Lysa Arryn

Lady **Lysa Arryn**, is a member of House Tully. She is the youngest daughter of Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun and his wife, Lady Minisa Whent, and wife of Lord Jon Arryn, the Lord of The Eyrie, which she has one son, named Robert Arryn, or more commonly as Robin.

## **Appearances and Character:**

Despite being two years younger than her sister Catelyn, Lysa looks ten years older; her face has become pale and puffy, and she now paints and powders it. While Lysa uses scents to smell more sweet.

She has the blue eyes of the Tullys but pale and watery never being still, a small, petulant mouth and long, thick, auburn hair, which falls down to her waist.

Lysa wanted nothing more than to marry the man of her dreams as a young girl at Riverrun. She idolized her older sister Catelyn for her betrothal to the heir of Winterfell, Brandon Stark, and hoped to one day marry a man as noble and handsome as him. Her marriage to Lord Jon Arryn, however, was purely political, and while he was dutiful and kind to her, the marriage lacked the warmth Lysa required.

While Lysa had been a soft, shy, delicate and timid girl in her youth, prone to tongue-tied silences and fits of giggles, her years at King's Landing and The Eyrie were difficult for her, and changed her significantly, turning her into a woman who is by turns proud, fearful, cruel, dreamy, reckless, impulsive, timid, stubborn, vain, and inconstant.

Grand Maester Pycelle considers Lysa to have never been "the strongest and most disciplined of minds," claiming that Lysa has seen enemies in every shadow since her last stillbirth. Lysa is fiercely protective of her young son, Robert, and goes through great lengths to keep him by her side

## **History:**

Lysa was born as the second daughter of Lord Hoster Tully, head of House Tully and Lord of Riverrun, and his wife, Lady Minisa Whent. She has one older sister, Catelyn, and one younger brother, Edmure. Her mother, who had given birth to two boys previously (who had both died in infancy), died giving birth to her sixth child, who died with her.

Lysa was raised at Riverrun, alongside her two siblings and her father's young ward, Petyr Baelish. As a young girl, Lysa would run and hide whenever she had done something wrong, so her father could not find her. Just as her siblings and her father's ward, Petyr, were wont to do, Lysa always went to her uncle, Ser Brynden Tully, with her tears and tales, whenever Lord Hoster was too busy, and Lady Minisa too ill. Lysa and Catelyn played together, as girls, and even had a secret language.

Being raised alongside Petyr, Lysa fell in love with him, but her feelings were not reciprocated. Instead, Petyr fell in love with Lysa's older sister Catelyn. When they were still young Lysa and Catelyn had first learnt to kiss by taking turns kissing Petyr, making Petyr the first man Lysa ever kissed. Catelyn recalls it as having been very innocent, though Petyr attempted to kiss them with tongue, which Lysa allowed. On the night Catelyn's betrothal to Brandon Stark was announced, Petyr, after having danced with Catelyn, tried to kiss her, and she rejected him, laughing. Petyr got drunk because of this, and after the boy had been brought to bed, Lysa followed and climbed into his bed to "give him comfort." Petyr took her virginity that night, telling her he loved her whilst he drunkenly believed that she was Catelyn, going as far as calling her "Cat" before he fell asleep. Despite this, Lysa stayed with him until sunrise, and would later come to remember the night fondly.

When Catelyn's wedding date to Brandon Stark was eventually announced in, Petyr challenged Brandon for Catelyn's hand. Brandon wounded Petyr severely and Lysa helped nurse him. In the following fortnight, they slept together again. Lysa became pregnant with Petyr's child as a result of this. After Hoster had send Petyr back to The Fingers, Lysa revealed her pregnancy to him, hoping that Hoster would relent and let her wed Petyr, but Hoster, who had always felt Petyr was too lowborn, instead forced her to abort the child with moon tea, provided by Maester Kym.

Lord Hoster Tully and Lord Tywin Lannister had been discussing a betrothal between Lysa and Jaime Lannister, the heir to Casterly Rock. This potential betrothal was off the table when King Aerys II Targaryen named Jaime to his Kingsguard. Lord Tywin offered his younger son, Tyrion, instead but was rebuffed by Lord Hoster, who stated that he wanted "a whole man" for Lysa.

During Robert's Rebellion, Lysa was married to Lord Jon Arryn, Lord of The Eyrie and Defender of The Vale. Lord Arryn was already an old man and their marriage forged a useful wartime alliance with House Tully. In addition, Jon needed a wife known to be fertile, as his last heir had died during the Battle of the Bells. She married Jon at Riverrun, in the same ceremony as her sister married Lord Eddard Stark, But unlike Catelyn's marriage, Lysa's had been hastily arranged. While she had wept much at the morning of their wedding, Lysa had been dry-eyed and radiant during the ceremony itself.

Jon was already a fairly old man when Lysa married him, and he was proud. Because of Lysa's soiled state and the age difference between them, theirs was a loveless marriage. In addition, Lysa had many troubles with childbirth. Including two boys and three girls, Lysa suffered two miscarriages in The Eyrie and three in King's Landing, and gave birth to two stillborn children. After suffering her last stillbirth, Lysa became paranoid, seeing enemies everywhere. She eventually gave birth to a son, Robert. However, Robert is a sickly child, suffering from the 'shaking sickness'. Being her only living child, Lysa became overprotective, and would still be breastfeeding him when he was six years old.

Despite her marriage, Lysa did not forget Petyr Baelish, they began a secret love affair.