Theon Greyjoy

**Theon Greyjoy** was the youngest son of Balon Greyjoy, brother to Rodrik, Maron and Yara Greyjoy, nephew of Euron and Aeron Greyjoy, and the abnegating heir to the Salt Throne of the Iron Islands. After being raised by Eddard and Catelyn Stark as a ward to the North, Theon became a close friend and ally of their son Robb Stark, the King in the North, before betraying him to redeem himself in the eyes of his father during the War of the Five Kings. Following a disastrous bid to claim Winterfell for the Ironmen - during which he murdered two farmboys masqueraded as Brandon and Rickon Stark - he was capured by Ramsay Bolt (Nee Snow) and tortured for over a year, his ordeal turning him into a slave. He later broke from his bondage to save Sansa Stark from her own torment, before reuniting with Yara to secure a partial Targaryen-Greyjoy alliance. In another succesful attempt to redeem past sins, he became a bodyguard and travelling companion to Bran during the Second Long Night.

## Characterisation

After helping to broker an alliance between one faction of the Iron Islands and Queen Daenerys Targaryen, Theon finds himself lacking a place. While he trains to improve his combat skills and fights to gain the confidence needed to use them properly, the guilt he bears and the weakness this festers mean he commands neither the respect or authority required of a Greyjoy. Upon learning of the death of Ramsay Bolton and the return of the Starks to Northern power, he realises that his best-suited purpose is as a bargaining chip for Daenerys, by offering himself to the justice of The North. This manifests his desperate desire for redemption into actions, and leads him back to Bran, who he is able to serve through the construction of a new, honourable and heroic identity.

## Story

### Season Seven

Aboard Yara's ship, Theon stands at the bow and looks out to sea. The shape of Westeros is faintly visible on the horizon. Yara approaches and summons Theon to a meeting. He looks lost and a little shaken, but goes along anyway.

In her quarters, Yara briefs her Captains. She has only covered the basics, namely that any approaching ship must be treated as hostile and that sails and horns should be used to communicate danger to the Queen, who will swoop in with her dragons.

Daenerys enters, and she and Yara have an exchange before Dany tells her to carry on. Yara instructs her Captains and gives them fixed tasks. Notably, there is no task for Theon. Daenerys leaves without looking at him, and when the briefing is done, Yara dismisses her captains. Theon stays behind. He tentatively says that there's no task for him. Yara shrugs.

He has never commanded a reaving party, let alone a fleet. He has never fought a skirmish on sea or land, never mind a battle of the throne. He skulks around and lowers his head and is afraid of his own shadow. Yara struggles for a moment. She loves him and wants him to be a Greyjoy.

“I'm not a Greyjoy anymore,” Theon says.

“Then what are you, brother? What are you?”

Theon blinks, but then looks down. He says he'll serve her in whatever way he can, even if it's to clear horse dung out of the holds of ships. Yara is visibly affronted by this. She bites her tongue and marches out. (**7.1, Behind the Wall**)

Theon helps the Ironborn sailors clear out the barrels of vomit and the piles of soiled hay and manure from the hold of Yara's ship. It is unpleasant work. A Dothraki bloodrider approaches Theon as he carries some of the load and says, in Dothraki, “I have more for this male bitch to carry,”

Theon looks away and carries on. Another Ironborn sailor – Tristifer – stands up to the bloodrider and tells him that a horselover shouldn't insult those “not so fearful of the soft waves,” since they empty their guts.”

The two men look set to fight until Yara shouts on Tristifer to stop. Daenerys oversees the whole exchange. The Ironman gives Theon a hard look before strutting off. Theon empties the sick and dung over the side of the ship then gasps for breath. He looks at the crashing waves against the hull, and at the ever expanding land on the horizon.

As he makes to go under the deck, Daenerys reaches him. She asks for his name, having clearly forgotten. When he tells her, she apologises.

“Of course,” she says, “you'll have to forgive me, I'm not as accustomed to the sea as you. I'm as bad as my bloodriders.”

Theon says he's not accustomed either. He was brought up far from the sea as a ward, a hostage. He was taken as a boy. Daenerys is clearly saddened by this. She says that she too was torn from her home for the actions of others, and forced to grow up in a strange foreign land.

“How are we meant to be who we're meant to be,” she asks, “when we aren't even given a home to grow in?”

Theon recognises the truth in this. He notes that she is now the most powerful person in the known world, with a vast army. She laughs.

“I suppose I found my way in the end.”

Theon admits that he doesn't know if he has a way.

“I'm sure you do. I was just a scared little girl who wanted to go home. Now look at me. You have to take what you can, Theon.”

She then apologises for the words of her Bloodrider. She leaves him, and he watches her go. (**7.2, Dragonstone**)

In the hold of Yara's ship, Theon is in a duel with a Bloodrider. The Dothraki swings his curved blade and Theon's ducks and dodges, spear in one hand and blade in the other. Grey Worm watches from the shadows, impassive. He seems on the ropes, but then dodges and rallies and brings the spear to the Dothraki's chest. He stops an inch before hitting the chest.

The Bloodrider belts out a laugh and slaps Theon across the shoulder. Grey Worm manages a curt smile and nods. Theon looks down sheepishly but can't quite hide a smile. Yara enters, joking that he heard the invasion had begun early, and in the hold of her own ship.

Grey Worm explains that all who fight for his Queen must fight as if they are the last man who stands before her. Yara is impressed, but says the Queen needs their counsel before it gets that far. Grey Worm and the Dothraki leave. Yara asks Theon if he's planning something, and Theon replies that he just wants to be useful.

Theon and Grey Worm practice fighting again, and Theon has clearly improved. While not in the ascendancy, he is not as defensive either. At one stage, Grey Worm appears to have bested him with a lunge, but Theon spots and blocks it. Grey Worm is impressed. They notice a small skiff approaching the ship.

“Messages from the Queen's homeland,” Grey Worm says. “Perhaps good news.”

Theon nods. Grey Worm claps his shoulder and leaves. Afterwards, Theon is on deck looking out to land again. His posture is less slumped, his face less haggard. Tyrion approaches him and strikes up a conversation. Theon makes to leave, but Tyrion brings him back.

“Fear not, my Prince. I'm not here to mock you. To be honest, I've been indulging that part of myself a little too much around you.”

Theon says he deserves it, all of it, and Tyrion scoffs at that.

“Rubbish,” he says, “so what if you don't sit right at the dinner table? We let dogs circle our feet there, do we not? Why shouldn't a misfit get a seat? I've sat plenty of them myself, you're no less worthy. Believe me.”

Theon notes that Tyrion has the brain and the mouth to get him from one royal court to another, though Tyrion interjects that the trial and voyage in-between soured his record.

Theon is amused. He asks what Tyrion's secret is.

Tyrion is surprised by the question. After some thought, he concludes that “I suppose it's about what people don't expect of you. The world gives you something to live up to, something to live down to, and the people make up their own version. They love being surprised, so why not do none of the above.” He pauses, then says that he had a reason to approach. “Our courier had almost so much news that he couldn't keep it all straight. But you should know. The Starks rule the North again, and they've declared Jon Snow their King. The Boltons have been destroyed in battle. I've heard much about your sufferings, Greyjoy. This ship is so small, and I have terribly good hearing for little ears. I hope this brings you some relief. I truly do.”

He gives Theon a half-glance nod and then leaves him. Theon braces himself against a handrail, stunned. Something physically leaves him and it takes a toll. (**7.3, The Marches**)

Theon is once again helping clear the hold. He brings a pale of water to toss across the floor but stops. Horses whinny and sigh. He puts the pale down and looks into the water inside. His face stares back at him. Grey Worm approaches, and Theon makes to get ready for a bout.

Grey Worm denies him. “Not that,” he says, “your Queen needs you.”

Shortly after, we find ourselves in the Queen's Chambers. Grey Worm, Akkaro, Yara and Tyrion are present. Daenerys sits and Theon stands before her. He is clearly the centrepiece.

“You'll understand,” Daenerys says, “that I had plans for each of my Seven Kingdoms, and the Riverlands. Delicate plans. It was quite a surprise to learn that the North has a completely new ruler, and quite a formidable one at that.”

Theon says he was surprised too.

“That a bastard had led a cecession?” she asks. “Or that he was a Night's Watch deserter?”

Theon is silent. Daenerys explains that while she knows little of this King, Tyrion has told him that he's a “good man.” Theon confirms this. Daenerys invites him to tell them about Jon, since they grew up together.

Theon says that Jon was a bastard. Not just in terms of birthright, but in his very being. He wore it in the way he walked, in the look on his face. It weighed him down more heavily than a thousand defeats. But it made him good, and it made him loyal and righteous and, whether it's as an enemy or an ally, he can be trusted. “Cersei and Euron can't be trusted,” he says, “but Jon can. It's his weakness, but his strength as well.”

Daenerys says that there's a rumour Jon died and was reborn.

Theon says “lots of us die in a way, and get to come back another.”

Daenerys is touched by this. She asks how Theon would counsel her. She wants Jon as an ally, a good man with a brave army who will fight beside her and earn her favour.

Theon says that the North does not respond well to promises and threats. They respect actions and gestures. Ned Stark took Theon as a boy so he could know for certain that Balon Greyjoy wouldn't rise against him. He would not have taken Balon's word. Jon is of the North, and took much from his father. “You need to give Jon something that proves you're a friend, and something that proves you care about the same thing as him. Honour, decency, the common good. Justice.”

Daenerys asks what that would be.

“Me,” Theon says. Tyrion and Yara are startled.

“I'm sorry?” Daenerys asks.

“Jon has every right to want me dead. I betrayed his house, I took his castle and I killed children under its care. To the north, I'm a turncloak and a murderer. You cannot let that be. You have to give them justice for that. You have to give me to them, so they will see how righteous you are.”

Yara tells Theon to stop, but he doesn't. He's not needed in this army, here's he's just a half-decent fighter and a Grejoy who can't command a fleet. But as an envoy of friendship and honour, he could win the favour of the North. “Send a negotiator with me if you want, but I'll tell them they have to join with the rightful Queen of Westeros, and the rightful Queen of the Iron Islands. It'll be the last thing I say. Please, your grace. I beg of you. Let me only ever ask one thing of you, and let it be that I serve you this way.”

Neither Tyrion or Yara counter, despite the pain they show. Grey Worm looks at his sparring partner proudly. Daenerys is, again, touched. “Very well,” she says. “I grant you your wish. I'll give you a small vessel and a bodyguard to take you to Winterfell.”

Theon stands at the port side of Yara's ship, a galley below him with a small crew. He briefly meets the small detachment escorting him to Winterfell, and their nominal leader. “This one is called Dark Rat,” he says. The galley is preparing to sail North under the banner of a lesser house, Crowl.

“A little dishonourable perhaps,” Tyrion says as he approaches, “but I'm sure Lord Tarkan will forgive us our deceptions one day. Just try not to run into him before then.” He commends Theon's bravery, damns his stupidity, and hopes that his plan works. They shake hands.

Daenerys arrives, Yara behind her, and the former speaks with Theon first. She tells Theon to remember to speak from the heart. Then, to Theon's surprise, she kisses his cheek. She wishes him luck then leaves.

Yara steps forward. After a tough pause, she curses Theon for being a stupid little boy, then grabs him in a tight hug. “Don't ruin this, little brother,” she says, “don't let it be for nothing.”

Theon promises. He disembarks and his yacht sets sail north. Yara watches and briefly struggles with her emotions. Tyrion and Daenerys also watch him go, and Tyrion marvels at how she can inspire such love and devotion.

“I do fear,” he says, “that I might do something similar if the chance arose.”

Daenerys tells him she wouldn't let him. He has potential to fulfil even still. (**7.4, Castle Black**)

Theon's yacht lands at White Harbour, and he disembarks with a small squad of Unsullied, dressed like traders. He leads them to a nearby tavern where he uses a reasonable collection of coins to buy ale. The Unsullied aren't as keen to drink. Dark Rat makes clear that he isn't here for shore leave. Everything they do must serve their queen.

Theon insists that it does. He strikes up a conversation with the tavern keeper, who remarks on how dark the Unsullied look. Theon explains that they're freed slaves who thought they'd make a second career from stealing cargo out of Cape Wrath. He asks the tavern keeper about recent events, and is asked how far back he wants to go.

“I've been on the road a long time,” Theon says.

“Lucky for you,” the keeper says. He's leaving White Harbour soon. Apparently the dead walk now, and have come to the Wall. “A handful of escaped slaves and ignorant boys aren't keeping me in business.”

Theon asks whether King Jon will be marching back to the Wall.

King Jon, he is told, is down south in search of alliances or fortunes or something. Queen Sansa reigns in Winterfell.

Dark Rat asks Theon how this effects their mission.

Theon doesn't know. “Lady Sansa is kind, but she isn't naïve. Not anymore. She'll do what the North needs, not what she wants.” It's clear though that they will need to get to Winterfell as soon as they can. If even traders and tavern keepers are leaving, then clearly things are getting worse very quickly. The Unsullied are already effected by the cold and shiver in their seats.

One of the Sullied produce a map of the North, which Theon studies. The previous route they'd planned via the King's Road is now surely too risky, and liable to see them freeze. They can only afford one stop and must ride with haste. They can either go to Cerwyn or to the Dreadfort. The very mention of the latter makes Theon shake.

Dark Rat notes that Dreadfort is the home of the Boltons, Theon's tormentors.

“Not anymore,” Theon repeats. He struggles with the words. “They are beaten now, and I know that place. I know it very well. It has to be there, and then past Long Lake to Winterfell.”

Dark Rat observes Theon's disquiet, but nonetheless agrees.

Theon and the Unsullied arrive at the Dreadfort. It is busier than we have ever seen it, packed with unclean farmers and serfs sheltering from the cold. There are barely any soldiers here either, and those present keep guard under Stark, Cassel and Ashwood banners. The party enters gates left open to visitors and refugees from further north.

Dark Rat is bemused by the sight, wondering why the Northmen allow people to come and go as they please. Theon says that this will be the work of Jon and Sansa; they are throwing open the gates to the keeps and holdfasts to protect the common people. As he speaks, Theon looks about him and is clearly shaken. This place is all too familiar now.

“Reek?” a voice asks. Theon turns to see a stablehand speaking up to him. “Is that Reek? Lord Bastard's pet? Come home now, have we?”

The Unsullied tense, and Dark Rat reaches for a spear.

“No,” Theon replies firmly. “I am Theon of the House Greyjoy. This was never my home.”

“My mistake then,” the stablehand concedes. He hurries off with the crowds.

“A man must never be a pet,” Dark Rat says, and Theon nods his agreement. Another figure in the square has overheard the exchange and approaches very slowly. Theon looks down at him and his maester's robes and chain and recognises him.

“Maester Tybald,” he says.

Tybald nods. He is slightly cowed and awed, as if Theon's very presence effects him deeply. He notes that he prefers the company that Theon now keeps, nodding respectfully to Dark Rat and the others, then asks what brings him to the Dreadfort.

A short time later, Theon and the Unsullied are sheltered inside the castle, Dark Rat and his men huddled around the fire while Theon talks with Tybald. Much has changed in the North, Tybald warns. The Starks may reign again, but nobody seems certain whether it is King Jon or Queen Sansa who leads that house, and the dead are at the Wall. The Citadel still do not recognise the threat, but Tybald does; he's heard too many honest men tell him of the peril they face.

“A lot of the refugees in our keeps are wildlings,” Tybald says. “Freefolk, they call themselves. It's a better way of looking at them. We musn't see them as some scourge, not anymore. We must listen to them, and see what they've seen. It is a dark time, Theon. You are Theon. I'm sorry for what that boy said to you. I'm sorry for what Lord Ramsay did to you too. They call him Lord Bastard here now, openly. The Starks encourage it. But they all followed his whim when he reigned, and so did I. We maesters are sworn to follow our lords, at any cost, that's the real chain. But I might have stepped out of the shadows at any point, and I didn't. I counselled Lord Roose on caution, the value of mercy, good conduct. I didn't counsel his son.”

“He would have hunted you through the woods,” Theon says. “Or he might have cut your skin off while you were living, or taken pieces of you away until you begged to be killed.”

“I know how hard it must be to see this place again,” Tybald says.

“It is,” Theon replies. “But Winterfell will be harder.”

At Winterfell, Sansa is informed that a party purporting to be sent by Queen Daenerys Targaryen are here. Sansa sends them in immediately, and the hooded group enters. Dark Rat lowers his cowl and introduces himself. He says he has been sent by his Queen to let it be known to the North that they are seen by her as friends, as allies in waiting to whom she is sympathetic and open to diplomacy. While she intends to conquer her enemies in the south, she wishes to broker an alliance with the North. As a token of her friendship and justice, she has sent a gift.

On that cue, Theon steps forward and removes his hood. The retainers and chiefs in the room react in horror. The Captain of the Guard identifies Theon as a traitor and “a creature of the Boltons.”

Sansa says she knows who he is, and asks the Captain if he knows who allowed Sansa to escape Winterfell. She calls for calm and her men stand down. Sansa asks what Theon is doing there.

Theon explains that he's travelled half the world and back, that he's returned to Westeros in an army set to take the country and seat a Targaryen back on the throne.

Sansa is disappointed. She had hoped that he might have less mercenary reasons for returning.

Theon says that he will not be rewarded for his efforts. The men with him came to make sure he survived to pass on a message to who rules the North. “I heard it was Jon, and thought he would hear me. I hope you can instead, Lady Sansa.”

“*Queen* Sansa,” Maester Wolkan tells him.

“My queen,” Theon says. “Daenerys Targaryen comes to take what was taken from her family. She would have the North as her friend. Certainly, she does not want to draw flame or steel against you. Sansa. You can trust her, she is a good ruler and good person. She isn't Cersei and she isn't the Mad King. If you join with her, you'll win.”

Sansa tells Theon about the threat at the Wall, about the reason Jon went to Dragonstone and why Winterfell is virtually undefended. Theon says he might be able to help in some small way. He came to give this message, but Dark Rat and his men will return to their Queen with the answer. Theon wants justice for his crimes and demands sentence.

“No trial is necessary,” he says, “no challenge will be made. I betrayed your brother Robb, my best friend. I took your home as my own castle. I drove your little brothers into the wild. I killed your subjects to hide my own failures. I served the family who butchered yours at the Red Wedding. I betrayed yours.”

“You saved my life,” Sansa counters, “you gave everything you had to rescue me. How can I punish you for that?”

“Not for that, my Queen,” Theon says, “for my crimes. You're the Queen in the North. You cannot forgive me on behalf of the farmboys I had burned.”

Sansa looks about her and sees the hatred and anger on the faces of her subjects. She pauses then says, with barely contained emotion, “you have confessed your guilt and shown remorse at your dishonour. This does not redeem your crimes, but it proves you deserve some mercy, and that you have some good left that you might do good for the North soon, and for the realms of men. I sentence you to join the Night's Watch, and to march to the Wall to serve the realms of men as well as justice.”

Though terrified, Theon nods in understanding. (**7.6, Home**)

In Winter Town, a collection of criminals, traitors and leftovers are being assembled by a small Night's Watch detachment. Theon is among them, and he looks at the toothless old men and skinny boys with some trepidation. He is accosted by one of the new recruits, a large man who looks like a butcher or a blacksmith and spots him looking at the younger additions and wonders if Theon still has sexual feelings despite being a eunuch. The butcher then wonders whether Theon isn't thinking of killing the boys, since he has form. “You'd do one because you hadn't the other,” he says.

Theon doesn't defend himself, and makes to walk away. The recruit grabs him but the Night's Watch brothers intervene. Their ostensible leader – Jack Bulwer – tells the butcher that if he causes trouble again, he'll never see the wall. After the butcher is taken away, Jack notes that he is a thief and a rapist who had been wasting space and food in the cells below Winterfell for some time. “We can't pick them all,” he says, then looks Theon up and down. “I hear you came a long way just to get packed off to fight with us. Honourable, aye. Stupid? Like you couldn't contemplate.”

Though troubled, Theon doesn't reply. The new recruits are organised into a caravan, some of them on wagons and the others on horseback. Theon is put on a wagon, and some of its occupants look at him in fear and disgust. A teenage boy averts his eyes, and an older man spits at his feet. Theon says nothing. As the caravan gets moving, he looks back and watches Winterfell grow smaller.

The Night's Watch caravan continues north through atrocious, snowy conditions. An argument breaks out on one of the wagons, and the butcher punches another recruit, knocking him off into the snow. The butcher jumps after him, and the caravan comes to a stop. As Theon watches, the butcher is dragged off his opponent by the Night's Watch brothers. Bulwer advances slowly onto the scene and, despite the butcher's protests that he was provoked, slits his throat with a small dirk. The other recruit is helped back on to the wagon, and the ride continues.

That night, the caravan stops in a shallow gully, forming a rough camp. Theon shares a ramshackle tent with half a dozen others, who shiver and jostle for a place. The flap of the tent opens and Bulwer appears, his face red but with a wide grin. He tells the recruits to get used to the conditions, and to wave goodbye to daylight. That will be the next to go, and when it does there'll be no protection from what's driving the blizzards.

“I heard the same stories when I was a boy,” Theon says. “Spiders as big as bulls, men as white as now with blue eyes. Giants, mammoths, all of that. They frightened me then.”

“It'll be worse when you see the truth of it,” Bulwer replies. “Haven't ye heard the word from the Wall? They aren't hiding anymore. First thing ye'll do when ye get there is ascend and see for yourself. Ye'll be frightened again, princeling.”

Bulwer leaves them. Theon is clearly troubled, but swallows and bears it up. He snuggles into some rough blankets but, upon seeing one of the boys shaking, offers this up to him. The boy is initially suspicious, then takes the blanket and wraps up. Once settled, he nods, and Theon half-smiles.

The Night's Watch caravan continues through a white out that is deafening and extinguishing flames instantly. The riders and wagon drivers struggle, and finally give in. They stop and pull off the King's Road, Bulwer giving orders to the other brothers. They approach the recruits and tell them they're to walk the rest of the way, while the caravan makes camp.

The recruits stagger through the snow, visibility non-existent, with only a handful of Night's Watch accompanying them, Bulwer in the lead. The boy Theon gave the blanket to moves up beside him and asks if Theon has seen the Wall before, to which Theon says no. The boy then asks if Theon has seen the White Walkers before. Theon again says no, but adds that he saw a Night's Watchman who claimed to once, one that Ned Stark executed for desertion. “The boy seemed mad,” Theon shouts through the blizzard, “but he believed it, he believed what he said. It might be he was right to after all.”

The conversation is interrupted when one of the recruits stumbles away from the group and tries to run. The brothers fail to catch him, so Bulwer takes a hatchet from one of them and hurls it after the fugitive, striking him in the back. Theon asks why Bulwer didn't just leave him, and Bulwers replies that they already have too many raiders to contend with.

Some time later, the recruits continue through the snow. They reach a ridge, at which point the conditions seem to lighten slightly. Bulwer stops at the top and smiles, then looks back at Theon and the recruits. “I hope yer all ready,” he says, “cause yer new life starts today!”

He leads them forward to the ridge top, and Theon sees the Wall for the first time, just about visible through the snowstorms. It looms blackly out of the white fog and takes his breath away. He takes a few moments before continuing, summoning the strength. He places a clenched fist to his chest first, then follows the others.

That night, they pass the army camps outside the walls and reach the gates of Castle Black, where Bulwer's shout gets them access. The recruits are led in and directed to barracks by the stewards there. They will be given fresh clothes, food and a place by the hearth as soon as they've accounted for themselves. Theon slows and looks about himself, half in awe at his new surroundings. He looks lost and unsure. The great eagles swoops down and past Theon, forcing him to drop into the snow. Several brothers nearby laugh. The eagle turns and perches on a roof above Theon, staring down at him with distinctly human eyes. Theon is stunned and stares straight back. (**7.8, Shipbreaker Bay**)

Morning at Castle Black, and the new Night's Watch recruits are processed, brought to a desk one by one where Edd, Endrew and Noye decide what roles each should play. One of the recruits is a strong young man, and is affronted when Endrew suggests he be a steward. “I'll range for you, if you want what's best. I'm better for that than wiping shit off of bedsheets”

“Not much ranging to be done now,” Noye says. “You'll be wiping shit when you're not manning the wall with a claymore. If your stomach's as strong as your tongue at any rate.”

After a couple more assignments, Theon reaches the front of the queue, and all three of the men look unimpressed, though Edd mostly seems bored. Endrew immediately says he should be a steward, and maybe nothing else but. Theon nods and walks away.

Later on, Theon is met by an effete steward – Satin – who offers to give him a tour of his duties. They pass by the training yard, and go into chambers, where Satin shows how bedding is changed and cleaned, how food is prepared and how weaponry is cleaned and maintained. Theon looks outside and sees Bran riding along the upper gallery on his palfrey. Theon freezes, staring up at him, but Bran doesn't look. He rides away out of sight. Theon leans heavily against a wall and loses himself again, trembling. He takes deep breaths. Satin asks if he is okay.

Satin takes Theon to Bran's chambers and announces his appearance. Bran accepts, though is clearly angry when he sees Theon, who in turn can barely look at him.

“I didn't expect you to come here,” Bran tells him. “Though I probably should have.”

“I deserve it,” Theon says. “For what I did to you and your brother, for my betrayal of your family, for the others I hurt and had killed. This is where I was meant to come. I'm glad you're here, Bran.”

Bran notes that Rickon isn't, and asks if Theon knew he was dead. Theon clearly did not and is horrified by the revelation. Bran berates him, going over the many terrible things that have happened to him since Theon drove them out of Winterfell. He becomes irate, furious even, crying and screaming with anger. Theon wilts like Reek once did. Two Brothers intervene, asking Bran if he is okay, but Bran calms down and dismisses them. He turns his attention to Theon again.

“This is all in the past now,” he says. “All of it, even this moment here is the past. It's always just the path leading to something else. The farm hands you murdered and burned are your fault. Rickon's death was not. What I am now, that isn't either. I can never forgive you for what you did, Theon, but I can tell you this. What you did to us will not be what defines you. It doesn't have to be what you are, and neither does anything that happened to you.”

“I do not know who I am,” Theon says. “Coming here was my penance. I didn't think I'd be spared by your sister, I never expected to still be alive. Now here I am, and here you are. I had to beg your forgiveness. What other reason could there be more me being here?”

“There is no reason really,” Bran says. “Not in the way you mean. Are you offering your services to me, Theon? Is that how you mean to redeem yourself?”

“I would if I could,” Theon says. “I would give my life to you, if you'd take it.”

“We'll see,” Bran says. “I hope the Watch is not unkind to you, Theon. Some of these men lack my sense of perspective. Forgive me, I need some inspiration.”

Bran wargs. With a clamour and a racket, the great eagle emerges from the rookery and flies out over the Wall and south. Theon watches it go in amazement.

Some time later, Theon sees Endrew and Edd touring the Castle and carefully follows them, waiting for an opening. He sees them discussing matters with Royce, and Edd trying to resist a headlock from Tormund. When an opening appears, Theon approaches them. Endrew is immediately affronted by this, but Edd lets Theon speak.

“Forgive me,” he says. “I know my place, I know what I'm worth. But I know my strengths too, as a fighter. You made me a steward, and I'll do what that entails. Give me a sword too, I can man the Wall as well as anyone else here.”

Endrew laughs at this, but Edd is more curious. He tells Endrew to give him a chance, then wanders off. An irritated Endrew leads Theon to the training yard.

Here, Theon shows off his swordfighting skills, visibly impressing Endrew and the new recruits with his sharp skills. When Endrew asks how he became so proficient with a sword, Theon says he had a privileged upbringing and was trained by some of the finest swordfighters in the North. Endrew says that once he would have seen that as a painful waste, but now it's happenstance for his fellow Brothers.

The conversation is interrupted by a group of Northern soldiers, who storm into the yard angrily. Two of them go for Theon immediately, ignoring the shouts of Endrew and the other Brothers. One of the Northmen grabs Theon and hoists him up while the other covers the first with a dagger. The Northman holding Theon is **Ser Kendrik Ashwood**, husband of **Beth Ashwood**, formely Beth Cassel and daughter of the late Rodrik Cassel.

“Nothing would give my young bride more joy,” he says, “than the treasonous head of her father's murderer. Lacking the liar's tongue of course.”

Endrew demands that the Northmen let Theon go, telling Kendrik that the crimes of Brothers of the Night's Watch are commuted when they join, and that they are immune to the laws and jurisdiction of the North. Kendrik is not swayed, and the other Northmen point their swords when the Brothers look to step in. Kendrik explains to the other recruits who Theon is, what he did to House Stark, and how he has lived in the kennels of the Dreadfort. Kendrik turns his attention back to Theon, and places the dagger to his throat.

“Beth's house is all but gone,” he says. “Father dead, by your incompetent hand. Cousins dead in King's Landing. She's the last one left. So many dead men of the North. Then you, living still.”

“Let him go,” Bran says. He has arrived in the Yard, more Brothers behind him. “House Ashwood does not answer to House Cassel, it answers to House Stark. If you do not respect the laws of the Night's Watch, you should respect the laws of the North.”

“Who speaks for House Stark here?” Kendrik demands.

“I do,” Bran says. “Brandon of House Stark, heir to Winterfell. Ser Endrew has authority here, and you will obey his instructions. Theon is not to be harmed. He is no longer in possession of his life, and you cannot take it either.”

The Brothers around Bran ready their weapons, standing around and before him. Endrew steps forward and places a careful hand on Kendrik's arm. Finally, the knight relents, releasing Theon and sheathing his dagger. He glares at Theon one last time, then turns his back on him.

“I'm sorry, my lord,” he tells Bran. “I did not know you were here.”

“You do now,” Bran says. “Do not forget that the eyes of justice are on you at all times here.”

Kendrik nods, shaken, then leads his Northmen away. Bran gives Theon a brief look, then turns Wylis away and leaves the yard. He is visibly troubled. (**7.9, Defender of the Vale**)

In the courtyard of Castle Black, Jaime accosts Theon, who is clearly uncomfortable to be around him. Jaime notes that it's genuinely difficult to ascertain which of them is the least popular man at the Wall, particularly with the Northmen.

“I'm a mortal enemy, of course,” he says, “but nobody could call me a traitor. Not in the same way as you, of course. Perhaps they could hold my kingslaying against me, they do so love to do that, but I suppose there's a twinkle in the eye when they bring that up. They're glad I did it as much as they like to tar with for it. That doesn't seem the same for you, Greyjoy.”

“Do you have a point?” Theon asks, and Jaime shrugs.

“I've reached something of an impasse,” he says. “Both with my men and with your old friends, and your new ones for that matter. It seems I won't be leaving in a hurry, so I should make the best of my new surroundings. Any advice on how to do that without getting a dagger in the back?”

Theon notices a group of Northmen watching him from the corner of a nearby building. One of them points at his eye when he looks at him directly. Theon looks away quickly, flustered, and shakes his head at Jaime in some anger. He stops and turns to face him properly.

“I don't know,” he said. “I don't have a lot of luck. But I think you should think about your little brother, Ser Jaime.”

“My brother?” Jaime says. He visibly bristles.

“He's a good man, better than you'll ever be. If he was born where I was born, they'd have thrown him into the sea on the day he was born, and he'd had been killed a hundred times over again if his father had spared him. They'd never know he was a good man, that he was kind, and funny, and wise. Clever. He's the Hand of the Queen now, to a Targaryen. Did you know that, Ser Jaime?”

“Now I wonder if you have a point,” Jaime says.

“The world's been trying to kill your brother since the start,” Theon replies, “but now he's untouchable, and you know why. He made himself useful, he gave himself a purpose that was too important for anybody just to get rid of him. He's probably in King's Landing by now, by the Iron Throne. Probably the second-most powerful person in the Seven Kingdoms. He didn't have to push anyone out of a tower to do it either.”

“No, he only had to kill his father.”

“Just as well he did,” Theon says. “Not all of us were better for our fathers. Not many people were better off for yours anyway. Don't be like him, be like Tyrion. He's the one who's still alive, if that's all you care about anyway.”

Theon walks away quickly, leaving Jaime to watch him go, uncertain of himself.

When night comes, the storm grows worse and the men of the Watch cower inside their shelter and huddle around fires. Theon lies on a bed and looks up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly. We later see somebody's perspective as they walk out of the same barracks and into the cold night.

Theon helps Bran up in the castle courtyard, then removes his hood. He looks baffled, and a little scared. Bran asks Theon why he's there, and Theon says he doesn't know. He is clearly disturbed by what has happened to him. He asks why Bran is there, and why he was crawling through the snow.

“I need to reach a weirwood tree,” he says. “I saw one, at Queenscrown off the King's Road. A sapling, but a weirwood nonetheless. It's the only way I can see.”

Theon says this isn't possible; new weirwoods haven't grown for centuries. “There's nobody left to plant them,” he says. But Bran insists. He's going to get Wylis and ride for Queenscrown regardless of what Theon thinks. But he looks at Theon in some expectation. Then, after a sigh, he tells him; “you deserved to suffer like you did, Theon. You paid the price for your crimes. The scales are equally weighed. But I know you can be a good man. Now you have the chance to be one.”

Theon is struck by the weight of this but, even as he falters and quivers, he makes himself nod and sets his jaw and then helps Bran to his feet. “We better not wait,” he says. “This storm will only get worse as the night goes on.”

They get their horses from the stable, quietly moving past a sleeping watchman, but then Bran directs them into a nook between the buildings, just short of the gate. Theon asks what the delay is, but Bran tells him the timing is important.

A while passes, and the pair are half-frozen. Then there's movement above the gate as watch duty changes. Bran waits until the old shift has gone, then leads Theon out to the gate. The challenge comes from above. It's Jaime. When he sees who it is, he's struck.

“What in seven hells are you doing out here?” he shouts. “Go back. The cold will get you.”

“It won't,” Bran says. “I've seen what will.”

“Was it an arrow?” Jaime asks. “Because that's what I'll use if you don't go back.”

“Worthy of a kinslayer,” Theon shouts. “Shooting crippled children in the back from afar.”

“Fine words from a child-killer,” Jaime replies.

“Like you are,” Bran says. “In your heart at least, Ser Jaime. But that's not all you are, is it? That's what nobody here understands, what nobody seems to understand. Like my father didn't understand, that you can be a good man as much as evil. Why should you only be judged for the evil when you saved so many lives? Burn them all, he ordered. That name they gave you should be a badge of honour, but it's not. You need a new badge.”

Jaime has no response. He frowns. The other Brothers on watch observe silently.

“You pushed me before,” Bran says. “Now you can let me go, and earn my forgiveness. You'd never ask for it, but I know you need it. You can have it. I cannot help to do good while stuck here, but you can. They'll need somebody to look to when they see I'm gone. Be that, Ser Jaime. Be their Goldenclaw in the night. Be the man you were always meant to be.”

Jaime, again, is speechless, despite his visible efforts. He looks at Bran, then at Theon, at their set faces and expectation. He sags, then orders the Brothers to open the gate. When they don't move, he activates the mechanism himself. The gate cranks open. Bran and Theon ride out. As they go, Bran looks back and gives Jaime a smile and a nod. Then they disappear into the white-out, headed for the King's Road.

Bran and Theon ride through the ferocious snowstorm. Bran loses his way, unable to see Theon or any landmarks around him. Just as he appears adrift, Theon appears and comes to him and straightens his ride. They move together through the snow.

Daylight barely penetrating the snowstorm clouds, Bran and Theon arrive at Queenscrown. The tower is still recognisable though buried under snow, and Bran looks at it sadly as they pass. The lake has frozen, but on the other side there are white shapes of roofs and chimneys. Bran leads the way, Theon keeping a hand to the hilt of his sword as they go.

When they get to the ruined village, Bran rides very slowly, looking back and forth between his place amongst the buildings and the view of the King's Road beyond the lake. Then, abruptly, the sight becomes familiar. Bran briefly sees the Knights of the Vale riding along the road, heading for the Wall, a clear memory. He turns to the ruined house behind him and dismounts carefully. Theon helps him to his feet, then gives him a boost so he can climb over the ruined wall and clamber into the house. Bran slips off the stones and lands heavily on the dirt inside.

“Bran?” Theon asks. “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine,” Bran replies. “I haven't climbed walls in a long time.”

“You shouldn't,” Theon says. “Look what happened last time round.”

Bran chuckles. He crawls and clambers through the house, while Theon waits outside for some time. When he sees snow like an avalanche cascading over the top of Castle Black, he calls on Bran to return.

“It's starting,” Bran says. Then he shouts in pain. He pulls his arm out from beneath his robes. The mark on his forearm burns blue. He screams in agony, and Theon grabs him, holding him close. (**7.10, Lord of Light**)