LogFAQs > #873965848

7. The Prince of Winterfell (Season 2)

Key points: King Robb Stark dispatches his best friend Theon Greyjoy from the Riverlands to the Iron Islands, so Theon can negotiate with his father Balon. Instead of helping the North, Balon opts to invade it - and Theon, seeking his approval, sides with his father over his 'brother.' Theon drastically overcompensates by taking lightly guarded Winterfell from Bran and Ser Rodrick Cassell. Theon executes some Northmen, takes Bran hostage, and pretends to execute Bran when he escapes. Eventually his men surrender the castle for him - and it winds up aflame.

What a revelation.

Theon Greyjoy has an ignominious beginning to the series. He's visually nearly indistinguishable from Jon and Robb, and he spends most of his time being a plot-insignificant douchebag - making jerk comments, shooting off arrows and getting yelled at by Robb, getting outdone in bed (and very insecurely) by Tyrion. Once you get to know him, he's kind of funny-looking.

Enter Season 2, where he becomes a point-of-view character, and suddenly you realize that... this is all very much intentional and basically an accurate assessment of where Theon is at. And his funny-looking face is perfect for suffering just an absolutely unfair amount of punishment. Like, sure, he's a little handsy and arrogant. Does that mean he deserves to be catfished by his own sister? Hilarious scene, and Theon sells it perfectly. He's puffed up with what the old men of the series refer to as a child's rebellion in Robb's war. But then Balon absolutely s***s on his own son for many circumstances beyond his control. Even when Theon ostensibly rules Winterfell, he can't respect form Yara or Ser Rodrick... or even Bran, who doesn't seem to believe Theon when he tells him that Winterfell is his now.

The revelation? That whether or not he deserves all he gets, it's a joy to watch Theon react to it all. The acting, the dark slapstick, it's perfect.

And he's thoroughly believable. This is one of the absolute great character pieces. Here's a backstabbing, murderous bastard who's never been done wrong by Robb or Rodrick or Bran. His father gives him every reason to hate him, and Theon decides that his best course of action is to betray his best friend - who's made him a lieutenant in his army - in favor of following his father, who told him to raid fishing villages. Theon's identity is constantly in inner conflict, and his journey for validation is immensely destructive - both to the North, making an outsized distant impact on the storyline, and to himself. GRRM abides by William Faulkner's mantra that the only thing worth writing a book about is the 'human heart in conflict with itself.' No other arc in the Game of Thrones TV series so exemplifies this philosophy.
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yet all sailors of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness