Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones was horrifying, to say the least. The things he did to poor old Theon Greyjoy, or “Reek”, were too sadistic to even think about. However, there were many things he did in the books, that the showrunners just couldn’t explore. Some of them were from his past, while others were during the timeframe of the books. Here are a few horrifying things he did that most show watchers just couldn’t see! But we have to warn you, it can be very gruesome to read.
Ramsay Snow: Before Game of Thrones began
Roose Bolton used to practice the tradition of the “first night”. This meant that the lord of the land had the right to bed a common man’s new bride. He raped a miller’s wife, and a few months later, she came to the Dreadfort with Baby Ramsay in her arms. Usually, Roose would have killed her and the baby, but when he saw that the baby had his eyes, he couldn’t do so. This would have been called Kinslaying, thus he let them live. Instead, he gave them some pigs, chickens and some annual money to take care of Ramsay. However, he told her to never tell Ramsay of his true parentage.
There was another “Reek” before Theon Greyjoy from Game of Thrones
As he was growing older, his mother again went to Lord Bolton as Ramsay was growing crazier. As a result, Roose gave them one of his servants with a familiar name – Reek. He had that name because he always smelled bad, due to some unknown condition since birth. Over time, the two grew close to each other, but in a horrible way. It isn’t clear who corrupted whom, but Reek always did whatever Ramsay asked him to do. Sounds familiar to what Ramsay did to Theon in Game of Thrones, right?
Later, Ramsay found out about his true parentage. With his greater ambitions, he set a plan for himself. Domeric Bolton, who was Roose’s only trueborn son, tried to befriend Ramsay. Devious as Ramsay was, he poisoned Domeric and became Roose’s only living son. That was the only reason Roose spared his life, otherwise, he would have been skinned alive in typical Bolton manner. However, his true sadistic and cruel nature showed itself after that.
Ramsay after the show began
Once Ramsay knew he was Roose’s only son, he became even more violent before. An example of that, which the show omitted was what he did to Lady Hornwood. When Roose Bolton’s army was in the south, fighting Robb Stark’s war of the Five Kings, Ramsay gathered an army and attacked the lands of House Hornwood. He forced the widowed Lady Donella Hornwood to marry him, then raped her and left her to starve in her tower. She ended up eating her own fingers before starving to death. This might have been too cruel even for Game of Thrones to air. But when it comes to Theon, it gets worse.
Theon Greyjoy – His new pet “Reek”
Ramsay treated Theon a lot worse than they showed in Game of Thrones. In A Song of Ice and Fire, Theon continuously called himself “Reek”, even in his thoughts. The torture was so cruel that his hair had turned white – all of them. He wasn’t just castrated, but many of his fingers and toes were missing too. Ramsay skinned them first, then he separated the joints after the pain got too much for Theon. He even broke several of his teeth because he hated his smile, and covered him with excrements to make him smell like Reek.
When Theon had captured Winterfell, he used to have a mistress named “Kyra”. After Ramsay took over, he gave Kyra a gruesome and horrible death through his hounds that Theon remembers every time he sees Ramsay. During his time there, Ramsay kept on practicing rape and killings throughout the nearby lands of Winterfell and Dreadfort. He was one of the most terrifying characters George R.R. Martin ever created, undoubtedly.
These are just some of the terrible stories from the Game of Thrones Universe that the audience never got to see. Some of this was too gruesome for even the show to portray. Needless to say, this makes Ramsay’s death in the hands of Jon Snow even more worthwhile.
