Asha Greyjoy is known by the name Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones. She’s the daughter of Lord Balon Greyjoy and Lady Alannys Harlaw. Asha is the older sister of Theon Greyjoy. Asha becomes a POV character in the book A Feast For Crows, and in the show Yara is first seen in “The Night Lands.”
Theon Greyjoy maintained an on-screen presence from “Winter Is Coming.” He was the youngest son of Balon Greyjoy of Iron Islands. Following the Greyjoy uprising, known as Greyjoy Rebellion, Theon was taken as a hostage by Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. He was raised well at Winterfell. He befriended Eddard Stark’s eldest son, Robb Stark.
Asha and Theon are brother and sister. They are an atypical pair. So much so, sometimes fans refuse to believe that brother and sister could be so mean to each other. Here are ten reasons why their relationship is unfriendly.
Contents
Theon’s Homecoming
Asha humiliated Theon upon his return to Iron Islands. In “The Night Lands,” Theon is sent as a diplomatic envoy by Robb Stark to his father Balon Greyjoy. When Theon reaches home of Pyke, no one seems to care two hoots for who he is. He has to pay a man to find him a horse.
In the books, Theon encounters Asha, who pretends to be a shipwright’s wife in Lordsport named Esgred. Asha starts flirting with Theon to learn about his nature. Later that night, Theon learns that Asha indeed is his sister. She takes the place of honor besides Lord Balon Greyjoy. Theon feels cheated and furious, both.
Theon Was Forcibly Taken
Both Asha and Balon Greyjoy seem to forget that Theon Greyjoy was forcibly taken away as a child. He didn’t wish to be taken, Lord Eddard Stark forcibly took the youngest son as a hostage. No doubt, Theon was raised by the Starks as their own, but he was a Greyjoy after all, and he did betray Robb Stark in the War of the Five Kings.
Anywho, before Theon betrayed Robb, he returned home in “The Night Lands,” as Robb’s envoy. He was too excited to be home, but when Theon saw his father and sister, he was met with hostility. Asha didn’t miss an opportunity to humiliate him. From his abilities to his dress, she mocked everything.
Theon’s Objection
Theon is jealous of his sister because Balon Greyjoy favors Asha over him. In Game of Thrones, Theon openly objects to his father saying Yara (Asha) is unfit to lead an attack. “And why not?” asks their father. “You’re a woman!” replies Theon. At first, Theon doesn’t understand how different things are in the Iron Islands.
Asha is a renowned captain of the Iron Islands. She commands her own fleet of ships. Lord Balon Greyjoy says she took command of her eldest brother’s ship after Eddard Stark killed him, and Theon is utterly shocked to know Asha was raised as an heir to the Pyke and the Iron Islands.
Power Rift
In the Game of Thrones, the rift of power was common. That it would consume a brother so blindly wasn’t uncommon either. Theon, the Prince of Winterfell and so-called heir to the Iron Islands was one such example. Knowing very well no Ironborn would rally around him, Theon exclaimed,
“Let Asha keep the bloody islands, they’re as dreary as she is.”
Asha deserved to be on the Salt Throne, Theon didn’t want her have it. This was right after Theon Greyjoy was told by Maester Luwin that he could escape Winterfell and take the black.
The Assault On The Dreadfort
The assault on the Dreadfort is picturized in “The Laws of Gods and Men.” Yara reads the letter from Ramsay Snow. It orders the Ironborn to leave the North. The letter also reads how Ramsay flayed twenty Ironborn found at Winterfell. Yara is aghast to know her countrymen have been skinned and Theon has been mutilated. She launches an assault on Dreadfort to rescue her brother.
It may be recalled Theon was Ramsay Bolton’s prisoner since the sack of Winterfell. He was tortured and mutilated in captivity by Ramsey and his men. Asha successfully infiltrates the castle, reaches the kennels where she sees Theon in a cage. Theon refuses to leave with Asha. She tries to remind him of who he is, but all in vain. Theon bites Asha’s hand. The Ironborn barely make it alive after Ramsay sets his dogs on them. In the end, Asha flees Dreadfort with the remaining Ironborn exclaiming her brother is dead. Despite everything, Asha leaves Theon behind to rot in the kennel.
It Is Theon Who Returns Home
Theon and Sansa’s escape from Winterfell is televised in “Home.” Theon leaves Sansa in the safer hands of Brienne of Tarth. He takes her leave to go back home, to Iron Islands. It should be noted that Asha didn’t care for her brother, not after the assault on the Dreadfort, even though she came to rescue him once. Asha saw what Ramsay had done to Theon.
Theon makes it back to the Iron Islands in “Book of the Stranger.” When Theon faced Yara, she said he’d been dead a long time. Yara isn’t happy to find her brother back. She told him how good men had died trying to rescue him from Ramsey. It wasn’t an emotional brother-sister reunion as it should have been.
Asha Feels Betrayed
Yara wasn’t pleased to discover Theon back in the Iron Islands. In the “Book of the Stranger,” Theon walks up to her. Yara’s first question to Theon is, “He let you go?” “I escaped,” replies Theon. Yara finds it hard to believe Theon would just turn up at the Pyke. She thinks since their father is dead, Theon returned to claim the crown.
Yara feels betrayed after what happened at the Dreadfort. She doesn’t accept Theon’s apologies. All she wants to know is why Theon is back right after their father died. “You happened to show up on Pyke right before kingsmoot?” asked Yara.
Euron’s Assault
Balon Greyjoy is murdered by his younger brother, Euron Greyjoy. After taking the Salt Throne, Euron launched an open attack against his niece and nephew, Theon and Yara. In a series of events, Euron Greyjoy attacks their ship in the dead of the night. The surprise attack took place in “Stormborn” wherein Euron killed scores of the crew members and damaged their ships.
Euron held Yara by an ax, and Theon did what he could do best. Theon looked around to see his crew members being mutilated, and he jumped into the water to flee.
Theon Wanted To Fight For Winterfell
Theon left his sister behind to come to Sansa Stark’s service in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” Asha had a few ships left. Her situation was grave. She couldn’t sail her ships to the North, she sailed to the Iron Islands, instead.
Yara was left alone by Theon at this critical hour. She was the only one left to take back the Iron Islands from Euron Greyjoy. As Theon briefs Daenerys Targaryen with this account, his surprised Queen asks, “But, why aren’t you with her?” Theon wanted to fight for Winterfell, instead.
Asha Perceived Theon As A Threat
Theon and Asha’s timeline would tell you that the former kept coming back time and again. To Asha, Theon was always a threat. Someone who’d be back to usurp her someday. Even when their bond grew stronger, after escaping Euron, something was amiss.
Before setting off to Mereen, Yara took Theon to a brothel. She did so despite knowing what Theon had endured in Ramsay’s captivity. He was visibly uncomfortable at the brothel. It wasn’t the place for him, the poor guy had been mutilated. Their relationship was broken, still. Yara could never really trust him after the events at Dreadfort.