Game Of Thrones Almost Included A Really Awful Arya Love Triangle

In 2015, someone from a bookstore in England leaked a letter George R.R. Martin wrote to publisher HarperCollins in 1993, before he'd finished writing the first instalment of his A Song Of Ice And Fire series, Game of Thrones. The offending tweet was quickly deleted, though Business Insider saved screenshots of the letter, and anyway, Martin's eventual Song of Ice and Fire didn't match much of what he outlined, so most of us forgot all about this little episode. Today, Vanity Fair reexamined those three pages, however, and uncovered a few things that may be clues about what will eventually happen in Westeros. Mostly, though, we're just grossed out about one plot point Martin discussed: a love triangle between Arya, Jon and Tyrion.

First, a caveat, so that if you read more about this you can erase this from your brain: "As you know, I don't outline my novels," Martin said in the letter, which HarperCollins confirmed to be real. "I find that if I know exactly where a book is going, I lose all interest in writing it. I do, however, have some strong notions as to the overall structure of the story I'm telling, and the eventual fate of many of the principle characters in the drama."

Martin writes that Catelyn, Arya, and Bran seek refuge with the Night's Watch after being wounded, but Jon has to refuse them because of his vows to give up family, pissing off Bran.

"Arya will be more forgiving ... until she realises, with terror, that she has fallen in love with Jon, who is not only her half-brother but a man of the Night's Watch, sworn to celibacy. Their passion will continue to torment Jon and Arya throughout the trilogy, until the secret of Jon's true parentage is finally revealed in the last book."

Well, at least Arya thinks this is as icky as we do, unlike some other characters we know. Also, even if they're not related by blood, they were raised as brother and sister, so it's still awful. Here's the other weird development in her love life:

"Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Arya Stark while he's at it. His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow."

It seems like enough time would have passed so that Arya wouldn't be a minor in the midst of this love-triangle, but she was so young when they met, so that's not much better.

Vanity Fair's point in bringing this up, of course, is because of that clue about "Jon's true parentage," and if it does turn out that his father is Rhaegar Targaryen as everyone expects, well, that puts him poised to be romancing his Aunt Daenerys. Sometimes, we really wonder about ole' George.