Bran's Muffin

[quote name='The Fat Man' post='1322817' date='Apr 21 2008, 13.15']Benjen: Theon is well-known and infamous in the north [i]for being a betrayer and a turncloak whose oaths count for nothing[/i]. I wouldn't use John Walker Lindh as a reference at a job interview, and I wouldn't use Theon to give my realm legitimacy. I'm genuinely surprised that people can't see the problem here.[/quote] Ahh. I see what you're getting at now. I assumed Ramsay was bringing Theon to tell HIM if it was really Arya; he has reason to believe Theon knows Arya and that he is scared enough of Ramsay to tell him the truth. Ramsay doesn't need Theon to assert some sort of oath so he can lay claim over the North. The people in King's Landing have already proclaimed her Arya, and Roose is Warden of the North. His seat is secure whether she's the real Arya or not. I assumed he just wanted to know for himself.

[quote name='Jughead of the Round' post='1322044' date='Apr 20 2008, 21.40']This chapter was abridged, right? Was there any feeling while you were reading it that parts were skipped or glossed over? Or did it run pretty smoothly?[/quote] It was very short. I think it was truncated.

It doesn't say which fingers were taken. It just says fingers (plural) as well as teeth. (And he mentions that they could take his toes and ears off, but I'm not sure if they've done that or it's something that has been done, just not to him.) Also it says that Ramsay doesn't cut the fingers off. He prefers to flay them and then the wounds fester and they fall off. Theon tried to bite his pinkie finger off (the one that they sent the skin to Catelyn, I assume) to stop it from hurting so badly. After that prisoners learn to beg him to cut them off. No real descriptions of the Dreadfort. Theon doesn't really have his wits about him to notice things. There are descriptions of Ramsay though, if you're interested. He wears all black except for a pink doublet and he's "still ugly" no matter how fine he dresses. ETA: Just names for the lords. Theon doesn't recognize them, that's why the descriptions are there. I wasn't sure who they were. Someone on LJ said one was Whoresbane Umber but we haven't figured out the other.

Hi. I was the one who posted the livejournal summary. I wanted to address the question about Lord Bolton being there. (Though it was pretty much already answered.) He is not there. Ramsay is ruling the Dreadfort, that's why he's sitting in the Lord's chair when Theon is brought to him. I think that's what makes it so scary (not that the Leech Lord is lots of fun) but everyone is suffering under Ramsay. As to why he would bring Theon with him to meet fake Arya, Theon was kept as Eddard's ward so he would've had more contact with Arya that some random person at Winterfell. There's no way for Ramsay to know that Arya liked to hang out with the smallfolk. He would naturally assume Theon was the best bet. I rather hated Theon in all his other chapters but I felt quite badly for him here. Initially he thinks of himself as Reek and I was confused because Reek was killed (when Ramsay took his name) so I was like "What is going on?" but then Ramsay refers to him as Eddard's ward, toward the end. Theon has been tortured so much he has no sense of himself yet. I was actually delighted he remember Arya "Underfoot" because it meant he wasn't totally gone. Also I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that any "loyal" servant of Eddard Stark is dead now. Anyone who is alive is a turncloak.