quote:Whoa what???
Perhaps, I think he hopes to marry Sansa to Arryn, solidifying the North with the East, both under his command.
If he has the Umbers in his pocket, then he is already forming alliances with the northern houses. (This probably started to moment he married Sansa away.)
And there is the million dollar question, if the Umbers super-hate the Starks, why keep Rickon Stark alive? That part makes no sense. "Oh we are gonna hold him until we need something from the Boltons" The whole reason the Umbers disserted the Starks was because Robb wanted to hold Jaime Lannister rather than kill him in his cage. Now the Umbers have their own Jaime and they show restraint?
1) The Umbers DON'T "super hate" the Starks. They are siding with Ramsey right now because Jon let in too many wildlings and they can't hold their own land without the help of a more powerful army (right now, that's the Warden of the North). Greatjon Umber would never have sided with Ramsey because he was a staunch Stark guy, but he recently died so the son is taking over for him and is much more neutral. This explains why Rickon was kept hidden, because Greatjon Umber protected him until he died.
2) Where do you get the notion that Little Finger has the Umbers in his pocket?
3) I think you have the Umbers confused with the Karstarks. The Umbers never disserted Robb, but the Karstarks did kill Lanisters as retribution for Jaime killing one of theirs so Robb punished Lord Karstark by beheading him. It was a younger Karstark who watched as Ramsey killed Roose, but the Umbers were the ones that came later on with Rickon and the dire wolf head.