boltons.

3) Mance. Ok, Mance could be in a desperate enough situation to try something like the pink letter. But if Jon does come and win, why would Mance be any safer? The ruse would be discovered, Stannis would be pissed and would try to burn him (again!). If Mance wrote the letter, he did himself no favors revealing his identity, because he must've expected that more people would see the letter, not only Jon.

4) If one of them wrote the letter and wanted Jon to come help them, why would they taunt him by telling him to send Arya? Wouldn't it make more sense to say "I'm Ramsey and I have your sister, come help her if you can"? And why would they ask for Reek anyway, as if Jon would care?

So, I think the motivation for the letter was not to provoke Jon into going south to help in the fight against the Boltons. I think the intention of the letter was more evil, and I think it was literal: the author really wanted Jon to deliver all those people. The sheer arrogance of the letter reeks (pun intended) of Ramsey, but Mance also has a grudge against Jon and Stannis, so he is still a prime suspect.

I think some of the info on the letter (like Mance being caught) is not accurate, but I think that the intention at least should be taken at face value: the author wants those hostages delivered to him. I think Mance and Ramsey are the prime suspects, but I don't they're working together either.

[complexphoenix]

Good of you to try to find a coded message in the pink letter. Even better of you to post your results. But it would seem you didn't actually find a coded message, and it would have been nice for you to say that straight up.

[Lord Jennings]

I've read a few posts/theories/opinions about the pink letter and I can't even tell you who I think wrote it. I can tell you that I hope Stannis wasn't defeated.

What I question is the letter's author calling the men of the night's watch "crows". That is the wildling word for them but is that term also used in Westeros?

"I will not trouble you or

your black crows."

[Ludd]

I am about to start a brand new crack pot theory on this that you might like to look at

[Musashisamurai]

Mance actually has reason to do this-mostly, the ken who would go south are wildlings, and thus loyal to mance (or at least mance hopes). He gets/steals valuable hostages to use against Stannis, and his hostages returned-aka his son and val. He also stands by to get a small army.

[Marwi]

Spectacular. The only thing I can't understand once decoded the secret message is.. what does Mance Really want then?

It seems to me that when you use a code you should think of an encoding that the recipient can easily understand, or at least that he understands he needs to look for a secret message.. Jon didn't.

IMHO the fact the message is in verses is the proof that Mance wrote it but, differently from you, IMHO he didn't want to deliver any secret message.. what he wanted to communicate was plainly mirrored by Jon's actions. Mance only tried to conceal his message as if it was one Ramsay could write, is used to think in rhymes and did not think somebody would see this scheme under the roof.. or this is only one clue given by GRRM to us to understand who has written the message.

[The Mother of The Others]

What if glamors can be decoded? Switched. What if you could swap out the lock of hair from Rattleshirt (or whatever part of the glamor that was making you look like Rattleshirt) and substitute it with a bit of hair from Ramsay. Now you're Ramsay when other people look at you. And the "Mance" in the cage is the real Ramsay, disfigured enough so people won't recognize him. Everyone knows the Boltons are big flayers, so you'd have the perfect excuse to take off bits and pieces of Ramsay's face and chest so he's unrecognizable. Then do something to keep him quiet, like fork his tongue real hard. Now you've got this "Mance" to spank around at your leisure while "your" Bolton/Frey troops congratulate you (the real Mance) on a job well done. Of course the wildling women are probably dead for real, so I don't know what kind of guy that would make Mance if this was all part of his plan. Mance probably wouldn't have given up their identities by choice,..... so either they were easy to spot once everyone knew to look for wildling women..... or they were already caught during the prison break of Jeyne..... or else it really was Mance who got put in the cage and tortured until he gave up their identities. Eh.

[RedFishBlackFish]

I don't understand your result.

My further question is, why send a coded message to someone who isn't privy to the code in the first place? Seems like you might as well not send a message at all.

[Not Dead Just Broken]

It's an interesting theory but I don't buy it. The letter reeks (pun fully intended) of Ramsay Bolton. The information about Mance and his Spearwives likely came from the tortured confessions of either Mance or one of his Spearwives. The information about Stannis and the situation on the Wall likely came from the Karstarks that are embedded in Stannis' army. The letter is clearly written before the battle with Stannis and is posturing a victory to try to elicit a response. If Ramsay had defeated Stannis nothing would stop him (after the blizzard clears a bit) from marching up the Kingsroad and dealing with Jon as previous Lords of Winterfell have dealt with previous renegade Lord Commanders. I think Ramsay is trying to provoke an attack on Winterfell where his father's host sits in wait. Ramsay is trying to provoke not only the NW but also the Wildlings and the Queen's Men with his letter. He wants them to attack Winterfell and he's actually hoping they succeed. Ramsay is threatened by Roose and his new bride. He wants to be Warden of the North. He wants Jon to kill Roose for him.

[BericDondarrion]

GRRM has to be pulling a reverse fake out. There is no way he can show the death of King Stannis is a stupid letter. I hope Davos shows up right before battle, the sight of Rickon and his direwolf rally the Northern soldiers and Wylis Manderly emerges from the woods with the "most heavy horse" in the North according to Wyman. They slaughter the Freys, deceive the Boltons and then slaughter them inside Winterfell with Theon somehow playing a role in Roose/Ramsays death

[EstEst]

What if glamors can be decoded? Switched. What if you could swap out the lock of hair from Rattleshirt (or whatever part of the glamor that was making you look like Rattleshirt) and substitute it with a bit of hair from Ramsay. Now you're Ramsay when other people look at you. And the "Mance" in the cage is the real Ramsay, disfigured enough so people won't recognize him. Everyone knows the Boltons are big flayers, so you'd have the perfect excuse to take off bits and pieces of Ramsay's face and chest so he's unrecognizable. Then do something to keep him quiet, like fork his tongue real hard. Now you've got this "Mance" to spank around at your leisure while "your" Bolton/Frey troops congratulate you (the real Mance) on a job well done. Of course the wildling women are probably dead for real, so I don't know what kind of guy that would make Mance if this was all part of his plan. Mance probably wouldn't have given up their identities by choice,..... so either they were easy to spot once everyone knew to look for wildling women..... or they were already caught during the prison break of Jeyne..... or else it really was Mance who got put in the cage and tortured until he gave up their identities. Eh.

I wouldn't go so far as to suppose Ramsey was glamored to look like Mance, and I'm 90% sure that Ramsey is the author of the Pink Letter; but I would like to know very much where's the ruby that Mance was glamored with (back then in Castle Black).

To OP: your idea is interesting but it doesn't clarify the (1) motives and (2) exact message. If you succeed in decifering it, then let's see, perhaps then it makes more sense. But not now, sorry.

[Lyanna<3Rhaegar]

I really think you are on to something here! I'm not sure what it means but you've inspired me to attempt a little decoding of my own! Great thread

[Lord Rowmark]

Some of you are asking, "Why code a message for Jon if he doesn't know it's a code?" The answer, because it's not for Jon. Who else reads the letter? Tormund! Tormund is handed the letter write after Jon reads it, but only PRETENDS he can't read. It is a coded message, but breaking the code is going to be tough. I think you are on the right track. Bastard is a keyword!