#gottheonweek

 What struck me initially was how visually similar these scenes are – albeit some of the parallels are anti-parallels/mirrors.

Theon and Robb are the only two people really “present” in the scene – in essence they’re alone. Bran rides around them in the first scene but he’s not part of their conversation at all and he fades more and more out of frame as their argument continues. (In the second scene, you also get the sense initially that there are soldiers/people milling around in the background though they fade out quickly, too.)

Both scenes are outside and in a forested area. (There’s a tent in the second scene but it’s fully open and they’re standing at the entrance, with the characters and the camera facing out.)

Robb and Theon spend both conversations standing/sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and turn to face each other over their shoulders.

The scenes are both filmed from behind/behind and over their shoulders. (To me it gives a bit of a sense of the audience sort of eavesdropping/peeping into these significant and private moments between them.  

 The very first shot of both conversations is from behind, with both of them facing outward:

Incidentally, this is also the position of the characters and camera during the first line of both conversations. Theon has the first line in both. (“When are you going to tell him?” / “A word, Your Grace?”)

 The second “shot” and second line are Robb’s. (“Not now.” / “You don’t have to call me Your Grace when no one’s around.”) Then Theon with the response.

The first scene does have this kind of upward angle that the second doesn’t, but it switches to a closer shot of Theon a couple of lines later. And it’s still this from-behind-over-the-shoulder shot.

Then, of course, you have the inverse-parallels/mirrors. Robb is on the right in the first scene and on the left in the second. The first scene is in the morning/during the day while the second is during the evening/night. (With the second mirror being the significant one, IMO, as we’ll see later.)

It could be a coincidence. It looks pretty intentional to me, but you could say, after all there are only so many settings to work with here and only so many camera angles to use with two people having a conversation (not that Theon and Robb have too many in private – there’s only one other one). But once we start going into the content/non-visual elements, we get even more interesting similarities:

Aside from the fact that Theon starts both conversations, the first conversation is only one line longer – 10 instead of 9 (by “line” I mean here any segment where one character is speaking uninterrupted by the other character, even if he takes pauses).

Here are the two conversations side by side. Robb’s lines are in red; Theon’s – in blue. These are transcribed literally, without indicating pauses or emphasis in tone, etc.

The two conversations are also structured similarly, although each runs a unique course. Step one: Theon initiates a conversation that’s likely to be difficult. In the first scene we already know that, because clearly the situation created by Jaime and the attack on Ned is a difficult one. The second, it’s signaled by Theon’s formality, the use of Robb’s title. (And the fact that he downs his drink before going to talk to Robb to begin with.)

Step two: Robb deflects. In the first instance: “Not now” and “you’re talking about war” – i.e. this is above my paygrade, man. In the second: banter.

Step three: Theon gets back on track: “I’m talking about justice” / “the Lannisters will reject your terms.” Which Robb accepts in both cases but isn’t very willing to engage with. (“Only the Lord of Winterfell can call the banners” = what do you expect from me? / “of course they are” – acceptance without much of a plan moving forward.)

Four: Theon presses for action and presents a direct target – explains why the situation is untenable and singles out Jaime as a perpetrator that needs to be brought to heal before he can escape justice vs. presents the Pyke plan as a solution for the need to take KL.

Five: Robb objects – how do you expect me to march on Casterly Rock? / Those men fought against my father!

Six: Theon’s final appeal.

These scenes run in such exquisite parallel to each other than it feels nearly intentional. They feel like bookends. To wit it makes sense that the first is in the morning (in the scene directly before it, Hodor wakes Bran up from a dream) and the second in the evening. But what are they bookending? What is the point?

The first conversation here isn’t Theon and Robb’s very first scene together. These aren’t their only two scenes alone together (there’s also the scene after Robb tells Luwin to call the banners). Although it is their first scene in private (relatively) together, but that doesn’t seem significant enough. So what are they bookending?

The end.

The end of Theon and Robb’s relationship as they’d known it, but without either of them realizing it at first. That first conversation is the start of the end, and the last one is the end. Although neither the audience, nor maybe even Theon (and certainly not Robb) know it yet.

So, lets back up.

I’ve always struggled a little to trace the trajectory of the degradation of Robb and Theon’s relationship on the show – when you first start to try and analyze it, you end up with whiplash. In the books things are a little easier – both because they’re vaguer and they’re more linear.

In the books, we don’t have Robb or Theon’s POVs – to the extent we have Theon’s it’s only postfact, not during any time when they’re actually interacting. We see very few direct interaction between them and those are filtered through other characters, so we don’t see body language or small looks between them or anything else of the sort unless other characters feel it important to comment on, which they often don’t. Therefore, there’s a lot of room for speculation and individual readings of their relationship. We find out from Theon’s POV later that he felt a lot of affection for Robb, but to what extent that was reciprocated and/or to what extent they managed to channel that into an actual friendship is a little open ended.

Because of their lack of interaction, it’s not that hard to imagine a slow emotional distancing between them, even if you think they’re close in AGOT. The Bran incident happens – a clear escalation of “put away your sword, Greyjoy” (imperiously) – then, Robb continues to generally emotionally pull away from everyone, even his own mother. We never see Theon try to joke around with Robb again the way he does when they ride through Winter Town with Bran in AGOT. We find out from Theon that he and Robb never talked out the Bran Incident. Etcetera. It’s not that difficult to imagine an emotional distancing between them that then comes to its natural resolution when Theon has to make his choice on Pyke. Nor is there a specific moment of choice as there appears to be on the show – he just kind of slides into it between chapters.

The show is more difficult to parse. Theon and Robb still don’t have a lot of scenes together, but because it’s a visual medium, we don’t need other characters to tell us what they’re doing to see it. They’re always standing together, they’re always giving each other little looks. We see how Theon looks at Robb. (Ask me one day about how I’m pretty sure Alfie was lowkey playing unrequited love.) We get to see Theon tell Robb to call the banners. Theon’s book line re: standing by the Starks in war, said to Cat, is changed to a line said directly to Robb. Also, unlike in the books, where Robb is surrounded by many councilors and advisors even before going to war, Theon appears to be Robb’s only real confidant aside from his mother in the show. (E.g. he tells Luwin to call the banners, but never really consults him. That’s a conversation he has with Theon and apparently Theon alone.) We can tell there’s a close relationship there. (There is also the confirmation from Robb to Talisa later on.)

 Worse, while the Bran incident still happens, and you can make the argument that Robb becomes entirely preoccupied with the war and we see him consulting far more with Cat than with Theon once they march… The show then throws us the curve ball of the “now and always” and oath swearing nonsense in the King in the North scene. I won’t go into the details of how much I hate this change (a lot) and why, but I’ll say that it always felt not just horribly OOC for Theon as he is in the books, but also inconsistent for Theon’s character arch within the show.

How does he go from that to burning the letter in S2? We think of Theon burning the letter to Robb as this big turning point, and in many ways it is. But as far as Theon & Robb are concerned, it’s really the finale. It’s the logical conclusion. Those cards were already down.

It’s emotionally confusing initially because they have so few interaction between the KITN scene and Theon’s drama on Pyke – really the only significant one is this conversation about the Pyke plan. So if we view their relationship as being on the upswing starting from after the Bran incident through the KITN scene and into Pyke, then Theon’s decision is disorienting. Not completely illogical – all the same issues he’s had re: the Starks still apply, but its more like a rug pull than a catharsis.

And yet, the structure and visuals of the letter burning scene feel more like a catharsis. A heartbreaking one, sure, but this shot feels like a logical ending to an arch, a final scene in a drama, intensified by the fact that the very next scene is Theon’s “baptism.” A rebirth symbolism, complete with Greyjoy banners flapping in the wind and triumphant music.

It also feels strange to have the Bran Incident and the “not your duty, not your house” and the general tension of their relationship in that section be so disjointed from this last part if we consider it as having been forgotten or overwritten by scenes like the KITN scene. Robb and Theon never talk about it. Unlike in the books, where Theon connects back to the Bran Incident within his POV, he never brings it up here with anyone or in any way. It makes little sense emotionally, unless those two scenes are an integral part of this arch (spoiler: they are).

I’d posit that the primary arch of Theon and Robb’s relationship on the show is a dying. The “not your duty, not your house” scene is an Inciting Incident and the true start of that decline, though we see little tensions and harbingers of it before. (The first time I watched S1 was before I read any of the books and my reactions to that “put your sword away” / “I take orders from your father not you” exchange was “wow…do these guys really dislike each other? So much tension! Will they be antagonists?”) In order to heighten the tragedy, we need to see them a little beforehand – happy at the feast, joking at the barber’s, Theon promising support to Robb in the godswood (this scene has its counterpart too!)… After the “not your duty, not your house” scene (and the immediately following Bran Incident as reinforcement), what follows is Theon’s desperate attempt to prove himself worthy of Robb’s reciprocity, of belonging with the Starks after all.

He wins a False Victory in the KITN scene by eliciting a public promise of brotherhood from Robb – though Robb delivers it flatly and distractedly, and must be prompted into it. Then Theon goes all in. He makes a formal oath. It’s an echo of his promise in the godswood from before: “if it come to [war], you know I’ll stand behind you.” A promise he’d made prior to the “not your duty, not your house scene.” Before the First Rejection. In the KITN scene he makes it again, but more formally, more publicly, with greater repercussions, after multiple smaller shows of loyalty and devotion. He’s gone all in – he’s given Robb everything he possibly ever could. But we all know that, narratively, after the False Victory comes the Darkest Hour.

The Pyke plan conversation is also a test. A test Robb fails, perhaps because he doesn’t understand that it’s a test. It’s the second, and final, rejection. It’s after this scene that Theon has all his answers. The rest is mere circumstances, a ticking time bomb. But for Robb and Theon this is the end.

Remember how we talked about the conversations in these two scenes running structurally in parallel? And the final “step”/section was what I called Theon’s last appeal?

In the first conversation it’s shorter and entirely unsuccessful. (Robb then has the final say, and it’s to remind Theon of his place as Not A Stark ™.) In the second, it’s longer, Theon has the last say of it, and from the next scene with Cat, we see that Robb has agreed, although we don’t actually see him voice his agreement to Theon. Interestingly enough, Theon makes two actual arguments in his first “final appeal” – 1) the Lannisters  have already started the war and 2) it’s Robb’s duty to act for his father when Ned is unable to. He makes three arguments in the second, successful, appeal: 1) my people are your natural allies in wanting independence from the South, not your enemies, 2) my father will listen to me because I’m his son and 3) I’m not a Stark, but I was raised in your father’s ways and am tied to him just as you are.

Loosely, the first two arguments can be seen as symmetrical in a meta way too. The first in High Politics and strategy – the Lannister have started the war; the ironborn want independence from the South so an alliance makes sense. The second is about duty and family generally – Robb has a duty to represent his family; Theon’s father will listen to him because he’s Balon’s blood.

And the final accord – voiced by Robb in the first conversation and by Theon in the second? Is about the Starks. And about Theon’s place among them.

Theon makes no argument on this account in the first scene – it’s Robb who clearly shows him his place: “And it’s not your duty, because it’s not your House.” Read: you are not a Stark, so stay out of it. Theon stares at him in hurt shock. He hadn’t anticipated this at all. He loses the argument.

Theon forecloses this objection in the second conversation by making an argument out of it: “I'm not a Stark. I know that. But your father raised me to be an honorable man. We can avenge him together.” Read: I know my place. I know I’m not a Stark. But I can still be useful and helpful to you despite that. And Robb, his objections foreclosed, accepts.

So, what’s the test?

Theon pauses. Clearly and audibly. He starts with looking down at the ground, apparently unsure for a moment, and as he says “I’m not a Stark, I know that” he looks up at Robb. This is what you told me. Is it still true? Then he hesitates. He doesn’t want to make this third argument – he shouldn’t have to. But with no reassurance forthcoming, he plunges ahead. He wins by losing. He’s still not a Stark. And he still must argue/prove that that doesn’t matter. He must know his place and he must prove his usefulness despite it. Nothing has changed.  

 Can Robb be expected to jump in with a no, it’s ok in the three seconds that Theon gives him on the spot? Maybe not. But it’s never re-addressed. The last shot is Robb’s silent consideration and off-screen acceptance. Theon doesn’t “win” here because Robb’s changed his mind about Theon’s “status” vis-à-vis himself or his family. Theon’s just better prepared with a justification for why, despite being an “outsider,” this can still be his business.

It's a status quo Robb is ok with. But Theon isn’t. Maybe he doesn’t fully realize it until he’s forced to make his choice on Pyke. But what was started in the morning in a conversation in the woods, comes full circle, and ends, in the evening in a conversation in the woods. They also physically switch places in these scenes, which seems random at first, and yet: The first time, Robb teaches Theon where he belongs; the second time – Theon takes Robb’s place, physically and in dialogue, showing he’s learned his lesson. (Hauntingly, brings to mind: “I trained him, he was a slow learner, but he learned.”) The

These scenes are visually and structurally bookends because they bookend the journey Theon takes from his wake-up call of being told, don’t be mistaken, you don’t belong, to accepting it. The part in between is his desperate fight to prove himself (and Robb) wrong. But because this is a tragedy, he fails. And having failed, he must accept it.

And when he goes to Pyke, he goes with that rejection complete, knowing he could “never be a Stark” – he’d given Robb everything, remember, and got the same answer as before – and not a priority to Robb. He could not possibly build his identity or his future on that. He had to do it somewhere else.