I came late to the Game of Thrones phenomena, started binge watching it in 2016; however the human character arc game, I have been in a very long time. The last scene of Theon Greyjoy hit my heart hard and really put my mind to thinking. Are we born a certain way? Are our destinies shaped by our childhood experiences? When we become aware of our destructive behavior; can we change destiny’s course? Are we nurture or nature—or does our destiny become a fusion of the two?
I won’t verbatim tell of Theon’s journey but I will go on memory of season’s past to relay his arc. Theon was given away by his father when the Iron Islands lost a war with the Starks. He would now be Ward to Ned Stark of Winterfell—the most honorable man in all the Seven Kingdoms. Though Theon’s Father is portrayed as a vile man, I am sure being “given away” to another family, nonetheless might hurt just a little bit. And the dominoes begin to stack.
Theon was raised as a Stark and was treated as a member of the family which consisted of 5 true born children of Ned & Catelyn Stark and a child of presumably only Ned Stark, a child called Jon Snow. By all intensive purposes; Theon, at least by Catelyn Stark, was treated even better than Jon Snow. To some for obvious reasons but even quoted by her speaking of Jon Snow: And he lived. And I couldn’t keep my promise. And everything that’s happened since then, all this horror that’s come to my family… it’s all because I couldn’t love a motherless child.
Theon as a young adult left Winterfell with a big chip on his shoulder and a tremendous angst of loss. And the dominoes continue to stack. He would go on to do unspeakable things. He would return to Winterfell fueled to take it as some form of payment for a childhood he never asked for. He would kill two young boys and pass them off as the true heirs of Winterfell to assert his dominance. He assassinated former mentors to him and all the while in his face you could see that was not his true character. Theon would eventually be humbled by a true evil man and though he performed the most heinous acts on others, what was done to him was a bit extreme.
And now the stacked dominoes begin to fall as his true character arc emerges. He goes on to rescue his sister; to rescue the sister he grew up with from the aforementioned evil man; he returns to Winterfell to fight a war that would impact all of humanity. He volunteers to protect the once brother he vowed to kill; even though it would probably mean his eminent death. In the final moments of his life he makes once last stand of valor after he hears these words of forgiveness— “Theon, you’re a good man. Thank you.” As I type this, that scene still brings tears to my eyes as I watched the tears fill in Theon’s.
I don’t believe we need to be the victim of a heinous act for our human character arc to evolve. I don’t believe our whole lives can be watered down to nurture or nature. I believe our choices once we become aware of the impact of those choices is what shapes our destinies. Throughout all of the 8 seasons of Games of Thrones, each character had to go through what they went through to become the people they were meant to be. In life as imitation of art, I believe we need to do the same.
When I start to wish the journeys in my life went a different way, I come back to these words that Bran says to his once brother, Jon Snow—“You were exactly where you were supposed to be.”
Cut & scene.
Feature Photo by Kylo on Unsplash
Kimberly
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