Roose Bolton and Ramsay Bolton in “Unfinished Business”

Roose Bolton

We can't hold the North with terror alone.

We can't hold the North if we let these lesser Lords insult us.

Roose Bolton

I sent you there to collect taxes, not bodies.

Lord Cerwyn refused to pay. Said the Warden of the North would always be a Stark, and he'd be damned if he'd kiss a traitor's boot.

Roose Bolton

He left you no choice.

I flayed him living, along with his wife and brother. Made his son watch.

Roose Bolton

And?

The new Lord Cerwyn paid his taxes.

Roose Bolton

I have something to tell you. Stop eating and listen. We don't have enough men to hold the North, if the other Houses rise up against us. Do you understand that?

Our pact with the Lannisters protects...

Roose Bolton

I had a pact with Tywin Lannister, and Tywin Lannister is dead. The remaining Lannisters are a thousand miles away, dealing with that fact. They've never once, in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, sent their army this far North. If you think they will for us, you're a fool. We've become a Great House, by entering into alliance with other Houses and parlaying those alliances into greater power. The best way to forge a lasting alliance, isn't by peeling a man's skin off. The best way is marriage. Now that you're a Bolton by Royal decree, it's high time you married a suitable bride. And as it happens, I've found the perfect girl to solidify our hold on the North.