How Did Ramsay Capture Theon In Game Of Thrones?

I’ll never get that scene out of my head. I loved Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones but his downfall was so unfortunate. After Theon and his men took Winterfell, Theon became overconfident in his new surroundings. I suppose you could say he acted like The Prince of the Iron Islands – and was very out of place. Ramsay, pretending to be Theon’s favorite servant Reek, invaded Winterfell with a small band of men. Theon believed that Reek had betrayed him but little did he know that Ramsay had secretly been planning his downfall for quite some time. It wasn’t long before all of Theon’s men were slaughtered one by one until the Prince of the Iron Islands was left alone and then, to his horror, Ramsay Bolton revealed himself. Theon had no idea that he had just been playing with fire the entire time.

What’s also really, really, chilling is how systematic and indeed labored over Ramsay’s subsequent physical torture of Theon is. He strips Theon of his identity first – referring to him from now on as Reek, and after that immediately begins to strip him of his family, past and even physical sense of self. The show hasn’t gone into too much detail about the subsequent severing of body parts, but I get shivers every time that this scene plays out, and it’s all down to the very, very suppressed look in Alfie Allen’s eyes. The slowly unfurling events of Theon’s capture are one of the more haunting parts of his subsequent journey. Even now I get chills recalling that scene and Ramsay’s nonchalant question to Theon of ‘Do you like games, Theon?’.

What Ramsay did to get Theon in the first place was like a horror movie origin story. Theon’s pride got the best of him. He was trying to be a ruler in Winterfell when Ramsay was busy plotting in the background. It’s so easy to see Theon telling Ramsay he wants to be his servant and Ramsay agreeing and having him dressed up as Reek. Theon probably thought Ramsay was going to be his new servant but no. Then when the Bolton’s attack, Theon’s defenses fall instantly. In reality, Ramsay did not need the entire Bolton army to break Theon. The moment Theon referred to himself as Theon Greyjoy, the psychological torture began. Before you know it, Ramsay has destroyed Theon’s sense of self and Theon is nothing more than a shell of a man hopping to do his master’s bidding. It’s so bad, it’s terrible.

It's all about the fake rescue! Theon is unconscious and is dragged away by his own men, who are then killed by Ramsay's forces. Ramsay then appears to Theon, pretending to have come to his rescue. Theon is overjoyed to be saved, grateful to Ramsay for freeing him. That he is then torn apart by Ramsay, piece by piece, is all the more horrific because Ramsay had first taken Theon's hope, his expectation of rescue, and twisted it to his own ends. Theon is physically captured while he is unconscious, but it is his gratitude at being rescued that is psychologically captured and then destroyed by Ramsay. It is a particularly memorable and horrific moment, because breaking a man is so much easier when you've first made him thank you.