House Arryn

House Arryn is one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms, ruling the mountainous and fertile Vale of Arryn from the Eyrie, a castle so high and defensible that it has never been taken by force. The Arryns are an ancient Andal house, their lineage pure and their words "As High as Honor" reflecting their pride and their seat's lofty position. Their sigil is a white moon-and-falcon on a sky-blue field. For nearly three centuries, they have served as Wardens of the East, a title that passed to them after Aegon the Conqueror's wars and which they held until the death of Lord Jon Arryn.

History and the Death of Jon Arryn

Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, was a pivotal figure in the realm's recent history. He served as Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon, and before that, as a foster father to both Robert and Eddard Stark, raising his banners in rebellion against the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen rather than surrendering his wards. His death, which occurs shortly before the events of the book, is the catalyst for much of the ensuing conflict. He was poisoned with the rare and untraceable substance called the Tears of Lys, a murder that his wife, Lysa Arryn, blamed on the Lannisters. His final, fevered words were "The seed is strong," a cryptic clue that Eddard Stark later deciphered to uncover the truth about the parentage of Robert Baratheon's children.

The Vale Under Lysa Arryn

After Jon Arryn's death, his widow, Lysa Arryn, fled King's Landing with their sickly young son, Robert Arryn, who became the new Lord of the Eyrie. Lysa, a woman of the Tully family, proved to be a fearful and erratic ruler. She retreated behind the Vale's formidable defenses, the Bloody Gate and the impregnable Eyrie, refusing to involve the Vale in the growing conflicts of the realm. She rejected a proposal to foster her son with Tywin Lannister at Casterly Rock, instead taking him to the Eyrie. Her paranoia and overprotectiveness of her son, whom she still breastfeeds despite him being six years old, alienated many of her bannermen and left the Vale isolated. When her sister Catelyn Stark brought Tyrion Lannister to the Eyrie as a prisoner, Lysa's judgment was clouded by fear and a desire for vengeance, leading to a trial by combat that the Imp won, forcing his release.

The Eyrie and Its Defenses

The Eyrie is the ancient seat of House Arryn, a castle of seven slender white towers perched on the shoulder of the Giant's Lance, the highest peak in the Mountains of the Moon. Its defenses are legendary. The approach is guarded by three waycastles—Stone, Snow, and Sky—built into the mountainside. The final ascent is so steep that it can only be made on foot or by a winch-powered basket. The castle's unique dungeon, the sky cells, are open to the elements on one side, with a sharply sloped floor designed to drive prisoners mad and eventually cause them to "fly" to their deaths on the rocks far below. The Moon Door in the High Hall is another method of execution, a door that opens onto a six-hundred-foot drop. The castle's granary is large, and its towers can house five hundred men, but it lacks stables, smithies, and kennels, relying on the Gates of the Moon at the mountain's base for such functions.

The Lords of the Vale

The principal houses sworn to the Eyrie include the Royces, Waynwoods, Hunters, Redforts, Corbrays, and Belmores. These lords, many of whom were loyal to Jon Arryn, grew restive under Lysa's rule. They were angered when King Robert named Jaime Lannister as Warden of the East, an office the Arryns had held for nearly three hundred years. Many of them were present at the trial by combat for Tyrion Lannister, and their loyalties were tested as the realm descended into war. Ser Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, served as the Knight of the Gate, commanding the defenses of the Bloody Gate, but he eventually left the Vale to fight for his Tully family in the riverlands, further weakening Lysa's position.

Narrative Role and Significance

House Arryn's significance in the narrative is defined by its absence from the central conflict. The death of Jon Arryn, a wise and stabilizing force, removes a key check on King Robert's excesses and sets Eddard Stark on the path to uncovering the Lannister conspiracy. The Vale's isolation under Lysa Arryn means that a potentially powerful ally is withheld from both the Stark and Baratheon causes at a critical time. The Eyrie itself serves as a symbol of unassailable but ultimately impotent power, a fortress that protects its inhabitants from the world but also renders them irrelevant to it. The secrets Jon Arryn died for, and the truth of his murder, are the keys that unlock the central mystery of the book, making House Arryn a silent but crucial presence throughout the story.