Which Theon do you prefer?

[John Doe]

Oberyn treated woman pretty good by westeros standards.

Like when he punched Obaras mother in the face and left her crying to drink herself to death?

[The Holy Goat]

I prefer the ADWD chapters. By a mile. So incredibly well written.

[Balerion the kitten]

Reek, amazingly written. I only hope (and know) that his ending will be one of the best.

Oberyn treated woman pretty good by westeros standards.

Westeros treatment of women definitely isn't good, but you can't judge their treatment of women by the worst of the worst. Just because the brave companions and gregor like to rape and abuse women doesn't mean that's now the standard. Just because drogo and raff are into young girls doesn't mean that's now westeros's standard.

Don't think that's what you were meaning, I was probably exaggerating, it's just something I'd thought I'd say.

So probably by westeros's standard, Oberyn was a dick.

Like when he punched slapped Obaras mother in the face and left her crying to drink herself to death?

Nitpick

[ShadowCat Rivers]

If you consider Theon in clash painful how do you get through povs like Brienne and Bran?

I suppose that, to you, painful equals "boring".

For starts, I do not use the word in that way, by 'painful' I mean what I described right below in my post.

Also, I love Brienne's chapters. Bran's on the road are a little bit slow, but not boring at all, on the contrary we get some really crusial info here and there.

[Seaworth'sShipmate]

Idk if Im the only one here who thinks this, but I hated Theon before ADWD. He just seemed like a real jerk, sort of like a vacuous, empty suit preppy popular kid at college. Sure he had his "struggles" but unlike other questionable characters (all of the Lannisters)

he wasn't particularly funny, entertaining, or interesting to overcome his arrogance and unlikeablity.

Lets face it. Theon needed a wake up call. And though his "Reeking" was extreme, Theon ultimately needed it. It WAS good for him, and helped him see the light

[A spoon of knife and fork]

I like Theons chapters better. They are a much better written and more entertaining car wreck than the thematically similar Cersei chapters later on. Reeks' chapters are basically torture porn with a dash of vengeance-cannibalism. Not a fan.

I don't like either person, though, which was more what OP was asking I guess. One is a clueless, arrogant fratboy dbag, the other is just a shell of a person...

[Ser Brandon Badwater]

Idk if Im the only one here who thinks this, but I hated Theon before ADWD. He just seemed like a real jerk, sort of like a vacuous, empty suit preppy popular kid at college. Sure he had his "struggles" but unlike other questionable characters (all of the Lannisters)

he wasn't particularly funny, entertaining, or interesting to overcome his arrogance and unlikeablity.

Lets face it. Theon needed a wake up call. And though his "Reeking" was extreme, Theon ultimately needed it. It WAS good for him, and helped him see the light

Would you propose "Reeking" as a medical treatment for the over-privileged to ground them? :eek:

[The Skinner]

Reek Reek, it rhymes with freak

Reek Reek, my favorite creep

[Tyrell_like_Squirrel]

Now that I've read through the series, I actually really like Theon before he becomes Reek. He's a huge douche, but there's so many subtle hints of what a pathetic character he actually is. I feel bad for him and at the same time I'm still laughing at the ridiculousness that he displays. In his first POV chapter, he literally ejaculates while fantasizing about his "amazing plan."

[Balerion the kitten]

Now that I've read through the series, I actually really like Theon before he becomes Reek. He's a huge douche, but there's so many subtle hints of what a pathetic character he actually is. I feel bad for him and at the same time I'm still laughing at the ridiculousness that he displays. In his first POV chapter, he literally ejaculates while fantasizing about his "amazing plan."

:lol: so he did! Need to re-read that chapter tomorrow when I have time.

[evita mgfs]

:lol: so he did! Need to re-read that chapter tomorrow when I have time.

Me too! - 50 Shades of Theon GREYjoy.

[Julia H.]

As I was reading Theon's ACoK chapters I was constantly - "oh, please, don't, you can't be that stupid, no, stop, can't you see what you are doing to yourself, oh, not again, see what you have done?" - but then the Reek chapters were just utterly disturbing, so actually I wasn't happy when I saw a new Reek chapter was coming. The last couple of chapters, however, where he was beginning to become Theon again, had a more hopeful tone, and I could see Theon's character slowly starting to grow again after hitting rock bottom, and it certainly had an effect on me.

As for his personality, I only began to like him and sympathize with him (as a person) towards the end of ADwD, but as a book character he is definitely a complex and fascinating one. I can't say I prefer either of Theon's two personalities to the other one (though I can agree that even these two main personalities are too complex not to divide them further, as Notone above suggested) but I do like the contrast and the tension between them. Theon and Reek mutually make each other more understandable.

[Piccolo_Snow]

. Theon and Reek mutually make each other more understandable.

thats ture, I kinda see it as there was a reek always in theon and then when reek took overit was like oh man but now i have really enjoyed seeing a kinda reborn theon remerge

[Hoppy Hour]

Early Theon for me, and I laughed hard when he met Esgred.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

As I was reading Theon's ACoK chapters I was constantly - "oh, please, don't, you can't be that stupid, no, stop, can't you see what you are doing to yourself, oh, not again, see what you have done?" [...]

I was experiencing the same thing and that's exactly what I previously meant as a "painful" read.

[John Doe]

Nitpick

Well okay, but she cried afterwards, so he wasn't exactly gentle, as you said too.

[Sullen]

Like when he punched Obaras mother in the face and left her crying to drink herself to death?

And stole a child he had no way knowing was his.

OT: Pre-Reek Theon, his plights are more relatable, easier to sympathize with. Which is not to say Reek is bad, Pre and Post Reek Theon are both pretty much the best written characters, but eh, Reek feels a bit written like a cliche (well written though) while Theon is more of his own thing.

[James of the Blackwater]

I didn't really hate or like pre betrayal Theon, I did think Robb was kind of a dick to him when he saved Bran though, Betrayal phase Theon was obviously pretty loathsome, everything he did was to try and win daddy's favor, he should of grew a pair of balls and bounced when he realized his family could care less about him....but then GRRM made me sympathize with him as Reek, touche George.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Theon Stark the Hungry wolf.

[Sullen]

I didn't really hate or like pre betrayal Theon, I did think Robb was kind of a dick to him when he saved Bran though, Betrayal phase Theon was obviously pretty loathsome, everything he did was to try and win daddy's favor, he should of grew a pair of balls and bounced when he realized his family could care less about him....but then GRRM made me sympathize with him as Reek, touche George.

His family did care about him, though, that's the thing...

Theon is too stubborn, accustomed to what greenlander love is, and eager to be loved, but most of his blood family still does care. Asha goes out of her way to try and rescue him near the end of ACoK, but he refuses to leave. Victarion later says he would have served and died for any of Balon's sons. His mother still cries out his name at night. Dagmer is Dagmer. Balon might have acted cold and suspiciously towards him, but he still gave him command of a considerable fleet without even testing his loyalty.

Theon wasn't unloved back on the Isles, he was loved in a way he couldn't understand anymore, not after Winterfell.