Theon Greyjoy

Theon Greyjoy
A Song of Ice and Fire character
File:Theon Greyjoy-Alfie Allen.jpg Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
First appearance	Novel: A Game of Thrones (1996) Television: "Winter Is Coming" (2011)
Created by	George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by	Alfie Allen Game of Thrones
Information
Aliases	Reek
Title	Prince of Winterfell
Family	House Greyjoy
Relatives	Balon Greyjoy (father) Alannys Greyjoy (mother) Rodrik Greyjoy (brother) Asha/Yara Greyjoy (sister) Maron Greyjoy (brother)
Kingdom	Iron Islands

Theon Greyjoy, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. Theon is the son and heir of Balon Greyjoy, taken as a ward by Lord Eddard Stark following Balon's failed rebellion.

Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Theon is the son of Balon Greyjoy from the fictional kingdom of Westeros. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Dance with Dragons (2011). He is one of the major first person points-of-view through which Martin narrates both books.

Theon is portrayed by Alfie Allen in the HBO television adaptation.

Character description

Theon Greyjoy is the only living son, and heir apparent of Balon Greyjoy. He is the third-person narrator for thirteen chapters throughout A Clash of Kings and A Dance with Dragons. He is arrogant, cocky, and proud. Ten years before the events of the series, he was taken hostage by Eddard Stark to be executed if Balon displeased the king. Theon was raised at Winterfell with the Stark children and became a close friend to Robb Stark in particular.

As a prisoner of Ramsay Snow, the "Bastard of Bolton", he has been subjected to physical and psychological torture and mockingly renamed as "Reek".

Overview

Theon Greyjoy is not a point of view character in the first novel, but starting the second novel A Clash of Kings he became a POV character.

Reception

The English actor Alfie Allen has received positive reviews for his role as Theon Greyjoy in the tv-series.

Storylines

Coat of arms of House Greyjoy

A Game of Thrones

In A Game of Thrones, he fights at Robb's side when Robb rebels.

A Clash of Kings

In A Clash of Kings, Robb Stark sends Theon as an envoy to Pyke, seeking Balon Greyjoy's aid in his rebellion against House Lannister. Balon, however, has other ideas, and claims the North for himself, sending Theon to harry coastal settlements, an unimportant task meant to test his son's loyalties. Theon ignores his orders and his sister Asha's advice and decides to take and hold Winterfell, to impress his father. Because of this, the northmen dub him Theon Turncloak.

Theon is betrayed by Ramsay Snow, a former ally, and is unable to take Winterfell. Theon is instead taken to the Dreadfort when Bolton soldiers under Ramsay's command raze Winterfell at the end of A Clash of Kings.

A Storm of Swords

A piece of human skin, purportedly that of Theon's little finger, is presented to the Starks in A Storm of Swords (2000), but considering Ramsay Snow's role in Theon's display of Bran and Rickon Stark's bodies, this may not be the case.

A Dance with Dragons

By A Dance with Dragons he has been tortured, flayed, and psychologically broken; it is strongly implied that he has also been castrated. Traumatized, Theon is forced to assume the identity of Reek, Ramsay's previous servant, and attempts to forget his former name. When Ramsay is betrothed to a substitute Arya Stark, Theon recognizes her as Jeyne Poole. With the aid of Mance Rayder, Theon helps Jeyne escape from Winterfell and reach the army of Stannis Baratheon.

TV adaptation

Theon Greyjoy is played by Alfie Allen in the television adaption of the series of books.

Storylines

Theon Greyjoy is the youngest son of Lord Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands. He is the hostage and ward of Lord Eddard Stark, stemming from the failed Greyjoy Rebellion. Despite his position, he remains loyal to Eddard and is good friends with his sons Robb and Jon. While he has never questioned his position, he soon begins to have doubts after Tyrion tells him he is nothing more than a servant to the Starks and not everyone respects him. Nevertheless, Theon initially remains loyal to Robb after he goes to war with the Lannisters and supports his decision to have the North secede from the Seven Kingdoms and form their own kingdom.

He is sent to the Iron Islands in Season 2 to seek a Stark alliance with the Greyjoys. However, his father criticizes Theon for accepting the northern lifestyle and rejects Robb's proposal. Wishing to prove to his father that he is a true Ironborn, he joins his family's invasion of the North. To gain the respect of his men, he ignores his orders to raid the shores and captures Winterfell. The situation worsens for Theon when he is forced to kill his old mentor Ser Rodrik Cassel and fakes the deaths of Bran and Rickon Stark to the people of Winterfell after they escape by killing two orphans. Regretting what he has done and with no help coming from his family, Theon decides to die fighting with his men defending Winterfell from a Stark force led by Roose Bolton's bastard son. However, he is betrayed by his men due to Robb's offer of clemency and safe return to the Iron Islands if they give up Theon. Theon is taken captive and kept in an unknown castle, where he is briefly tortured, but later manages to escape with the help of a serving boy who claims to works for his sister Yara. He is brought back to the very castle he escaped from, the serving boy proving to actually be his captor and torturer, Ramsay Snow, Lord Bolton's sadistic bastard. Theon is subsequently brutally tortured, flayed and eventually emasculated by Ramsay, who forces him to rename himself Reek, and beats him until he submits to his new name (before his emasculation he told Ramsay that he regretted betraying Robb and calls Ned Stark his "real father"). Theon's penis is sent in a box to his father, with Ramsay threatening to mutilate Theon further unless the Ironmen retreat from the North, which Balon refuses. He states that as Theon defied him by attacking Winterfell, claiming him a "fool" and "not a man anymore", to which Yara responds she intends to save her brother of her own accord.

In season 4, Theon has been freed from his restraints by Ramsay, but is forced to work for him as a servant and answer to the name Reek. Roose Bolton later orders Ramsay to launch an attack on Moat Cailin, an Ironborn-occupied fortress that is preventing him from entering the Northern lands, and to take Theon with him. Before they leave, however, the Dreadfort is attacked by Yara and a group of men, but Theon refuses to flee with her, believing it may be another trick on Ramsay's part, forcing Yara to leave without him. As a reward, Ramsay gives Theon a bath and asks for his help in taking Moat Cailin. Theon masquerades as himself and tricks the Ironborn into opening Moat Cailin, leading to them all being flayed by the Bolton army, and subsequently accompanies the Boltons to Winterfell. In Winterfell, he rekindles his relationship with Sansa, who is to be married to Ramsay. On their wedding night Sansa is raped by Ramsay, who forces Theon to watch. Sansa tries to get Theon to save her from Ramsay, but he refuses and eventually admits that he did not kill her brothers. As the Baratheon army arrives at Winterfell to fight the Boltons, he helps her escape by killing Ramsay's sadistic lover, Myranda, as she threatens Sansa with a bow. The couple climb the crest of the wall, and jump.