On the authorship of the Pink Letter

[EstEst]

I think Ramsay, if he actually had Stannis, would have included some sort of trophy, a bit of flayed skin. That such a token is missing from the letter might be a clue that Ramsay is writing it empty-handed.

Actually, the piece of anybody as a trophy would not work, unless this piece bears some distinctive indication of its identity. Pieces of skin are all the same, come they from Stannis or Mance or whatever.

But sure I'm not buying the whole idea of Pink Letter being fake; it's just bluff, and the real question is,

I don't think the question is really, "Who wrote the Pink Letter?" so much as it's, "How much of it is actually true?"

:agree:

[Ran]

Yes, as others say, the question is really how much of the letter is a lie, and how much is a half-life, and how much is truth.

[Shebara]

If the pink letter is indeed from Ramsay - lets say he was tricked into writing the letter by Stannis/Manderly/perhaps Mance what do you think is behind the plan? Why do they want to lure Jon from the Wall? Simply to help them with a little army of NW-men/Wildlings? Do they want him there as a witness to identify the fake Arya? Do Stannis and Manderly want him there to place him as new leader of the Northern army/heir of the Starks of Winterfell? What do you think?

[Arya is Awesome]

Who wrote the letter?

1) Stannis - I just don't see this. While it is possible, if Theon helped provide him with information, I think it just doesn't fit his personality. He has used some subterfuge in the past, but this letter is just so convoluted. He could have gotten Jon to join him in a hundred other ways, including using Arya as a ploy.

2) Mance - I don't see any reason for him to have done this alone. I also don't see how it would be possible, since for him to be alive and free enough to write it, either Stannis or the Northmen would hold Winterfell.

3) Ramsay - I think he is the most likely candidate. It sounds like him and he has the most motivation to send such a ridiculous demand. Mance probably filled him in with some of the missing information (either as his prisoner, or possibly as an ally though I see that as less likely). The fact that it is a "smear" of wax and not an official seal may be because Roose holds the seal and the letter was sent without his knowledge.

4) Anyone else - how on Earth would Littlefinger, Varys, or anyone else have all the necessary knowledge to write this letter? I don't think so.

Does anyone know about the raven situation? Does Stannis definitely have ravens that go to Castle Black? Does Winterfell? I thought Theon killed all the ravens when he took Winterfell. Did Ramsay bring more? The way I understand it, ravens are trained to only fly between 2 points, so if you don't have those trained ravens there is no way you could send the message.

[Arya is Awesome]

Several people have mentioned the handwriting as being a clue.

However, I wonder if Jon would care if the handwriting is different. I would think it quite common in a place like Westeros for high lords to have someone else transcribe their letter (like a maester) and then they sign and seal it. This would be especially true for someone who sends lots of letters (like from Kingslanding).

While it would be out of character for Ramsay to have someone else write his letter, Jon might not know that, and may not think twice about different handwriting meaning anything is amiss.

[Ran]

Ramsay's signature is on it.

Jon again notices nothing different from a very memorable, clearly described script. It's the same.

[The Imperator]

Stannis is not a liar? he has not interest in the IT then, he is doing it for the children :bs: :rolleyes:

How is that BS?

[Consigliere]

I think that the Pink Letter was written by Ramsay based on false information received from Manderly's forces as well as information gleaned from Mance, either through torture or collusion. The Manderly's after turning on the Frey's concoct this plan together with Stannis in an attempt to draw out the remaining Bolton forces (or most of them at least) from Winterfell.

The Manderly forces, upon returning to Winterfell, present Stannis's sword to Roose and Ramsay claiming that Stannis has been defeated but "Arya" and Theon have been sent to the Wall to seek refuge. The ploy being that Ramsay is rash enough to gather a force and march on the Wall to get his bride and his Reek back thereby setting himself up for an ambush. Ramsay actually writing the letter and sending it to the Wall may have been an unintended consequence of Stannis and Manderly's plan.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

If Ramsay didn't write it, it was most likely written by Mance.

[SeanF]

*Why* write it?

It seems almost to have been designed to provoke Jon into marching South, which must be the very opposite of what Ramsay would actually have wanted.

Does that point to the true author being someone much closer to Castle Black?

[JonathanTheBold]

Good points, but how could Stannis have known about Mance Rayder and the spearwives in Wintefell?

Theon or Mel

[Chaircat Meow]

*Why* write it?

It seems almost to have been designed to provoke Jon into marching South, which must be the very opposite of what Ramsay would actually have wanted.

Does that point to the true author being someone much closer to Castle Black?

I don't think so.

Ramsay just thought Jon had (f)arya and knew she wasn't his sister, and didn't know Jon had a wildling force which would enable him to march south. The march south, against superior forces, and in the snow, is pretty idiotic anyway, and destroyed Jon's command, so it's plausible Ramsay just didn't think that would happen.

The letter would be designed to buy Jon's silence as to the identity of (f)arya and secure crucial hostages on the back of a threat wrt Jon's involvement in the release of Mance.

[JonathanTheBold]

Good points, but how could Stannis have known about Mance Rayder and the spearwives in Wintefell?

Theon or Mel. Theon says to Stannis Ramsay wants his reek which are in the leter

[SeanF]

I don't think so.Ramsay just thought Jon had (f)arya and knew she wasn't his sister, and didn't know Jon had a wildling force which would enable him to march south. The march south, against superior forces, and in the snow, is pretty idiotic anyway, and destroyed Jon's command, so it's plausible Ramsay just didn't think that would happen.The letter would be designed to buy Jon's silence as to the identity of (f)arya and secure crucial hostages on the back of a threat wrt Jon's involvement in the release of Mance.

But, the letter is supposedly written straight after the battle. It would take weeks to get from Winterfell to Castle Black overland, particularly in prevailing weather conditions. Why would Ramsay assume that (f)arya is with Jon, rather than in the vicinity of Winterfell? And how could Ramsay hope to make good his threats?

[Chaircat Meow]

But, the letter is supposedly written straight after the battle. It would take weeks to get from Winterfell to Castle Black overland, particularly in prevailing weather conditions. Why would Ramsay assume that (f)arya is with Jon, rather than in the vicinity of Winterfell? And how could Ramsay hope to make good his threats?

Eh, well, we don't know exactly what Ramsay thinks has happened, or the degree to which the letter is fabrication, so it is hard to say. But, he reports seven days of battle and there is no mention of how soon that occurred after (f) arya's rescue. So if Ramsay is writing two weeks after that he might assume she'd have arrived, or be on the verge of arriving ..?

[thewingedwolf]

It is quite awesome what the collective brains of the posters on this forum can accomplish.

My thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my question. It was most enlightening.

[Buckthorn]

I'd bet you a shiny penny that Roose does not know Ramsay did it. Remember that relations between Roose and Ramsay deteriorate considerably towards the end of the books.

Roose probably knows about the letter through some of Ramsay's "Bastard Boys." Some of Ramsay's men report back to Roose, that's what Roose led us readers to believe.

[SeanF]

On balance, the style seems like Ramsay's. But, the tone is quite wrong for someone who's supposedly won a major battle. The tone is that of an angry child, stamping his feet because he's been denied something; not the gloating triumph of someone who's just won a victory (eg Ramsay's letter to Asha Greyjoy, after taking Moat Cailin).

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I think that the Pink Letter was written by Ramsay based on false information received from Manderly's forces as well as information gleaned from Mance, either through torture or collusion. The Manderly's after turning on the Frey's concoct this plan together with Stannis in an attempt to draw out the remaining Bolton forces (or most of them at least) from Winterfell.

The Manderly forces, upon returning to Winterfell, present Stannis's sword to Roose and Ramsay claiming that Stannis has been defeated but "Arya" and Theon have been sent to the Wall to seek refuge. The ploy being that Ramsay is rash enough to gather a force and march on the Wall to get his bride and his Reek back thereby setting himself up for an ambush. Ramsay actually writing the letter and sending it to the Wall may have been an unintended consequence of Stannis and Manderly's plan.

This is essentially how I think it went down and I also think that this is by far the most logical, plausible and least-dumb explanation.

[Table8]

The pink letter authorship is to me the most perplexing mystery in the books. It really bothers me how we weren't given enough info to crack the case.