Drowsey Dragon Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 From our perspective as the reader, it is easy to despise Theon for what he did. But were his actions as they should have been (Fighting for his house and father, revenge for his brothers deaths due in large part to the Starks) or was the time he gained at Winterfell and the good treatment he received, being like a brother to Robb, his right hand man in battle etc, should have held his loyalty after he was sent home to gain his fathers alliance in the war and eventual independence. He was clearly more Stark than Ironborn by the time he reached home and the cold treatment he received. You would have thought this would have weighed heavily on his thinking to return to Robb and what he is more familiar with. He spent half his life in both places, but mature half in Winterfell.Where do you come down on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horza Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I feel sorry for him, he was trying to be someone he wasn't, in the hope of finding a place in the world. He should have known better and it doesn't mitigate any of what he did but I understand what drove him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crown Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I feel sorry for him, he was trying to be someone he wasn't, in the hope of finding a place in the world. He should have known better and it doesn't mitigate any of what he did but I understand what drove him.Totally agree: he just wanted to prove himself, to his father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleRickon Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I made a case for Theon in another thread, and I was advised that this has been discussed to death in yet other threads. I'll be short to say that I can understand his big life decisions, like joining his fathers invasion in order to win his trust/love, even if I can't agree with many of his small decisions (treatment of women mostly). I don't think he deserves to be called a traitor or turncloak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashkan Stark Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I can't understand him. He loves starks very much and he says so himself but he end up betraying Starks. He knows his father don't gives a shit about him and Eddard was a better father to him than his own( I know he was with ned when he was 10) but he betray his family and his borthers. In my mind he is a turncloak and he should be beheaded because of his treason. But GRRM makes him so miserable and weak that you feel sorry for him. I think if he help Bran or Rickon is some sort of way, people can forgive him for what he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Malthred Storm Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I can feel some sympathy for him, though that does not extenuate his crimes against the Starks, more of a family than the Greyjoys were. He deserves to be beheaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Always_En_Garde Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Totally agree: he just wanted to prove himself, to his father.Daddy and/or Mommy Issues will get you every time. He's a jerk, but he's a jerk due to a life that pretty much sucked like a Hoover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygrette Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I'm with Ser Malthred Stark.Yes, somehow I can relate to his feelings and understand where he's coming from. Yet he is still greatly overestimating his capabilities and has an incredible lack of empathy for other beings. I mean, look at Tyrion on the other hand. He's been mistreated from the very second he was born and still has a kind heart. Theon, on the other hand, is just a bit too hungry for power and too ruthless in his actions to fully deserve my pity and empathy.I wouldn't want to sentence him to death, but when maester Luwin supposed he should take the black I thought it was a genius idea. No more worrying about earning his father's respect, no more abuse of women (well, not officially at least...), practically a new family and an opportunity to prove his honour in battle. If I were queen of Westeros and had to decide upon Theon, I'd let him take the black.Greetings,Steph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drinking Cersei's Tears Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 No sympathy whatsoever. Hope Stannis burns him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hear Me Roar! Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Tough situation, Theon...growing up with really no home. He was taken to Winterfell against his will and forced to live there for the next 10 years. I can't imagine he was treated very warmly by the Starks, even if they were not cruel. The books don't really give us much, if any insight as to Theon's years in Winterfell, but I can't imagine a 10 year old boy having no mother figure (can't think of any interaction between Catelyn and Theon that implies she treated him any better than Jon Snow) and a distant father figure is going to grow up to be perfectly fine. Even the Stark children don't really regard him much, it seems, except for Robb.I'd probably be as bitter as Theon put in that situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtopher Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 in the show its made clear that Theon doesnt want to be in Winterfell and he dislikes Jon Snow and doesnt care for anyone other than Robb, so i guess i shouldnt have been so shocked when he did what he did to Winterfell, the place he had hated for years, yet i was, very shocked. never expected him to do that, i though he had at least some respect to lord Stark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fylimar Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I do not like the character at all. That's said, I think, I can understand why he turned against the Starks: He was a hostage for ten years, he lost his family, his cultural backraund, everything. It seems, the only one, who was ever nice to him, was Robb. Then he finally returned home just to learn, that his family basically don't trust him and don't want him. That's a harsh lesson to be learned. How he treated women and his killing of the miller boys and doing other not so honourable deads may result from all this. That's no excuse of course (someone mentioned Tyrion, who had some harsh life lessons as well and turning out to be a very caring person ... as far as you can be caring in a hard society like Westeros), but I would vote for him taking the Black, if I had anything to say about his fate. He could redeem himself and maybe find some kind of peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wah-Tah Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I think he's just stuck between the two families of the Starks and the Greyjoys. By birth, he is a Greyjoy, and feels a great loyalty to them (even though that is not at ALL reciprocated by the Greyjoys). However, he's been with the Starks for most of his adult life, and thus has a sense of loyalty to them as well.As readers, we are automatically sympathetic to the Starks. Thus, anyone that goes against them is easy to despise. But, it is important to remember that no matter how well he was treated, Theon could never forget that he was not a Stark. He was in essence, a prisoner of war--a way to ensure that the Greyjoys did not rebel again.So, it's not easy to be sympathetic to Theon--but it's not hard either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay Gimp Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I'm not sure how the ward/hostage system is supposed to work in Westeros. If he had been willingly fostered at Winterfell, like Ned and Robert were at the Eyrie, I could understand calling him a turncloak.But he was taken as a hostage, everyone knows that, and referring to him as a ward was just a polite fiction. But at the same time, he had more of a bond with Robb than with his real family members. Catelyn even mentions him as a possible candidate to lead the Northern armies in AGOT, which is pretty weird.It's hard to judge, honestly. Though I can say in his position I probably would have done the same up until he decides to hold Winterfell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygrette Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Theon could never forget that he was not a Stark. He was in essence, a prisoner of war--a way to ensure that the Greyjoys did not rebel again.When I think about how much love and respect the Greyjoys have for Theon, it actually makes me wonder what kept them from rebelling again. As it was certainly not for Theon's sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychogobstopper Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 No sympathy whatsoever. Hope Stannis burns him.I'd rather see Ghost, Summer, or Shaggydog rip his throat out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaSigyn Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Considering Robb is my favorite character, I really think Theon should be beheaded. I do feel sorry for him and I could understand if it was anyone else but not Robb. He thought of him as a brother right? Well you don't do that to your brother & what he did to the children was unforgivable there is no excuse for that. Off with his head! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drowsey Dragon Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 When I think about how much love and respect the Greyjoys have for Theon, it actually makes me wonder what kept them from rebelling again. As it was certainly not for Theon's sake.I believe they would have eventually rebelled, regardless of Theon. His father clearly favored his daughter and Theon was alien to him upon his return. Balon was just building his strength and I am sure Theon was a very small factor at this point in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychogobstopper Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I believe they would have eventually rebelled, regardless of Theon. His father clearly favored his daughter and Theon was alien to him upon his return. Balon was just building his strength and I am sure Theon was a very small factor at this point in time.Agreed. The War of the Five Kings was merely the first opportunity Balon had to rebel again after his earlier defeat*, since there hadn't been any other destabilizing issues in the Seven Kingdoms in the interim. By then, Theon had been raised among the Starks for 9 or 10 years, and Balon made it pretty clear when Theon returned to Pyke that he considered his son to be more Stark than Greyjoy.(* This may be hindsight from the historical perspective we're offered on those prior events, but I don't quite understand how Balon thought his initial rebellion was a good idea in the first place. He thought that Robert's hold on the Realm wasn't secure after a mere 6 years on the throne, but Robert still had the North via the Starks, the Vale via Jon Arryn, the Stormlands through his own House, and many others to call upon through his marriage to Cersei. It seems like Balon was incredibly lucky that Robert didn't take his head for rebelling.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hear Me Roar! Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Makes me wonder why Robert DIDN'T take his head.Seems like in ASOIAF everyone who rebels gets punished mercilessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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