Theon led ett flerskiktsproblem. Han förväntade sig att han skulle välkomnas tillbaka som sin faderens arv och åtnjutit all respekt som han var van vid i Grönland vid sin födelse och station, men han var borta så länge glömde han hur Ironborn var annorlunda än Grönlands herrar han växte upp med.
När han kom till Järnöarna såg hans morbror att Theon var ovillig att knä och ta emot sina välsignelser, medvetna om sina fina kläder.
"Good. Kneel."
The ground was all stones and mud. "Uncle, I—"
"Kneel. Or are you too proud now, a lordling of the green lands come
among us?"
ACOK - Theon I
Prästen berättade också för honom att han inte skulle ta det självklart att han skulle ärva Seastone-stolen.
"If my father makes plans for war, I must know of them. I am not 'any
man,' I am heir to Pyke and the Iron Islands."
"As to that," his uncle said, "we shall see."
The words were a slap in the face. "We shall see? My brothers are both
dead. I am my lord father's only living son."
"Your sister lives."
Asha, he thought, confounded. She was three years older than Theon,
yet still . . . "A woman may inherit only if there is no male heir in
the direct line," he insisted loudly. "I will not be cheated of my
rights, I warn you."His uncle grunted.
"You warn a servant of the Drowned God, boy? You have forgotten more
than you know. And you are a great fool if you believe your lord
father will ever hand these holy islands over to a Stark. Now be
silent. The ride is long enough without your magpie chatterings."
ACOK - Theon I
Theon var idiot som han var, hotade Damphair om hans rättigheter . Han kunde ha gjort fromma ljud om hur den fördröjda Guds utvalda kung skulle vara en kung och dammhair skulle ha stött honom. Damphair privat trodde Balon hade fel att överväga Asha hans arving och att kungen skulle vara en manlig. När han såg vad han såg av sin brorson, ställde Damphair sin förhoppning på sin bror Victarion istället.
Då mötte Theon sin far och bildade ett mycket dåligt första intryck på honom och gjorde honom tro på att Starks hade gjort honom svag och mjuk, olämplig att leda Ironborn.
Theon touched the gold chain. He had forgotten. It has been so long .
. . In the Old Way, women might decorate themselves with ornaments
bought with coin, but a warrior wore only the jewelry he took off the
corpses of enemies slain by his own hand. Paying the iron price, it
was called.
"You blush red as a maid, Theon. A question was asked. Is it the gold
price you paid, or the iron?"
"The gold," Theon admitted.
His father slid his fingers under the necklace and gave it a yank so
hard it was like to take Theon's head off, had the chain not snapped
first. "My daughter has taken an axe for a lover," Lord Balon said. "I
will not have my son bedeck himself like a whore." He dropped the
broken chain onto the brazier, where it slid down among the coals.
"It is as I feared. The green lands have made you soft, and the
Starks have made you theirs."
"You're wrong. Ned Stark was my gaoler, but my blood is still salt and
iron."
Lord Balon turned away to warm his bony hands over the brazier. "Yet
the Stark pup sends you to me like a well-trained raven, clutching his
little message."
"There is nothing small about the letter I bear," Theon said, "and the
offer he makes is one I suggested to him."
"This wolf king heeds your counsel, does he?" The notion seemed to
amuse Lord Balon.
"He heeds me, yes. I've hunted with him, trained with him, shared meat
and mead with him, warred at his side. I have earned his trust. He
looks on me as an older brother, he—"
"No." His father jabbed a finger at his face. "Not here, not in
Pyke, not in my hearing, you will not name him brother, this son of
the man who put your true brothers to the sword. Or have you
forgotten Rodrik and Maron, who were your own blood?
ACOK - Theon I
Här visade Theon sig ovärderlig genom att ha på sig smycken som köptes med guldpriset och fungerade som en förtrollad ravn för Robb. Han gjorde också misstaget att beteckna Robb brorliknande, som rasade Lord Balon.
Så det är bakgrunden, lord Balon litade inte på Theon och fruktade att hans sista levande son hade blivit mjuk. Så när han tilldelade sina kaptener uppdrag gav han den verkliga uppgiften till Reavers arbete till Theon och lade Dagmer Cleftjaw och Aeron Damphair till sina rådgivare, vilket i huvudsak gjorde Theons befäl till en nominell. De två skulle följa Theon och göra rapporter till Balon om deras bedömning. Theon var rasande att han behandlades som sådan och kände sig bortkastad, särskilt då Asha skulle spela en större roll.
His thrice-damned sister was sailing her Black Wind north even now,
sure to win a castle of her own. Lord Balon had let no word of the
hosting escape the Iron Islands, and Theon‟s bloody work along the
Stony Shore would be put down to sea raiders out for plunder. The
northmen would not realize their true peril, not until the hammers
fell on Deepwood Motte and Moat Cailin. And after all is done and won,
they will make songs for that bitch Asha, and forget that I was even
here. That is, if he allowed it
ACOK - Theon III
Då hade han sin prata med Dagmer Cleftjaw:
“If I had a man like you in my service, I should not waste him on this
child's business of harrying and burning. This is no work for Lord
Balon's best man.”
Dagmer's grin twisted his lips apart and showed the brown splinters of
his teeth. “Nor for his trueborn son?” He hooted. “I know you too
well, Theon. I saw you take your first step, helped you bend your
first bow. 'Tis not me who feels wasted.”
“By rights I should have my sister's command,” he admitted,
uncomfortably aware of how peevish that sounded.
“You take this business too hard, boy. It is only that your lord
father does not know you. With your brothers dead and you taken by
the wolves, your sister was his solace. He learned to rely on her, and
she has never failed him.”
“Nor have I. The Starks knew my worth. I was one of Brynden
Blackfish‟s picked scouts, and I charged with the first wave in the
Whispering Wood. I was that close to crossing swords with the
Kingslayer himself.” Theon held his hands two feet apart. “Daryn
Hornwood came between us, and died for it.”
“Why do you tell me this?” Dagmer asked. “It was me who put your first
sword in your hand. I know you are no craven.”
“Does my father?”
The hoary old warrior looked as if he had bitten into something he did
not like the taste of. “It is only . . . Theon, the Boy Wolf is your
friend, and these Starks had you for ten years.”
“I am no Stark.” Lord Eddard saw to that. “I am a Greyjoy, and I
mean to be my father's heir. How can I do that unless I prove myself
with some great deed?”
ACOK - Theon III
Så där har du det.
Theon visste att hans far och farbror inte lita på honom och trodde att han var en Stark inuti. De fruktade att han hade gett upp på Ironborn sätt.
Theon var medveten om att hans syster var en utmanare för sin pappas stol.
Ashas kommando hade fler män och mer prestigefyllda mål medan Theon fick Reavers arbete. Hur kunde han bevisa att han var bättre än Asha om han följde order?
Han ville bevisa sin lojalitet och sitt värde.
Så Winterfell gav honom en chans att göra alla dessa i ett slag. Genom att fånga Winterfell med en handfull män, speciellt när hans far väntade Winterfell att trotsa dem i åratal:
Theon skulle bevisa att han hade övergivit House Stark för alltid och var lojal mot House Greyjoy.
Han skulle bevisa att han fortfarande hade Ironborns sätt att erövra kära.
Han skulle bevisa att han var värdig genom att ta ett slott som förväntas trotsa dem i åratal med en handfull män.