House Arryn

House Arryn of the Eyrie is one of the Great Houses of Westeros. It has ruled over the Vale of Arryn for millennia, originally as the Kings of Mountain and Vale and more recently as Defenders of the Vale and Wardens of the East under the Targaryen and Baratheon dynasties. The nominal head of House Arryn is Robin Arryn, the Lord of the Eyrie, with Yohn Royce holding actual power over the house.

Their lands are in the central-eastern region of the continent. Their seat is the Eyrie, ancestral seat of the Mountain Kings. House Arryn's sigil is a white crescent moon and falcon on a blue field. Their house words are "As High as Honor."

Before the War of the Five Kings, Lord Jon Arryn was killed under suspicious circumstances. His widow, Lysa Tully, sent a letter to Winterfell in the North, claiming House Lannister had murdered Lord Arryn, before leaving King's Landing with her and Lord Arryn's heir, Robin Arryn, returning and seeking refuge in the Eyrie.

Despite her enmity towards the Lannisters, she remained neutral in the War of the Five Kings and aimed to use the forces of the Vale to defend Robin and the Eyrie if necessary. After killing Lysa and making it appear like an accident, Lord Petyr Baelish becomes Lord Protector of the Vale until young Robin comes of age.

Early history
According to legend, the house was founded by Ser Artys Arryn, the Winged Knight. He is said to have flown atop a giant falcon, landing on the topmost mountain of the Vale, and defeated the Griffin King, the last of the First Men Mountain Kings. Afterward, he took the Eyrie and became the first King of Mountain and Vale. His descendants continued to rule the Vale ever since. The Eyrie has never fallen to invaders. During the War of Conquest, House Arryn repulsed a Targaryen invasion at Gulltown with Braavosi aid, but ultimately bent the knee peacefully as they realized they could not fend off the Targaryens forever. By submitting peacefully instead of being conquered, they were allowed to continue to rule as Lords Paramount of the Vale and Wardens of the East in the name of the Iron Throne.[1][2] The Eyrie is considered impregnable and defends House Arryn from the violent Hill tribes of the Mountains of the Moon.

Jon Arryn is the most recent head of House Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, Warden of the East and Defender of the Vale. He was a respected nobleman and both Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon fostered with him.[3] The Mad King condoned the kidnap of Eddard's sister and Robert's betrothed, Lyanna Stark.[4] The Mad King had Eddard's father and brother killed for protesting against the kidnapping.[5] When he then demanded that Eddard be turned over to the King's justice, Lord Arryn rebelled, calling his banners to war. House Stark and House Baratheon followed suit. The rebels forged an alliance with House Tully through marriage, with Eddard married to Catelyn Tully and the then-elderly Jon to the young Lady Lysa Tully.

After the rebel victory in the war, Robert became King and appointed Jon as his Hand. Jon served the realm well for many years as Hand of the King. He died immediately prior to the events of the series, sparking King Robert's search for a replacement. Jon is survived by his wife Lysa and their six-year-old son, Robin.[4] Jon was investigating the legitimacy of the children of Queen Cersei Lannister when he died. He found that they were not Robert's offspring by comparing their appearance to Robert's bastards based on the genetic preponderance for dark hair in House Baratheon.