Game of Thrones actor Iwan Rheon talks about Ramsay Bolton, the Battle of the Bastards and a ‘wonderful’ end to the episode….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN GAME OF THRONES “THE BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS”
After four seasons on Game of Thrones as the most vile and cruel villain the show has ever produced, Ramsay Bolton met his demise during the latest episode titled “The Battle of the Bastards”.
It was a multi-layered ending for Ramsay because he first has to watch his army get broken and defeated in the field of battle once the Knights of the Vale show up to help save Jon Snow at the last minute.
As the battle came to an end with Ramsay’s forces defeated, he retreated to Winterfell still believing that he could find a way to win because behind those walls, he was still safe and nobody could get to him.
According to Iwan Rheon, who played Ramsay so brilliantly for four seasons on Game of Thrones, the writers and director looked towards another heinous historical figure to draw upon when thinking about the way the Bolton bastard would react in the face of defeat.
“It’s a funny thing and it’s something we discussed a lot of how Ramsay feels and does he think he’s lost. He kind of knows it but he’s in Winterfell so he thinks he’s OK. We were tuned to that idea of (Adolf) Hitler in his bunker in those last days and how you start losing sight of the actual reality because you’ve got too far into it,” Rheon described.
“Even when Jon Snow’s beating the shit out of him, he’s smiling and going ‘this is great’.”
From there, Ramsay was pummeled into the mud in a one-on-one fight with Jon, who earlier in the episode offered a duel between the two of them to settle this war before a single soldier had to die.
When Jon was punching Ramsay into the ground, the only thing that stopped him from killing the antagonistic bastard was one look at his sister and the stories flooded back into his mind of all the awful things that happened to her while she unwillingly betrothed to him.
So Jon puts Ramsay in a dungeon and allows Sansa to get the last word with Ramsay before his death.
And finally, Ramsay’s evil run came to a close thanks to the very hounds he starved for seven days in preparation to feast on some Starks and instead they tore him apart courtesy of one last farewell from his bride.
Ramsay being eaten alive by his dogs — the same death that he dished out to numerous people including his stepmother and baby brother — was seemingly the most befitting end for him after four seasons although Rheon admits he had another idea in mind.
“I did ask for a dragon related death, but that’s fine,” Rheon said with a smile. “Dogs are all right. In terms of story, a really wonderful way to end so that Sansa has the power.”
With Ramsay Bolton dispatched and Winterfell returned to the Stark family for the first time in several seasons, it will be interested to see what direction Jon and Sansa point to next.
They know there is an army of the dead coming from beyond the wall and it won’t be long before Winterfell is the last line of defense between the White Walkers invading all of Westeros or being stepped dead in their tracks.
The season finale of Game of Thrones airs next Sunday night at 9pm ET on HBO.
