Game of Thrones 4.6 "The Laws of Gods and Men" (spoiler alert)

[TorchTheWitch]

39. I don't

I think she left because she realized that Theon was just far too broken to be of any use. She could have killed Ramsey with her ax when he turned to unlock the dog's door. (She's an expert at throwing axes). The dogs were also in separate cells each with their own lock. A single dog isn't a problem though more of them could be. She also indicated she had no intention of going back again for a rescue with more people. She totally wrote him off and wouldn't have done that over a single dog. After all, she's a warrior that would have no problem fighting three or more warriors coming at her with weapons, so why would she care about one dog?

I believe that once she saw just how mentally far gone he was even to the point of being on the opposite side she realized that nothing could be gained by rescuing him. In her mind it's better that he dies than to continue to live as he's become, and that as he is he's useless. But letting him believe it was the dogs for her reason to abandon him totally would make sense in her mind to be a kindness rather than him to realize later that she abandoned him because she found him worthless in the state she found him.

This never happened in the books though. In the books she doesn't even care about what had become of him and even uses his being dead or captured by someone so she can make a bid for the Ironborn throne after the father dies. All her life she's considered herself as Theon's replacement since he was taken by the Starks as a child. It's odd that in the show they have her care about him and want him back. It's HER that has worked to take his place as the heir, and having him back destroys her own ambitions for the throne. He's a threat to her. I never understood why she went against her father in Season 3 deciding to rescue him. It just never made sense with what happens with her in the future in the books.