I did not post on this thread before because I did not have any decent ideas, but I thought of something today. I began a reread of AFFC yesterday and my thoughts raced ahead to events on the Wall and I considered this Letter.
Your false king is dead, *******. He and all his host were smashed in seven days of battle. I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore.
Your false king's friends are dead. Their heads upon the walls of Winterfell. Come see them, *******. Your false king lied, and so did you. You told the world you burned theKing-Beyond-the-Wall. Instead you sent him to Winterfell to steal my bride from me.
I will have my bride back. If you want Mance Rayer back, come and get him. I have him in a cage for all thenorth to see, proof of your lies. The cage is cold, but I have made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell.
I want my bride back. I want the false king's queen. I want his daughter and his red witch. I want this wildling princess. I want his little prince, the wildling babe. And I want my Reek. Send them to me, *******, and I will not trouble you or your black crows. Keep them from me, and I will cut out your *******'s heart and eat it.
Ramsay Bolton,
Trueborn Lord of Winterfell.
I don't have a definitive answer, just some thoughts.
This letter prompted Jon to change his plans. Radically. After all he's been through in the Night's Watch, he foreswore himself that quickly? This whole story sounds fishy to me.
First thought, the person who sent the letter had an agenda to change Jon's plans from bringing more wildlings south. The sender could write. Could the sender be Bowen Marsh, the Lord Steward? He has charge of the stewards and thus the ravens, if he says a message arrived by raven who can gainsay him? He wanted Jon's plan cancelled... and Jon did it.
Second, I thought of Melisandre. I'd never considered her before. I was excited to share this thought with you... but on page one of this thread a number of people had already mentioned her. I thought of Melisandre because of the list of people in the letter. The sender desired the delivery of his bride (Arya/Jeyne), the false king's queen (Selyse), the false king's daughter (Shireen), the false king's red witch (Melisandre), the wildling princess (Val), the wildling babe (Mance's son/Craster's son), and Reek. Why these people? Well, if the sender is Ramsay, then I guess that Arya and Reek are obvious, while Selyse, Shireen, and Melisandre hold dear places in Stannis' heart and plans, and Val and the babe are hostages. But this list includes the only four people in the North of known/supposed royal blood besides Mance. Arya is Robb's sister, Shireen is Stannis' daughter, the child is Mance's son, and Reek is Balon's son and Euron's nephew. Selyse and Val would be included in the list to handle the children. But why Melisandre? Could the letter have been manufactured by Melisandre to get Shireen and the Mance's son away from Castle Black so she can burn them?
Re: The Letter
Whoever sent the letter must know the following (some of which are widely known, some of which are not):
- that Stannis has a "magic" sword and is close to Melisandre;
- that Mance was meant to have been burnt but wasn't;
- that Mance's mission was to rescue Arya;
- that Arya was freed, at least for a while;
- that Mance had six helpers and that Ramsay would be prepared to flay them;
- that Jon holds Dalla;
- that Jon is holding Mance's child (which isn't true).
The oddest request is for Mance's child. Why would Ramsay want him? Mance would, as would Melisandre (at least according to Jon), but why would anyone else? (And why would Ramsay call the child a prince?) Solve this and one might work out who sent the letter.
The only information, as Ursa major has kindly listed for us, that Melisandre may not know is the importance of Reek to Ramsay or the fact that he's missing. But mayhaps she saw these in her flames.
The third thing that I'll mention is that the language should give us a clue as to the sender or at least the author wanted Jon to make the assumption that Ramsay sent the letter. Why is the letter addressed to B*stard and why does the sender call the recipent b*astard another four times? Is Ramsay gloating about his elevation to legitimacy? Jon introduced the concept that bastardy was his motivation when he first met Mance and Mance used it repeatedly since the Fist of the First Men. The words whore and whores are used... are we sure Tywin did not write this?
False King is used four times and Stannis' name is not. Mance is mentioned by his full name, Mance Rayder, and even given his full title King-Beyond-the-Wall. The sender also used the term black crows, only wildlings use it. After claiming to have Mance in a cage and to have skinned six women, why did the threated to cut out the *******'s heart and eat it? Why not skin him? The sender also encourages the reader to talk to Melisandre about Stannis' sword.
It seems that at face value, the letter is from Ramsay. But I think we are to suspect Mance from the information and the language.
