As we all know, HBO’s most popular show Game of Thrones is slowly winding down. We are four episodes into the seven episode season seven, meaning there are only three more left in 2017. After that, the long wait starts again, as fans prepare for the six episode final season. As a result, the show has been cutting some of the fat by killing off the characters that are not the real big names. Which begs the question, why is Theon Greyjoy still alive?
With only nine episodes left in total for the series, the time is now to get things down to the true contenders. A few weeks back, Euron Greyjoy and his Iron Fleet attacked Theon and his sister Yara’s fleet. During this attack, Yara was taken captive and Theon jumped overboard. It resulted in the death of two Sand Snakes and eventually the death of the third Sand Snake and their mother Ellaria.
But this also seemed like a great time to finish off both Theon and Yara. That leads fans to believe the Greyjoy siblings are being kept alive for some purpose. And quite frankly, I can only think of two possibilities.
The first one is the more boring of the two. And that is he is being kept around for season seven so the White Walkers have some familiar faces to kill.
Think about it. When we get to season seven, the White Walker threat will likely be the main storyline. If my theory is correct, the Lannister forces will be out of the picture, and it will be Daenerys and Jon’s teams joining forces. Names like Daenerys, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark and Arya Stark are likely to be the more prominent ones that last as long as possible.
But that makes almost everyone else expendable. Which is what the show will need, as they need middle-level characters for White Walkers to take out. This way the deaths seem prominent, but they still have the big characters standing.
So names like Brienne, Sam, Jorah, Tormund, Varys, Davos, Missandei and Grey Worm all fit that bill. And so do Theon and Yara. Now obviously, not all of these characters are going to make it to season seven. So considering Theon survived a near death experience already, maybe it indicates his eventual death is being saved for the White Walkers?
Then we have possibility number two. And that is he is the one who gets to kill his Uncle Euron.
When the Greyjoys picked Theon out of the water, they asked him what happened. He said he tried to save Yara, but he couldn’t. To this, the men scoffed at him telling him he would be dead if he tried. Translation, they have no respect for poor Theon.
Quite frankly, neither does anyone else. Dany does not exactly have a use for him, as she was relying more on Yara. We know Jon Snow wants to kill him, but is resisting because he helped Sansa escape once. And it is that act of courage that we are going to call on now.
We know Theon has something left in his tank, as he did show some heroics in helping Sansa. So what’s stopping him from having one last big moment where he frees his sister and kills Euron? It really seems like his only true purpose at this point.
As I mentioned earlier, I expect the Lannisters to fall before season’s end. That would mean someone needs to take out Euron. And there are only two options in my eyes. One is Jaime Lannister, whose fate is currently up in the air (kind of, but not really). While both men are fighting for the same side, they clearly do not see eye to eye. So if Jaime were to turn on Cersei, which is certainly plausible given some clues the show has dropped, he could very easily be the man to remove Euron from the picture.
Our second option is good ole Theon Greyjoy. Given that Yara is still alive, and currently still Euron’s prisoner, having Theon cross paths with his Uncle once more is entirely possible. And if that does happen, it is either going to result in Theon and Yara dying or Euron.
While I have no clue how he would do it, my gut simply tells me that Theon needs to be the man to take out Euron. This would free Yara, and free both Greyjoys to be sacrificial lambs come season seven. It would provide Theon with that one last heroic moment, helping his character end on a high note. You know, besides that whole getting killed by a White Walker part.
So what do you think? Why has Game of Thrones kept Theon alive this long? With the chance to kill him a few weeks back, there has to be a reason, right? Tell us what you think in the comments!