The Complex Legacy of Lyanna Stark

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Lyanna Stark
I saw the new trailer for the new season of Game of Thrones the other day (the best thing about spring is the new seasons of TV shows), and it got me thinking about the origins of A Song of Ice and Fire.

If you only watch Game of Thrones and haven't read the A Song of Ice and Fire books, you're missing a HUGE chunk of the plot. There's a huge pre-story that informs the action of the show in monumental ways, and all that begins and ends with Lyanna Stark -- the single most important character that never appears in any of the books or the TV show.

In case you're unfamiliar with the pre-history of A Song of Ice and Fire, Lyanna Stark is the younger sister of Ned Stark. Before the start of A Game of Thrones she was 'kidnapped' by Rhaegar Targaryen and taken to the Tower of Joy, causing the start of Robert's Rebellion. She late dies at the Tower of Joy. I say 'kidnapped' because everything that's insinuated about Lyanna indicates that she's not the sort of person who gets kidnapped; she's the sort of person who runs away. Because Lyanna Stark is dead before the beginning of A Game of Thrones, everything that we know about Lyanna comes from what others say about her and think about her.

This makes her legacy as a character extremely complex. Lyanna caused a war, Lyanna caused the fall of a dynasty, Lyanna abandoned her betrothed and her family, and yet, no one knows anything about her. Who is Lyanna Stark?

Rhaegar & Lyanna
There are two schools of thought about her. Robert believes that Lyanna was kidnapped. He believes what happened to her was tragic. Ned and Daenerys, however, have a more complex idea of what happened to her. Ned notes that Lyanna was "beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time," as he tells Robert "You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert. You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath."The idea of "iron" is interesting; it suggests that Lyanna was a monumental force with the ability to shift the destiny of thousands of people. In A Game of Thrones, Dany reflects that Rhaegar, her brother, died for the woman he loved -- Lyanna. So, what fuels Lyanna Stark? Elict passion and an indomitable will.

The A Song of Ice and Fire series is all about how the characters react to her and her actions. She looms large over the series, and the living characters must deal with this. The idea that Lyanna may have abandoned the social order -- her betrothed and her family -- is disastrous for the living characters. As an individual, she is symbolic of the break down of the social order. Not only does she abandon her social roles, but she causes Rhaegar -- a crowned prince -- to do the same. It is this act that troubles her legacy and continues to trouble the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

Most people think that Game of Thrones, one of the most popular franchises of our time, is about sword fights and dragons. It's not, it's about a cult of personality and how we, as observant readers interpret it.

Just sayin'

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