Domeric Bolton: The Black Sheep of The Boltons

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

Roose is telling Theon he thinks Ramsay killed Domeric (why would he tell such nasty things about his heir, when he could very well agree with his maester that it was a "sickness of the bowels" that killed D?), but if Dom really was the result of his wife cheating on him with Brandon Stark, then Roose would have a pretty damn good reason to kill Domerick himself and blame it on Ramsay. The shame of raising up a bastard son of none other than a Stark (whom the Boltons really hate) would certainly piss him off, and killing Domeric would not actually be kinslaying, so Roose wouldn't really even taint his honor.

Why would he say such nasty things? Because he needed an heir after Domeric died, and Ramsay was all he had. But now Fat Walda is pregnant, and so Ramsay isn't needed anymore. So Roose is trying to get rid of Ramsay without having to do it himself (although it will probably be a lot easier for him is Ramsay made "Arya" pregnant already, so he can keep claim to Winterfell). Roose just doesn't need Ramsay anymore as much as he used to before.

Honestly, I don't trust a thing Roose says. He's cunning and good at painting pictures with his speech/actions so as to go about unnoticed. I'm really not even sure Ramsay killed Domeric. Poison? It doesn't sound like it fits with Ramsay's character. For all we know Domeric was good lad and Roose wanted someone cruel (although quiet about it) to succeed him...perhaps out of a hatred for the Starks, or tradition, or whatever. Perhaps Domeric was too capitulating, or disagreed with Roose's ways...and Roose had him killed somehow. Wouldn't surprise me... but I'm sure Domeric wasn't a secret sadist or anything, or I'm sure stories would have slowly been leaked as he spent a good amount of time away from the Dreadfort.

Even Ramsay is smart enough to understand that Roose won't take him in or accept him with open arms if Domeric returns to the Dreadfort with a sword through his belly or his head cut off. It had to seem like an accident, but something like hunting accidents can be suspicious as well, so he choose something even less suspicious: disease. It isn't necessary for Ramsay himself to have given Domeric the poison. It could have been his mother (though it isn't known if she was still alive at this point) and it could have been the first Reek. Domeric simply wanted a brother after having been fostered and having been around boys his own age, and I can see him trusting him own half-brother immediately. So he wouldn't have been on the look-out for poison or anything like that.

Ramsay might be cruel, quick to anger, and extremely violent, he has at least some wits, and he wanted to rise higher than his bastard status. He would not have botched that so easily as obviously killing Domeric, leaving evidence behind.

[Iona]

I'm a bit confused, I assumed Roose was talking about Rickard Karstarks' daughter not Rickard Starks, Lyanna?.

This bit is written very cleverly, and leaves room for speculation:

"… the boy was mad for horses, Lady Dustin will tell you. Not even Lord Rickard’s daughter could outrace him, and that one was half a horse herself."

It is Roose who is doing the speaking, but he seems to be quoting Lady Dustin. These might not be Roose's words, but Lady Dustin's. She knew Brandon and Lyanna well, so if she was to compare Domeric to someone she viewed as the best horse-handler she ever met, then this could very well be Lyanna. You don't have to be alive or have lived in the same era as someone you are compared to.

[SJC]

This bit is written very cleverly, and leaves room for speculation:

"… the boy was mad for horses, Lady Dustin will tell you. Not even Lord Rickard’s daughter could outrace him, and that one was half a horse herself."

It is Roose who is doing the speaking, but he seems to be quoting Lady Dustin. These might not be Roose's words, but Lady Dustin's. She knew Brandon and Lyanna well, so if she was to compare Domeric to someone she viewed as the best horse-handler she ever met, then this could very well be Lyanna. You don't have to be alive or have lived in the same era as someone you are compared to.

The quote is (fairly unambiguously) about Lyanna Stark. She has been noted for her great talent on horseback several times previously in the books. Because Roose (and Lady Dustin) are accentuating Domeric's skill, it only makes sense to make the comparison to a well-established rider (moreover, the continued relation of horsemanship with jousting, and, here, all in a sentence mentioning Lyanna also ties nicely into the Knight of the Laughing Tree story).

By contrast, Alys Karstark has not been noted to have any similar facility on horseback, so a comparison here makes no sense. Besides which, Alys is quite a few years younger than Domeric, which makes the possibility that Alys is the referent here even more remote. Lyanna had an existing (relatively recent) reputation to which Domeric could be compared (if the comparison was originally made by Lady Dustin, it probably was made during Domeric's time as her page, which itself would have been a number of years before Domeric died).

Not to mention the line that Lord Rickard's daughter "was half a horse herself." Alys Karstark would still be---in other words"is"---"half a horse." The deceased Lyanna, however, is the one who "was."

[Arthur Dayne's Honor Alt]

Bump

[The Fallen]

This bit is written very cleverly, and leaves room for speculation:

"… the boy was mad for horses, Lady Dustin will tell you. Not even Lord Rickard’s daughter could outrace him, and that one was half a horse herself."

It is Roose who is doing the speaking, but he seems to be quoting Lady Dustin. These might not be Roose's words, but Lady Dustin's. She knew Brandon and Lyanna well, so if she was to compare Domeric to someone she viewed as the best horse-handler she ever met, then this could very well be Lyanna. You don't have to be alive or have lived in the same era as someone you are compared to.

I think the quote is pretty straight-forward. I actually think that it's Roose talking, he merely mentions Lady Dustin as a witness of sorts. And he's definitely referring to Lyanna Stark.

[House Pintur]

We don't know that ALL the Boltons were assholes. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bolton skinning thing didn't start because of some evil Starks attacking people with their wolves. Maybe a few of the rebellions against the Starks were justified