50 Shades Of Greyjoy: How 'Game Of Thrones' Turned Two Greyjoy Brothers Into One

After six seasons of taking to the skies with dragons, Game of Thrones finally set sail on the high seas for Season 7. The episode "Stormborn" saw Pilou Asbæk's Euron Greyjoy make a calculated move from the Salt Throne toward the Iron Throne. It seems that blood is definitely thicker than water, and there was plenty of blood to be spilled on the water during the climax of the latest episode. Just as Yara Greyjoy and Ellaria Sand locked lips, a blossoming romance was cut short by the arrival of Uncle "Give Us a Kiss" Euron.

Turning up and swinging his formidable kraken axe, fans of #GeorgeRRMartin's "Ice and Fire" novels will undoubtedly have noticed that the TV version of Euron pays fan service to a certain Greyjoy family member and a long lost character from the books.

O Brother, where art thou?

In Martin's series, the Greyjoy name is just as formidable as it is on #GameofThrones, but there is in fact a fourth Greyjoy brother other than Euron, Balon, and Aeron "Damphair." Although a certain Victarion Greyjoy appeared on HBO's official family tree from Season 1, the the warrior-like "other" brother seems to have been confined to Davy Jones's Locker.

One particularly interesting passage from the books mentions Victarion as follows:

"You come striding through the flames stern and fierce, your great axe dripping blood, blind to the tentacles that grasp you at wrist and neck and ankle, the black strings that make you dance."

Looking at Asbæk's fighting scene at the end of "Stormborn," and as he held Yara captive with an axe, it is clear to see that Victarion is gone but not forgotten. However, with Euron now wielding the kraken axe, will we continue to see Asbæk take on the parts of both Victarion and Euron?

What is dead may never die.

Unfortunately, Victarion isn't the first big character to face the (kraken) axe from the show. With only so much screen time and a finite story to tell, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have sent some notable names off to the Seven Hells before we ever met them. We have lost Arianne Martell, Aegon Targaryen, and well as my personal favorite Lady Stoneheart, so Victarion's omission is nothing new.

If Euron really is taking over his brother's role, there is an interesting theory on where the story will take him next. If you look closely at that big nautical battle, Euron took on (and dispatched) two of those venomous Sand Snakes, but not before he sustained some minor injuries. We have seen how those ladies from Dorne like to poison their weapons, so could the dying Sands have left Euron with a "gift" of his own after their deaths?

In the books, Victarion is known for having an injured hand that was treated with magic and came out as a charred mess. If Euron manages to woo Cersei Lannister, could Maester Qyburn in King's Landing be his savior? If Euron's arm succumbs to Sand Snake poison, Maester Qyburn's dark magic could save his life, but give him a Victarion-esque arm.

Given Euron's rather damp arrival last season, it is great to see that Pilou Asbæk is making good on his promise of being the next Ramsay Bolton. With his deranged bloodlust, Euron is fast becoming one of the best characters on the show. Now with the source material of two grizzled Greyjoys behind him, we can't wait to see where the prick from Pyke takes us next.