Photo: Helen Sloan/Courtesy of HBO

Since the deaths of King Joffrey and knife-wielding mutineer Karl Tanner, Game of Thrones' League of Crazy has been run singlehandedly by Ramsay Snow. His hobbies include flaying enemies, hunting civilians with dogs, and brainwashing Theon Greyjoy into a subservient, pet-like creature. After teaming up with Reek (the lord formerly known as Theon) to takeover Moat Cailin, Roose Bolton's illegitimate son was finally awarded the family name. To learn more about the newly-christened Bolton, we called up Rheon to find out why his character's such an evil bastard, and to hear some theoretical father's day plans.

GQ: Ramsay is one of_ Game of Thrones_' most deranged characters. Why is he so crazy?

** Iwan Rheon: **It goes back to the old nature vs. nurture debate, I'd say. Ramsay's probably always been a bit messed up, but I think the situation in which he was conceived is a massive factor, with his mother getting raped under the corpse of her new husband by Roose Bolton. He was always a problem child, and under the wing of Roose, he hasn't learned the best things

I mean, flaying's not such a bad skill to have in Westeros

** **Yeah, yeah. Well, I don't know…_ [laughs]_

In Episode 8, Ramsay's reaction to receiving the family name was oddly moving.

** **I think it's a huge thing for him to have. He was rejected by his father for so long, and the Bolton name is all he ever wanted. We'll have to see what he does now that he's achieved his goal.

Why do you think Ramsay cares so much about having the Bolton name? Given the daddy issues, I thought he'd be more interested in torturing Roose.

It's his father that gets respect, so taking on the family name is his way to a better life, and more power. The one thing he craves more than inflicting pain on the innocent is getting his father to love him, in a weird sort of way.

That makes sense, I guess going crazy on Roose wouldn't benefit Ramsay that much.

** **Yeah, he's not stupid. He's a crafty little shit. [laughs]

Sunday was father's day. What would've been Ramsay's ideal way of spending it with his dad?

Probably some hunting and flaying I'd imagine!

Since Joffrey died, Ramsay's left as one of the few clearly villainous characters on the show.