21 Game of Thrones Characters as Disney Songs

Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO

18. Theon Greyjoy: “Under the Sea”

"One day when the boss get hungry Guess who gon’ be on the plate Under the sea (under the sea) Nobody beat us, fry us and eat us In fricassee We what the land folks love to cook Under the sea we off the hook —The Little Mermaid"

I confess that this particular match-up was originally a joke. What with the Ironborn’s relationship to the sea, it was an easy laugh. But the more I thought about it, the more some aspects of the song seemed to resonate with Theon’s arc.

On the whole, “Under the Sea” is a song about embracing your lot in life because it’s the best you’re going to do. And when you think about it, you’re better off here than you would be anywhere else, no matter how appealing somewhere else might look from a distance. “The human world, it’s a mess,” Sebastian tells Ariel. Likewise, the Seven Kingdoms isn’t really a place the Greyjoys should have tried to rebel against. While they fought for their independence, in the end they might as well have been beaten, fried, and eaten.

When the Ironborn’s first rebellion failed, Theon was whisked away to Winterfell as the Starks’ hostage and ward. His struggle with his identity since turned out to be the root of all his problems, and kickstarted the challenges he faces on the show. Had Balon Greyjoy accepted his niche in life and avoided a rebellion altogether, Theon may have been able to do the same. Instead, the seaweed in somebody else’s lake was just too green to ignore, and Theon ultimately suffered the consequences.

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