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(Book Spoilers) - Going too easy on Theon?


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At first I expressed relief that Theon's torture hasn't been too bad so far. (yeah, yeah, easy for me to say, but you know what I mean)

Then I thought about the consequences for the narrative that would result from not "taking it over the top"

We need it to be over the top to establish Ramsay as the worst of the worst, the sickest of the sickos.

We also need it over the top to make the Theon ADWD thread compelling. We need to understand why he is so broken, and if he hasn't been badly broken, you lose the neat effect of finding yourself rooting for Theon against your better sense.

If he only gets a broken foot and a knife under the fingernail, ever cheering Theon again just doesn't work, or explain why he would become an agent of the Boltons working against the Iron Born at M.C.

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While I don't think the torture will be as bad as it was in the books, I do think that tonight's episode was just a warmup for the future. They don't have to go to the same extent as the books did to make viewers feel sympathy for Theon IMO. I felt he was more sympathetic in season 2 than he was in ACOK.

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I just thought the whole Theon scene was really poorly done. There was real horror to it, no suspense. To a non-book viewer i expect it was more confusing than anything else. Really, really disappointed.

As for the bloke who 'comes to rescue him', i expect that'll be

A ploy from Ramsay to teach Theon who's boss, like we heard about in the books

I still think my idea about keeping Theon's identity a mystery, at least in the beginning, would have worked better.

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Maybe it's just me, but the Theon parts of this episode were awesome ... This is just the tip of the torture iceberg, I'm sure. It took a year for Theon to be completely broken. Ramsay is just toying with him. I can't imagine there won't be flaying later ... They are just keeping the Boltons under wraps for a slow reveal of how awful they are ... But they did reference the flayed man and their banners are super prominent so far this season!

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I'm sure it gets worse, but it must go all the way!! Theon must lose some teeth, we need to see a flayed finger and him begging for Ramsay to cut it... and in the end, we need to see him eat a rat!! I dread that moment, because I have a phobia related to rats, but it is very important for both Theon and Ramsay, who are essential characters later on.

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I have to say, I think that keeping Theon in these seasons during his transformation into Reek could be about the best change that has come with the show. There is a lot of potential there to show his continual degradation. To show how Ramsay systematically broke him down, destroyed his trust in anyone and anything, and built him back up as a loyal hound.

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The boy trying to help him is obviously Ramsay, and I think he's just at his 'playing' phase now, manipulating Theon, making him think he's still got a chance to escape before his real fun begins. I like how the show has kept the plot line of Ramsay pretending to be somebody whom he's not, and then revealing himself to Theon later.

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It's on par with the books right now, more or less. Theon was still "whole enough" to have some fight left in him during the whole Kyra and her keys fiasco.

I'm sure after Ramsay plays his twisted game and we fade to black for another season, we'll see a truly wrecked Reek.

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I'm not at all concerned with how they have shown him. He was crucified, he had a nail driven into his hand (which with all the little bones in there is not a small wound in an era of questionable medical capabilities) and he has had a screw driven through his foot which most likely has ruined that foot.

The lashes are the least of his worries from what we saw.

I also believe that the escape is either staged or that he gets caught very quickly.

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I'm hoping they leave a lot of the torture off screen. Maybe we'll just hear about it or something. It was gruesome going in the books. The second time through, I was actually contemplating skipping the Theon chapters becasue it was all too grisly for my taste, but you do have to read them to get the whole story. I'm just wondering how much they can do to poor Alfie Allen to make him look starved, mangled, aged and missing a bunch of digits.

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