Here's why GoT's Theon Greyjoy was right to ditch Yara

From Digital Spy

Poor old Theon. Given the choice between certain death and saving his skin, he'd barely leapt from Yara's boat and into the precious safety of the sea before fans were dissing him on Twitter.

But, legit, what choice did he have? Theon was stood facing one of Game of Thrones' most insane villains, a villain who was holding a bad-ass battle-axe (Kraken-themed, possibly made of Valyrian steel) to his sister's throat.

Challenged to come and get her, Theon did what all sensible people should do – run away (well, jump away, but you get the point).

Look, we love our siblings, and to be honest, we'd probably run towards an axe, a gun or a White Walker if they were being threatened, but we're idiots. Theon sized up the situation, realised that if he made any move towards Euron, his sister's throat would be slit wider than the Joker's smile (speaking of which, is anyone else getting a Joker vibe, including the creepy laugh, from Euron this season?), and decided to scarper instead.

Okay, so there's a small chance extreme cowardice played into the situation. After all, Theon did seem to transform back into Reek (the post-trauma submissive slave of Ramsay Snow) before our very eyes (brilliantly performed by Alfie Allen – someone give that man an Emmy) and Reek isn't exactly renowned throughout the land for his brave deeds.

RELATED: 12 things we learned from Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 2

But let's look at Reek's history. Theon was a prisoner of the Starks and despised by his own father. When he tried to prove himself by laying siege to Winterfell, he acted dishonourably and foolishly, getting himself into more trouble. Captured by Ramsay Snow, he was tortured mercilessly, both physically (he was castrated) and (through twisted mind games) mentally.

Through that process, Theon was renamed and reformed, gradually transforming into Reek, whose entire body seemed twisted into a scared hunch, animated only by twitches and flinches of fear.

Reek was so traumatised by his treatment at the hands of Ramsay, he turned down his sister Yara's rescue, choosing to stay with his tormentor instead of fleeing to safety, fearing the consequences of escape far more than his current situation.

If Reek can't even accept help from his sister, what are his chances of being brave enough to save her? Sure, Theon saved Sansa (and himself) from Ramsay, but that was during Theon's return, not at Reek's height.

After episode 2 'Stormborn' aired, show runners David Benioff and DB Weiss put things into perspective.

"We'd maybe fooled ourselves into thinking that Theon was out of the woods on his whole Reek experience, and as we were writing it, we realised that you just don't get over what happened to him," Weiss said. "That's something that's going to be a part of him for the rest of his life. And this is a place that triggers the worst of that experience."

"When Euron has his sister, and Theon can try to rescue her, you know, against all the odds, he can't do it," Benioff added. "Just the look on her face, that look of being betrayed and the look on his face, he's falling apart again."

RELATED: Why Euron Greyjoy is the villain that Game of Thrones needed

And that's something that's important to remember ahead of the next episode: Theon has fallen apart, and Reek is back. We're not sure how long he'll stay, but you can expect the repercussions from what happened on that boat to last at least until the end of the season.

We respect Benioff and Weiss for not going down the typical redeemed hero arc; PTSD isn't overcome easily, if ever – and Theon's reactions in that scene were easily identifiable for people who have suffered from it: the sense of panic, the uncontrollable spasms, the fight or flight impulse.

But ignoring all the Reek stuff, let's look at that scene logically. Theon's actions may have inadvertently saved Yara. If he had charged, Euron would have killed her – and then Theon. If he can kill the Sand Snakes (who might be lame on the show, but they're still great fighters) without breaking a sweat, we're pretty sure he can take out his niece and nephew.

By jumping ship, Theon allowed Euron to take Yara as a prisoner. Possibly so that he could use Yara to mock Theon, and Theon to mock Yara in the future, but still – his actions mean they're both still alive, so that's something at least.

And, before we close this, we're definitely not saying that Theon should have ditched Yara because we don't like Yara.

Yara's awesome, and brilliantly portrayed by the hugely underrated Gemma Whelan (we're looking forward to seeing her interact with Euron next week – we suspect we'll get to see more of Euron's nasty side that book readers are very familiar with).

It's because we like Theon, we pity Reek, and we're hoping he gets picked up by Gendry – who is still out there rowing around, after all – so another redemption arc can begin.

Until then, go easy on the poor guy.

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