Ramsay obviously wrote the pink letter

[Haus of Targaryen]

Yea, that's what I said, the only way Ramsey could've gotten that info is if he tortured one or more of the spearwives but then again I just don't see them giving up that kind of of info or any info for that matter. I know the show is the show & the books are the books but I literally just watched an episode where Qhorin Halfhand states that wildling's would rather bite their own tounges out than to give up information, and that's for a crow... Ramsay is even more of an enemy to all parties involved. Idk it just all seems weird to me
 
 
 
The answer to how Ramsay knows about Val, the sword and Melisandre is all contained in this one scene. This is where Stannis lets in the first group of Wildlings, the group that all the spearwives come from (ADWD - Chapter 10):
 
 
Every single one of the spearwives witnessed this scene. They saw Val, Melisandre, Stannis and Lightbringer. They would have learned about Mance's son from Mance himself. They would have heard the gossip about Selyse and Shireen. There is nothing that referenced the people at the Wall that Ramsay couldn't have learned from just one of the spearwives. The only spearwife that we can be almost positive that was captured was Frenya (the only other possible outcome for Frenya was death). That the letter has names for practically none of the people is a strong indication that Ramsay got his information from a spearwife, because they only saw these people at the spectacle performed when they were let through the Wall. They weren't told who these people were. So the fact that these people were described rather than referenced by name indicates the information comes from a spearwife. I doubt they captured Mance and the other four spearwives, but that speculation is for another thread.

[sweetsunray]

I'm not saying it's definitely Ramsay, but I'm not a huge fan of this enormous fallacy: "there was nothing mentioned about his handwriting so it's not his."

Things that are noted are noteworthy, generally speaking. When Jon had never seen Ramsay's writing, his handwriting was noteworthy. The fact that Jon didn't note the handwriting, to me, implies that it looked like one would expect from Ramsay: large spiky block lettering. It would only be noteworthy if it didn't look how it normally does.

And as for the other "discrepancies," they also lend authenticity. Imagine a cop interviewing four witnesses, who tell roughly the same story with a few differences, versus witnesses who say the same thing down to word choice. The first group is obviously more believable. The second group comes off as having been coached to say a certain thing.

What I'm saying is that if someone like Mance was trying to impersonate Ramsay, he'd be a lot more likely to catch those details than Ramsay. Remember, Ramsay isn't trying to impersonate himself or prove that he sent the letter, he's just sending a letter. If I act in a manner outside of my normal routine, it doesn't mean I'm no longer me, it just means I'm not invested in appearing to be "me" in arbitrarily decided ways. Maybe I ate a burger every day this week because I'm in a burger mood. If I eat chicken on Saturday it doesn't mean I'm an impostor. On the other hand, if an impostor watches me for that week, you'd better believe he'd eat a burger on that same Saturday if he's posing as me. It's only important to hit the details if you're checking off items on a list.

 

IIRC the only letter Jon saw written "by" Ramsay was the weddig invitation, right? I seriously can't imagine Ramsay writing several wedding invitations himself. He'd have maester Tybald write those at the Dreadfort. And where is maester Tybald now?

 

And if he had 6 whores flayed there would have been skin attached to the letter. BTW not ever in the books has Ramsay uttered the word "whore".

[Weirdo]

 

The language is Ramsay to a tee. I don't know which bit you think is out of character.

 

The handwriting wasn't mentioned.

 

The seal and the ink can be explained by the fact that Ramsay probably wrote the letter in a rush during or after the heat of battle

 

A lot of the content is lies, whoever wrote it.

 

Personally I think it's more of a logical stretch to say that Mance or Stannis managed to imitate Ramsay's personality perfectly, even down to the "I want my Reek" bit.

 

 

But yes to everyone who has said ramsay didn't write the letter. The text supports this.
I personally believe mance did write it. It would allow the freefolk to come south to mance. Mance the king beyond the wall has then just got his army south of the wall to him.
It would make sense, the writer was clearly provoking Jon and Jon wouldn't be able to get the nights watch to join him.

That's an interesting point, because Mance may just want the wildlings to come, and not care about what Jon does. We're focused on Jon, and I've often thought it was unrealistic for anyone to be able to write the letter hoping to manipulate Jon in such a specific way. The wildlings, on the other hand, hearing that Mance was alive and a captive, would want to come and fight. Mance was in a very good position to observe Ramsay's speech, feelings, and use of the words 'my reek'.

 

Regardless of who may have won the battle in the ice, both sides are depleted from that fight. Or possibly, there was no decisive victor, or maybe the fight has not happened yet (unlikely IMHO) but Stannis's army is starving and Winterfell is in disarray. Whatever - a fresh army of wildlings arriving on the scene would be in a good position to control the situation. They are well fed, used to the cold, they've just discovered their king is alive, and they are sick of Castle Black. Mance could take Winterfell.

 

I still think Ramsay wrote the letter, and that some of it is lies. I think it's highly likely that he would have captured Mance or at least some of the spear wives, getting the information he needed. And there's no reason why you can't flay someone, THEN stick their head up on a wall! But if you take manipulating Jon out of the scenario, I can see Mance writing it with some hope of a good result.

[Sage of Westeros]

The line "I want my Reek" just solidifies Ramsay wrote it. All others call him Theon Turncloak, Traitor, or some other insulting name. Only Ramsay calls Theon Reek, therefore, Ramsay wrote the letter.

[three-eyed monkey]

The line "I want my Reek" just solidifies Ramsay wrote it. All others call him Theon Turncloak, Traitor, or some other insulting name. Only Ramsay calls Theon Reek, therefore, Ramsay wrote the letter.

Theon calls himself Reek when talking to Stannis. "He wants his bride back. He wants his Reek." These lines appear almost word for word in the letter. "I want my bride back. ... I want my Reek."

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

The line "I want my Reek" just solidifies Ramsay wrote it. All others call him Theon Turncloak, Traitor, or some other insulting name. Only Ramsay calls Theon Reek, therefore, Ramsay wrote the letter.

 

Yes, Ramsay consistently calls Theon "Reek". This is widely known (actually, the Dreadfort men follow their boss' lead). So a person impersonating the Bastard of Bolton would use that name, as well.

[Sage of Westeros]

Theon calls himself Reek when talking to Stannis. "He wants his bride back. He wants his Reek." These lines appear almost word for word in the letter. "I want my bride back. ... I want my Reek."

He does but he also says, "My name is Theon" which gets a gruff reply of "I know your name. I know what you did." and then eventually "As you will. Tell me, Theon..." he also addresses Theon as Turncloak yet never Reek

[Sydney Mae]

Ramsay is the most likely author of the pink letter.  He's the only one who would have all of the information needed to compose the letter. 

[three-eyed monkey]

He does but he also says, "My name is Theon" which gets a gruff reply of "I know your name. I know what you did." and then eventually "As you will. Tell me, Theon..." he also addresses Theon as Turncloak yet never Reek

But he is trying to imitate Ramsay, using what Theon tells him, almost word for word.

[A Ghost of Someone]

One thing that is mentioned over and over in the books is how clever and tough Mance Rayder is. I think Mance and Ramsay struck a deal. Mance is not necessarily as honorable as some think. The Wildings have done some nasty things to the Watch and to the North when they climb the wall. Mance is also bitter about Stannis.  Also, I think Roose and Fat Walda are dead and died offscreen in the books. Lord Wyman is also most likely dead from his neck wound.

[sweetsunray]

The line "I want my Reek" just solidifies Ramsay wrote it. All others call him Theon Turncloak, Traitor, or some other insulting name. Only Ramsay calls Theon Reek, therefore, Ramsay wrote the letter.

 

It's a line that Theon uses, in front of Stannis.

[Harry Angel]

Clydas wrote the letter. He is old, weak, and half blind; he was coerced by Marsh and his flunkies to forge the letter in the hopes of making the Lord Commander lose focus. Luckily for Clydas and the mutineers this worked and were presented with a "justification" to assault the Lord Commander. I do not doubt the loyalty of Clydas, but remember he is a Steward and must regularly come in contact with Marsh and his cronies, thus resulting in some sort of agreement in which Clydas will not be hurt if he forged the letter.

[sweetsunray]

Clydas wrote the letter. He is old, weak, and half blind; he was coerced by Marsh and his flunkies to forge the letter in the hopes of making the Lord Commander lose focus. Luckily for Clydas and the mutineers this worked and were presented with a "justification" to assault the Lord Commander. I do not doubt the loyalty of Clydas, but remember he is a Steward and must regularly come in contact with Marsh and his cronies, thus resulting in some sort of agreement in which Clydas will not be hurt if he forged the letter.

 

Actually I doubt Clydas' loyalty very much. Slynt had a chance to write KL personally, while Jon was LC already, and the time window for that would have been between his first protest against Jon's task for him and his beheading, when Sam and Aemon were gone already. So, Clydas allowed Slynt to send a message per raven to KL, Slynt who was aiming for insubordination against Jon. Remember, Clydas ain't a maester and he's not bound by oaths like a maester regarding messages - sending and receiving them.

 

But I can't see how Clydas, Bowen or any of the other mutineers would know about "reek" or "bride" or rattleshirt=Mance.

[Harry Angel]

 
Actually I doubt Clydas' loyalty very much. Slynt had a chance to write KL personally, while Jon was LC already, and the time window for that would have been between his first protest against Jon's task for him and his beheading, when Sam and Aemon were gone already. So, Clydas allowed Slynt to send a message per raven to KL, Slynt who was aiming for insubordination against Jon. Remember, Clydas ain't a maester and he's not bound by oaths like a maester regarding messages - sending and receiving them.
 
But I can't see how Clydas, Bowen or any of the other mutineers would know about "reek" or "bride" or rattleshirt=Mance.

I have always suspected that Clydas is a Frey bastard who still has close ties to the Twins. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew about the going-ons at Winterfell via a raven from Aenys or Bolton's maester. His physical description fits the Frey profile like a glove.

[sweetsunray]

I have always suspected that Clydas is a Frey bastard who still has close ties to the Twins. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew about the going-ons at Winterfell via a raven from Aenys or Bolton's maester. His physical description fits the Frey profile like a glove.

 

Bolton's maester is Tybald and in custody of Stannis, having solely 2 ravens, solely bound for WF.

WF currently has no ravens in posession to communicate with CB. Any CB ravens in WF's rookery flew off for CB when Winterfell was sacked.

Why would Aenys have brought ravens for CB from the Twins? They didn't even know they'd end up in WF without any means of communication. They'd use ravens at Moat Cailin, Barrowton, Dreadford.

It may actually have been one of the reasons why Stannis chose WF for attack. Sure, ravens could be sent to WF, but it would be difficult to send them from WF. And they didn't decide to go to WF after Stannis was on the move and Karstark informed Bolton in Barrowton about it via raven from Karhold.