Having Reek/Ramsay corrupt Theon even further before finally fucking him over would have worked too. They wouldn't have even had to introduce the whole Lady Hornwood plot, they could have just Reek someone the Stark's had kept in their dungeons.

>Great ep this week. Assuming the dragon-napping is a set up
>for Dani to visit the House of the Undying. Good call. That
>chapter was tough to get through.

I don't know, I really liked the House of the Undying Chapter. Shit was really creepy to me.

>They offed Cassell early too. Didn't mind the departure from
>the book though.

I understood why they did it, as they had to have Theon kill someone the audience "knew" and could identify with.

I understand that's also sorta why they had Jaquen klll The Tickler and Amory Lorch for Arya rather than the other two people he kills in the book. Though I would have liked to see Lorch humiliated and then killed by a bear, letting Yoren get his posthumous revenge.