In the TV series Game of Thrones, most of us must have felt strange, even disgusted by the treatment that Lysa Arryn gave to her only child, Robin Arryn. It is strange that a 6 year old boy is still breastfeeding directly from his mother. Additionally, Robin was Lord of the Eyrie and the successor to House Arryn after the death of his father, Jon Arryn, who at the time served as Hand of the King from Robert Baratheon (this position later was given by Robert to Eddard Stark).
In the book A Song of Ice and Fire, Robin Arryn is actually named Robert. Showrunner Game of Thrones decided to change it to Robin to avoid confusion with the name Robert Baratheon. The same was done by changing the name of Asha Greyjoy (Theon’s older sister) to Yara so as not to be confused with Osha (Wilding who looks after Bran Stark). Another difference is the age of Robin Arryn, who in the TV series is said to be 6 years old, while in the book he is 8 years old.
It is natural that many of our viewers cringe when they see Lysa and Robin, even in the book Sansa says that Robin (Robert) has the behavior of a 3 year old. However, there is actually a reason behind Lysa’s obsession with Robin. What a sad excuse.
We clash with Petyr Baelish
We begin with Lysa’s childhood in the Eyrie with her siblings, namely Catelyn, Edmure, and Petyr Baelish. Petyr was raised in Riverrun from the age of 8 by Lord Hoster Tully due to his friendship with Petyr’s father. Petyr’s father and Lord Hoster once fought together in the “War of the Ninepenny Kings,” the resistance against the forces of Maelys Blackfyre who wanted to invade Westeros.
In time, the teenage Lysa falls in love with Petyr, although Petyr does not reciprocate her love because Petyr actually loves Catelyn. At one point, it was announced that Cat would marry Brandon Stark (who later died after being executed by the Mad King). At a party held by the Tully family, Petyr danced with Cat 6 times (in the book Lysa tells Sansa that Lysa calculated this number, maybe because she was so uncertain, he).
Petyr then tries to kiss Cat, but Cat pushes Petyr away and laughs at him. Petyr was embarrassed and depressed to the point of drinking and getting drunk a lot. Petyr is taken to his room by Brynden Tully (Blackfish). Lysa then came along to accompany Petyr. In a drunken state, Petyr makes love to Lysa and assumes she is Cat. Although she was aware that Petyr was thinking about Cat, Lysa stayed with Petyr until morning.
When the Cat-Brandon wedding date is announced, Petyr takes another risk by challenging Brandon to a fight. The huge age difference and Brandon’s great fighting abilities left Petyr seriously injured. At that time, Cat asks Brandon not to continue the fight. Petyr had to be treated for the fight and Lysa again accompanied him at a critical moment. They made love again until Lysa became pregnant with Petyr’s child.
When Petyr recovered, Lord Hoster decided to send him back to the Fingers where Petyr was born. Lysa admits her pregnancy to Lord Hoster in the hope that his father will approve of her marriage to Petyr. Instead of agreeing, Lord Hoster actually ordered Lysa to abort her pregnancy because he thought Petyr was from home low
Lysa was asked to drink “moon tea” which ingredient is a herbal plant called “tansy”. In the book, before his death, Lord Hoster often muttered the word “tansy” which Catelyn thought was one of the women who were close to his father. Perhaps this is a form of Lord Hoster’s regret for his actions towards Lysa because during the abortion process, Lysa almost died.
Lysa’s wedding to Jon Arryn
Besides Catelyn, Lysa was also matched by her father. Initially, there was a conversation between Lord Hoster and Tywin Lannister to match Lysa with Jaime. However, this match could not take place because Jaime was appointed as Kingsguard by the Mad King. Tywin then offered another son, namely Tyrion, but Lord Hoster did not want Lysa to marry anyone. a dwarf. Ultimately, Lysa was married to Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, obviously for political reasons.
Jon Arryn was already old when he married Lysa. In fact, Lysa said she was almost the same age as her own father. Lysa and Jon’s wedding was also planned and executed quite quickly. This means that Lysa does not have enough time to accept this decision, especially since her feelings are still tied to Petyr. It is said that Lysa did not enjoy her marriage to Jon Arryn. It’s not like Cat could finally have a happy marriage with Eddard Stark (who replaced Brandon).
Robin Arryn, Penerus House Arryn
When Cat gave birth to Robb, Lysa, who was sad because she was not pregnant, was offered to take care of Robb, although she ultimately refused. Lysa is having problems with her pregnancy. She had failed several times to have children with Jon Arryn. The babies died at birth, 3 girls and 2 boys. He experienced this during his stay at the Eyrie and Kings Landing when Jon was appointed Hand of the King. Lysa was also said to have experienced repeated miscarriages. His son Robin only “saved”, although unfortunately, Robin was also born sickly.
It is said that Robert (Robin) had a seizure which forced Maester Colemon to often treat him with therapy that cuts the skin to remove blood and administer special medicines. This disease also causes Robin to have a very spoiled grin and cling to Lysa. In the end, Lysa never weaned Robin, meaning she continued to breastfeed Robin until he was 6 years old. Lysa felt like she could lose Robin at any moment. In addition, Lysa also thinks that the people around her want to take Robin. Lysa feels paranoid because of the trauma of losing her children repeatedly.
Jon Arryn, seeing his son’s weak condition, plans to send Robin to Dragonstone to be educated by Stannis Baratheon. Lysa was alarmed by this plan and eventually conspired with Petyr to kill Jon Arryn using “Tears of Lys,” an extremely rare and dangerous type of mixed poison wine which Jon drank.
At that time, Jon, who was in Kings Landing, appointed Petyr Baelish as royal treasurer or “Master of Coin”. Lysa initially asked Jon to give Petyr a post in Gulltown, the largest city in the Vale of Arryn. Due to his good performance, Petyr was finally appointed Master of Coin. At that time, Lysa and Petyr had a secret relationship. Lysa ultimately blamed Jon’s death as the work of The Lannisters.
After Jon Arryn’s death, King Robert Baratheon wanted to send Robin to Catserly Rock to be trained as a knight. Robert was worried that Robin would remain weak if he lived with his mother. Lysa rejected the proposal and, without King Robert’s permission, returned to the Vale of Arryn with Robin.
Sansa’s arrival at the Eyrie
At the events purple wedding (Joffrey’s death), Sansa was “saved” by Dontos, then taken to meet Petyr. At last they sailed to the Eyrie. There, Sansa is introduced as Alayne Stone, Petyr’s illegitimate daughter. The reason was that at that time, Sansa was being sought by the labor forces because she was suspected of being involved in Joffrey’s murder.
Petyr then married Lysa as ordered by Twyin. This marriage led to Petyr being appointed Lord Protector of the Vale. At the Eyrie, Petyr approached Sansa (kissed her) and was accidentally witnessed by Lysa. Lysa then got angry and threatened to throw Sansa through the door that opened the rift or “Moon Door”.
At that moment, Petyr came and asked Lysa to release Sansa. Petyr then falls in love with Lysa saying that he only loves one woman. In his hands, Petyr added the words “Cats only” and then pushed Lysa towards the Moon Gate. Petyr makes Marillion, Lysa’s favorite royal singer, the suspect of Lysa’s murder by lying to the guards standing outside the door.
*Written by Desi Mandasari (@desimanda)
