Jeyne Poole

As Sansa’s best friend, Jeyne Poole supported her by exaggerating her fantasies. She was fond of Robb Stark but made fun of Arya Stark, calling her Arya Horseface. After Eddard Stark agreed to become the Hand of the King, he took Jeyne and her father to King’s Landing. When Eddard and Vayon Poole reached King’s Landing, he started investigating Jon Arryn’s death. Jeyne stayed with Sansa and kept her company in the Red Keep. However, Eddard got arrested and she got captured and locked up.

Jeyne Poole Profile

• Character Name: Jeyne Poole.
• Date of Birth: 286 or 287 AC.
• Allegiances: House Poole, House Stark, House Bolton.
• Alias: Arya Stark.
• Hair Color: Black.
• Eye Color: Brown.
• Religion: Old Gods of the Forest.
• Culture: Andals.
• Husband: Ramsay Bolton.

Physical Appearance and Brief History

Jeyne Poole was born in Winterfell as the steward’s daughter. As House Poole was a small house whose allegiance lay with House Stark, they served in Winterfell. At a very young age, she and Sansa became friends and worked under Septa Mordane. With her dark hair, brown eyes, and slender frame. She was beautiful, but not as Sansa. Jeyne grew fond of Robb but taunted Arya, insulting her at any chance.

When Robert Baratheon arrived at Winterfell, he asked Eddard Stark to take up the position of Hand of King, and Eddard reluctantly agreed. He decides to take Arya, Sansa, and Jeyne’s family with him to King’s Landing. On reaching the city, Eddard began investigating the death of his friend Jon Arryn, and his discoveries led to his arrest and eventual execution. During the massacre of the Starks, Jeyne loses her father. She later gets taken by Petyr and reappears as Arya Stark, the girl she once taunted.

Relevance In A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones

After Lord Eddard Stark agrees to become the Hand of the King, he betrothed his daughter, Sansa, to Joffrey Baratheon, Robert’s son. During a needlework session with Septa Mordane, Jeyne tells Sansa that Joffrey likes her. She tells Sansa how dreamy the prince is and annoys Arya.

Eddard moves with his daughters to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, and among the entourage that follows him is Vayon Poole, Jeyne’s father. She accompanies her father, and Eddard assumes his post. In Eddard’s honor, Robert hosts the Hand’s Tourney, and Jeyne attends with Arya. During the tourney, she and Sansa giggle and make fun of Thoros of Myr, a red priest of R’hllor. Jeyne gets charmed by Lord Beric Dondarrion’s charisma and declares her desire to marry him. The tourney gets bloody, and when Ser Hugh dies, Jeyne gets escorted out by Septa Mordane to regain herself after she breaks down in tears.

When Eddard begins probing into the events that led to the death of Jon Arryn, the former Hand of the King, he discovers deep secrets about Cersei Lannister and her children. Not wanting anyone to know, Cersei kills her husband and has Eddard arrested for treason. Eddard’s arrest leads to a massacre of the Starks, and during the conflict, Jeyne hides and survives. She and Sansa get confined in a room by Ser Boros Blunt of the Kingsguard. With her father dead and Eddard killed, Jeyne gets given to Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish, who states that he will find a place for her.

A Storm of Swords

After Jaime gets brought before Roose Bolton, he gets sent back to his father Tywin, and Steelshanks Walton bids him goodbye. Jaime sees a northern girl who claims to be Arya Stark. He realizes he does not recognize her as he had seen Arya at Winterfell. 

When Jaime meets Brienne and tasks her with returning the Stark girls to their home, he tells her of the little northern girl paraded as Sansa’s sister, Arya Stark, and tells Brienne that she is not the real Arya. He explains that because most of Arya’s relatives were dead, the Lannisters picked a northern girl, Jeyne Poole, and rebranded her as Arya for the Boltons.

A Dance with Dragons

Under the guise of Arya Stark, Jeyne accompanies Lord Roose Bolton to the siege of Moat Cailin, where she meets the bastard of Bolton, Ramsay, her soon-to-be husband. Realizing that Arya is much quieter than she usually is, Theon Greyjoy, now Reek, discovers the deception that Arya is Jeyne Poole, his childhood friend.

The Boltons call the northern bannermen to pledge their support to the Iron Throne and attend the wedding of Arya and Ramsay. However, Roose learns that Stannis has taken over Deepwood Motte and decides to move the wedding to Winterfell. In Castle Black, Melisandre tells Jon, the new Lord Commander, that she saw a vision of a girl in grey riding on a dead horse and reveals that Rattleshirt was Mance Rayder. She tells Jon that Mance is the only one capable of rescuing Arya from Winterfell and then tasks him with bringing back Jon’s sister. Mance takes six Spearwives and departs from the Wall.

After Jeyne’s wedding to Ramsay Bolton, he humiliates Theon and his bride by making them have sexual acts. After Mance infiltrates Winterfell under the guise of Abel, he and his Spearwives begin killing Ramsay’s men. the death cause panic and Theon discovers that Mance is in Winterfell to save Arya.

Theon meets Jeyne and tells her of the plan to escape. He warns her that she should keep the guise of Arya Stark so she will get sent to the Wall to meet Jon Snow, who will discover the ruse and realize that she is not Arya. He tells her to pretend so that she will not be like a common whore in the eyes of Stannis’s men. During the night of their escape, Jeyne screams and attracts Ramsay’s men’s attention. In one last effort to escape, she and Theon jump from the walls of Winterfell and ride to meet Stannis.

Meanwhile, Stannis and his men get caught in a blizzard but make it till they are three days away from Winterfell. An entourage arrives, and Asha Greyjoy sees a girl who has frostbite on her nose and a pale-looking man. She realizes that the man is her brother Theon.

Jeyne Poole: A Tragic Story

Jeyne’s character is one of tragedy. Being only a little girl, she became a brutalized pawn in the dirty political game of Westeros. She lost everything and everyone she loved and became a slave to people she did not know. Jeyne’s character is a near-perfect character that George R. R. Martin used to portray the intensity of the brutality of his world.

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