Theon Greyjoy is a character we have hated, pitied and have managed to love at the same time. But in the midst of other fan favourite characters who have had some serious character development like Ser Jaime Lannister and The Hound, he often gets lost. 

But not today. 

Today Theon Greyjoy died the death of a hero. And we will always remember him as one. 

Theon was never really liked till season 6; till he helped Sansa flee the tyranny of Ramsay Bolton. Up until that point, we saw him a bad guy whose punishment never really fit the crimes he committed. 

Theon grew up in Winterfell, essentially as a political prisoner, after the Greyjoy rebellion was crushed. He grew up like the sons of Ned Stark did. 

But he was never one of them. Jon Snow could testify to that. 

And even though, he was a brother to Robb, Sansa, Arya and Bran among others, the Starks were a constant reminder of the humiliation the Ironborn suffered at their hands. 

So he did terrible things the very first chance he had. He went to the Iron Islands to secure a fleet for Robb but the constant need to feel a sense of belonging made him take Winterfell. 

He lied about killing Bran and Rickon because he couldn’t find them. But I would like to believe that he never really wanted to. 

Being captured by Ramsay after being betrayed by his own Ironbron brethren meant a lifetime of misery for him. 

Nobody deserves to suffer like that. 

He was Theon no longer. Ramsay not only mutilated him but he also stripped him of his identity and Theon became a plaything, slave to Ramsay’s whims – Reek. 

Nobody escapes from that. Sure, physically one might but that sort of punishment leaves a mark, a brand that one carries throughout their lives. 

But that was not to be the end of his story. He helped Sansa escape. He went back to find his sister and declared her the better ruler and bent his knee to her. 

Even though he fled when his sister was being kidnapped by his psychotic uncle, Theon returned to rescue her. 

And mind you, none of it was easy. He was never physically the best fighter and things he had gone through didn’t make it easy.

Any lesser man would have gone into hiding, living the rest of his life in misery and self-pity. 

Even when he realised that he was no match for the Night King, that death stood before him, Theon didn’t abandon his post. He marched towards death with a spear in his hands. 

Because Theon was as much Ned Stark’s son as Bran and Robb.

Theon Greyjoy was a good man.