i see theon's arc in acok as a very strong parallel to ned's arc in agot and i've said before that theon digging his heels in at winterfell is a wolfbrained greenlander thing to do but it specifically mirrors ned's own strategy when he's in king's landing

the parallel is in their decision making style and in their total refusal of outside help

in agot, ned is offered an "out" from his position as hand in king's landing that would keep him and his daughters safe by like, everyone. varys, littlefinger, and renly tell him to get out before robert dies because they know exactly how this is going to end for him and his young girls. but it's not the honorable thing to do and he is duty bound to stay and reveal the truth of joffrey's parentage. so he stays and he does the "right" thing and he gets his head cut off.

in acok, theon captures a mostly-empty winterfell with thirty men and understands very quickly that there is no way he can hold this castle. with bran and rickon "dead" he doesn't even have anything that can guarantee his safety when ser rodrik returns (he ends up using beth but he knows this isn't a strong play, it's a desperate one). asha tells him this (after he already knows it to be true) and tells him to come back with her to deepwood motte, but he refuses. ser rodrik tells him to face the noose with honor and spare his men, maester luwin tells him multiple times that he cannot hold the castle and must surrender before he suggests for him to take the black, and he turns every offer down.

ned's decision to follow the same mystery that jon arryn was investigating and then his commitment to reveal joffrey's parentage is a course that everyone around him (who already knows the secret and has known the whole time) know will lead to his death. and they all try to get him to leave but he won't, because that's not the honorable thing to do. theon decides that the only way he can prove himself to balon and get his own justice for his ten years of captivity is to take and hold winterfell and be its rightful prince. that's the only thing that's fair and if he gives up after taking the castle that'll ruin what he's conceived of as justice.

in both cases, their death lurks at their elbow for the whole of the journey. for theon this is very literal, with "reek" tailing him around waiting to pounce, and for ned the danger is all around him and he refuses to see it. the "open secret" of joff's parentage among the castle's intelligence, the reality of robert baratheon and his horrible regime/inability + lack of desire to rule, etc. ned ignores far more omens (dead direwolf with a stag's antler through its neck) and red flags (being ordered to kill your daughter's puppydog) than theon does on his journey to the place of his demise (theon has a pretty successful run up until he takes winterfell) but it's a very. it's a very "that's his father's son" situation. to me.

kingsmoot

#hostage situation success! (gave him all my issues) (via @sitting-in-thee-corner )

#asoiaf #theon greyjoy #theon & ned #meta #house greyjoy

ironbornsource reblogged

the-last-spring-together

Dream AU: F! Theon as Ned Stark's bride and all the possibilities

So, this started as a dream but now is a post and maybe it'll be a bunch of fanfics. I don't promise anything. I'll be calling Theon as Thea during this post so it's understood I'm talking about him as a girl, sorry if it's confusing.

Everything under the cut.

#theon greyjoy #speculation #au #theon & ned #theon x jon #theon x robb #headcanon #fan thoughts

ironbornsource reblogged

selkiewife

Theon Month 2022 || Theon and House Stark

In which I count the amount of times Theon Greyjoy and Ned Stark think about each other using A Search of Ice and Fire (an extremely normal thing to do.)

Theon thinks of Ned (or “Lord Eddard” or “Lord Stark”) 52 times (some of the most notable ones are below):

As if ten years in Winterfell could make a Stark. Lord Eddard had raised him among his own children, but Theon had never been one of them. The whole castle, from Lady Stark to the lowliest kitchen scullion, knew he was hostage to his father’s good behavior, and treated him accordingly. Even the bastard Jon Snow had been accorded more honor than he had.

Lord Eddard had tried to play the father from time to time, but to Theon he had always remained the man who’d brought blood and fire to Pyke and taken him from his home. As a boy, he had lived in fear of Stark’s stern face and great dark sword. His wife was, if anything, even more distant and suspicious.

Gevin Harlaw knelt on a dead man’s chest, sawing off his finger to get at a ring. Paying the iron price. My lord father would approve. Theon thought of seeking out the bodies of the two men he’d slain himself to see if they had any jewelry worth the taking, but the notion left a bitter taste in his mouth. He could imagine what Eddard Stark would have said. Yet that thought made him angry too. Stark is dead and rotting, and naught to me, he reminded himself.

(About Dagmer) He gave me more smiles than my father and Eddard Stark together.

“I am no Stark.” Lord Eddard saw to that. “I am a Greyjoy, and I mean to be my father’s heir. How can I do that unless I prove myself with some great deed?”

…there had been a certain undeniable spice to fucking a common tavern wench in Lord Eddard Stark’s own bed.

Theon told himself he must be as cold and deliberate as Lord Eddard. “Rouse the castle,” he said. “Herd them out into the yard, everyone, we’ll see who’s missing. And have Lorren make a round of the gates. Wex, with me.”

As he knelt to the block, the kennelmaster said, “M'lord Eddard always did his own killings.” Theon had to take the axe himself or look a weakling. His hands were sweating, so the shaft twisted in his grip as he swung and the first blow landed between Farlen’s shoulders. It took three more cuts to hack through all that bone and muscle and sever the head from the body, and afterward he was sick, remembering all the times they’d sat over a cup of mead talking of hounds and hunting… Ned Stark had never needed more than a single blow to take a man’s head.

~ A Clash of Kings

He remembered a time when he had thought that Lord Eddard Stark might marry him to Sansa and claim him for a son, but that had only been a child’s fancy.

This is where they found Bran when he fell. Theon had been out hunting that day, riding with Lord Eddard and King Robert, with no hint of the dire news that awaited them back at the castle.

The old gods, he thought. They know me. They know my name. I was Theon of House Greyjoy. I was a ward of Eddard Stark, a friend and brother to his children.

~ A Dance with Dragons

Ned thinks of Theon, 2 times:

Ned had last seen the king nine years before during Balon Greyjoy’s rebellion, when the stag and the direwolf had joined to end the pretensions of the self-proclaimed King of the Iron Islands. Since the night they had stood side by side in Greyjoy’s fallen stronghold, where Robert had accepted the rebel lord’s surrender and Ned had taken his son Theon as hostage and ward, the king had gained at least eight stone.

Ned turned back to his wife. “Once you are home, send word to Helman Tallhart and Galbart Glover under my seal. They are to raise a hundred bowmen each and fortify Moat Cailin. Two hundred determined archers can hold the Neck against an army. Instruct Lord Manderly that he is to strengthen and repair all his defenses at White Harbor, and see that they are well manned. And from this day on, I want a careful watch kept over Theon Greyjoy. If there is war, we shall have sore need of his father’s fleet."

~ A Game of Thrones

So much for the idea that Ned saw Theon as a son. Now, this is not intended to be critical of Ned Stark. Much has already been written about how Ned kept Theon at an emotional distance, so that it would be easier if he had to take his head. Theon even says as much:

Lord Stark had not treated him cruelly, but the long steel shadow of his greatsword had always been between them. He was kind to me, but never warm. He knew that one day he might need to put me to death.

~ A Dance with Dragons

But it did strike me just how much Ned figures in Theon’s thoughts. And the various ways in which he does. Theon mourns how cold and distant he was. He mentions Ned taking Theon with him when he went on trips (most likely because Theon was his squire.) Theon compares himself to Ned and tries to live up to what Ned would have expected of him- even when he is taking his castle (lol.) There is also the epic line about having Kyra in Eddard Stark’s bed- but I notice that he always refers to the bed as Ned Stark’s bed. Even when he is not trying to spite his memory. He constantly refers to Ned Stark’s bed, Ned Stark’s chambers, Ned Stark’s solar, etc. Even though he could be calling it his own at that point. And he even wonders what Ned would think of him when he is raiding… and then gets angry with himself for caring what he would think and tries to tell himself that Ned doesn’t matter to him.

The amount of influence that Ned has on Theon’s worldview and the fact that he aspires to be like him is heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because of the layers of this. There is such a painful tension that is created by Ned Stark being such an objectively good man and role model and yet also objectively hurting Theon tremendously because of the circumstances the hostage contract that confines them both.

#theon greyjoy #theon & ned #meta #asoiaf #house greyjoy