Did Ramsay torture Theon for any reason other than that he was a sadist?

[Kiss of Fire]

Roose allowing Ramsey to torture Theon also makes it appear as though House Bolton is still loyal to the North when in fact, they are loyal to the South/Lannisters.

[Naathi Prince]

Roose allowing Ramsey to torture Theon also makes it appear as though House Bolton is still loyal to the North when in fact, they are loyal to the South/Lannisters.

House Bolton is loyal to House Bolton.

[Dove]

Ramsay tortured Theon because he's a short-sighted sadist who needed a new Reek, with the perk of being able to break an arrogant man coming along with it.

Roose allowed it because he didn't care - he put a stop to it for as long as they needed Theon to be Theon, and then he went right back to not carin'.

[A Man Has Said]

I think the simple answer to your question OP is that Ramsey also hunted naked women down with dogs, and named his bitches after the ones who gave him the best chases. Does that sound like reasonable, purposeful behaviour to you?

Ramsey may well have had secondary reasons, but primarily I think it was just sadism.

[Dagon Greyjoy]

Roose allowing Ramsey to torture Theon also makes it appear as though House Bolton is still loyal to the North when in fact, they are loyal to the South/Lannisters.

It's still a dumb-ass decision. Had the Lannisters accepted a Greyjoy alliance, mangling Theon irrepairably would be a massive liability. That's Roose being short-sighted or perhaps lacking the spine to put a stop to his bastard's antics. Keeping Theon as a regular prisoner or torturing him without causing serious permanent damage would have been infinitely safer for House Bolton.

[Young Nan]

It's still a dumb-ass decision. Had the Lannisters accepted a Greyjoy alliance, mangling Theon irrepairably would be a massive liability. That's Roose being short-sighted or perhaps lacking the spine to put a stop to his bastard's antics. Keeping Theon as a regular prisoner or torturing him without causing serious permanent damage would have been infinitely safer for House Bolton.

or would it? As I was saying above, house Greyjoy doesn't really care, Balon dies and Euron takes over shortly after Theon is captured. Having Theon dead was actually advantageous to Euron, so he wouldn't have a rival claimant to the throne, either by Theon challenging the kingsmoot(since he wasn't there) or just by right of being Balon's oldest son. The Boltons probably knew that, and thats why Roose allowed it.

yes, the bastard was doing it out of sadism, but Roose wouldnt allow it for a minute if they feared repercussions.

[RoamingRonin]

1. It goes with Ramsay's character. He's sadistic. Vile. Evil. Cruel. Torturing Theon is what he does.

2. It gives the reader satisfaction for Theon's crimes.

[Dagon Greyjoy]

IIRC, Ramsay starts mutilating Theon before Balon dies. Had Balon not conveniently died and had Tyrion still been in charge and accepted a Greyjoy alliance, Ramsay's antics would've put Roose in deep crap. The Boltons don't know the Greyjoys don't give a damn about Theon, and a saner Balon aligning with the Iron Throne might well demand the King's Justice.

The Boltons get away with things because fortune favors the wicked in Westeros, not because they're particularly brilliant schemers.

[Naathi Prince]

IIRC, Ramsay starts mutilating Theon before Balon dies. Had Balon not conveniently died and had Tyrion still been in charge and accepted a Greyjoy alliance, Ramsay's antics would've put Roose in deep crap. The Boltons don't know the Greyjoys don't give a damn about Theon, and a saner Balon aligning with the Iron Throne might well demand the King's Justice.

The Boltons get away with things because fortune favors the wicked in Westeros, not because they're particularly brilliant schemers.

You really think the Lannisters want to invade the North?

[yolkboy]

Ramsay just wants his friend Reek back.

Theon was the next best thing, but needed training.

Is that really so bad?

[Dagon Greyjoy]

Of course they don't. But what if Tyrion had demanded Ramsay's head on a spike? Suddenly Roose Bolton becomes heirless.

Though truth be told, Roose could always just legitimize another bastard (he had only one? for real?), or remarry and name a cousin as heir, or whatever. Being heirless should be a step up from Ramsay-as-heir for anybody.

[Naathi Prince]

Of course they don't. But what if Tyrion had demanded Ramsay's head on a spike? Suddenly Roose Bolton becomes heirless.

Though truth be told, Roose could always just legitimize another bastard (he had only one? for real?), or remarry and name a cousin as heir, or whatever. Being heirless should be a step up from Ramsay-as-heir for anybody.

which roose would have done if things got that out of hand.

[Dove]

Though truth be told, Roose could always just legitimize another bastard (he had only one? for real?), or remarry and name a cousin as heir, or whatever. Being heirless should be a step up from Ramsay-as-heir for anybody.

I've wondered this too. I find it hard to believe that he is the only bastard, since Roose sounds so uncharacteristically impulsive when he relates the story of the miller's wife. You have to figure that's not the first or the last time he did something like that, but I don't know. His cold, calm persona is really at odds with it.

Just like "A quiet land, a peaceful people" is extremely at odds with "FIRST NIGHT RIGHTS BITCHES". Roose is a strange character.

Maybe there's others but the miller's wife was just the only one brave enough to come forward.

[Sansouci]

Ramsay tortured Theon because he's a short-sighted sadist who needed a new Reek, with the perk of being able to break an arrogant man coming along with it.

Roose allowed it because he didn't care - he put a stop to it for as long as they needed Theon to be Theon, and then he went right back to not carin'.

I think Roose allows Ramsay to behave as he does because, sometimes it serves his purpose to have someone do the dirty work, but I think he wants to keep Ramsay as an ever ready patsy. Someone that can be easliy blamed and "thrown to the wolves" as would be necessary. He cleary has disdain for Ramsay for killing his legitimate heir. I think it is just a matter of time before Ramsay is removed by Roose.

[lostinwesteros]

Yes, Ramsay is a sadist. As a previous poster noted, he made a game of letting women think they were escaping, then hunting them down and killing them, naming his dogs after them, etc. I may be missing the boat, but I don't think it was political except in capturing Winterfell. That made Theon a prisoner.

Roose is obviously a strange character. He knew that Ramsay had killed his son and would kill any child he had with Fat Walda. He used leeches on a regular basis to leech the 'bad' (I.e., sadistic) out of himself. And . . . What kind of sigil is a flayed man, anyway? Even the name of their castle was The DREADfort.

But why Roose allowed Ramsay to have "free reign" is beyond me, unless Roose got vicarious pleasure thru Ramsay's torturing/killing/maiming people. Or, maybe he thought if he allowed Ramsay to have a "pet" then he wouldn't turn his sadistic attention elsewhere.

[Direwolfsigil]

Perhaps he used Bran and Rickons vengeance as later public justification, but he definitely did it to satisfy his own sick pleasures and not much else.

[StarkDragon]

I'm not altogether sure Balon would have made any ransom for Theon. Perhaps I misinterpreted, but I thought Balon had been planning to strike the North before Theon even got there.

Now, Ramsay's a sadistic ass, but how often does he get to show his work? Let people marvel at his malevolence?

Belittle his victim infront of others, let him roll like a dog, and have him even beat down by others.

Ramsay did what he did to Theon because as Theon was a Turncloak, the North would actually allow him to do these monstrous things, and even support it.

Roose likely just wanted a card to play at manipulating the Ironborn, which he did indeed end up using Theon for.

[Makes No Sansa]

Theon has something Ramsay values a lot and will never have: he's highborn. Ramsay is a bastard no matter what, and can't live with that. Add to that the fact that Theon's a cocky guy and you have Ramsay doing what he did. Theon was cocky, now he's just "y" 'cause he has no cock.

[Dagon Greyjoy]

"He didn't dare touch her, in anger nor in lust." Theon doesn't think he can't shag the spearwife, but that he doesn't dare to try. That's post-Dreadfort, IIRC.

It's far from certain Ramsay cut his penis off: What if, for example, Ramsay chose to, say, flay one of Theon's testicles? (in addition to rape, branding, etc.) The original Reek participated in rapes with Ramsay. Didn't the original Reek reek so badly because he was a necrophiliac?

[AvengerofWinterfell]

why do psychopaths do anything? because they want to and they can. He knows he cant kill Theon, but no one said anything about torturing the hell out of him. After all, who really cares? Everyone but the Greyjoys want him dead or are indifferent to him.