“Greatjon is not dead.
Rickon is setting a trap and making a powerplay.”
I’ll buy that for a dollar.
Something from the previous episode led me to think along similar lines. When Ramsay was talking to Roose about attacking Jon Snow, he was saying “we don’t need all the Northern houses. The Umbers, the Karstarks and the Manderleys have more forces than all the other houses combined.”
Now that seems like Ramsay has already sewn up an alliance with the Umbers, Karstarks and Manderlys, because he isn’t the kind of guy to bring a proposal to Roose unless he has already ironed out the details. Now the Karstarks joining him is believable, the Umbers, well Greatjon wouldn’t but maaaaaybe Smalljon would. However, the Manderlys? They HATE the Boltons, ever more so recently with their feud over the Hornwood lands. There is no way that the Manderlys are aligning with the Boltons unless it is part of some plan to betray them.
Excellent comment.
The Manderlys hate the Boltons. Tbe Umbers would hate the Karstarks. I see no chance of a three-way alliance.