Prince of Dragonstone Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 I understand the value of Theon to House Bolton in that he is the only one who knows that the Stark boys are still alive, but that is precisely why Theon should have been killed from the outset. Theon being alive has cost Roose more than he is worth. Torturing him has not produced Bran and Rickon and now he is going to blab to Stannis that they are still alive, evaporating Roose's claim to Winterfell and the North.Can anyone really give a good reason for exactly why they decided to spare Theon's life? It just seems like they would have had him executed because he knows too much.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedtheWarrior Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 The only reason that springs to mind immediately is that maybe Roose is trying to keep his bastard under control: he's letting him play with his new favourite toy for fear of the damage he'd cause if it was taken away from him. That's assuming that he wrote the letter demanding Reek back.I find Reek's chapters the most disturbing of the entire series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mother of The Others Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Didn't we see why in every Reek chapter? Their dream is to have a complete pokemon set of lords just like him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady of Castamere Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Flayed men holds no secrets while dead men can't tell them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrice Drowned Veteran Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Same reason why Stannis wants to execute him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Dragonstone Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 It just seems like an odd misstep for such a calculating man like Roose to allow such a loose end to go unattended like that. I guess he figured if he was locked away in the bowels of the Dreadfort he wouldn't be much of a liability, but then to bring Reek to Ramsay's wedding feast was foolish. I haven't read the book since 2011 so my memory on it is a little hazy but, as I recall, the reasoning of Theon being present at the wedding was so he could identify fake Jeyne as the real Jeyne, right? Well they could have done that in another way. It just seems to me that an alive Theon is much more troublesome to the Botlons than a dead one. They could have even cut out his tongue, given that they've cut off so many other parts already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Mac Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Ramsay keeps him alive for the lulz.As for Roose, I don't really know. I think he believes that its better that Ramsay has a consistent pet, so he doesn't cause more and more trouble trying to find new ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Monkey Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I think Roose Bolton's intelligence is a little overrated. He's definitely a sharp man, but he has a sadistic streak just like his son. He has better control of it but it's there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mother of The Others Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Well Theon isn't going to change the world by himself. Someone like Stannis would still have to change the world for Theon and sit him down on the seastone chair. So really nothing is risked by Theon being alive. Stannis will either defeat Bolton in the field or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otherbeef Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 It just seems like an odd misstep for such a calculating man like Roose to allow such a loose end to go unattended like that. I guess he figured if he was locked away in the bowels of the Dreadfort he wouldn't be much of a liability, but then to bring Reek to Ramsay's wedding feast was foolish. I haven't read the book since 2011 so my memory on it is a little hazy but, as I recall, the reasoning of Theon being present at the wedding was so he could identify fake Jeyne as the real Jeyne, right? Well they could have done that in another way. It just seems to me that an alive Theon is much more troublesome to the Botlons than a dead one. They could have even cut out his tongue, given that they've cut off so many other parts already.Theon needed to be the one to give "Arya" away and thus put down (well mostly) any suspicions that Jeyne isn't the real Arya. He was also used to get the ironmen out of Moat Cailin. He is probably still alive just because Roose and everyone else are preoccupied with Stannis, Frey/Manderly tensions, and murders around the castle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slender Aimry Hill Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Is it possible Lord Bolton ever intended to use Theon against the Iron Islands - Moat Cailin, on a macro scale - by installing him, as he hinted, as a puppet lord? Theon instantly assumed he was lying, but actually Roose is always scrupulous about referring to him and treating him as a lord-on-paper. Maybe he really had plans for the broken puppet with the perfect claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
young.wolf Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 maybe they want to use him to treat with the ironborn and then betray them like he did at moat cailin, but i dont see the crows eye falling for that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lordly Oak Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I'd have to reread the books to be sure, but I don't recall Roose ever indicating that he knew the Stark boys were alive. So, it seems entirely possible that Ramsay never told him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slender Aimry Hill Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 He knows. When father, son and creature are alone in Lord Stout's hall, Ramsay blurts out the truth in front of Roose in a way that implies he's done so repeatedly before, and Roose quickly re-coaches him in the 'truth' that 'Lord Eddard's sweet boys were slain by Theon Turncloak.' Reek, watching, muses that Ramsay's bitches are bred to hunt particular wolves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cas Stark Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 It's always a good thing to have a high lord as a hostage. And they've made good use of him. They got him to get the ironborn to surrender. They got him to pretend Jeyne Poole was Arya. They may have had designs of eventually taking over the Iron Islands in his name. Yes, it's going to be a big problem if/when Theon tells Stannis at the weirwood tree that Bran and Rickon are not dead, but they already had that problem, since Ramsey let Wex escape, and the Stark boys as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Damian Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 theon is the true king of the Iron Islands and can still be useful. Also, Ramsay likes his play things and Theon/Reek is his favorite toy, for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire Eater Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Ramsay can't bear the thought of losing another Reek, and his father told him that he better not lose this one like he did the last Reek, because he wasn't going to get Ramsay another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mynameiskyle Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Didn't we see why in every Reek chapter? Their dream is to have a complete pokemon set of lords just like him.Basically, THIS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Dragonstone Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 theon is the true king of the Iron Islands and can still be useful. Also, Ramsay likes his play things and Theon/Reek is his favorite toy, for now.I don't know how good a genital-less man would be as a potential claimant to the Seastone Chair though. It seems as if the Ironborn is a particularly macho and chauvinistic culture. They, like the Dothraki, seem to follow strength, not names, which is why they were more apt to respect and obey Asha over Theon in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Ramsay keeps him alive so that he can have lots of fun with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.