by: Michael Marciante
This weekend marks the halfway point for the third season of the HBO series Game of Thrones. The dark, intrinsic, treacherous story lines based off of the novels by George R.R. Martin, have already dug in and gotten good this season, with the most exciting scenes of Storm of Swords still to come. As fans’ hatred for King Joffery continues to grow, last weeks episode may have mollified fans’ hatred for Theon Greyjoy, as he poured his soul out of guilt to his mysterious benefactor…or so we think. “The Boy,” as the show’s creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff originally titled the character, is much more than that. As Wiki-cheaters and novel readers have already speculated/ confirmed, this character’s significance to the plot will unfold throughout this season, as a true bastard will be revealed.
The Boy
He is Iwan Rheon (EU-wan RAY-won) a Wales born boy wonder, best known for his role as Simon “Barry” Bellamy; the lovable, invisible, time-traveling stalker from E4′s superhero drama Misfits. When the pale blue-eyed actor was asked about his role in season 3 of GoT last year, he wasn’t able to add much to the rumors, “Well I’m playing… I’m possibly in the show.. and if I was to be in the show I’d be playing a character called ‘the Boy’ … Uhm, yeah, I can’t really talk about it.” When Rheon isn’t on one of GoT’s many sets, he tours England as a musician. His latest EP, BANG! BANG! is just on of many acoustic songs written by Rheon over the years. His lyrics are soothingly sad, with a soft style of singing to compliment his guitar skills.
Warning: Any and all content from this point on, pertains to plot points of characters in G.R.R. Martin’s novel series A Song of Fire and Ice and HBO’s Game of Thrones. Any person who wishes NOT to divulge into this content, should hereby leave this post and read another amazing post by The Couch Continuum!
The Bastard
Shortly after his involvement with GoT was announced, it was confirmed that Rheon would in fact be playing Ramsay Snow: The Bastard of Bolton. For those who ignored the warning above and read on, you should have picked up on this already. Immediately following Rheon’s first appearance with Greyjoy, viewers are introduced to the House of Bolton with the flag of the flayed man, for the first time in the show. Not to mention, right before he shoots a Northern guard in the face with a bow and arrow, he is called, “a bastard.” Coincidence? A possible reason why the bastard hasn’t been officially announced on the show may be a twist from the Clash of Kings novel plot. Ramsay switches identities with his first “Reek” in order to avoid execution. His humble stable-boy appearance may correlate with that twist.
Ramsay is cruel, sadistic, and fond of causing others pain. The fact that his character’s introduction was omitted from the second season can be considered another casualty of the television production process. The show is filming incredibly fast, making drastic editing decisions to keep the show consistent with the books. Still, introducing an entirely new House, with such an evil character like Ramsay Snow in that house, without giving them the proper air-time, would be an injustice to the character and the series. The Bastard introduces a different perspective from the North, as he seeks to rule the North, after the events of Storm of Swords: birthing a new era of tyrannical villainy that blends so well with the series’ already over sexualized violence. Ramsay Snow the Bastard offers a new level of constant evil, one that (literary) FOILs the heartfelt ploys of Jon Snow the Bastard. Fans may even feel bad for Theon Greyjoy, he who betrayed Robb Stark, as Ramsay’s knives flay him of his skin and his identity, while Greyjoy slowly…so very slowly, transforms into The Reek.
Be sure to catch up Game of Thrones on HBO On-Demand and HBO GO, and don’t miss Game of Thrones Sundays at 9 pm, on HBO. Remember, it’s not TV, it’s a very addictive series of premium quality cable channels called HBO. HBO…hbo.
