WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE

sorry my dear sweetness for answering this ask from april in july...

i really like you calling theon ramsay's "replacement goldfish" that's so fitting.

i think it's a mixture of things. ramsay likes bringing theon down low. low in social status and low in social capital. people who smell bad and act weird and dress in rags are socially shunned by people who don't smell bad, follow social graces, and dress richly. in addition to the humiliation of his physical torture and rape, theon also experiences the continued torture of the purposefully stripping away of his identity. his name, his title, and any right he had to social capital and respect as a lord of westeros are taken from him.

making theon smell bad makes him an immediate social pariah, even without making him ugly. reek also experienced this. he was hated and driven away even without the added layer of being an active serial killing serial raper. he was disgusting, and so was not tolerated.

i actually hadn't thought of this because i haven't been very #lockedin but now that you've pointed it out wow yes it does feel obvious that these were meant to be two climactic finale episodes to round out a 10 episode season

killing off lohar and jace (and i think also the boytoy lannister it was unclear to me if he survived but idt so) in the opening of s3 feels just... weird?

idk tv has a specific timed experience. most people aren't rewatching s1 and s2 in preparation for s3. i felt nothing over jakey's drath because i'm a #hater but getting lohar back after the two year wait only to kill her off (and when abigail's acting had gotten so much better!!!!) felt bad.