Warning: Spoilers ahead.
As my colleague Scott Meslow recounts, a slew of characters met their ostensible end in the season five finale of Game of Thrones, a sanguinary spectacle even by the show's bloody standards.
It appears that no family in Westeros has been spared death and disgrace. But in fact there is one house that has enjoyed a glorious string of successes: House Bolton, led by Roose Bolton and his sadistic son Ramsay. The family with the flayed man as its sigil thoroughly eviscerated Stannis Baratheon and his army, leaving the Boltons the undisputed rulers of the North.
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In a world where good and evil are turned upside down, eliciting a surprising amount of sympathy for even the characters we most hate, it is no surprise, then, that a small but vocal minority has embraced House Bolton as its champion. And what could be a more natural spot for them to congregate than Reddit, where /r/Dreadfort (named after the Boltons' seat of power) was the site of gleeful celebration last night?
Comment from discussion GLORIOUS VICTORY! HAIL LORD BOLTON - The True Warden of the North!.
Comment from discussion BATTLE OF WINTERFELL VICTORY UPVOTE PARTY.
Comment from discussion BATTLE OF WINTERFELL VICTORY UPVOTE PARTY.
Tongue-in-cheek playfulness? Vicarious playacting of a deeply chilling variety? You decide.
But while everything is coming up Ramsay at the moment, the Boltons did suffer one setback: the escape/death of Sansa Stark and Reek (née Theon Greyjoy), which could complicate their plans to hold on to Winterfell. Whatever happens, we can be sure there will be plenty of people cheering for the Boltons along the way.
