In the Game of Thrones TV show, Stannis Baratheon dies with all the pathos and excitement of
a damp fart.
After a storyline four seasons long, he rolls over and dies, and it’s the Starks who defeat
the Boltons and retake the north.
But in the book series, northern politics is an intricate web of alliances, rivalries,
secrets and lies, while an apocalyptic winter rises.
And through the ice, Stannis marches on Winterfell, with a plan to defeat the Boltons.
The Boltons are holed up in Winterfell with an army of Freys and northmen, most of whom
secretly hate the Boltons . Wyman Manderly “plots betrayal” , Barbrey Dustin stalks
the crypts, and Theon is traumatised by Ramsay, who calls Theon “Reek”.
Ramsay doesn’t marry Sansa – he marries a girl called Jeyne who the Boltons claim
is Arya Stark.
Up on the Wall, Jon Snow tries to make peace between the Night’s Watch and the wildlings,
along with Melisandre, and Stannis’ family.
Jon hears that his beloved sister Arya married Ramsay , so he and Melisandre send the wildling
king Mance Rayder to rescue her.
Melisandre pretended to burn Mance, but that was an illusion, and he’s actually still
alive.
So Mance and six wildling women infiltrate Winterfell, and with their help, Jeyne and
Theon escape to Stannis.
Stannis and his army prepare to fight the Boltons.
But at the end of the latest book, Jon gets a mysterious letter from Ramsay, called the
Pink Letter.
It says that Stannis is dead and Mance is captured.
Ramsay says he wants his bride back and wants Theon back, he demands Stannis’ family,
and some wildlings – “Keep them from me” he says, “and I will cut out your bastard’s
heart and eat it” . So Jon is shook, and he declares that he’ll leave the Night’s
Watch, and “ride south” to fight Ramsay – so then the Watch stabs Jon to death.
The Pink Letter changes everything in the north.
But fans suspect that it’s a trick or a fake – Tormund warns us that the letter
might be full of lies . So is Stannis really dead?
Was this letter even written by Ramsay?
What’s happening at Winterfell in the Game of Thrones books?
It’s hard to believe that Stannis is dead , cause his story’s not over yet.
The whole fifth book builds up to his battle for Winterfell , and author George Martin
said we’ll see the battle in the next book . So why would Stannis suddenly die off-screen
in this letter?
Why spoil the climax of his story?
Stannis is in a bad situation . His army is “snowbound” and “starving” in a village
near Winterfell.
And the Boltons send the Freys out to attack him . But Stannis is confident – he says
“let them come”, and says he’ll turn “the ground” to his “advantage” . What
does he mean?
At the start of the book, it says that Stannis once went to an island with a lighthouse.
He learned that sometimes, people would turn off the lighthouse and create a false light
somewhere else to lure ships into danger . And now, it just so happens that Stannis’ camp
has a watchtower with a “beacon fire” that burns day and night . And next to the
camp are some frozen lakes . His men fish the lakes, by cutting holes in the ice, and
the ice becomes so dangerous that some men fall through into the water . So if Stannis
puts out the fire on his watchtower, and he lights a false beacon on the frozen lake,
he could lure the Freys onto the dangerous ice, and attack them there – maybe break
the ice with catapults so that the Freys fall through and drown.
That must be what Stannis means by turning “the ground” to his “advantage” . So
the hints are all there –it seems almost certain that Stannis will use a false fire
on the lakes to defeat the Freys.
You can read more about this theory in the articles below.
But if Stannis wins this battle, why does the Pink Letter say Stannis is dead?
Well last time we see him, Stannis specifically says “you may hear that I am dead” , so
some fans think he’s planning to fake his own death.
Cause as well as the Freys, the Manderlys are coming for Stannis.
But the Manderlys are coming “separately” from the Freys , cause they’ve been fighting
– at one point, Wyman serves meat pies made out of Freys.
Wyman is planning to betray the Boltons – and he made a secret deal to support Stannis . So
instead of fighting each other, maybe Stannis and the Manderlys will work together – and
will trick the Boltons into thinking that Stannis is dead.
So like, after Stannis beats the Freys, Wyman could go back to Winterfell and tell the Boltons
that Stannis was defeated – as proof, Manderly could have Stannis’ sword Lightbringer,
which Ramsay says he has in the Pink Letter.
But secretly, Stannis would be still alive – he could use the low visibility in the
snowstorm to sneak up for an attack on Winterfell . And Ramsay would be totally unprepared,
thinking Stannis is dead.
He’d just be angry that Jon sent Mance to steal his bride.
That’s why Ramsay threatens Jon in the Letter, and demands Jeyne and Theon, who would likely
seek refuge with Jon at the Wall.
So this is a pretty likely explanation of the Pink Letter – Ramsay wrote the letter,
thinking that Stannis is dead, though Stannis is actually still alive.
But there are other theories.
The letter seems to fit Ramsay’s personality – it’s angry and cruel . Ramsay repeatedly
calls Jon “bastard” – cause Ramsay is insecure about being a bastard himself . Ramsay
is also “cunning” and manipulative – he might be trying to provoke Jon into doing
something stupid.
But some details of the letter seem off.
In the book, we see three threatening letters from Ramsay.
Asha Greyjoy gets a letter, Jon gets a letter, and then Jon gets the Pink Letter.
And these letters are described in detail.
Asha’s letter is “tightly rolled and sealed with a button of hard pink wax” . It’s
written in “blood” , that looks like “brown” ink.
The handwriting is “huge” and “spiky” . It’s signed by Ramsay, and by his allies
Lady Dustin, Cerwyn, four Ryswells, and one Umber.
The second letter, to Jon, is described almost exactly the same way.
“tightly rolled and sealed, with a button of hard pink wax” , blood-brown ink, huge
spiky hand, signed by Ramsay, Dustin, Cerwyn, Ryswells and Umber.
It’s all super specific and consistent, so it’s weird that the Pink Letter is described
differently.
It’s got a “smear” of pink wax, but there’s no mention of brown ink, or a huge
spiky hand.
It’s signed by Ramsay, but not by anyone else.
Why is the Pink Letter different?
Some of the content of the letter is also suspicious.
Like, it makes sense that Ramsay wants his “bride” Jeyne, and his “Reek” Theon.
And it makes sense that he wants Stannis’ family as political prisoners.
But Ramsay also says he wants the “wildling princess” Val, and her baby nephew . Why
would he want these wildlings?
How does Ramsay even know that Val’s baby nephew exists?
If Ramsay really did capture Mance, he could’ve interrogated him to learn these details.
But it’s not clear why he would care.
So it’s surprising that so much of this letter is focussed on Mance and the wildlings
– is he just that angry at Mance for rescuing Jeyne?
The letter refers to the Night’s Watch as “black crows” , a term that’s almost
only used by wildlings.
The letter talks about heads on walls, and threatens to cut out Jon’s heart, when Ramsay’s
favourite kind of execution is flaying.
But there is another character who once threatened to cut out Jon’s heart – a wildling who
would care about Val and the baby, the only character mentioned by name in this letter
– Mance Rayder, the wildling king . Maybe the reason why the Pink Letter is different
to Ramsay’s other letters, and the reason why it’s so focussed on wildlings, is that
Ramsay didn’t write it – Mance did.
In the books, Mance Rayder is a maverick charismatic leader, who uses “cunning” and deception
to manipulate people.
Right of the start of Book 1, when King Robert visits Winterfell, Mance is actually at that
feast – he climbs the Wall, and comes in disguise to spy.
In Book 3, Mance claims that he has the Horn of Winter , a magic Horn with the power to
destroy the Wall – but it turns out, Mance lied to manipulate Jon . Mance has history
with Jon – the first time they met, Mance warned Jon not to play tricks with him – but
Jon ends up betraying Mance by leaving the wildlings.
So maybe Mance pulls a trick on Jon by writing the Pink Letter.
Mance has recently used a lot of the same language that’s in the Pink Letter – he
calls Melisandre a “red witch”, calls Jon “bastard” , and calls the Night’s
Watch “crows” . He says that Mance was burned “for all the world to see” , and
the Pink Letter says Mance is in a cage “for all the north to see” . It’s probably
possible for Mance to fake a letter from Ramsay – when Mance infiltrates Winterfell, he
pretends to be a singer called “Abel”, and he hangs around the Boltons , so he mighta
learned enough about Ramsay’s character to impersonate him in a letter.
Mance speaks with Theon, so he coulda learned about Ramsay’s relationship with “Reek”
and with Jeyne.
And he maybe could’ve stolen some pink wax and a raven to send the Letter – he woulda
been in a rush, so maybe that’s why the letter’s sealed with a “smear” of wax.
The difficult question is why Mance would write the Letter?
Like, even if Mance could predict that the Letter would make Jon ride south with some
wildlings, how does that help Mance?
Mance doesn’t want the wildlings to fight in Stannis’ war – Mance says his “people
have bled enough” . Maybe Mance wants help to escape Winterfell.
But if Mance wants help, there’s gotta be a better way to ask for it than to impersonate
Ramsay to provoke Jon into rallying wildlings, it’s a ridiculously convoluted plan.
Why would Mance ask for “Reek”?
And why ask for Val and the baby, his baby – that could only put them in danger, right?
Mance does seem to have some secret plan in Winterfell – he investigates the Winterfell
crypts . And the name Abel is anagram of Bael, a legendary wildling said to have snuck into
Winterfell and stolen a Stark girl – just like Mance sneaks into Winterfell to rescue
Arya Stark . Bael is said to have hidden in the Winterfell crypts – so maybe Mance’s
plan is to hide in the crypts.
Maybe he’s searching for the real Horn of Winter there – he searched for the horn
in “graves” beyond the Wall – maybe now he’s searching for it in Stark graves.
So Mance is up to something.
And there are connections between Mance and the letter.
But it’s hard to see why Mance would write the Letter.
Another theory is that Stannis wrote the Pink Letter.
Cause in his last chapter, Stannis is facing a battle he might not win.
Even if he beats the Freys with a beacon and the lakes, there are still thousands of Boltons
in one of the strongest castles in Westeros.
Stannis’ army might not be enough – so maybe he wants the help of Jon and the wildlings.
Stannis has asked for Jon’s support before, but Jon said he's sworn to the Night's Watch
. Asking directly doesn’t work.
But if Stannis fakes a letter from Ramsay, threatening Jon and his sister, and threatening
the wildling king Mance…
That could motivate Jon and the wildlings to ride south and help Stannis win his war.
This could also fit with Stannis’ plan to make Jon Lord of Winterfell – if he leaves
the Watch, he might as well take up Stannis’ offer.
And thing is, Stannis just captured a Bolton maester , who would know Ramsay’s writing
style, and might have the wax and raven to send the Pink Letter.
Stannis also captured Theon, who could tell him about Mance and Reek and other details
in the letter.
So it seems possible for Stannis to write the Pink Letter.
And unlike Mance, Stannis has a clear motive.
But the biggest problem with this is that Stannis' army is starving, it’s so bad they’re
starting to eat their own dead – so Stannis doesn't have time to wait around for Jon and
an army to travel down from the Wall.
That distance would take weeks or months to cover in winter, by which time Stannis and
his army would be dead . It might work if Stannis sent the Letter earlier, but earlier
he didn’t have Theon and the maester, so he wouldn’t know about Mance and Reek and
the stuff in the letter.
Also, faking a letter just isn’t Stannis’ style.
Like, it’s one thing to pull off a military maneuver with a false beacon.
But faking the Pink Letter means impersonating Ramsay, and emotionally manipulating Jon – Stannis
is terrible with emotions, he’s bad with people , and psychologically manipulating
Jon with a fake letter just isn’t the sort of thing he’d do.
Further, if the real purpose of the Pink Letter is to motivate Jon to come south, you’d
think it’d talk more about Arya, and less about hostages and Mance.
Why would Stannis demand “Reek”, when Stannis already has “Reek”, and Jon doesn’t
know what a “Reek” is?
Stannis probably didn’t write the Pink Letter.
Some fans argue that Melisandre wrote the Letter.
Mel does have secret schemes happening – she faked Mance's death, and sending him to Winterfell
was her idea.
Jon suspects that Mel has some other secret plan with Mance . So some fans think that
Mance and Melisandre wrote the Letter together – though the motive is still unclear.
Melisandre has visions of the future in her fires, and she actually predicts the arrival
of the Pink Letter before it comes . So maybe she also knew what would happen after the
Pink Letter came – that Jon would be stabbed to death, but then be resurrected by Mel’s
magic, that would ultimately help save the world.
Maybe Mel finally realised that Stannis isn’t the chosen one – Jon is , so she could’ve
written the Pink Letter to get Jon killed to fulfil his destiny.
But Melisandre repeatedly warns Jon not to get stabbed , and last we saw, she still thinks
Stannis is the chosen one . So there’s no real evidence for Melisandre writing the Pink
Letter.
Another possibility is Barbrey Dustin.
She’s a new character in Book 5, and she’s mysterious.
Openly, she supports the Boltons, but she hates Ramsay , because Ramsay murdered her
nephew . Barbrey asks Theon to show her the Winterfell crypts , around the time Mance
asks about the crypts – so some fans think Mance and Barbrey might be working together.
There’re also hints of Barbrey working with Wyman Manderly and his conspiracy – like
maybe they wrote the Pink Letter to lure Jon south so he can be King in the North – go
watch our Grand Northern Conspiracy video.
So there’s a lot of intrigue and mystery happening in the north – it seems like every
second character has some secret plot or identity – even this bloody baby is actually secretly
a different baby, because Jon swapped him with Gilly’s baby.
But most of this stuff is probably unrelated to the Pink Letter.
The Pink Letter is memorable cause it’s the last thing that happens before Jon dies.
And it’s been nine years since that book came out, so fans have had a lot of time to
overthink it and come up with crazy theories about who wrote the Letter.
The theories are fun, but based on the text, it the makes the most sense for Ramsay to
write the Letter.
Cause the Letter doesn’t just have a plot purpose of provoking Jon and getting him stabbed.
It has an emotional purpose by forcing Jon to choose between family and duty, and setting
up Ramsay as a hated enemy.
If it turns out that the Pink Letter was a fake for some obscure subplot, that could
take away from the emotional weight of this gut-punch at the end of the book.
And there can still be a twist to the Pink Letter – that Stannis isn’t really dead,
cause there actually are strong hints in the text that Stannis will beat the Freys.
But we’ll only know the truth when the next book comes out – until then, all we’ve
got is theories.
If you wanna know more about the mysteries of Game of Thrones, you’ve gotta check out
the books.
As well as the main series, there’s the worldbook, and Fire and Blood, and the Dunk
and Egg stories, and you can get any one of these on audiobook for free right now by signing
up for a trial with Audible.
Members get an audiobook each month, and if you cancel, you keep the audiobooks.
You can listen in the car or the gym or while you wait for winter to come.
Sign up at audible.com/asx.
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