This "Game Of Thrones" Fan Theory About Rickon Might Give You Hope

    It's amazing we still have such hope, tbh.

    Jenna Guillaume
    by Jenna Guillaume

    BuzzFeed Senior Editor, Australia

    This post contains spoilers for Season 6, Episode 3 of Game of Thrones.

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    Many Game of Thrones fans have long been waiting for the reappearance of the youngest Stark, Rickon, along with his wildling caretaker Osha and his direwolf Shaggydog. But, as with many things on Game of Thrones, when it finally happened it was just devastating.

    Rickon, Osha, and Shaggydog haven't been seen since Season 3, when Bran sent them off to the Umbers for protection. So it was quite a shock that, three seasons later, Smalljon Umber betrayed the Starks by turning Rickon and Osha over to Ramsay and killing Shaggydog to cement the Bolton bastard as an ally.

    It's so shocking, in fact, that many fans are theorising it's all an elaborate conspiracy by the Umbers to overthrow Ramsay.

    This is based on a few points: firstly, that the Umbers are known for being fiercely loyal to the Starks (as Ramsay points out in this episode). You may remember Greatjon Umber (Smalljon's father) was the first to declare Robb the King in the North way back in Season 1.

    Not to mention the fact that Bran trusted in their loyalty enough to choose them over any of the other Stark bannermen to not only know Rickon was alive but also protect him.

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    Pretty much everyone else has been led to believe the Stark boys are dead, thanks to Theon.

    The Umbers refused to pledge allegiance to Roose Bolton when he took over Winterfell, and Smalljon's reasoning for this is weak at best when you consider he is now coming to Ramsay, who is objectively an even bigger cunt than his father.

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    On top of that, Smalljon refuses to swear an oath to Ramsay, which could suggest he is still secretly loyal to the Starks. The timing is also interesting, when you take into account Ramsay is arguably more easily manipulated and less strategic than Roose was.

    There's also the fact he left Osha alive – presumably having protected her along with Rickon since Season 3.

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    It doesn't quite add up with his main motivation here being hatred of the wildlings.

    But the big clue people are latching onto is the dead direwolf: Many think the head presented is too small to be Shaggydog. It seems much smaller than the head of Grey Wind we saw after the Red Wedding.

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    HBO

    According to this theory, it was another wolf or direwolf's head, and the real Shaggydog is alive and will come back to fight Ramsay along with Smalljon, who will hang around Winterfell until the time is right and secretly protect Rickon.

    A massive hole in this theory is that Smalljon is putting Rickon's life in grave danger – especially because of Ramsay's "mad dog" reputation. If the theory is correct, it's a huge gamble.

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    Stacking up against the theory, Reddit user DandDsuckatwriting also points out that Rickon is an excess character at this point – and those are being killed at a rapid pace – plus his capture gives Jon Snow motivation to march on Winterfell.