Roose Bolton is garbage, and a clown.

[Lady of Lemoncakes]

There is no bigger coward in the story, not even Samwell.

Strongly disagree. Meryn Trant, a lot of the Lannisters such as Tywin, Cersei and Joffrey, Gregor Clegane, etc. They were offered far more backing and safety than Roose ever had.

Tywin even says privately, "Bolton does not concern me; he is a wary man." Read: coward. His two "wins" both opportunistically employ treachery. And keeping people in line by their knowing you'll ruthlessly use torture isn't much of a trick and has nothing to do with bravery.

Yes, because Tywin is so brilliant and has never been wrong. He underestimated his Tyrion, and after his death, his house has pretty much turned to shambles. Not that the same thing will happen to the Boltons, but really, any word that comes out of Tywin's mouth can't really be interpreted as truth. Roose isn't the only person to use treachery to win battles, (the same could be said for anyone in the series, in particular, Stannis).

Like I said earlier, he is a terrible individual. Yet the irony of Stannis fans calling him a coward when you know, Stannis killed his brother via a demon spawn (but apparently, he was justified to do that to the unsurper, as if not buying into your elder brother's ego trip is worthy of death) is ridiculous.

[King Brandon Ice Eyes]

^I agree. And Sam is not a coward at all, MyaStoned. He faces his fears, does his best to protect Gilly, kills an Other. He was only born with an abusive father and happened to acquire different tastes from what is valued in his society.

And about Tywin Lannister: the man hid in Casterly Rock during the whole war and only sacked King's Landing using treachery (not different from anything Roose did) and then couldn't face Robb in the battlefield so he was lucky enough to have Roose and the Frey doing all the work for him. I mean, if you think Roose is a coward, fine, but the biggest coward in the series? No way.

And wary and coward are not synonyms.

[Stan the Man Baratheon]

Like I said earlier, he is a terrible individual. Yet the irony of Stannis fans calling him a coward when you know, Stannis killed his brother via a demon spawn (but apparently, he was justified to do that to the unsurper, as if not buying into your elder brother's ego trip is worthy of death) is ridiculous.

Ridiculous only to you. Makes sense to us. But any opinion that goes against your opinion is ridiculous, right? :rolleyes:

[Ser Greg of House House]

I'm now scared of clowns.

[Formerly Tetrarch42]

Ridiculous only to you. Makes sense to us. But any opinion that goes against your opinion is ridiculous, right? :rolleyes:

Imagine if everytime someone disagreed with you a crazy demon came out of nowhere and started cutting people's head off.

[Stan the Man Baratheon]

Imagine if everytime someone disagreed with you a crazy demon came out of nowhere and started cutting people's head off.

:devil:

[E-Ro]

Like I said earlier, he is a terrible individual. Yet the irony of Stannis fans calling him a coward when you know, Stannis killed his brother via a demon spawn (but apparently, he was justified to do that to the unsurper, as if not buying into your elder brother's ego trip is worthy of death) is ridiculous.

Careful who you call a coward, my lady. Stannis offing Renly with a shadowbaby has nothing to do with cowardice, and everything to do with practicality. Stan is not afraid of battle, he has been in several. Hes not even afraid of being outnumbered, ask the wildlings about that.

[Ramsay Gimp]

There is no bigger coward in the story, not even Samwell. Tywin even says privately, "Bolton does not concern me; he is a wary man." Read: coward. His two "wins" both opportunistically employ treachery. And keeping people in line by their knowing you'll ruthlessly use torture isn't much of a trick and has nothing to do with bravery.

This is idiotic. A coward would not have asked for command of the whole Northern army, or usurped his liege lord, or called Ramsay a "bastard" to his face

Strongly disagree. Meryn Trant, a lot of the Lannisters such as Tywin, Cersei and Joffrey, Gregor Clegane, etc. They were offered far more backing and safety than Roose ever had.

Yes, because Tywin is so brilliant and has never been wrong. He underestimated his Tyrion, and after his death, his house has pretty much turned to shambles. Not that the same thing will happen to the Boltons, but really, any word that comes out of Tywin's mouth can't really be interpreted as truth. Roose isn't the only person to use treachery to win battles, (the same could be said for anyone in the series, in particular, Stannis).

Like I said earlier, he is a terrible individual. Yet the irony of Stannis fans calling him a coward when you know, Stannis killed his brother via a demon spawn (but apparently, he was justified to do that to the unsurper, as if not buying into your elder brother's ego trip is worthy of death) is ridiculous.

Say what you want about Tywin, he has many faults, but outside of his own family he is usually a good judge of character. Like someone else said, calling someone "wary" or "cautious" is not an insult.

[Ramsay Gimp]

^I agree. And Sam is not a coward at all, MyaStoned. He faces his fears, does his best to protect Gilly, kills an Other. He was only born with an abusive father and happened to acquire different tastes from what is valued in his society.

And about Tywin Lannister: the man hid in Casterly Rock during the whole war and only sacked King's Landing using treachery (not different from anything Roose did) and then couldn't face Robb in the battlefield so he was lucky enough to have Roose and the Frey doing all the work for him. I mean, if you think Roose is a coward, fine, but the biggest coward in the series? No way.

And wary and coward are not synonyms.

To be fair, Tywin tried to face Robb in the field several times but Roose, Edmure, or Robb himself stopped him from doing so. I don't think Tywin's a physical coward

[Frey Pie]

The obsession with winning battles is puzzling. I don't think any Roose fans are claiming he's a brilliant battlefield commander (though I do think he's better than just the Green Fork would suggest)

He'd have to be or he's an idiot

Either way it kinda confirms that Roose was always gonna betray Robb unless he was in a completely unassailable position

[Ramsay Gimp]

He'd have to be or he's an idiot

Either way it kinda confirms that Roose was always gonna betray Robb unless he was in a completely unassailable position

Do you think he intentionally lost the Green Fork? It seems more to me that he acted under Robb's orders, attempted a risky plan while minimizing the risk to himself, and lost. GRRM has said as much - not necessarily treacherous, but definitely self-serving

[Frey Pie]

Do you think he intentionally lost the Green Fork? It seems more to me that he acted under Robb's orders, attempted a risky plan while minimizing the risk to himself, and lost. GRRM has said as much - not necessarily treacherous, but definitely self-serving

I think as George said he didn't care too much either way. It seems clear though that he was out to weaken his rival lords. This means he used a strategy he knew would end up killing a good many of the men he commanded therefore he did not (as is obvious) pick the the best plan. He followed Robb's orders in so much as he engaged the enemy. I am less inclined to believe he truly attempted to win but instead attempted to and succeeded in making personal gains

[To catch a Lannister]

E-ro spittin that hot fiya. Totally agree with OP. Anyone whose a legitimate fan of the Boltons is basically an ASOIAF hipster.

[Ramsay Gimp]

E-ro spittin that hot fiya. Totally agree with OP. Anyone whose a legitimate fan of the Boltons is basically an ASOIAF hipster.

I guess that would make hardcore Stannis fans the ASOIAF frat bros?

Look, practically everyone here admits Roose is a very bad guy. No one thinks he is actually a good lord, or decent man. He is despicable, but he is also compelling. Many people enjoy compelling bad guys in fiction, there's nothing hipster about it. ASOIAF especially is a lot more enjoyable if you can learn to appreciate good villains.

We're the ones appreciating what GRRM has to offer. The OP, on the other hand, is often in the habit of trashing any character whose name doesn't rhyme with Mannis. They're all "clowns" with "no accomplishments" (accomplishments in this case having the very narrow definition of victories in battle). If you think Roose Bolton is a

pushover or a clown, rather than a formidable foe, your problem is with GRRM. He certainly didn't intend for him to be those things, and I can pull quotes to prove it

[Lady Arianne Martell]

For the love of....

What do you people not understand about opinions?

Like Roose, hate Roose, it's an effing opinion.

[Metopheles]

Yeah, he is. I don't understand why there is this new-found affection of him on the forums. Its so perplexing. The guy is a disgusting rapist, he most likely flays people(though there is no proof of this to be fair), he is obviously a villain and hes not even that great of a villain to be honest. He has not won a single battle in the series, and the sum total of his accomplishments add up to him getting his ass kicked at the green fork, sending the northern infantry to their deaths, and betraying his 16 year old king at a wedding. Great.

So what is it? Why the Roose love? Are you guys just like, the ultimate asoiaf hipsters?

People like him because of his show portrayal, obviously. I mean that actor is fantastic. And he is mysterious and you don't know what he really wants, and people love their crackpots about him and what he really is. He is interesting because we know barely a thing about him.

But hey, didn't you say Robert is so amazing for destroying an ancient line? Well Roose did the same. He eradicated the Starks by usurpation. A clumsy one..just like Robert.

[E-Ro]

3 months later Roose is still a clown, and ya boy ero is still hard thugin.

[LordStoneheart]

^ Preach!

I love this thread. I'm glad its not locked.

[Metopheles]

I guess that would make hardcore Stannis fans the ASOIAF frat bros?

[Bronn Urgandy]

Hey man I am not a frat bro, I just like drinking loads of beers and drunkenly attempting to chat up women. In England we call ourselves the rugby crowd... even though we all like football.