[House Bolton — Houses]
Upon seeing Sansa, Ramsay tries to goad her one last time, telling her that he will always be a part of her now. She throws back the insult by pointing out that very soon, his legacy and that of House Bolton will be forever erased from history. Ramsay soon notices his hounds coming closer to him, the kennel doors having been left open. Scoffing, the former Lord of Winterfell tells his wife that his hounds are loyal to him, to which she reminds him that he starved them for seven days and that they were loyal, but now they are starving. As if to prove her point, his alpha hound does not respond to his command to heel, instead hungrily sniffing and licking his bloody face. Overcome by hunger, the hound proceeds to savagely maul his face, and the others follow suit. As Ramsay is devoured alive by his own dogs, Sansa turns and walks away, savoring the sounds of her husband's demise as she smiles.
With Ramsay's death, the Starks finally avenge the role that House Bolton played in the Red Wedding by leaving the Bane of the North completely extinct, as well as bringing a permanent end to the ancient feud between the Starks and the Boltons. With the North no longer divided between noble houses loyal to the Starks and Boltons, Jon is subseqeuntly named the new King in the North by the Northern and Vale Lords. With the North united once more alongside the Vale of Arryn, Jon turns his attention to finding potential allies to counter the Night King and the growing threat of his army of the dead beyond the Wall.
Before Aegon's Conquest , the leaders of House Stark ruled over the region as the Kings in the North . The house traces its roots to Bran the Builder , a legendary First Man who lived during the Age of Heroes and founded House Stark. The Starks were not originally the monarchs of the North; they began as vassals to the Barrow Kings , who lost support due to their inactive rule while their ancestor Bran the Builder built the Wall and protected the North . They warred with the Barrow Kings, emerging victorious. The Starks ruled as Kings of Winter over one of the many smaller, petty First Men kingdoms that were established in the North , with their chief rivals for domination being the Red Kings of House Bolton . Eventually the Starks united the North under them. Although their stronghold of Winterfell has been the capital of the North, war helped make it it's strongest castle, in opposition to the Reeds ' Greywater Watch and the Dreadfort of House Bolton , with attacks from from the latter raising the need for more keeps, more walls, more guard towers and the expansion of their granaries and larders to survive sieges. Winter town would be raised from smallfolk seeking shelter from winter, and these would also join the Stark soldiers in fighting the Boltons.
They gained a new vassal from the Reach after House Manderly 's exile, giving them a new home at White Harbor in exchange for their guarding the river against pirates. They defeated the Boltons, drove pirates away from the White Knife , slew the last Marsh King and wed his daughter for the Neck , with it's governance being given to House Reed and, according to legend, King Rodrik Stark wrestled with an Ironborn for Bear Island and won, giving it to House Mormont. Karlon Stark , a younger son of the King in the North, was awarded lands in the eastern regions of the North after successfully putting down a rebellion led by House Bolton. Over time Karlon's seat of Karl's Hold came to be known as Karhold , and the Starks that descended from him became known as Karstarks .
Although the Starks had to content with defiant Houses in their unification campaign, some chose to submit and become loyal vassals, like the Umbers of Last Hearth and the Glovers of Deepwood Motte , with even their greatest rivals for dominance, the Red Kings of House Bolton, who made a sinister reputation for themselves with their practice of flaying , with one of them being notorious for ripping out the entrails of captive Starks, choosing to bend the knee, and their hostility being put on hold, due to the need for the end of unrest. Their timing proved crucial just then, due to the Andals landing and invading Westeros, swiping all lands of First Men rule except the North due to the other Houses fighting on their own, while the North opposed with a united front, with the Manderlys attacking their ships and the Reeds attacking their incursions into the Neck .
Robb also loses the Karstark troops, and his attempt to regain the support of House Frey results in the massacre known as the Red Wedding . House Stark is stripped of its lordship in the North and is given to House Bolton, making Roose Bolton Warden of the North for his contribution to Robb's death.
At the Twins, the Freys and Boltons betray Robb and massacre him, his wife, mother, Grey Wind , the present Northern lords and most of the Northern army, during the event known as the Red Wedding . House Stark is stripped of its lordship in the North, which is given to House Bolton, making Roose Bolton Warden of the North for his contribution to Robb's death.
House Bolton of the Dreadfort is an extinct Great House of Westeros . After the Red Wedding , they became the rulers of the North , having usurped their position from their former liege lords, House Stark . Their original lands were in the northeast of the North. The head of the house was the Lord of the Dreadfort .
House Bolton's heraldry consisted of a red flayed man upside-down, his flayed skin forming a white, X-shaped cross behind him, over a field of black. Their house words were "Our Blades Are Sharp," though a common saying of members of the house was "A naked man has few secrets; a flayed man, none."
The origins of House Bolton date back to at least the Age of Heroes , a savage age in which the houses of First Men waged war one upon the other. For centuries, the Red Kings of House Bolton resisted the efforts of the Stark Kings of Winter to unify the North under their rule, killing several Starks in the process, and, according to rumors, keeping their skins as trophies and even wearing them as cloaks.
During these centuries when the North was divided into a dozen or so smaller petty kingdoms, the Boltons and Starks were chief rivals for domination over all the others. House Bolton's kingdom covered a large portion of the lands east of Winterfell, centered around the Dreadfort itself.
The battle between the Boltons and Starks , reinforced by their respective allies, ends with the victory of the Starks. Ramsay's death and the annihilation of his army mark the end of the Boltons' reign over the North and the extinction of House Bolton as a whole.
House Bolton commanded a formidable military prior to the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings, capable of fielding over 5,000 men. As the second most powerful house within the North, the Boltons forces are formidable, rivaled only by House Stark and House Manderly in terms of power and influence. Unlike most Northern houses, House Bolton is considered by far to be the cruelest, most gruesome, and most hated vassals within the North, thus earning them the aptly-befitting title of the “Bane of the North”. Being formidable rivals of their Stark overlords for centuries, before ultimately swearing fealty to the Kings of Winter.
House Bolton used a great deal of fear within their tactics, both militarily and politically. Their flaying reputation was very effective against the morality of their enemies and vassals after becoming the Norths dominant house. They tolerated no dissent of any kind and even the smallest of offenses were met with extreme punishments of torture. While this was effective for a time, the Boltons arguably used it too much and it contributed to their downfall. Even before becoming Wardens of the North, House Bolton was not very popular among the other Northern houses, but the excessive violence and bullying of their now subjects led to all out hatred. By the time of the Battle of the Bastards, the Boltons only had two houses come to their aid, and although both of these houses still gave them a massive numerical advantage over their enemies, neither ally was aiding out of respect. House Karstark was supportive due to disdain towards the Starks, and House Umber due to their desire to wipe out the Free Folk they believed were invading their lands. After the battle and House Boltons extinction, both immediately returned their allegiance to House Stark suggesting that was only Harald Karstark and Smalljon Umber themselves who felt this way.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Bolton is noted as one of the most powerful families of the North. They are noted for flaying their enemies alive and even wearing their skins as cloaks. They have even captured and flayed Starks in the distant past. House Bolton were unruly vassals of the Starks until approximately a thousand years ago, when they finally bent the knee. Three hundred years later they rebelled but were defeated. The armies of House Stark besieged the Dreadfort for two years before finally forcing the Boltons to surrender and submit.
The sigil of House Bolton in the books is a red flayed man on a field of pink with red blood drops. The TV series design has specified that the flayed man is displayed hanging upside down, his flayed skin forming an X-shaped cross. The color scheme in the TV series is slightly different: it is a red flayed man, but hanging upside-down, his flayed skin forming a white, X-shaped cross with a black background.