Balon Greyjoy - Tumblr Posts

Theon Greyjoy

... was fucked the second he went of to Pyke. Practically speaking if Balon would have said yes to work with Robb Stark that would have been great. But why would Balon do that. The North slaughtered two of his sons and took the third hostage. So the chances of him joing the North were slim from the start.

And then Theon had to make a choice between his two families. One by his birth right and one he grew up with. But as a hostage. No matter how well Ned Stark treated him, he was a hostage. And Ned would have had to take his head if Balon rebelled. And Ned is an honerable man and if it would have been his duty he most likely would have done it, even if he didn’t want to.

And Robb would have had to do the same thing if Theon came back with empty hands and Balon would have attacked Winterfell. Robb might have not wanted that and unlike his father I don’t think he would have really done it. But that way his men would have rebelled earlier or might not have stayed behind their king unless he kills their hostage.

Even though for the ironborn it is not so important that Theon would take their throne, since Balon had a daughter and his brothers or he could go any get a bastard from some women, the northern men might have pushed Robb until he killed Theon. Or done it themselves even.

So theon didn’t really have a choice so much. His chances of surving going back to Robb empty handed were slim at best. Even if he and Robb were like brothers, he was a hostage there and he knew from his fathers words, that Balon wouldn’t stop rebelling because he was a hostage again. He would have left him there to die.

So his only chance of anything in life, even surviving was practically betraying Robb.

I love Theon being included in fanarts and storys with the Stark family as much an anybody. Just the way Robb would have wanted it.

But the next person that says that the show did Theon and Ned’s relationship better by saying that Ned was like a father to Theon is going to hear from me.

He was a HOSTAGE!

You can call him his ward all you want. BookTheon said himself that Ned was not a father to him, the few times he acted fatherly towards him, Theon thought of it as worse, because they both (unlike the rest of the Stark family, minus Cat it seems) had a really good understanding of what Theons position in Winterfell meant.

I like Ned but he was never Theon’s father. And as much as a dick Balon was he was Theon’s father. He neglected him and did not give a fuck and saw him as nothing but a dissapointment (like every other familymember that isn’t Asha) but for Theon he was his father.

And Ned treated Theon like you are supposed to treat a highborn hostage. Maybe he let Robb spend too much friend time with Theon, but that’s about it. Everything else (education, good food, rich clothing) is normal hostage treatment we see in Sansa and Cersei just as much.

Don’t get me wrong, Ned is no Cersei, he is never shown to think that Theon owns him anything (even if they didn’t have scenes together, I don’t think Ned is that delusional), whereas Cersei thinks Sansa should be greatful.

But noone sais Sansa sees Cersei as her mother or that she should be greatful for the Lannisters treatment, but Theon should be? Just because the Starks are generally better people than Cersei and Joffrey? No.

Theon was as much a hostage as Sansa was, just for much longer and it did some psychological damage to him that can’t be undone.

Is this Ned’s fault? Also no. Ned didn’t take Theon hostage because he wanted to, it was an outcome from a war Theon was not responsible in any way of. Theon is innocent of his situation as a hostage to the Starks.

And Ned treats him as a highborn hostage. He raises him, feeds him, trains him and would most likely execute him if neccessairy. Would he like it -definitly no, but Ned killed innocent Lady as he was ordered by the king (I know she was a wolf, but still).

So no, Theon Greyjoy hostage of Ned Stark did not see the man as his father.

He saw Balon Greyjoy as his father, may he be a terrible father but to Theon he was his father.

Honestly the only decent father role Theon has is Dagmer anyways. In this essay I will...

@owlsinathens I get that the costume budget wasn’t as high in the first seasons, but the whole Balon scene just doesn’t work aswell if Theon isn’t dressed to the nines.

ShowBalon would have had a heart attack if he saw bookTheons outfits.

Even though I like the Greyjoy armor design with the Kraken cutout, I think the fact that even in later seasons, when the budget went up we missed out on better clothes in general for everyone.

And they had a very talented costume designer. I actually really love Michele Claptons early work and I think if she had opportunity to go all out we would have ended with so much better costumes for everyone.

There are a couple missteps (eg. Margery season 2 funnel dress) but in general espeically the KL Kimono Style dresses are so well made and colorful and after season 4 everything just went darker and darker and even when the clothes had color it didn’t show because of the tinting of the screen. Like Danys Dragonstone dress had so many hand-sewn red crystals and they didn’t even show and she is one of the characters that should wear black from her sigil. (Also they completly abandoned her Khalasaar blue after the arrival in Westeros for some reason).

I don’t think we as a people talk enough about how ugly Game of Thrones really was. like not storytelling wise (even though Wow was that Hideous) but even just aesthetically. the later season costumes being lifeless slabs of black leather? the -34% effort put into the hair styling?? the fact that even messy chaotic battle sequences were choppily choreographed and so poorly lit they weren’t even interesting? the complete lack of color or vibrancy in sets, costumes, and general designs? the removal of everything that makes fantasy even remotely appealing?? It literally looked like shit y'all why the FUCK did anyone like it

@owlsinathens (not sure if you know them, but NSP is a ton of fun in general)

house Greyjoy entering the War of The Five Kings like:

-harms everyone

-manages to make a gigantic mess

-terrifying

-does pretty much nothing according to the rest of Westeros

.manages to do the most damage to it’s own kingdom

Cape Kraken Kraken Cape I wanted a House Greyjoy cloak, so I made one. Instruction for making one yourself down below.

Super easy Cape/Cloak Tutorial for beginners:

What materials you need:

For the cloak: -2m / 6ft 6 waterproof fabric that doesn’t need hemming

-Matching thread

-a oversized hood pattern (super easy to diy)

For the Kraken version you’ll additionally need:

-2m / 6ft6 gold trim

-gold thread, I used 2 spools à 2m/ 6ft 6 including embroidery

-2 buttons for eyes

 The base cloak:

Cut a square of fabric using the width of your fabric. (folded on the picture)

Make a hood pattern by tracing a hood shape on paper, but make the bottom part of the hood have an extended piece of fabric, that will be used as closure later. You can make it as long as you want.

Use the remaining fabric to cut out 2 hood pieces.

Pin the hood pieces together leaving the straight side free and then sew the pinned pieces together aside from the straight side.

Fold your fabric square in half, you’ll need to cut out a small half circle on the edge where the fabric folds over. Measure your neck and use ¾ of that length to mark the sides of what your half circle cut out will be. Now combine the lines with a quarter circle and cut that circle out. This will give you the half circle where the hood will be attached.

Pin the hood to the fabric with the insides facing each other and sew the hood to the cloak.

If you simply want a cloak you can stop now for your friendly neighborhood’s watch style.

For the Kraken version you’ll need to trim the hood with gold. Fold the trim in half and pin the middle of the trim to the top of the hood where the seam is to get an even outcome. Then pin the trim along the hood leaving the rest of the trim to hang free so you can use it as a closure later. Sew the trim on.

Next lay the cloak flat on the floor and draw tentacles on it, than sew along the tentacle lines with gold thread.

For the eyes I needed some help, but you can eyeball it. I asked my mom to put the hood on so I could find the right spot to attach the eyes in a kraken looking way and then sewed them on.

If you want you can sew a beak. Trace a beak onto the base of the hood and sew it on. 

Then I started on the suckers. You could make them in a different number of ways, using fabric color, sewing on buttons or beads or cutting out tentacles with a pre-embroidered fabric, but here’s how I did it through machine embroidery:

I used a zick-zack stitch to create little squares, lifted the foot and needle to move it further down the fabric where I made the next little square and I left the threat in between there. You could cut it off or sew a straight line between the squares, I just liked this visually the most.

This embroidery is the most time consuming part of the whole project.

And that’s it. You have a fancy Kraken Cloak now.

@owlsinathens​ Theon cloak? I thought.  Theon cloak! I made. Balon would probably tell me I am a disgrace for the family.

“If they take us alive, they will deliver us to Ramsay. Theon grabbed Jeyne about the waist and jumped.“

I think it is a really great thing that this is the first decision Theon really makes for himself in asoiaf.

Before this point all decisions have been directly related to either the Stark vs Greyjoy conflict, driven through Robb and Balon or Ramsay’s abuse and manipulation.

But this moment right there is the moment Theon makes a decision and it is to get himself and Jeyne away from Ramsay. Not only did neither Starks nor Greyjoys had anything to do with it, as Jeyne Poole is not actually Arya Stark and isn’t politically worth a lot, but also Ramsay is not being able to manipulate him at this moment. His fear or consequences about Ramsay isn’t what happens when they get caught it is if they get caught. There is a decision to make and Theon uses this decision to get them away from the horrible situation they are in.

Before this point everything in his live was driven by other people. He got brought to Winterfell because of his father, he got raised as a ward because Ned Stark took his dutys seriously, he masked his insecurities with sex and smiles because he was a hostage due to his father’s bad plans, he went to war with Robb because he had to (not that he objected, but he wouldn’t have had a choice in the matter either way), he went to Pyke because Robb sent him, he took Winterfell because his father questioned his loyalty, he killed the millers boys because of Ramsay.

Decision after decision was made based on other people but not this time. This time Theon had the chance to make something for just himself and it was to save himself and Jeyne.

And I think that shows that he was never a bad person but rather someone who was stuck in a situation they had no choices over and did bad things because of that.

@owlsinathens How Balon sees Theon in A Clash of Kings

A large strawberry squid, one of three caught on the last trawl of the Deep-See cruise. Photo: NOAA Fisheries

“The strawberry squid, gets its nickname from the berry-like appearance of its bright-red body speckled with numerous jewel like luminescent photophores ” via @octonation

Put a little Balon on top, so he has something to drown that actually deserves it =)

If I’m ever in Vienna I really need to go there, not for the beautifully looking aquarium - for the quid xD

i really really like this sorry pack of squids

The sons of Quellon Greyjoy in their youth

our twenty-sixth piece is…

balon with his last remaining child, asha by host @wodania

if you’d like art of your own drawn out by a random artist on our team, donate 15 CAD or more to Siraj’s campaign!

Theon post as promised feat. Balon

The five Kings, and possible Queens, of Westeros 

(insp)

Whenever I feel sad I remember how awkwardly the Greyjoy’s stood when they met Dany in 6x09 like no one ever taught them how to interact with other humans and then I get sad again because I remember that their father was Balon Greyjoy and no he probably never did

How did grrm write the Greyjoys and not expect me to love them with all my heart and soul they are fucked up mentally deranged viking-pirates that have fewer combined brain cells then they have holdings in the North what’s not to love

People talk about a lot about the tragedy of the Stark family -- which mind you is absolutely fair what happens to them is horrible -- but in my eyes the most tragic family we see in asoiaf has to be the Greyjoys, just because of how inherent their tragedy is. Unlike the Starks, they did not start off happy in a secure home, well respected by the rest of Westeros. From the first moment we see them in the story they’re all struggling in one way or another due to all the trauma they’ve experienced thats either intergenerational, due to the Greyjoy Rebellion, due to the actions of other family members or due to how in general they are treated by the rest of Westeros.

All the Greyjoys we encounter seem to feel this need to prove themselves, or excel or gain power in some shape or form, like they’re all scraping at the walls of this hole they find themselves at the bottom of -- a hole that only seems to get deeper as the books go on. Their wish to prove themselves usually comes from two places; to prove themselves to other family members or to prove themselves to Westeros.

The Starks show us the horrible fate this family suffered from when they left their homes and were separated from each other. And whilst things were never perfect for them, they all yearn to return to Winterfell and their family. 

House Greyjoy (it would feel weird to call them a family) are splintered apart from day one. The horrible things that happen to them don’t happen because they f.e. left home or are apart, they come from the inherent tragedy of being a Greyjoy, and how that affects and defines their actions across the series that lead them to their predicaments.

Which is why, other than the Starks, where we have the feeling that this all was avoidable and are biting our nails at every corner hoping they will make the right choice, the fall of the Greyjoys seems almost inevitable at times -- and therein lies, imo, the tragedy.

i genuinely need someone to make an au of what would happen if balon would have SOMEHOW won the wotfk

Asha being a mini-Balon quick fire (based on pre-ADWD Asha) because their very close connection goes so under discussed.

Both pretend ideas/events that conflict with their narrative or make them uncomfortable don’t exist (Asha ignoring Tris’s letters, Balon ignoring Theon’s letters from Winterfell, Asha burning the letter from Ramsay and convincing herself he’s dead, putting off telling her mother)

Both reforming a narrative about a certain person. (Asha knows that Tris is harmless, and yet she finds ways to deem him untrustworthy and hostile, refusing his council, drawing his blood, questioning his loyalty.) (Balon decided who Theon was before he even opened his mouth and refused to accept otherwise.)

Both hard set when it comes to their goals and refusing to acknowledge anything that conflicts with THEIR pre-determined agenda. Both of them make the same mistakes as their predecessors due to willful ignorance. (Balon burning Robb’s letter, Asha ignoring Rodrik’s council)

Both being the outsider to abuse happening between their siblings and turning a blind eye into adulthood. (An extremely complex issue, but for the sake of parallels: Balon not acknowledging Euron or Aeron’s past directly, sending Euron away instead of ever dealing real punishment for egregious crimes, allowing his sons to abuse Theon despite the horrors he was around as a young man. Asha never acknowledging the inequality between her and Theon. Balon loved Asha, she was always her uncles’s favorites too. When Theon comes home, his uncles are cold, and she teases Theon cruelly because bullying Theon was always acceptable. When Theon claims he took Bran and Rickon for Maron and Rodrik, Asha mocks him.

^ All of these things have the theme of ignorance by choice and turning away from problems instead of facing them. Ties into Theon and Alannys responding to their trauma with dissociation and dissociative amnesia. It ties into the Ironmen rejecting the hard truths Asha presented at the Kingsmoot. Etc. I think y’all get my drift here.

Remember, Alannys sometimes wanted ki/l Balon? Maybe it is because Balon often thought/planed his new rebellion, which mean Theon's death. So, she always stopped her husband to save Theon.

When Theon come home after many years Balon said that Ned and other Stark is bad/hostile and censured his clothes. ,,Did Ned Stark dress you like that? Was it his pleasure to garb you in velvets and silks and make you his own sweet daughter?'' I have one qestion. Why Balon don't thought that Theon just don't have clothes like other ironborn? Cause Ned don't allowed Theon wear clothes like on island (or somethink else what Balon can imagine).