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Our blades are sharp.
~ House Bolton's words.
A naked man has few secrets; a flayed man, none.
~ Roose Bolton

House Bolton of the Dreadfort are some of the main antagonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones.

They are the second-most powerful house in the North, as well as the most hated. Though the franchise is famous for having mostly morally ambiguous characters, House Bolton is infamous for being one of the few factions to be truly villainous, being considered sinister, ill-omened, sadistic, barbaric, and unruly. Its current head is the cold and psychopathic Roose Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort, and more recently, the new Warden of the North after House Stark was betrayed and overthrown in the Red Wedding, which Roose helped orchestrate.

In 300 AC, the cadet branch House Bolton of Winterfell was founded, its first head being Roose' legitimized bastard, the wild and sadistic Ramsay Bolton, Lord of Winterfell, Lord of the Hornwood, and heir to the Dreadfort.

Biography[]

Every great lord has unruly bannermen who envy him his place. My father had the Reynes and the Tarbecks, the Tyrells have the Florents, Hoster Tully had Walder Frey. Only strength keeps such men in their place. The moment they smell weakness .... during the Age of Heroes, the Boltons used to flay the Starks and wear their skins as cloaks.
~ Jaime Lannister to Brienne of Tarth

Red Kings[]

Like House Stark, House Bolton was founded in The Age of Heroes, being one of the most ancient and powerful northern houses. The Boltons ruled as Red Kings over the eastern part of the North from their seat, the Dreadfort. They have a sinister reputation for their synonymous practice of flaying the skins of their enemies and displaying their corpses. They were even rumored to wear their enemies skins as cloaks. Thus, their infamous practice of flaying explains why House Bolton's sigil is a flayed man. Boltons are known to have oddly pale grey eyes, bordering on white.

The Boltons are the sworn rivals of House Stark, who were originally the Kings of Winter, and the two houses have gone into violent conflict with each other on numerous occasions. While the Starks won most of the wars, the Boltons have won a few as well. Red Kings Royce II and Royce IV had burned Winterfell, the ancestral seat of the Starks. Royce IV was also known as the Redarm due to his enjoyment of tearing out the entrails of his prisoners with his bare hands, including Stark captives. Eventually, House Stark was victorious in the end, and the last Red King, Rogar the Huntsman, bent his knee to the Stark Kings of Winter, just at the same time as the invasions of the Andals from Essos were starting. However, the rivalry remained, as the Boltons resented their liege monarchs and would occasionally rebel against the Starks in future times.

Vassals of Winterfell[]

Thousands of years before the main story begins, the Boltons join forces with House Greystark of the Wolf's Den in an unsuccessful rebellion to overthrow the Starks. The Boltons were pardoned after making peace, while none of the Greystarks survived the war.

During the days of the Coming of the Andals, the reign of King Theon Stark over the North, and the introduction of the Faith of the Seven, House Bolton is known to have fought alongside its fellow northern houses and the Starks to resist against the Essosi people of Andalos. The Boltons were invaded by an Andal army, but with the aid of King Theon, they managed to defeat Argos Sevenstar and his Andal army in the Battle of the Weeping Water. Afterwards, Bolton forces likely participated in Winterfell's retaliatory attack, in which Theon raised his own fleet and crossed the Narrow Sea to invade the coast of Andalos in northern Essos, carrying along Argos's corpse lashed to the prow of Theon's flagship. It is said the northmen took a "bloody vengeance" against the Andal population.

Overall, by the end of the Andal invasion of Westeros and their integration into its kingdoms with the First Men, the Boltons and all their fellow Northmen had successfully pushed back against the Andals. As a result, to this day, the North remains the only of the Seven Kingdoms that mostly practices the ancient religion of the Old Gods.

Roughly two thousand years ago, House Bolton fought alongside its lieges of House Stark and the other northern houses in the invasion of the island kingdoms of the Three Sisters, located in the Bite, east of the Kingdom of Mountain and Vale. The Northmen conquered the Three Sisters after growing tired of the Sistermen's pirating and pillaging. According to historical accounts and chronicles written by Sistermen and Valemen, the invading northmen committed a large number of cruel and brutal atrocities, so savage that the invasion is known in Westerosi history as the Rape of the Three Sisters. It is said that northmen killed children and cooked them in pots, disemboweled men and wound their entrails around spits, and executed three thousand warriors in a single day at the Headman's Mount. Lord Belthasar Bolton was said to have made a "Pink Pavilion" out of the flayed skins of a hundred Sistermen. Historical northern accounts of the war never acknowledged such actions. The northern occupation forced the Sistermen to seek aid from House Arryn's Kings of Mountain and Vale, which forced them to become part of said kingdom and bend the knee to the Arryns. This led to the War Across the Water, a conflict between House Arryn's Kings of Mountain and Vale and the Stark Kings in the North over the rule of the Three Sisters, which eventually ended with the Starks losing interest in the islands, retreating from them, and letting the Arryns have their way.

The Boltons were one of the main threats against Winterfell during the reign of King Edrick "Snowbeard" Stark, along with the Ironborn and the wildlings, and even internal threats, as the Starks of those times were fighting amongst each other, marking Edrick's reign as a hard and tense age.

At some point, during an unspecified time centuries ago, the Boltons rebelled against the Starks once again. The armies of Winterfell besieged the Dreadfort for two years before the Boltons surrendered and kneeled to King Harlon Stark.

Roughly a thousand years before the main story begins, the Boltons surrendered to the Starks completely and agreed to ban their practice of flaying. Since then, the Boltons have been more or less begrudgingly loyal vassals to the Starks and are not known to have caused that much trouble. Despite their flaying customs being outlawed, it is rumored that the skins of the Boltons' enemies hang in a room within the Dreadfort.

Targaryen Dynasty[]

In 2 BC, House Bolton entered the Seven Kingdoms when King Torrhen Stark bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror during the latter's conquest of the Westerosi kingdoms, in which the Starks became Wardens of the North for House Targaryen.

In 133 AC, Barba Bolton attended the Maiden's Day Ball Cattle Show at the Red Keep in King's Landing to find a second wife and new queen for King Aegon III Targaryen. Barba was one of the many maidens across the realm that came to King's Landing in hopes of marrying the young king. During the event, Barba took the opportunity to ask Aegon, if he did not choose her, to at least send food to the North, as the region was suffering greatly from winter.

During Robert's Rebellion, Lord Roose Bolton joined with Lord Eddard Stark's army in their rebellion against House Targaryen. After Lord Robert Baratheon killed Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen in the Battle of the Trident, Roose urged Robert to slit the throat of Ser Barristan Selmy of the Kingsguard, who fought in the royal army. But Robert spared the knight's life and had his own maester tend his wounds.

Baratheon Dynasty[]

As their Stark lieges, House Bolton remained loyal to House Baratheon of King's Landing, the new royal family of the Iron Throne.

Lord Roose Bolton's trueborn son and heir was Domeric Bolton, a shy boy who was nice for being a Bolton and was fostered with House Redfort at Redfort, in the Vale of Arryn. Everyone in the northern and Vale nobility who knew him liked him, especially Lady Barbrey Dustin, and Roose himself was fond of him. However, one day, Domeric was allegedly poisoned by his jealous half-brother, Ramsay Snow, only shortly after meeting him, forcing Roose to publicly acknowledge Ramsay as his own natural son and a "Snow" and take him to live with him at the Dreadfort.

War of the Five Kings[]

After Lord Eddard Stark was arrested for trying to dethrone the newly-crowned King Joffrey I Baratheon, Roose Bolton is one of the many northern lords who heeded the call of Robb Stark, who intends to rescue his father from captivity. Roose commanded more than half of Robb's army against Lord Tywin Lannister's host in the Battle of the Green Fork, where Roose was defeated before being chased away, while Robb and his men defeated and captured Ser Jaime Lannister at the Whispering Wood and Riverrun. After Lord Eddard Stark was executed, Robb's bannermen and the river lords declared independence from the iron throne, and they proclaimed and crowned Robb as the King in the North.

Meanwhile in the North, Ramsay Snow remained at the Dreadfort as his lord father's castellan, but he acted like a mad dog, and his actions soon became widely known amongst the North. His favorite activity is hunting down young girls and women with his servant Reek and raping them before leaving their dead bodies for Reek to have sex with them. After Ramsay takes Lady Donella Hornwood (née Manderly) as his prisoner and marries her, this invokes the wrath of Houses Hornwood and Manderly. Ramsay locks his wife and leaves her to die, while the wolfswood is a scenario of fightings between Bolton men against Hornwood and Manderly men. The Manderlys take the Hornwood. In response to Ramsay's crimes, Winterfell, ruled by Prince Bran Stark, sends Ser Rodrik Cassel to execute Ramsay. However, Ramsay swaps identities with Reek, and the latter is killed by Rodrik while posing as Ramsay. Lady Donella dies of starvation. Though Ser Rodrik had dealt with "Ramsay," he was too late to save Lady Donella, as she had starved to death and bitten off her fingers.

During the War of the Five Kings, Roose's army clashes with the Lannister forces in the Riverlands, while Robb's army goes to invade the Westerlands through the Oxcross in the hopes of baiting Lord Tywin out of Harrenhal and keeping his army busy there while either King Stannis Baratheon or King Renly Baratheon take King's Landing. Eventually the Brave Companions betrays the Lannisters and join Robb's cause, helping Roose Bolton take Harrenhal at Robb's orders and killing Ser Amory Lorch. When he receives a letter informing him about Ramsay's "death," Lord Bolton considers himself well rid of his psychotic son. He sends Lord Vargo Hoat, the leader of the Brave Companions, and his riders to rout out the Lannisters from the towns in the Riverlands, while Ser Helman Tallhart's northern garrison at the Twins leaves the castles and is sent by Roose to besiege Castle Darry, which ended with the Lannisters surrendering. Lord Bolton marries Fat Walda Frey, the 15-years-old daughter of Merrett Frey and sister of Little Walder Frey. He chooses her due to Walder promising a dowry of the weight in silver of the Frey Roose marries.

After destroying the Lannister host at the Battle of the Oxcross, which resulted in the death of Ser Stafford Lannister at the hands of Lord Rickard Karstark, Robb Stark and the northeners invaded and plundered the Westerlands while at the same time scoring victory after victory against House Lannister. Robb's plan is to drive Lord Tywin and his host out of Harrenhal by threatening them with a possible attack on Lannisport and their ancestral seat of Casterly Rock. The true reason why he didn't return to Riverrun and attack the Lannisters in the riverlands is because Robb's purpose is to distract Tywin in a long pointless chase in the Westerlands while King Stannis captures King's Landing and then kills King Joffrey I Baratheon and his mother, the Queen Regent Cersei Lannister. However, when news reached the northmen that most of the North and Winterfell had been seized by the Ironborn under King Balon Greyjoy, most of the northern army grew concerned about their homes and lands, and they hoped that Stannis would defeat the Lannisters so they could fight House Greyjoy. When Theon, who had declared himself "Prince of Winterfell" after seizing Winterfell, has his servant "Reek" kill two miller's sons in place of Bran and Rickon Stark. "Reek" is the only living person to know the truth, as since Theon knew that the two Stark boys had disappeared, he ordered him to kill his men who witnessed the truth and executed Farlen for it.

After the Battle of the Blackwater, which resulted in King Stannis Baratheon's defeat, Robb Stark's campaign against the Lannisters fails, and the King in the North is forced to retreat back to Riverrun with the intention of returning to the North and fighting off the ironborn. The Freys warn Roose Bolton that Robb can't win his war now that the Lannisters have forged an alliance with House Tyrell and want Robb to make peace with the Lannisters; if not, they suggest Roose find a way out of this on their own. Robb even backs out of his arranged marriage with House Frey to marry Jeyne Westerling, a noblewoman from the Crag (changed in the TV series to Talisa Maegyr, a noblewoman from Volantis), causing the Frey army, led by Ser Ryman Frey and Black Walder Frey, to have an aggressive argument with Robb before returning to the Twins. Despite this, the Frey forces in Roose's army remained with the northerners at Harrenhal even after receiving the letter about the denial of the marriages with Robb and Arya. Robett Glover and Ser Helman Tallhart are sent by Roose to besiege the port town and castle of Duskendale in the crownlands.

Ser Rodrik Cassel is organizing his army to march on Winterfell, and Prince Theon Greyjoy allows "Reek" to ride back to the Dreadfort to gather reinforcements for Winterfell since Balon Greyjoy, Theon's sister Asha, and his uncles Victarion and Aeron have forsaken him. "Reek" rides back to the Dreadfort, and it's possible that he received orders from his father. He might have been sent by Roose Bolton to "liberate" Winterfell. Later, after a failed parley between Theon and Ser Rodrik, a mysterious helmed and pink-cloaked leader who is wearing dark armor and a red helm arrives with a force of 600 men. Ser Rodrik, believing them to be reinforcements, offered his hand out to greet the leader. However, his arm was chopped off by the armored man, who then revealed himself as Ramsay Snow.

Though the Bolton garrison is outnumbered, they, under Ramsay's leadership, attack and rout Rodrik's army in the streets of the winter town. While the Bolton forces lost only 20 to 30 men, the Stark army was dispersed, and the remaining enemy troops were scattered. Among the casualties were Lord Cley Cerwyn and the castellan of Torrhen's Square, Leobald Tallhart. When Ramsay was admitted to Winterfell, a shocked Theon recognized him as "Reek," but Ramsay revealed his true identity. For his service, he demanded that Theon hand over his bedwarmer Kyra, which offends Theon to the point where he calls Ramsay mad, causing the latter to strike him, breaking Theon's cheekbone in the process.

This signals the Bolton men to begin massacring all of the ironborn, instigating the Sack of Winterfell, which also resulted in the deaths of all the men who were within Winterfell while women and children were captured. Maester Luwin, the maester of the castle, was gravely wounded during the chaos. After ordering his men to spare Little Walder Frey and Big Walder Frey, who are serving as wards of House Frey, Ramsay now orders them to burn Winterfell. In the aftermath of the sack, the Boltons are unaware that Bran Stark, Rickon Stark, Jojen Reed, Meera Reed, Hodor, and Osha are the only survivors, as they were hiding in the crypts of Winterfell. While nearly all of the animals were slaughtered, the direwolves, Summer and Shaggydog, survived. Theon's squire, Wex Pyke, is among the survivors, as he had climbed onto a heart tree in the Godswood.

The Red Wedding[]

Since Stannis's defeat, Roose already knew that Robb's cause was lost, and in fact, he had already sent a large portion of the northern army to its own destruction in the Battle of Duskendale, where they were destroyed by the Iron Throne forces led by Lord Randyll Tarly and Ser Gregor Clegane. At least 1,000 men die, Ser Helman Tallhart among them, while Robett Glover and Harrion Karstark are captured with many others. Roose puts the blame on Robett Glover, stating that he acted out of rage since the ironborn took Deepwood Motte, causing Robb to promise a punishment for Glover.

Lord Rickard Karstark is executed for treason, and Martyn Lannister is freed in exchange for Robett Glover, who takes a ship back to the North. The Karstark army abandons Robb's cause; however, the Karstarks at Harrenhal stay with Lord Bolton. Robb's army is now too weak to retake the North, and they need the support of the Freys to cross the kingsroad back to Moat Cailin. Roose decides the time has come for House Bolton to take their revenge on their hated lieglords and exchanges letters with Lord Tywin Lannister and Lord Walder Frey, where they agree to betray and murder Robb and his forces at the Twins during the wedding of Lord Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey. During the funeral of Lord Hoster Tully, Robb meets the Freys to arrange the wedding and apologize to the family. 

Despite Vargo Hoat's attempt to avoid the Boltons' betrayal by cutting off Ser Jaime's hand, Roose makes an agreement with Jaime and abandons Harrenhal and the Brave Companions to Tywin's wrath. While marching from Harrenhal to the Twins, Roose and Ser Aenys Frey have trouble crossing the ruby ford of the Trident. Once Roose reaches the Trident, torrential rains make fording impossible, and the northmen are forced to use small boats to cross. Lord Bolton has gotten two-thirds of his force across by the time Ser Gregor Clegane arrives. Ser Wylis Manderly commanded the rear guard, who still waited to cross, and Gregor attacked them with heavy cavalry, killing most of the men and taking the survivors, including Wylis, captive. Other survivors managed to flee. Roose, unable to aid the men across the ford, continues on to the Twins, leaving behind 6,000 men spearmen from the Rills, the mountains, and the White Knife, a hundred longbow archers from House Hornwood, some freeriders and hedge knights, and some Stout and Cerwyn men under the command of Ronnel Stout and Ser Kyle Condon to prevent Gregor from crossing the Trident.

Robb Stark brings most of his army to the Twins for Edmure Tully's wedding to Roslin Frey, meaning to march against the ironborn right after the wedding, while Ser Brynden Tully and Robb's wife, Jeyne Westerling, remained at Riverrun, holding it against the Iron Throne. Edmure's wedding would turn into a horrific massacre known as the Red Wedding, where the Boltons, the Karstarks, and the Freys, through a betrayal, massacred all of Robb's men, with Roose Bolton personally murdering King Robb himself. For betraying his own liege lords, Roose Bolton is named Warden of the North by Tywin Lannister as a reward. The Iron Throne even promised to legitimize Ramsay, as Roose has no other trueborn heir. After the Red Wedding, Ser Gregor and his men retake Harrenhal from the Brave Companions and seize the ruby ford, giving the traitor Vargo Hoat a slow death while taking Ser Wylis Manderly and other northeners from the ruby ford at Harrenhal as captives. The ruby ford may have been a calculated move by Lord Bolton to bleed Stark supporters and to prevent them from retaliating once he turned cloak. 

House Bolton is guilty of many war crimes against not only the Starks but most of the North. Roose's traitorous actions with Duskendale, the ruby ford, and the Red Wedding make him responsible for many deaths, but no one can prove the guilt of his actions beside the Red Wedding. The same cannot be said about Ramsay, who's considered a loud mad dog with no self-control, and he became widely despised by the entire North with his rapes, murders, and torture of girls and commoners, even his crimes against the Hornwoods, the Cerwyns, and the Tallharts. This also includes his betrayal in the Battle of Winterfell and his instigation of the Sack of Winterfell. Only Roose Bolton can try to keep the North under the Boltons' control, and Lord Walder Frey gives him a force of Frey soldiers to help him. The army stayed in the south as the ironborn still holds Moat Cailin even after the Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet, Victarion Greyjoy, returned to the Iron Islands after King Balon's death at the hands of Euron Greyjoy.

At the Dreadfort, Ramsay has turned Theon, after psychologically breaking him, into a mere servant called "Reek," after the original Reek. After bringing back Jaime to King's Landing, Steelshanks Walton and his men ride back to Lord Roose Bolton after Lord Tywin gives them "Arya Stark." However, in reality, this girl came from one of Lord Petyr Baelish's brothels and is actually Jeyne Poole, an innocent northern girl who remained in the capital since Eddard's northern party was massacred. As Tywin had promised to Roose, King Tommen I Baratheon, who succeeded Joffrey Baratheon, officially legitimized Ramsay Snow as a trueborn Bolton.

Rule of the North[]

All you have I gave you. You would do well to remember that, bastard. As for this... Reek... if you have not ruined him beyond redemption, he may yet be of some use to us. Get the keys and remove those chains from him, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother.
~ Roose to Ramsay

Right from the start, things started going wrong for House Bolton. Because of the Red Wedding, many Northern houses, especially Houses Manderly, Cerwyn, Hornwood, and Umber, resent the Boltons for their actions and betrayal. They especially hate House Frey for not only killing their relatives but also for violating Guest Right. Nonetheless, some of the more powerful houses, such as House Karstark, support the Boltons. Euron Greyjoy becomes the new ruler of the Iron Islands and styles himself King of the Isles and the North, meaning he has no intention to withdraw his men from the seized northern castles and lands, despite Ramsay's letters about Theon being his prisoner. The Boltons try to get the favor of the Northmen by helping them take back the North. After liberating Moat Cailin from the surviving ironborn forces of the garrison, House Bolton returns to the North and remains in the Neck at Barrowton, hosted by the Dustins. Roose is infuriated by Ramsay's lack of self-control, as he keeps killing innocents and losing his temper even at Barrowton.

To make matters worse, King Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone challenges them as well, with the support of the Northern Mountain Clans and some northern houses, such as Houses Glover and Mormont. The Boltons are warned about Stannis by Arnolf Karstark, the castellan of Karhold, who joined Stannis but later betrayed him. After their plan to lure Stannis's army into a trap at the Dreadfort fails, the Boltons and the Freys march to Winterfell, where they are soon joined by the military forces of other northern houses, personally led by their lords and ladies. To secure dynastic legitimacy, Roose arranges a marriage between Ramsay and "Arya Stark"(actually Jeyne Poole). Through this marriage, Ramsay would become Lord of Winterfell. A sudden snow blizzard ravages the North, and both Roose and the Queen's men think it's the Old Gods challenging Stannis and the Lord of Light. However, in Winterfell, there is a lot of tension and fear due to Stannis marching on Winterfell and the lack of food and loyal men.

As an insult to injury, someone is suddenly murdering people at the castle, causing fights and quarrels between the Northeners and the Freys. Also, the northerners know that Ramsay is behaving like a mad dog and torturing "Arya Stark," and all this makes it impossible for Roose to keep order, and for the first time he starts to show fear. It's believed that most of Roose's army plans to betray him for Stannis; in fact, Lord Davos Seaworth, Hand of King Stannis, has been sent by Lord Wyman Manderly and Robett Glover to retrieve Rickon Stark on the island of Skagos before the Boltons find him.

While Stannis is not far from Winterfell, camped at the crofter's village, Theon and Jeyne Poole escaped from Winterfell with the help of a singer named Abel (actually Mance Rayder), much to the Boltons' chagrin, putting their control in the North in more jeopardy. At the Night's Watch, Jon Snow receives a letter, apparently written by Ramsay Bolton, claiming Stannis is dead. However, the truth of this letter, or even if Ramsay wrote it, is uncertain.

Roose sends Ser Aenys Frey and Ser Hosteen Frey out to lead the cavalry against Stannis in an army consisting of both Freys and Northmen of House Manderly. Roose does this as a means to both wipe out Stannis and weaken his Northern rivals by sending their armies away. Outside Winterfell's walls, Aenys is killed by a trap of Mors Umber, and the command passes to Hosteen. Meanwhile, Stannis arrests Arnolf Karstark, several of his kin, and the Karstark army for treason, and he is also informed of Roose's cavalry riding to the crofter's village. Stannis prepares his army for the first battle before the siege of Winterfell and plans a strategy to destroy the Frey-Manderly army without losing too many of his own men.

Game of Thrones[]

Rule of the North[]

Like in the books, House Bolton captures Winterfell, Ramsay is legitimized, and many northern houses resent the Boltons, with only the wealthier houses supporting them, like the Karstarks and the Umbers. Roose marries Walda, and Stannis challenges them. However, Jeyne is removed from the show and replaced with Sansa Stark, who is married off to Ramsay by Lord Petyr Baelish, hoping to give Stannis a Wardeness of the North if he takes Winterfell. However, Ramsay's tactics of sabotage and supply drain damage Stannis's forces, causing him to reluctantly sacrifice his daughter Shireen to appease the Lord of Light. This accomplishes nothing, and Stannis is defeated and killed. However, Sansa and Theon escape.

Roose is angered by Sansa's escape but is even more angered when Ramsay suggests their armies besiege Castle Black, where Sansa has run, saying that every northern house would rebel against them. Shortly after, Maester Wolkan informs Roose that Walda has given birth to a son. Fearing for his title as future Warden of the North, Ramsay murders his own father in the same way he killed Robb, with a knife to the chest. He then proceeds to kill Walda and the baby by feeding them to his dogs, making himself Warden of the North and Lord of the Dreadfort.

Battle of the Bastards[]

Lord Ramsay is presented with Rickon Stark and the head of Shaggydog by Lord Smalljon Umber. Ramsay decides to use this as bait to lure Jon Snow, a surviving Stark relative, and Sansa to Winterfell, hoping to wipe out House Stark once and for all. Jon, Sansa, and their new allies in a group of the Free Folk set off to challenge Ramsay. They successfully recruit Houses Hornwood, Mormont, and Mazin, but they are still outnumbered. Sansa, in desperation, sends a letter to Littlefinger asking for help from the Knights of the Vale.

During the battle, Rickon is killed and Jon's army is almost wiped out, but the Knights of the Vale provide reinforcements and wipe out most of Ramsay's army. The Stark loyalists capture Winterfell and Ramsay. Sansa then kills Ramsay the same way Ramsay killed Walda and the baby, by feeding him to his own hounds (whom he has starved). With Ramsay dead and no other known Boltons left, House Bolton is now extinct. Ultimately, House Bolton's victory over the Starks during the Red Wedding became their own downfall, and everyone else who was part of the Red Wedding met their ends too.

With the North liberated, Jon Snow's leadership over Winterfell is uncontested by the Northern vassals (yet he is still a bastard), and like Robb before him, he is proclaimed King in the North, with also the lords of the Vale declaring for him. Later, Jon abdicated and pledged the North to Queen Daenerys Targaryen, only to assassinate her when she went mad. At a meeting of the Lords of Westeros to decide a new King, Sansa once again declared independence for the North and became Queen in the North, freeing the North from the Seven Kingdoms and ending House Bolton's brutal legacy once and for all.

Household[]

Known captains[]

  • Walton, better known as Steelshanks Walton, was a captain in the service of Roose Bolton. He is known as Steelshanks for the steel greaves he wears over his long legs. He is loyal and brutal, but not cruel. He escorted Ser Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth to King's Landing and later brought Jeyne Poole to the North. He is currently at Winterfell. In the TV series, he is portrayed by Jamie Michie. 
  • {Locke}, a cruel, sadistic hunter of Roose Bolton. A character created by the television adaptation and the TV series counterpart of Vargo Hoat. Killed in the Haunted Forest beyond the Wall by Bran Stark, who warged into Hodor's body. In the TV series, he is portrayed by Noah Taylor.

Bastard's Boys[]

I know what he said. You’re to spy on me and keep his secrets. As if he had secrets. Sour Alyn, Luton, Skinner, and the rest, where does he think they came from? Can he truly believe they are his men?
~ Roose Bolton to Reek

The Bastard's Boys are men-at-arms of House Bolton, who serve Ramsay Bolton assisting him in everything he needs. Like Ramsay himself, they are sadistic and wild, and some of them aided in Theon's torture. Although they are favored by Ramsay, they are in fact spies for Roose Bolton, to whom they tell everything Ramsay is doing and planning.

The members are:

  • Ben Bones, the kennelmaster of the Dreadfort and keeper of the Bastard's Girls. He was instructed to train the dogs to rape girls and kill humans and the wolves. He likes the dogs better than Ramsay. He makes a collar for Theon and lets him eat and sleep with the hounds. In the TV series, he's the father of Myranda.
  • {Yellow Dick}, a squat, scrofulous, ill-favored man. Killed by Rowan, one of Mance Rayder's spearwives.
  • Damon-Dance-for-Me is a fair-haired and boyish man. He carries a long, greased whip. He pss
  • {Luton}, died during a skirmish between the Freys and the Manderlys at Winterfell. As he tries to push his entrails back into his wound, crying noisily for his mother, Ramsay loses patience and drives a spear through Luton's chest.
  • Sour Alyn, a man with rotten teeth and foul breath. He is mean and witless.
  • Skinner, a torturer who flayed Theon's fingers for Ramsay.
  • Grunt, who lost his tongue for speaking carelessly within earshot of Roose Bolton, he is described as brutal.

Bastard's Girls[]

The "Bastard's girls" is the name given to Ramsay's hunting hounds by Theon Greyjoy. The pack is made up of all vicious, mean-tempered bitches. The dogs are looked after by the kennelmaster, Ben Bones, who, under Ramsay's instructions, also trained them to kill wolves. Ramsay uses the hounds to hunt peasant women. He releases them naked into the woods, giving them half a day's head start. When he catches them, he rapes them and kills them. Those that give him good sport are given a quick death, and Ramsay names a new bitch pup after the woman. Those that do not are denied a quick death, instead being flayed alive, and no pup is named after them. He feeds their corpses to his dogs.

In the TV series, the Bastard's girls eat Ramsay Bolton after a short time of captivity after his defeat at Winterfell. The hounds hadn't eaten for some days and didn't hesitate to betray their master and feed on his flesh. In the novels, Ramsay is still alive, and what Stannis Baratheon plans to do with him and his hounds is still unknown.

The hounds are:

  • Grey Jeyne 
  • Helicent
  • Jez
  • Alison
  • Kyra
  • Maude
  • Red Jeyne
  • Sara
  • Willow

Sworn houses[]

The houses sworn to House Bolton are House Cerwyn, House Dustin, House Hornwood, House Karstark, House Locke, House Manderly, House Ryswell, House Stout, and House Umber under Hother Umber. However, they all hate the Freys with them, and this makes it difficult for them to obey the Boltons. The Cerwyns and the Hornwoods hate Ramsay for killing Lord Cley Cerwyn and Lady Donella Hornwood, while Lord Wyman Manderly is not truly loyal to the Boltons, and he and the Umbers follow Roose only because of Lord Greatjon Umber and Ser Wylis Manderly being captives of the Iron Throne. House Umber actually hates the Boltons for betraying the Starks and the death of Smalljon Umber in the Red Wedding; the Umbers under Mors Umber joined with Stannis's army in the march to Winterfell. Arnolf Karstark follows Roose in the hope that the Lannisters will kill the captive Lord Harrion Karstark so he can become Lord of Karhold. However, King Stannis and Lord Commander Snow found it out thanks to Lady Alys Karstark, and Arnolf's plan to betray Stannis on the battlefield was thwarted.

While in the novels the Smalljon died during the Red Wedding, in the TV series he's made into an anti-villainous character (since he still dislikes House Bolton and only sided with them to fight the Free Folk, whom he views as barbarians), while the Greatjon died during the war. Even House Karstark, under Lord Harald Karstark, is loyal to the Boltons. Thus, in the show, the situation of these two houses is simplified as villainous and doesn't have the grey situation and fracture from the novels.

Supporters of the Boltons[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Though most of the ASOIAF/Game of Thrones characters and factions are morally ambiguous, House Bolton is infamous for having no positive traits at all and being a truly villainous faction, with the exception of Domeric Bolton.
  • In the books, House Bolton is still active and about to face Stannis in battle, while in the show, they have defeated Stannis but were defeated by House Stark. It is unknown how the Battle of Ice will take place in the books.
    • After much examination of the text and statements by George RR Martin, many, if not most, fans believe that Stannis will most likely win the Battle in the Ice.
  • It is theorized that House Bolton may be currently extinct in the books. Some fans believe that Ramsay was tricked into believing Stannis was dead and sent the letter off before Stannis' men revealed themselves and took Winterfell.
  • House Bolton's colors in the book are pink and red, while in the show their colors are black and red. This change was likely done to make House Bolton look more evil.
    • The pink in the novels represents the color of peeled skin. The book sigil also has red rain drops in the background to symbolize blood.
    • The Bolton flag in the show slightly resembles the battle flag used by the Confederate States during the American Civil War, possibly a symbol of House Bolton's long history of rebellion.
  • In the show, House Bolton's men at arms wear helmets that look similar to the helmets of Spanish Conquistadors.
  • A House Bolton knight briefly appears in the Game of Thrones prequel television series House of the Dragon during the Heir's tournament.

External Links[]

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