( Spoilers Main) My honest thoughts on Theon Greyjoy

Theon is definitely one of the greyer characters in the books. In ACOK I might say he was a villain, same as Joffrey and the Lannisters, if only because he was an antagonist to the Starks.

I am of course horrified by what Ramsay does to him, and would never want that done to anyone no matter how bad they were. Frankly I don’t see how he can have anything like the arc he had in the show. If modern medicine existed he would need lots of care and rehab to have anything resembling a normal life. He’d need lots of rest and nutrition to get back to normal.

I don’t see him long surviving, tho deep down I know he will.

I find him unsympathetic in ACOK mostly because of how he cares about no one besides himself. Strangely enough he has no friends and doesn’t even like anyone at all.

Yes Ned stark kept him captive but Robb and Jon and the others liked him a lot. The fact that he betrayed them and willingly let harm come to the peopel he grew up with and helped teach and train him ( and had zero say in his captivity) makes me think he is a person who had very little attachment to anyone and was ok treating all peopel terribly as long as he got what he wanted.

There are several other “ grey” characters in the series that inspire debate; Sandor Cleagane, Stannis Baratheon and all the children of Tywin Lannister. As messed up and disordered as they all are I find them all preferable mostly because they actually care about peopel apart from them. Pre Reel Theon doesn’t seem to at alll.

Thoughts?