Jon Snow and Arya Stark Were in Love in the Original 'Game of Thrones' Book Outline

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published 21 April 19

A leaked copy of George R.R. Martin's original outline for A Song of Ice and Fire, the series on which Game of Thrones is based, reveals that Arya Stark and Jon Snow were originally supposed to fall in love.
In that version of the story, Tyrion Lannister would also have fallen for Arya.
In the final version of the series, Arya and Jon's relationship is purely platonic.

This post contains spoilers for Season 8 of Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones isn't afraid to dabble in incest (see: Jaime and Cersei Lannister and, more recently, Jon "Actually a Targaryen" Snow and Daenerys Targaryen), but George R.R. Martin's latest reveal is next level, even in Westeros.

Apparently, the author's original outline for A Song of Ice and Fire called for Jon to fall for another relative: Arya Stark.

Here's an excerpt from Martin's original outline, describing Arya's realization of her love for "half-brother" Jon:

And Jon wasn't the only GOT guy lusting after Arya Stark in the original plan for the books. Apparently Tyrion Lannister was also head over heels in love with her and it led to a bitter rivalry between him and Jon Snow. Per the outline:

What a different show would that have been?

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Kayleigh Roberts is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, covering celebrity and entertainment news, from actual royals like Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle to Hollywood royalty, like Katie Holmes and Chrissy Teigen. She’s a Ravenclaw who would do great things in Slytherin. To learn more about her, google “Leslie Knope eating salad GIF.