The Pink Letter- why it is written? (spoilers)

[Marcus Agrippa]

The premise is that Mance or Ramsay wrote the letter. However I would like to point out it doesn't matter since either of these conclusions might be what either of them wanted. This is just my take on the letter.

The writer of the letter wanted to remove Jon from the wall to cause chaos or get rid of a rival. Let's take a look at the factions at the wall. The wildings who don't trust the nights watch and are only keeping the peace because of land, castles, respect for Jon, and loyality to Mance. That's what it looks like on the surface. Using the tv show here ( I know it is its own monster) something mance said strikes me as important. "we want to hide behind your wall". This makes sense on that level. However given what we know from the books the wildings wanted to go south. I don't think they want to be on the wall or even near the bloody thing when walkers come marching south. So why would Ramsay want a host coming down on winterfell? to kill an enemy in the snow. Ramsay would be able to figure out how to crush them (eventually) and the winter and lack of food would do some major damage to any host.

Now looking at Selyse, Shireen, and the red worshipers- they are the least important faction and weakest. They are few however the most heavily armed. In any case they are destroyed or left there.Mance and Ramsay both want that.

Now the nights watch. Ramsay doesn’t know the situation outside of the wall nor it's politics. He only knows the watch is "with" Stannis. So my guess is he would want to bring them down and crush them all in a trap or he knows Jon won't risk them and come by himself. Mance However knows what would happen if Jon left. I suspect Mance talked to val who spoke to tormund. So he has one or two plans- He wants Jon to lead the wildings south. That or he wants Jon to come alone. Once again they would have similar goals leading too the same conclusion- they wanted Jon to leave the wall and bring a host with them or Jon to get removed.

One thing about the letter- Why Ramsay would want Mel is something I don't quite get. She is rather unimporant in the long run of things to him. Mance knows what she can do. This to me points that Mance is the more likely of the two.

[Ser Greg of House House]

This is the mystery that bugs me the most. Who the hell wrote that letter. If it turns out to be really Ramsay (getting info from Mance) I'll be pissed off.

But yeah, I believe it was Mance. It's been discussed elsewhere. Though it would be nice if it was Stannis. Or Bloodraven.

[RockyRagnarok]

I don't think Ramsey wrote the Pink Letter...It's just too open ended for him

...The wrong use torture, No reference to Flaying Stannis or Mance...

IMO it was Stannis or Mance himself...For reasons unknown at this time...

[Dead Wolf]

I think it was Roose. By provoking Jon in Ramsay's name, he can rid himself of his unruly bastard and eliminate a possible claiment for WF. Roose also rids himself of the Freys and Manderlys by sending them out to battle Stannis, assuming Jon doesn't cut down Hosteen and Aenys first after riding over Ramsay's corpse. Stannis himself will still be unable to take WF by storm, and neither will Jon, unless Bran shows them a secret entrance known only to him, or the northern lords inside the castle murder Roose and slaughter his men, but he likely believes winter will finish them.

[Ser Eric]

Mance writing that letter makes no sense.

In fact, can he even write?

If he can, does he have any idea how to send letters via raven?

How does he so easily access a raven without anyone noticing?

Why does Mance go to so much trouble to save fArya?

Ramsay is the most likely writer.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Mance writing that letter makes no sense.

In fact, can he even write?

If he can, does he have any idea how to send letters via raven?

How does he so easily access a raven without anyone noticing?

Why does Mance go to so much trouble to save fArya?

Ramsay is the most likely writer.

Can he write....probably. What else did he have to do while a child at Castle Black than learn from Maester Aemon?

Does he have any idea how to send letters via raven? Well he spent most of his life with the Night's Watch and they send ravens, so i'm going to say yes.

How does he easily access a raven without anyone noticing? Who says no one noticed? He could have taken Ramsay down and be in charge of Winterfell now for all we know.

Why does Mance go to so much trouble to save fArya? At this point I think he's just glad to be alive and hoping that maybe his service to the Watch/Stannis/Jon will get him out of the beheading that NW deserters usually get. It got him away from the Wall where he had to spend all his time pretending to be someone else (which is exhausting). It got him a chance for a better look at Winterfell, and possibly the opportunity to search the crypts, which he undoubtedly did not get to do on any previous trips to the Stark seat.

Mance and Stannis are more likely candidates for writing the letter. If it had come from Ramsay it would have had a "souvenir" in it (aka a piece of Mance). Though I do really like the theory that the Others wrote it just to mess with people.

[butterbumps!]

So, the letter doesn't give Jon a reason to actually leave the Wall.*** Or even more specifically, a reason to go to Winterfell.

Like, the letter says-- explicitly-- that Arya is not at Winterfell. If Rams or whoever else wants to lure Jon down to Winterfell and leave the Wall more generally, then not announcing that "my bride" is gone would have been the way to do it.

Look at what the letter says-- it's telling Jon that his situation is hopeless, but that in exchange for some very specific hostages, Rams will leave the Watch alone. And then look at which hostages are asked for-- representatives of Stannis' men and wildlings, but none from the Watch. Further, it carries on about Jon sparing Mance, lying to everyone, and then going so far as to try breaking Arya out of Winterfell, which a Watchman is not supposed to do.

I'm pretty sure the point of the letter is to get the Wildlings, Queensmen and Watchmen at each other's throats, with the added bonus of having the Watch take Jon out of the game for lying about Mance and Arya. The letter is about causing a civil war up at the Wall, not luring anyone south, which would make no sense being as how the letter downright announces that Arya is no longer there. The Boltons are pretty notorious for getting their enemies against each other, doing the job for them. They want Jon out of the game. They send a letter with the intention of causing civil war and destroying Jon. If the letter is a Bolton enterprise, then it's pretty brilliant, and completely in line with their MO.

*** ETA: technically, there is a reason for Jon to ride south, but not in terms of fighting for Arya or Jon's going to Winterfell as is commonly taken. And that reason doesn't exist without Tormund's men at the Wall, which Rams (and even Mance) wouldn't know about.

[Ser Eric]

Can he write....probably. What else did he have to do while a child at Castle Black than learn from Maester Aemon?

That's not a very argument. There are loads of people at CB who are illiterate. If Mance had written the letter then there would have been some indication of him being literate before that.

Does he have any idea how to send letters via raven? Well he spent most of his life with the Night's Watch and they send ravens, so i'm going to say yes.

Ditto. Sending Ravens is not a task many know, not even those who are born and brought up in castles.

How does he easily access a raven without anyone noticing? Who says no one noticed? He could have taken Ramsay down and be in charge of Winterfell now for all we know.

Why does Mance go to so much trouble to save fArya? At this point I think he's just glad to be alive and hoping that maybe his service to the Watch/Stannis/Jon will get him out of the beheading that NW deserters usually get. It got him away from the Wall where he had to spend all his time pretending to be someone else (which is exhausting). It got him a chance for a better look at Winterfell, and possibly the opportunity to search the crypts, which he undoubtedly did not get to do on any previous trips to the Stark seat.

Mance and Stannis are more likely candidates for writing the letter. If it had come from Ramsay it would have had a "souvenir" in it (aka a piece of Mance). Though I do really like the theory that the Others wrote it just to mess with people.

Mance has already gotten away with beheading. If he was going to be killed, it would have happened a long time back. His interest in WF is understandable but he had no real reason to save fArya..

[Little Member]

The use of the word bastard and the signature as trueborn lord, is suggestive of someone once a bastard and is now lauding his becoming legitimate- via king's decree- over another bastard. The writer is also saying that my father cared enough to demand my legitimacy from the king, yours did not. If this writer was not Ramsay, it'd seem they are quite an excellent study of him. How could Mance have gained such and understanding of Ramsay? Just because Ramsay doesn't come out and admit he flayed Mance doesn't mean he didn't. He probably removed the skin of a few fingers. After that, Mance would have spilled everything, including why Mel chose him, instead of the real lord of bones, to go to Winterfell. Why he'd want Selyse and Shireen would be the same reason Tywin wanted Elia and her children dead- to prevent them from fomenting rebellion and making claims to the throne. Why the princess and the babe? For the same reason Stannis wanted them-to insure wildling loyalty. If Mance wrote this letter, why would he give to shakes for what happens to Theon? Ramsay did not go through all this trouble in brainwashing Theon with all this torture just to have him take Moat Cailin. Ramsay truly wanted his friend, Reek back. Now, why would Ramsay demand Mel? I think it was Mel's original intent to move with Stannis to WF once it was safely captured. There is something there she must do and Mance knows it. Ramsay believes Jon a loyal dog. He figures he'd put his duty to the NW above the lives of these hostages. Hence, why he says give them up and no harm will befall your brothers. Why would Ramsay want to invade the Wall? Does he seem like he wants to usurp the title of protector of humanity? He'd simply sack the castle, take what he came for, then leave. So, the question is: where did he find a bird trained to go to the wall? Theon killed all the ravens at WF. None of the Bolton allies would have need to parlance with the NW. Only Stannis was likely to have need of a raven trained to go to castle black. This leads me to believe Ramsay wrote the letter from there at the tower that served as Stannis seat along the frozen lake. This would express the harsh and hurried tone of the letter. Ramsay was excited and fresh off the battle and seeing fArya and Reek riding away.

[Ingelheim]

So, the letter doesn't give Jon a reason to actually leave the Wall.*** Or even more specifically, a reason to go to Winterfell.

Like, the letter says-- explicitly-- that Arya is not at Winterfell. If Rams or whoever else wants to lure Jon down to Winterfell and leave the Wall more generally, then not announcing that "my bride" is gone would have been the way to do it.

Look at what the letter says-- it's telling Jon that his situation is hopeless, but that in exchange for some very specific hostages, Rams will leave the Watch alone. And then look at which hostages are asked for-- representatives of Stannis' men and wildlings, but none from the Watch. Further, it carries on about Jon sparing Mance, lying to everyone, and then going so far as to try breaking Arya out of Winterfell, which a Watchman is not supposed to do.

I'm pretty sure the point of the letter is to get the Wildlings, Queensmen and Watchmen at each other's throats, with the added bonus of having the Watch take Jon out of the game for lying about Mance and Arya. The letter is about causing a civil war up at the Wall, not luring anyone south, which would make no sense being as how the letter downright announces that Arya is no longer there. The Boltons are pretty notorious for getting their enemies against each other, doing the job for them. They want Jon out of the game. They send a letter with the intention of causing civil war and destroying Jon. If the letter is a Bolton enterprise, then it's pretty brilliant, and completely in line with their MO.

*** ETA: technically, there is a reason for Jon to ride south, but not in terms of fighting for Arya or Jon's going to Winterfell as is commonly taken. And that reason doesn't exist without Tormund's men at the Wall, which Rams (and even Mance) wouldn't know about.

So...are you saying Roose wrote it?

That would be even too awesome for Roose.

[Batbob45]

Ramsey will want to torment hostages if he wrote it

[The Amethyst Empress]

That stupid letter has kept me up for many nights...Personally I'm convinced that Mance wrote it to get his son back,he's the only one with all the information.

Also I think that if Ramsay had actually captured Mance he wouldn't tell him about his son and Val

[Ser Eric]

That stupid letter has kept me up for many nights...Personally I'm convinced that Mance wrote it to get his son back,he's the only one with all the information.

Also I think that if Ramsay had actually captured Mance he wouldn't tell him about his son and Val

The infant at Castle Black is not Mance's son. And he probably knows that

[Ingelheim]

The infant at Castle Black is not Mance's son. And he probably knows that

How does he know that?

[The Amethyst Empress]

The infant at Castle Black is not Mance's son. And he probably knows that

Maybe he doesn't...

[Ser Eric]

How does he know that?

He's been wandering free at Castle Black with no apparent restrictions. Surely, he can recognize his own son?

[Steelborn]

I think Ramsay wrote it out of desperation at the nerve of the battle. Although, I don't know how he could get the ravens, only if he gets in the Tower that Stannis is...

I mean, the letter is clearly made to be a troublemaker, to infuriate Jon and to make chaos between the king's men and the queen's men at Castle Black, so that's why it wasn't Mance. He wouldn't cause chaos at the wall while the wildlings, his people, are there.

[The Amethyst Empress]

He's been wandering free at Castle Black with no apparent restrictions. Surely, he can recognize his own son?

It's a baby and he's never seen him much anyway

[butterbumps!]

So...are you saying Roose wrote it?

That would be even too awesome for Roose.

Sort of, but not entirely. Roose has a monopoly on those 3 maesters he keeps around him. I think it's unlikely that Rams would have gotten this letter off without some kind of sanction from Roose provided that Roose was still in the picture.

I don't think Roose is dead yet, so presumably, he knows this letter was sent, and might have even sanctioned it. If not a collaborative Bolton effort entirely. That's more what I mean.

He's been wandering free at Castle Black with no apparent restrictions. Surely, he can recognize his own son?

Yea, that's my position. I think there's a pretty good chance Mance knows that isn't his son.

[Ingelheim]

He's been wandering free at Castle Black with no apparent restrictions. Surely, he can recognize his own son?

To recognize the baby he needs to visit Val. Something he is not allowed to.

Sort of, but not entirely. Roose has a monopoly on those 3 maesters he keeps around him. I think it's unlikely that Rams would have gotten this letter off without some kind of sanction from Roose provided that Roose was still in the picture.

I don't think Roose is dead yet, so presumably, he knows this letter was sent, and might have even sanctioned it. If not a collaborative Bolton effort entirely. That's more what I mean.

Yea, that's my position. I think there's a pretty good chance Mance knows that isn't his son.

Oh, all right then. That's what I think as well.