3. Theon Betraying The Starks
Theon was taken by the Starks at the age of ten as an insurance policy should the Greyjoys attempt another rebellion; once before, they had attempted to overthrow the Starks, but were crushed. Theon was raised a Stark (and hence held a position of reasonable authority in the North's most powerful house), and was considered a brother by the other Stark children. Robb in particular makes that fact clear to him on a number of occasions. Furthermore, in the awesome "King in the North!" scene, Theon says to him, "Am I your brother, now and always?" before bending his knee and offering his sword in battle. Despite this, Theon betrays Robb when he is sent to Pyke to enlist the assistance of his father Balon. He instead becomes desperate to prove his worth to his family, who openly mock him. To this end, he takes a ship with some men to storm Winterfell since he knows they have sent most of their own soldiers to do battle. He succeeds in taking the home of the Starks, and executes the honourable Rodrik Cassel for his dissent. Brann and Rickon manage to escape Winterfell, making Theon look inept and weak. To remedy this, Theon's men kill the miller's two young boys and burn the bodies so that they are unrecognisable. He then displays them, hanging, and warns the people that this is the fate of those who oppose him. Theon and his betrayal earn him a place so high on this list because he not only betrays his closest friend (who considered him a brother) when he needs him most, which plays a part in derailing the Starks' war effort, he also kills two innocent young boys to save face. Another result of this is that both Catelyn and Robb die believing that their sons and brothers respectively were killed horribly by one they were supposed to be able to trust.