I am 50/50 with TV!Theon vs. Book!Theon. To tell the truth, up to reading ADWD I was still thinking that he is pretty unimportant and didn't notice it that his role in TV!GoT is so much bigger. But after finishing ADWD (almost finished!) , I keep returning back to Theon's scenes in TV!Got and the earlier books. I think they are different, but TV Theon works for me too.
PS: this poll/discussion is fabulous - you should post it in the comm.
vague spoilers for ADWDoutboxedSeptember 3 2011, 13:38:36 UTC
I thought Theon was unimportant in AGOT but he plays a major role in the plot of ACOK and I loved all of his POV chapters so I changed my mind about his importance then. I think the show has done a good job of foreshadowing his role in ACOK by giving him more screentime. The funny thing for me is that I'd not noticed just how different book!Theon is from show!Theon until I read ADWD. I think ADWD makes a lot of the things about Theon which were mentioned in passing in the previous books much more explicit and confirms how dissimilar he is in the books than in the show. I thought I was being a mad Theon fan for imagining that he was meant to be charming & attractive (if a complete jerk to women) in the books but ADWD really does show that when Theon looks back, disbelievingly, amazed that women ever wanted him.
I have posted it to game_thrones but it's in the moderation queue at the moment. (: I've also linked it on tumblr.
Re: vague spoilers for ADWDalexandralSeptember 3 2011, 14:22:00 UTC
I had a feeling of "Surely this guy is unimportant why are you talking about him?" through ACOK, and when he almost dissapeared in AFFC I almost forgot about him.
And yes, I forgot to mention - I agree that Theon becomes much clearer in ADWD (where in other books you could have different interpretations) .
Also, I just thought that one of the explanations of "why is Theon's role so much bigger in TV series" is that this is because he is with Robb and ROBB's role is MUCH bigger. He never registered with me as a 1-tier character (still doesn't) , not until TV series. This is one of my personal bees in the bonnet and I do not care that much for Robb. I think the show creators expanded Robb's role because there is this rule of successful TV entertainment: you need a "hero" in the series . With Ned being dead, Robb is just continuation of the "hero" storyline (interestingly, the Book!Robb isn't really that much of a hero).
spoilerish (all throughout ASOIAF)crazy4dwSeptember 3 2011, 19:45:44 UTC
Based on my answers, its clear that I've blurred the lines between TV!Theon and Book!Theon. I don't know what it is about him, but I still like him, despite what he did in the series. Even after what he did in ACOK, I still didn't hate him. By the time I finished ADWD, I was really rooting for him.
That being said, I actually like TV!Theon more and I thought it was really cool that the show was laying some groundwork for his character. BTW, this poll is awesome! I love that you even cited references. Its like an academic paper, lol! ;P
Re: spoilerish (all throughout ASOIAF)outboxedSeptember 3 2011, 19:59:13 UTC
Hey, you! I think that's true for a lot of people - it's kind of hard to separate book & TV canon, even when they're so divergent. I never hated him, either (actually, I was rooting for him from his first POV chpater in ACOK), I think because he is so clearly vulnerable. I can't see how anyone could come out of ADWD and not be behind Theon, really. His chapters in it were heartbreaking.
I really enjoy TV!Theon! They definately built him up as a character really well in preparation for next season.
I'm so glad you liked this mad post! I felt I needed to have references (partly for my own sake) whilst I was writing this because I would hate to be making weird generalisations about the two Theons when the point of this was, for me anyway, to work out exactly how the two were different (even if the end result is a ridiculous set of questions which read like generalisations). Also, I am wrapped up in academia-land and a total pedant. XD
First off, your detailed reference list is great. Like, I spent time just admiring the formatting. Diligent referencing is SEXY OK?
Very interesting to lay it out in a poll like this! Presented this way, the Theons feel like two different people. But I've always thought TV!Theon was basically a combination of Theon from AGOT and ACOK. I just started rereading AGOT, though, so will reconsider this.
That said, even though my Theon!stanning is warping my memory, I did not anticipate his role in ACOK. I wanted more but had categorised him as "Robb's wingman" and not much more. Also totally agree that we see so little of AGOT!Theon. He does appear more -- badass? mysterious? ladies' man? contemptuous/snarky? -- than his pitiable woobie TV counterpart. Now, how I reconcile them is by scapegoating the POV format in the books
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PS: this poll/discussion is fabulous - you should post it in the comm.
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I have posted it to game_thrones but it's in the moderation queue at the moment. (: I've also linked it on tumblr.
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And yes, I forgot to mention - I agree that Theon becomes much clearer in ADWD (where in other books you could have different interpretations) .
Also, I just thought that one of the explanations of "why is Theon's role so much bigger in TV series" is that this is because he is with Robb and ROBB's role is MUCH bigger. He never registered with me as a 1-tier character (still doesn't) , not until TV series. This is one of my personal bees in the bonnet and I do not care that much for Robb. I think the show creators expanded Robb's role because there is this rule of successful TV entertainment: you need a "hero" in the series . With Ned being dead, Robb is just continuation of the "hero" storyline (interestingly, the Book!Robb isn't really that much of a hero).
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That being said, I actually like TV!Theon more and I thought it was really cool that the show was laying some groundwork for his character. BTW, this poll is awesome! I love that you even cited references. Its like an academic paper, lol! ;P
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I really enjoy TV!Theon! They definately built him up as a character really well in preparation for next season.
I'm so glad you liked this mad post! I felt I needed to have references (partly for my own sake) whilst I was writing this because I would hate to be making weird generalisations about the two Theons when the point of this was, for me anyway, to work out exactly how the two were different (even if the end result is a ridiculous set of questions which read like generalisations). Also, I am wrapped up in academia-land and a total pedant. XD
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But, yes, I look forward to Theon's redemption! :D SEND ME YOUR DRAFTS, YO!
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Very interesting to lay it out in a poll like this! Presented this way, the Theons feel like two different people. But I've always thought TV!Theon was basically a combination of Theon from AGOT and ACOK. I just started rereading AGOT, though, so will reconsider this.
That said, even though my Theon!stanning is warping my memory, I did not anticipate his role in ACOK. I wanted more but had categorised him as "Robb's wingman" and not much more. Also totally agree that we see so little of AGOT!Theon. He does appear more -- badass? mysterious? ladies' man? contemptuous/snarky? -- than his pitiable woobie TV counterpart. Now, how I reconcile them is by scapegoating the POV format in the books ( ... )
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