Asha Wrote the Bastard Letter (Theon I, TWOW Spoilers)

[Boi]

What is wrong with this website doing double posts off an edit? Futher not having a delete function to this flaw

[Boi]

Always Tea'ed was curious which tea you where drinking? I am glad you picked that up because it was infact deepwood motte.

Ludicurous without any reasonable iota of common sense. Stannis the king saying my head is on a spike, my prized sword the one that made me lightbringer reborn. But gone and lost my head and the Bastard is now twirlling my lightbringer. Mance we had killed for his royal blood so could win this damn war is now alive. Being why Mance alone requires ransom. Here bastard read this the Tureborn Lord of Winterfell commands you. Asha using flakes of pink wax to make another seal again utterly stupid or having a captured maester ear as a prisoner. She couldn't have had all the information on Stannis his Kin and the wildling boy. Or wouldn't speak about her bother as reek in that way. Theon possibly would have come to some of his senses enough to stand with honour infront of his sister and a king.

Asha may have learnt of a wildling princess. The wildling boy. Stannis his entire family and next you will be telling me she knew how many soliders are on the wall.

Stannis knows nothing of Mance or Abel. All the secrecy from Mel and the explict conversation to Jon to keep him quiet saying Stannis did not know. A convert Op for Mance and the spearwives. Nobody else new of the plan at that time. Eventually others are told etc.

You whole sherlock holmes arguement of who done it. Such thin thinking ultimately clucthing at straws which turn to be flakes of dust. Stannis probably would simply ask for assistance as he had already sought Jon advice and knew of some Wildlings. Asha or Theon would also simply tell Jon they have his sister not make up the impossible. None of these people had real motive to write that letter in that way, most weren't clever enough to know all the facts

They are not the evil geniuses used to make that deception with those words. Litterally they would have to be a maniac to write that or somebody who was so exceptionally smart diabolically clever and knew all of that information. Perhaps your arguement will hold, I am so doubtful considering it to be a mummers farce to think it was Asha or Theon or Stannis

[three-eyed monkey]

Boi, I can only laugh. I'm not sure if you're even serious.

You're the one that said Thorren Square, not me. I told you it was Deepwood Motte.

You're the one who asked where the pink wax came from, and I told you the maester from the Dreadfort or possibly Asha's letter which could be in Stannis' possesion.

You're the one who asked how Asha knew about the wildling princess, and I told you. I agree about the wildling prince, this was an objection I raised to the Asha theory in an earlier post if you even bothered to read the whole thread. If you did you seem to have missed as much as you missed when you read the books.

Stannis told Jon he spent hours talking with Mance, so he does know about him. While it is unlikely Stannis knew that Mel revealed Mance to Jon and sent him to Winterfell, it's not conclusive whether Stannis knew about the switch with Rattleshirt or not. Also, Stannis does know about Abel, and the washerwomen that helped Theon escape. The details are discussed throughout the thread so I won't repeat it all again. It might be easier for everyone else if you gave reading it another shot.

I'm not going to bother explaining the motive for Stannis writing the letter or the reason he can't ask Jon for help, but there is a thread on it in the general forum.

P.S. if that's your post after the edit, then I don't think I'd have fancied trying to make sense of it before.

[Boi]

I threw in the some confusion to add to conversation because nobody seems to pay any attention outside of the impossible. Deepwood Motte isn't Torhen Square obviously no.

You seem to have a sent notion that somehow Stannis survives. Your defense is based on a letter. This letter was logical enough to spurn the commander of the Nightwatch to break rules and code. Charge off to war resulting in what followed in his line Ceaser. Without logically questioning it fully first

Stannis had zero knowledge of Mance not being burned. This is simple logic which also lends a stronger case to your assumed assumptions of him being behind the letter. Because that letter states clearly Mance's betrayal in writing. There is no way Stannis would charge off to war without being blessed beforehand, as he had been in every other conflict. What you are suggesting was only as a simple ruse to lull the wildlings in line. Instead of meant also as kings blood a blessing for his victory, no real wonder it failed. Also wasn't the justice of Stannis, NO who implicitly sated he would kill Mance because of the kings law. This was also stated in the book in through a converstation with Mel - Jon.at a few different points saying Stannis had no knowledge of Mance.

Asha might say my reek as her brother. Though ultimately questionable because she refers would likely refer to him as kin. She was a prisioner of Stannis army and your assuming way to much of her current position. That she is able to gain appiontment with access to much information, and supplies. She would not be have been entitled to them. Okay I understand you. She escaped and stole the ravens maesters ink, wax and maester.This is while she personally talked to Stannis first, gaining that futher information on Jon, Stannis his kin the baby. Yadda yadda yadda yaw, it is to baffling to accept these assumptions

Your whole hypothesis is based on Stannis humbling himself in accepting his defeat. Head on a spike his stolen precious sword. This for a simple deception. This is not the Stannis we have been reading about. He would have asked or rather demanded from Jon. Asha is clever but that is even beyond her means and knowledge, She could have simply said I have your sister Jon, then playing him for a ruse. Jon likely would send the Wildlings to retrieve his sister.Still Asha would be unaware of all of the troops any at his command. Mance told Theon is clucthing at straws. Mance wrote the letter and gave to Theon NO. Theon might not have gotten to his destination or escaped. Stannis got Asha to write the letter, both she and Theon have kings blood a sacrifice more like. To gain him victory as Theon would be put to Stannis justice a pity on his condition.

It would have taken a maniac or somebody very diabolically clever to get Jon's reaction. While that same person held a lot of information that none or your theorised characters fully possessed. If you cannot read logic and you want to debate my post with more infactual iinadequacies fell free just don't expect me to believe your mummers farce or drink the same cup of brew your selling here.

There is doubt because it was left as suspence on simple facts of inevitability. Without your reasoning this conclussion seems quite cut and dry. There is doubt and speculation because we haven't had the end as fact. The only way to sell that doubt would be to have a separate entity then which you have suggested as having that master stroke of genius through writing that letter.

[Sandy Clegg]

There seems to be a lot of evidence hinting at Asha having some sort of plan up her sleeve. But then there's the tone of the letter being so Ramsay in nature...

Might it not be possible that everyone got it a little bit correct? Asha sends a letter by raven to the Dreadfort, purporting to be from the Frey who was sent out to battle Stannis saying that he has been defeated (including capture of his 'magic sword') and that Theon and co. escaped to the Wall. Ramsay seizes this info and writes the pink letter, perhaps even with Mance's help?

Late at night and haven't thought this through totally, but I do think the arguments from various sides are too convincing for only one 'version' to be completely true.

Love reading them, though :)

[The Killer Snark]

A point here which everyone seems to be missing is that both of the Greyjoy siblings, especially Asha, will know of the situation with Melisandre either firsthand (via Asha's witnessing of sacrifice) or through gossip because the soldiers will be disgruntled, and have little else to do at camp. Both characters will have had a chance to confer concerning Stannis' relationship with Melisandre because they are hardly going to be strictly monitored at every minute of the day. And we already know Stannis' followers are a bit of a gossipsome bunch.

It's unlikely to be Mance not only because he doesn't have firsthand knowledge of Ramsay's letter-writing style or much of his style of oratory, and doesn't have the means to send a letter anyway. Besides, he's most likely dead. Mance and the spearwives went into this situation knowing exactly what they were up against and would have preferred to kill themselves or die in battle rather than getting taken alive for slow death by skinning.

It's unlikely to have been Stannis because he doesn't have the requisite subtlety of mind or talent for dissembling. Also, why would he go along with any plan Theon and Asha have concocted when he's planning to execute Theon anyway and still thinks he killed Bran and Rickon? Also, he doesn't have the requisite knowledge of Ramsay to write it convincingly on his own.

Asha, however, presumably still has the letter she received at Deepwood Motte and probably still has the wax from it. Theon can no longer write, so he simply dictated the letter to her and she sent it off when no one was watching, in case anyone assumed they were up to a trick against their captors. She was able to forge the writing based on the Deepwood letter. Also, there's an element to the writing style that if you look at it closely actually reeks of parody.

The other candidate is Ramsay. Some things don't add up here. He obviously hasn't wiped Stannis out or checked to see if his men have fallen to the weather and starvation, or he'd have found both Greyjoys and Jeyne, who surely weren't capable of making an escape or trip to the north. Also, how does he know that Jon hasn't been legitimised (he keeps calling him 'bastard', and Theon knows Jon's illegitimacy was a reason he felt he never belonged, but Ramsay doesn't: but Theon assumes Ramsay would use this insult anyway because he hated reference to his own original name Snow)? How does he know for certain that if Jon had been legitimised (though he hasn't been, but we know that as readers) that this isn't partly the reason Stannis is coming to reclaim Winterfell? And why, if Stannis' troops are still there, as they seem to be, is he choosing to antagonise the wildlings, which he'd have no knowledge of, along with Melisandre's followers (ditto, seeing as Mance and the wildlings would have been unlikely to spill the beans by being taken alive), along with Jon and perhaps The Night Watch into the bargain when he's already being besieged and knows full well the horrible fate he'd receive at the hands of a man like Stannis if captured? It simply does not add up.

Asha wrote the letter, and Theon composed it. This is his act of revenge, and probably the reason he's still keeping quiet about Bran and Rickon being alive so he gives nothing away regarding how the Greyjoy siblings have worked without Stannis' consultation. Either that, or he doesn't think the admission would make any difference to his fate, so why would he have dictated the letter to Stannis? And it was imperative to send it off as soon as possible before Theon was chained up again because of the dire straits that everyone was in, especially the Greyjoys, starving away in a frozen camp. Doubters, add what I've written to the OP which inspired my own deductions and tell me this conclusion doesn't make perfect sense.

[mushroomshirt]

There seems to be a lot of evidence hinting at Asha having some sort of plan up her sleeve. But then there's the tone of the letter being so Ramsay in nature...

Might it not be possible that everyone got it a little bit correct? Asha sends a letter by raven to the Dreadfort, purporting to be from the Frey who was sent out to battle Stannis saying that he has been defeated (including capture of his 'magic sword') and that Theon and co. escaped to the Wall. Ramsay seizes this info and writes the pink letter, perhaps even with Mance's help?

Late at night and haven't thought this through totally, but I do think the arguments from various sides are too convincing for only one 'version' to be completely true.

Love reading them, though :)

I think you mean Winterfell, but why would Asha do this? I think it is more likely that Asha sent the letter to the wall as the OP suggests. It seems pretty risky for Asha to send the letter to WF not knowing how Ramsay might react. Better just to send the letter to Jon herself.

Stannis has a strong motivation to deceive Ramsay. He is about to fight a battle with Ramsay (who has a great advantage because he holds Winterfell) and would be looking for any advantage he can get. Also there is a strong clue when Stannis says to Massey something like "you may hear that I am dead..." If Stannis were planning on using the Karstark maester to trick Ramsay into thinking that he was dead, this is exactly what he would say to Massey.

[Boi]

The cold logic is Winter is coming and to that logic alone Stannis stand a threat. it is far easier to dispose of his character for the destruction that will follow then having remain in this story..

There is so many simple inexplictable facts which remain against any supposed reasoning from whatever brew drunk when concocting these hypothetical and illogical assumptions.

Stannis never admits defeat and not once in his entire career have we ever seen or read of that. Through his Iron will by following justice and acting out his own pride his personnal claim of his rights as King. A notion of an innate dreamer to suggest Stannis bowing or lessening himself. Asha is the girl which runs away, strong and capable in a sense of combat being an Ironborn as dull as dishwater coming from drinking far to much saltwater. She is no evil genius of such cunning to devise strategy which would make any cheesemonger bankrupt. Theon was reek litterally scrambled.

After placing these facts in your are left which huge gaps in any actual evidence which leads to senarios of the impossible concerning so much happenstances of fact. That if this assumption lead to this event, while this character knew this, when there is absolutely no book knowledge to suggest that they ever did, or them having had any actual capabilities. Being left here hugely by the rantings of lunatics who want their own dream endings

One can only assume a bravado that if there is this doubt, for it to hold any reasoning. Another party is involved and not any of the characters here. Mance was abel to let a raven fly from Winterfell before getting captured. The braavosi banker who contains intelligence conducted this entire scheme having present knowledge. Mleisandre devised the scheme through her flames. A thrid party although not suggesting these Is far more likely in any senario. Then that from placing any suggestion on Stannis, Theon or Asha. Although in any real event still largely consumed by all original doubts to fact

[Mayura]

I think GRRM released the Theon gift chapter for a reason: so fans will discuss the letter. I find it very disturbing that 2 important elements that are mentionned in the Theon chapter (namely: Stannis referring to his pretend/real death - imo he is clearly planning to fake his death, otherwise he wouldn't need to say "you might hear I am dead. It might even be true": obviously he plans for people to think he is dead) and Theon mentionning "he wants his bride back. He wants his Reek.") are later found in the Bastard letter.

We know from Theon I:

• Theon says the sentence "He wants his bride, he wants his Reek"
  
• Stannis gives hints that news of his death is going to spread and that "it might be true" (which means he doesn't intend it to be true but it might actually happen)
  
• Stannis has ravens which can fly to Winterfell
  
• These events happen before the last Jon chapter
  

All these informations are gathered in the same chapter, and to my opinion, it is for a specific reason. It seems to me that Stannis wants to trap Ramsay and take Winterfell back when nobody is expecting it. Hence the best move would be not to reveal he has discovered the Karstark treason but to make everyone believe they've succeeded in taking Stannis down. Without a corpse, the only token that could make anyone believe in Stannis's death is his Lightbringer. We know Stannis is quite desperate and it seems to me he found a plan during the Gift Chapter.

As for the Bastard letter:

• We don't know in what kind of ink it's written, no clue is given
  
• BUT, Jon has already received a letter from Ramsay and noted the distinctive spiky writing. However, he still identifies this specific letter as coming from bastard Ramsay. Whether it is precipitation or not, he doesn't doubt the origin of the letter despite reading it several times.
  
• As to why Ramsay would like to hold the wildling pricess and the wildling babe: to him, maybe they are the key to controlling the wildlings and it would be better to have a way to have them in his pocket if he's going to rule the North.
  
• As to why he wants Selyse and Shireen: if he considers Stannis to be a "false king", I assume he means to exterminate his heir or to deliver them to his "true king".
  
• About Melisandre, the most logical thing is to want her to have at his service.
  

The things that are bugging me about the letter:

• Who is the "true king" if Stannis is the "false one"? Are the Bolton still linked to King Tommen? Because it didn't seem like the Lannisters planned to give the North to the Boltons, but it might have indeed changed with Tywin's death.
  
• The "I want my Reek" bit makes no sense as Jon wouldn't know who Reek is unless Theon had reached the Wall or the author thinks Theon has reeched the Wall. And it doesn't seem likely, after reading Theon I, that Stannis plans to send Theon to the Wall. It seems more likely Ramsay had the information from the spearwives/Mance who hoped the plan went smoothly. Whoever wrote the letter, it is someone who thinks Theon + fArya reached the Wall quite some time ago, and that Jon now knows who Reek is.
  
• The sentence that makes Jon loose it is "I want my bride back" or "I will have my bride back" (I don't know which one exactly, but Jon repeats a sentence 3 times in his head before loosing it). However, I don't really get why it gets to Jon so much, as "I want my bride back" means that "Ramsay" doesn't have his bride anymore. So I assume it is just a trigger that makes Jon realise everything that has happened to his siblings and to Winterfell (as, right before, he sees Robb with his hair full of snow, Rickon's smile, Arya's mussy hair etc).
  
• While Ramsay's letter is clearly addressed to Jon "Bastard" Snow, there is one other person who the author means to have the attention from: it is Melisandre. The letter says "I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore". Why does he need Melisandre to know that? Is it so she can check in her fires and see something specific? That is the point that bugs me the most: why does the author wants Melisandre's attention?
  

Anyway, it indeed seems to me that the letter has been written by a frustrated Ramsay. He might haven Mance and the Spearwives, and he may believe Stannis is dead, but he still feels threathened because Stannis's family + melisandre, the wildling "lordlings" and the loss of fArya are so many threats to his already week position in the North. Provoking Jon is completely Ramsay's style.

Now, as to why anyone would want Jon to go down to Winterfell, the only reason I can imagine that happening is that someone wants the Wall to be very much deforced. It is quite logical that Jon is not going to give up any of the persons the author requires, even if he goes to to Winterfell, it is a sure thing he is going to keep them safe at the Wall. But if Jon goes with a fraction of the NW's men, it means the Wall is easier to attack. Which could be interesting for both Mance and/or Ramsay (who could take advantage to re-take Arya and co)

@Boi: to be honest, I think it's more likely Ramsay (or with a stretch, Mance), wrote the letter, but it is absolutely not "stupid" to discuss other theories. If GRRM released this particular chapter, it is because he must have known it would give the fans a reason to discuss the Bastard Letter. And knowing the author, we might very well be surprised by the actual author!

[three-eyed monkey]

The things that are bugging me about the letter:

• Who is the "true king" if Stannis is the "false one"? Are the Bolton still linked to King Tommen? Because it didn't seem like the Lannisters planned to give the North to the Boltons, but it might have indeed changed with Tywin's death.
  
• The "I want my Reek" bit makes no sense as Jon wouldn't know who Reek is unless Theon had reached the Wall or the author thinks Theon has reeched the Wall. And it doesn't seem likely, after reading Theon I, that Stannis plans to send Theon to the Wall. It seems more likely Ramsay had the information from the spearwives/Mance who hoped the plan went smoothly. Whoever wrote the letter, it is someone who thinks Theon + fArya reached the Wall quite some time ago, and that Jon now knows who Reek is.
  
• The sentence that makes Jon loose it is "I want my bride back" or "I will have my bride back" (I don't know which one exactly, but Jon repeats a sentence 3 times in his head before loosing it). However, I don't really get why it gets to Jon so much, as "I want my bride back" means that "Ramsay" doesn't have his bride anymore. So I assume it is just a trigger that makes Jon realise everything that has happened to his siblings and to Winterfell (as, right before, he sees Robb with his hair full of snow, Rickon's smile, Arya's mussy hair etc).
  
• While Ramsay's letter is clearly addressed to Jon "Bastard" Snow, there is one other person who the author means to have the attention from: it is Melisandre. The letter says "I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore". Why does he need Melisandre to know that? Is it so she can check in her fires and see something specific? That is the point that bugs me the most: why does the author wants Melisandre's attention?
  

If GRRM released this particular chapter, it is because he must have known it would give the fans a reason to discuss the Bastard Letter. And knowing the author, we might very well be surprised by the actual author!

Firstly, I agree completely that the chapter was released to leave us with a between-books puzzle. I believe the chapter was meant to be in Dance but got pushed back to Winds. But my thoughts on the above, as someone who believes Stannis wrote the letter:

Roose Bolton was made Warden of the North for his part in the RW, so the Boltons do consider Tommen to be the true king, I suppose. But the use of the term "False King" would be a good way for Stannis to disguise the fact that he is the author, considering that he's always telling everyone he is the true king.

"I want my Reek" will not make much sense to Jon, but what better way to make the letter sound like it came from Ramsay than to use a phrase of his, regardless of it's meaning. I'm sure Stannis didn't know what it meant when Theon said it to him, but that doesn't mean he could use it if he thinks it is something Ramsay would be angry about. Theon tells Stannis that Ramsay won't be far behind the Freys and Manderlys because he wants his bride and he wants his Reek. If you're going to forge a demanding letter from Ramsay, then there are two demands you could include in the composition.

I agree that "I want my bride," was the trigger for Jon. I think it would be very foolish of Ramsay to tell Jon that his half-sister is no longer a hostage in Winterfell. I might make sense for Stannis to tell him though, in case the matter dissuades Jon from getting involved.

And finally, "I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore." Good question, why does the author need Mel to know that? It is a puzzling line and I have spent way, way too long thinking about it and have had to resort to what most will regard as crackpottery to come up with a possible answer. I'll throw it out there even if I'm not fully convinced myself. Mel says the best glamours are built on such things as bones, locks of hair, a dead man's boots. Stannis sword is a glamour, from what we can gather. So what is the sword-glamour built upon? Is it something, like a lock of Mel's hair or a ruby, that Stannis keeps on his person? And will the glamour work if Stannis and the sword are separated? Ramsay might take Stannis' sword, but would it remain a magic/glamoured sword if he did? If not then this coded line in the letter would alert Mel, but not Jon, to the fact the letter is a forgery. A lot of assumptions there, granted.

[Boi]

The Theon extra chapters excerpts gave Stannis a few outs. Stannis magically grew a pair, which he didn't have as the book closed. Ultimately designed for suspnese to how the book ended leaving some question. He might still if the approaching army which he is confident of, bends the knee by helping him defeat those incoming, his boys inside continue his biding.....

Bringing about questions drawn into this thread of an imposters letter.

Stannis would not send a letter saying he is dead to anyone. What you have been descibing is litterally a red herring. That anybody else outside of the sender would have sent that letter.

It was clearly a maniac who wrote that letter having held information, but possibly taking to much credit for his victory

The extra chapter has given Stannis those few outs for more suspence. Still very bleak, although now maybe possible to any previous conclussion. Theon must die, or the Northerners revolt who are uneasy, his own army wasn't in much shape at all, he lost the Karstark battalion who are awating his justice. An erroneous contract grown on trees for 20k merc's sending the banker home, but there isn't that number, which aren't at war. Still enough to send his one good knight looking. Theon tells Jayne she needs to remember her skills, and Ahsa pleads for her brother, because he told her what happened. Ninja's at Winterfell, escoted Theon back. A big army on approach is only at half strength, most having stayed within the walls. A measter captured who pissed his breechs incoherently. Who added ravens to take the piss out of Theon who was needed, but is about to hang.

[Mayura]

The Theon extra chapters excerpts gave Stannis a few outs. Stannis magically grew a pair, which he didn't have as the book closed. Ultimately designed for suspnese to how the book ended leaving some question, he might stilll.....

Bringing about questions drawn into this thread of an imposters letter.

Stannis would not send a letter saying he is dead to anyone, what you have been descibing is litterally a red herring that anybody else would have sent that letter.

It was clearly a maniac who wrote that letter having held information, but possibly taking to much credit for his victory

The extra chapter has given Stannis those few outs for suspence. Still bleak. Theon must die or the Northerners revolt, his army wasn't in much shape, and he lost the Karstark battalion who are awating justice. An erroneous contract grown on trees for 20k merc's, when that aren't any that aren't at war. Still enough to send his one good knight looking. Jayne needs to remember her skills, and Ahsa pleads for her brother, because he told her what happened. Ninja's at Winterfell, escoted Theon back and an army on approach at half strength, because most had stayed in the walls. A measter captured who pissed his breechs incoherently. Who added ravens to take the piss out Theon.

Well, you write like you know something that we don't :)

The fact that, in your opinion, Stannis would not try to trick anyone into believing he is dead, is still just an opinion. There is nothing in the books (in the 5 first books + gift chapters) that tells us Stannis wouln't use such a ruse. He is clearly in a bad position and, tbh, trying to outsmart Ramsay and his allies seems to be is only option right now. (to my opinion, of course)

And as this sentence

Bringing about questions drawn into this thread of an imposters letter.

Stannis would not send a letter saying he is dead to anyone, what you have been descibing is litterally a red herring that anybody else would have sent that letter.

To the contrary, I, personally, still believe Ramsay sent the letter but that some of the stories contained in the Bastard's letter are inaccurate. I believe, according to the details given in Theon I TWOW, that Ramsay has been tricked into believing some information by Stannis's camp. Hence explaining why some of the letter's content is false.

@Three-eyed-monkey: very interesting, I've also wondered whether the letter didn't contain a coded message that was meant to be understood by Mel. After all, Jon notes that she foresaw the bad news coming (Jon remembers she said something like "look at the sky") and she told him to send for her at once once he noticed she spoke the truth. It is true it is only speculation, but I've always wondered what was the deal between Mance and Mel. The "tell his red witch" is very strange because it means the author is expecting Jon to bring the matter to Mel. It is true that, if Mance (or anyone) was meant to send a coded message, the only way was to try to mimic Ramsay's style...

Anyway I can't wait to find out the solution to this problem :-)

[Boi]

Please google red herring and read the entire tale of it. It is what is being paused around here for assumptions

We have a Theon chapter which is showing Theon's view. Granted it was only excerpts but this leaves me to conclude why it wasn't a Stannis chapter? if Theon isn't dead, from the kings justice.

Explain to me why king Stannis would not command Jon instead of pretending to be all dead? Or how through his brittle hard justice would make such a ruse?. Saying my head on a spike, my whore the red witch is needed, as I have lost my weapon. Please feel free Bastard to reiterate, because I need to reek.

Granted he is a maniac without full facts and in glee to taunt, but also when drawing more men into the conflict, strikes me as homicidal. He had tortured information out of Mance possibly in command being father had gone out with the army,.so he got all arrogant. Or is there more truth in that letter..

Stannis like Kevan pose a threat to Winter. In the simple fact they unite armies only a matter of time before Stannis is marching south and we will be reading about it for decades,. all speculation. Maybe he will hold the wall and become the next commander, as king of the wall.

[three-eyed monkey]

@ Boi. Stannis tried to command Jon to take the name Stark and become Lord of Winterfell on a number of occasions but Jon refused, quoting his NW vows. So asking Jon nicely again isn't going to do it, hence the need for subterfuge. That's the basis of the Stannis theory at least.

[Boi]

You make me laugh so much,. Just as my joke should have got to your monkeyeye.

How can there be any real assumption it was Stannis that sent the letter? He is hard brittle ironwill and justice. But NO, believing in fairies. Stannis is not subtle he has big huge fire sword what part of subterfuge is possible in that context..

A red herring leads this whole wild goose chase of who has gone and wrote that letter apart from the sender, in order to build some suspense. I might choke my words but I am doubtful, I could accept that all the facts aren't correct, I do genuinely believe it to be the work of a maniac and not the king.

[The Killer Snark]

So no takers on the Theon dictating to Arya theory? I believe that the sample chapter probably happens just before Jon gets the letter, but that the letter was sent some time before. It's either Theon or Ramsay, and Mance is unlikely for reasons I've already delineated above. The letter seems a suicidal move and too many things don't add up even in terms of Ramsay's insanity. And Stannis seems unlikely to come up with such beautifully measured prose as....

Your false king's friends are dead. Their heads upon the walls of Winterfell. Come see them, bastard. Your false king lied, and so did you. You told the world you burned the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Instead you sent him to Winterfell to steal my bride from me.

Here is the way that the average reader, at least with an ear for poetry, would tend to phrase the lines:

Your false king's friends are dead.

Their heads upon the walls

of Winterfell. Come see

them, bastard.

Your false king lied, and so did you.

You told the world you burned

the King-Beyond-the-Wall.

Instead you sent him to Winterfell

to steal my bride from me.

It is actually prose-poetry. The first two lines based on the breaks the reader would add, above, constitute straight iambic hexameter, and the reader would pick them up as such (at least subliminally) with no strain because the stresses are so regular. There's also this:

We HAVE his MAgic SWORD. Tell HIS red WHORE.

Iambic pentameter. Frank Herbert was the first to use the device of burying iambic pentameters within his prose in order to give a subliminal sense of rhetorical elegance regardless of whether or not people picked up on the stresses. But here, it's fairly obvious, because of how the sentences are broken up. I'm not saying Stannis would be incapable of writing this way, not at all. He's evidently IMO far cleverer than Ramsay. But it wouldn't occur to him to do so. That's my point.

Discounting Mance, who doesn't actually know Ramsay, the verbal cleverness Theon at least evinces in his POVs and his prior proximity to Ramsay make him the perfect candidate to imitate his style.

[Boi]

Theon is hung up to a tree about to be executed to appease the northerners so they don't kill him, or leave Stannis freezing to death. Theon had told Asha what had happened, but she is a prisoner having no access. Now she is in more danger then ever, as Justin has been sent to hire sellswords. She wouldn't be breaking in and stealing anything rather getting the F out there. Jayne was already sent away, is also losing her nose and a victim.

Stannis so doubtful he could possibly write that letter, it would be so out of his character.

A red herring added to make suspenseful guesswork. Some of the facts and the way the message has been written do not fully make sense. Meaning, it might not likely be completely factual, hence certain doubts. As readers we know what Ramsay is like when he is threatened, he has another psychotic episode which leads to his loss of logic. If it is not infact true

[The Killer Snark]

But as I've already mentioned, the Greyjoy siblings would have had a chance to confer before Theon got stuck on a wall, and probably had the letter and the seal on it she got at Deepwood Motte. All Asha has to do, at the worst, as far as anyone knows, is to give someone a sexual favour in exchange for access to ink, pen and paper, and a raven to send the note. A guess, but not a presumptuous one. The letter did not have to have been written after the events of the sample Theon chapter. I have a hunch it's a lot more likely it was sent off earlier than that.

[Boi]

Impossible logic, Asha was naked and getting it 7 ways to sunday before the attack at deepwood motte. Favours would likely see her burned when the raven cages are in Stannis personal quarters, being a man of honour would not allow himself any greyscales.

The only way to swing this in all of the seven hells is if Stannis and Jon had an elaborate secret code. Defying all common sense because Jon was given plenty of opportunity to hold the title of Winterfell which he refused. He also read the letter infront of his men breaking his honour and duty to charge off to war resulting in Ceaser. There is no way Stannis through subterfuge could have anticipated Jon's participation and he would have been seen as weak. So through a red herring wereby he mocks himself and ability as KING. By saying he is dead and defeated is the way for a KING to command his subjects or the realm. WTF????

Mance is a likely candidate for an earlier letter. Although ravens don't travel in snow storms and he wouldn't have sung himself to those cages

[The Killer Snark]

For an earlier letter, yes, you have a point, because Mance and Theon had a little talk whose full import has not been explained yet, if there was any more to it than the described rebellion. Mance at the moment I think is dead behind the scenes. But where would Mance have found the necessary documents in order to forge Ramsay's writing? The logical candidate for having one is Asha, because of the letter she received at Deepwood Motte.