The abysmal and incredibly damaging treatment of Theon’s narrative in season 5, throwing out very rich material to essentially pit rape and abuse survivors against each other for shock value, made me quit watching this show, with absolutely no regret.
The only reason I kept up with Theon’s tale to the level that I did was because of how incredible Alfie Allen was in the role, and how much Theon meant to me as a person, in a way that bad writing could never erase. He was such a layered, exquisite character, and for me was - in spite of and because of his many flaws - one of the key heartbeats of this franchise.
I’m glad that he at least died at peace, in the way he would have wanted. No one - not his father, not the Boltons, not the Starks - took that away from him. As a man who lived his entire life based on what other people made him be, he died on his own terms.
I’ll miss him, much more than I’ll miss this show, but he will always live on in my heart, and in the world of fiction. And of course in GRRM’s books, which for many Theon fans will always tell the true tale.
I can’t thank Alfie enough for his talent, his respect for the role, and his refusal to give in to the cheap jokes that made up year after year after year of this turgid fandom (and likely still will, even as Theon died for what was right). I hope he has a wonderful career ahead of him, which he more than deserves. He brought so much to this role, whether with words, body, or even just his eyes - more than I ever could have imagined. And he should be very proud.
