Throughout its eight seasons, Game of Thrones was known for exploring some pretty dark territory, full of characters who commit morally questionable (and sometimes downright horrifying) actions. High among those is the character of Theon Greyjoy.
Raised at Winterfell as a ward of House Stark, one would expect him to have at least some loyalty to the family that raised him. Unfortunately, again and again Theon proves to be a deeply flawed character, one who can’t quite seem to decide where he belongs or where his loyalties lie. As a result, he commits some truly terrible crimes, the ten most horrifying of which are below.
He Was Eager to Kill the Direwolf Puppies
One of the highlights of the early seasons of the show was the presence of the direwolves. Through some strange twist of fate, there were exactly enough of them so that each of the Stark children could have one of their own. Theon, however, proves more than willing to kill them rather than adopt them. Perhaps it was simply an expression of his frustration at never really being part of the Stark family, or maybe it was just a heavy-handed hint at his inner corruption, but in either case, the signs were there.
He Insists Osha Call Him My Lord
One of the things that always stands out about Theon is his insistence on his own status. From the beginning, he attempted to make Osha, another prisoner of the Starks, refer to him as “My Lord.” Apparently, it never truly occurred to him that he was really no better than she was. At the same time, it’s hard not to feel at least a little bit of sympathy for Theon, who is always caught on the cusp of belonging, never fully being a part of either House Stark or House Greyjoy.
Got Way Too "Familiar" With His Sister
In a show filled with oversexed people, Theon is right up at the top. In fact, one of the first things that we see him doing is having sex with prostitutes. Unfortunately, his issues with women—namely, seeing them largely as objects—even extends to the woman that he later discovers is his sister, after he gets a little too familiar with her (albeit unknowingly at the time). Theon just can’t quite get over his hang-ups about his own masculinity (or lack thereof) and so he tends to overcompensate with toxic behavior.
He Betrays Rob
Certainly one of the worst things that Theon does during the course of the show is to betray Robb and take over Winterfell in the name of his father Balon. It’s a decision that most should have seen coming—especially since Theon has already shown his divided loyalties and duplicitous nature—but it is still shocking to see him take over Winterfell, one of the most important sites in the early seasons of the series. It almost physically hurts to see its people fall under the rule of the brutal Iron Islanders.
He Botches Ser Rodrik's Execution
One of the most frustrating things about Theon is how, despite his attempts to be brutal and cruel, he really can’t do it right. Some of this stems from Alfie Allen’s performance, which lends Theon a slight aura of vulnerability.
Thus it is that, when he is forced to execute Ser Rodrik Cassel after the latter spits in his face, he somehow manages to botch the entire affair. It takes him no less than three strikes to get the execution done. It's a truly horrifying death, even within a series known for its bloody horrors.
He Kills Two Random Kids
From the outset of his conquest of Winterfell, everything starts to go downhill rather quickly. In addition to losing track of Bran and Rickon, he then pretends that they are dead by executing and defacing the bodies of two boys of a similar age. It’s a horrifying act for a number of reasons. On the one hand, it shows just how vulnerable the poor people are to the depredations of the rich. On the other, it shows just how cowardly Theon is, that he can’t even be the ruthless ruler that he claims to be.
Abuses His Power For Favors From Osha
It’s hard not to feel a bit of contempt for Theon when he displays such willingness to indulge in his newfound (albeit almost humorously limited) power after invading Winterfell. One particularly memorable example of this is when Osha visits him in "his" chambers to petition for her freedom.
Granted, she offers herself willingly (and it's all a part of her cunningly devised escape plan), but the eager, smug, and lecherous way in which he accepts the offering of her body is difficult to avoid cringing over.
He Abandons Yara To Euron
As the series progresses, Theon seems to become less and less heroic. This is hardly surprising, considering the torture that he endures, but even so, some of his actions are pretty pathetic and infuriating. Late in the series, for example, he abandons his sister Yara to the tender mercies of their Uncle Euron, giving into his cowardice at exactly the moment when he should be trying to save his sister. It’s not really a surprising moment, but it’s still a stunning moment when Theon reveals just how far he has fallen into cowardice.
Sees Jon Snow & Tyrion Lannister As Beneath Him
One of the key features of Theon’s personality early in the series is his willingness to look down and be cruel to those that he deems to be less than himself. The victims of his cruelty include both Jon Snow and Tyrion, both of whom he looks down upon. With Jon, it's because he is a bastard, and for Tyrion, it's due to his height. While one can perhaps explain it by focusing on his own fundamental lack of self-worth, that doesn’t entirely excuse his truly execrable behavior and his willingness to take out his issues on other people.
He Betrays Sansa Twice
Perhaps no character has to endure as much of Theon’s cowardice as Sansa. After she is traded into the keeping of the cruel and villainous Ramsay Snow, she deludes herself into believing that there might be some chance of escaping with Theon’s aid. However, he repeatedly fails to help her, both when Ramsay assaults her—which he watches in helpless horror—and when they both attempt to escape from Winterfell. You feel a little bit sorry for him, but you also feel more than a little contempt for someone so willing to betray a woman who was basically his sister.