Lysa Tully was the youngest daughter of Lord Hoster Tully and Lady Minisa Whent. She was Lady Catelyn Stark’s younger sister and Lord Edmure Tully’s older sister. After the deaths of Lord Rickard and Brandon Stark, Robert Baratheon rose with Eddard Stark in rebellion against the Iron Throne. To receive support from the Tullys, Lord Jon Arryn married Lysa the same day her sister married Eddard. The uprising then fought against the Targaryens, defeating them at the Battle of the Trident.
Lysa Arryn, née Tully, had a sickly son called Robert, who she spoiled by overprotecting him. When Lysa learned her husband wanted to send their son to be a ward under Stannis Baratheon, she became fearful, and a short while later, Lord Arryn died of a sudden illness.
Lysa Tully Details
- Name: Lysa Tully.
- Allegiances: House Tully, House Arryn, House Baelish.
- Year of Birth: 266 or 267 AC at Riverrun.
- Year of Death: 300 Ac at the Eyrie.
- Parents: Lord Hoster Tully and Lady Minisa Whent.
- Titles: Lady of the Eyrie, Lady Regent of the Vale of Arryn, Lady of Harrenhal.
- Husbands: Lord Jon arryn, Lord Petyr Baelish.
- Child: Robert Arryn.
- Culture: Rivermen.
- Religion: Faith of the Seven.
- Hair Color: Red.
- Eye Color: Blue.
Appearance and Personality
Though she grew big-boned in her thirties, Lysa Tully was a beautiful, slender, and firm-breasted girl in her youth. She had the typical Tully look with beautiful chestnut hair and dazzling blue eyes. However, years of miscarriages and trauma turned her into a shadow of her former self. Her blue eyes became watery and puffy, and her face became pale. Though she was Catelyn’s younger sister, she looked almost ten years older and had to mask a tangy smell with lots of perfume and powder.
Lysa’s wedding to Lord Arryn proved difficult as the marriage was political. With Jon’s appointment as Hand of the King, things only worsened as the once beautiful and timid Lysa became paranoid, cruel, reckless, impulsive, and distrustful. After many miscarriages, Lysa had Robert. However, he was a sickly child; this made her overprotective of him, even going as far as breastfeeding him till he was six.
Lysa wears typical noblewoman clothes, including satins, rich silks, linens, samites, velvets, and furs. She is fond of wearing a cream-colored gown adorned with moonstones and sapphires. Lysa is also fond of singers and employs many to perform for her.
Biography
Lysa was born and raised in Rivverun with her siblings, Catelyn and Edmure. She was the second daughter of Lord Hoster and Lady Minisa Whent, a woman who suffered multiple miscarriages and died giving birth to her sixth child. The Tully siblings played with Petyr Baelish, whom Lord Hoster took in as a ward.
Lysa and her sister were close and played many games together. They even invented a language for themselves and once fed Petyr mud pies, making him fall sick for a week. While on a returning trip from Seaguard, Lysa and Catelyn got lost but were found by Petyr. With time, Lysa fell in love with Petyr, and once, when she and her sister were practicing how to kiss, she allowed him to kiss her with his tongue.
Though Lysa loved Petyr, he never reciprocated, as he loved Catelyn. When Lord Hoster announced his oldest daughter’s wedding to Brandon Stark, littlefinger was saddened and furious, and he tried kissing Catelyn on her betrothal night. However, she moved away and laughed at him, making him drink into a stupor. While passed out, Lysa snuck into Petyr’s room to comfort him. However, she slept with him, giving him her virginity. Petyr never knew Lysa slept with him and thought it was Catelyn.
Petyr challenged Brandon to a duel when he learned of Catelyn’s wedding. However, he lost and was severely wounded. Lysa tended to his wounds and slept with him again. When she discovered she was pregnant, she told her father, hoping he would make Petyr return and wed her. However, Lord Hoster had Lysa abort the pregnancy, as he did not want her to marry a lowborn like Petyr. The process almost killed her, and she never fully recovered.
Betrothal
Lord Hoster Tully and Tywin Lannister started discussing a betrothal between Lysa and Ser Jaime Lannister. The talks dissolved when King Aerys II Targaryen named Jaime a member of the Kingsguard. Tywin offered Tyrion Lannister instead, but Hoster rejected the offer, stating his daughter would not marry a dwarf.
Robert’s Rebellion
After Brandon and Lord Rickard Stark’s death, Robert incited a revolt against the Iron Throne. To strengthen the rebellion, Lord Arryn, the Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale, married Lysa in a hastily planned wedding on the same day her sister wed Ned Stark. Immediately after the feast, Lord Arryn and Eddard returned to the battlefield.
When Lysa and her sister’s blood moon did not come, Lysa thought she and her sister were pregnant. However, her blood moon came later, shattering her dreams. Catelyn eventually gave birth to Robb Stark, and when she gave him to her sister, she hastily returned the baby as she was overwhelmed with sadness.
When the rebellion ended, Robert made Lord Jon Arryn the Hand of the King; this made him move to King’s Landing. Lysa’s uncle, Ser Brynden Tully, saw his niece’s wedding as an opportunity to leave Riverrun, and he started serving House Arryn.
Marriage
Lysa had a loveless marriage because she married Lord Jon, who was far older than her. She had troubles with childbirth. After her last stillbirth, she became paranoid. Eventually, she birthed Robert Arryn. However, he was weak and sickly. Lysa became overprotective of her son and went as far as breastfeeding him years after birth. She also never forgot about Petyr and convinced her husband to give him the customs for Gulltown. When Petyr showcased remarkable financial and political prowess, Lord Jon brought him to King’s Landing, where he became the Master of Coin. Lysa then began an affair with Petyr.
When Lord Arryn became concerned about his heir’s weakness, he planned to send him to be fostered by Lord Stannis Baratheon at Dragonstone. However, he suddenly fell ill while reading a book in King’s Landing and died. When Lysa learned that Tywin agreed to King Robert’s demands to foster young Robert, she fled to the Vale of Arryn.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Game of Thrones
After arriving at the Eyrie with her son, Lysa sends a letter to her sister, Catelyn, telling her that Queen Cersei Lannister poisoned her husband.
King Robert Baratheon arrives in Winterfell and asks Lord Eddard Stark to become the new Hand of the King. He also appointed Ser Jaime Lannister as the new Warden of the East, but Lysa commands that her son be addressed as the genuine Warden. Ned leaves for King’s Landing, and on reaching the capital, he starts investigating Lord Jon Arryn’s death. He learns the former Hand of the King died from the Tears of Lys.
When an assassin tries to kill Bran Stark, his mother travels to King’s Landing and learns that Tyrion Lannister owns the knife the killer had tried to use. She later arrests Tyrion and takes him to the Vale of Arryn, where he meets Lysa, who has him thrown into one of the sky cells. Lysa tries making Tyrion admit he killed her husband, but he outsmarts her and demands a trial by combat with Bronn as his champion.
The Lady of the Eyrie chooses Ser Vardis Egen, but he loses the fight, and Tyrion is set free. Catelyn tries persuading her sister to mobilize an army against the Lannisters, but she refuses. When King Robert Baratheon dies, Lysa receives a raven from Grand Maester Pycelle, ordering that she and her son swear loyalty to King Joffrey Baratheon.
A Clash of Kings
Lysa remains neutral as the War of the Five Kings ravages the Seven Kingdoms. Tyrion Lannister, the acting Hand of the King, agrees to restore Robert Arryn’s title of the Warden of the East if his mother joins the crown’s efforts. He also tries finding the mole on the small council by telling Petyr Baelish that he wishes to let Lysa agree to an alliance between Myrcella Baratheon and Robert Arryn. However, Petyr does not leave King’s Landing.
A Storm of Swords
Lord Hoster Tully dies at Riverrun, asking Lysa for forgiveness. Meanwhile, at the Eyrie, the singer Marillion becomes Lysa’s favorite, as she gives him gold and other gifts. When Robb Stark and his men die at the Red Wedding, Petyr Baelish is named Lord Paramount of the Trident and Harrenhal. He is then able to marry Lysa with his new status.
After King Joffrey’s death, Petyr smuggles Sansa Stark out of King’s Landing and takes her to the Vale disguised as his daughter Alayne Stone. Lysa weds Petyr and tells Sansa she may one day marry young Robert.
One day, Lysa catches Petyr kissing Sansa in the godswood of the Eyrie. She summons her to the High Hall and tries pushing her through the Moon Door. Petyr comes to the rescue, and a disoriented Lysa confesses how she and Petyr had killed her husband and accused the Lannisters. Petyr calms her but pushes her through the Moon Door to her death.
A Feast for Crows
Petyr remains the Lord Protector of the Vale after Lysa’s death. Lord Nestor Royce visits Eyrie about Lysa’s death and learns that Marillion killed her. A group of lords try ousting him, but he convinces them to give him a chance. Meanwhile, Robert Arryn’s condition worsens after his mother’s death, and he becomes attached to Sansa, who he starts seeing as his mother. Word of Lysa’s death spreads, and Arya Stark hears it. Lysa’s younger brother, Edmure, becomes a prisoner of the Iron Throne.
Relevance in Adaptation
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Kate Dickie portrayed Lysa Arryn. She appeared in seasons 1 and 4 and starred in 5 episodes. After her husband’s death, Lysa sends a letter to Catelyn, blaming Cersei for everything. Her letter sparks the flames that send Westeros into chaos as her sister Catelyn eventually takes Tyrion Lannister prisoner for her son’s attempted assassination.
After Robb’s death, Lysa remains at the Vale and refuses to have any suitors until she marries Petyr. She then gets jealous of Sansa and tries killing her but fails.
Lysa Tully: The Tragic Daughter
Lysa Tully was once a kind girl who loved and enjoyed the world. However, she had the worst luck and became a weathered version of her former self. Lysa’s problems started with her father, who forced her to abort a child for the man she loved; this ruined her mentally and physically, and decades later, she suffered multiple stillbirths.
