Littlefinger and Sansa explain how Harrolyd Hardyng is Robert Arryn’s heir in AFFC Alayne II, but I’ve always found Littlefinger’s interest in Harry the Heir to be a little disproportionate to him being heir to the Vale. Also something about the tapestries of Robert’s that Cersei sent to Littlefinger and the fact that they were mentioned twice (AFFC, Cersei III & Alayne I) seems to indicate something is in the tapestries that Littlefinger wants in his possession.
For awhile I was thinking maybe Harry was a Targaryen descendent through the Targaryen-Arryn marriages back in the day. The tie-in to the tapestries would be Robert removed all Targaryen decor, so maybe he pulled down an extensive family tree, showing all the distant Targaryen relatives…? But, it seems pretty clear the Arryn-Targaryen matches were not overly fruitful, so yeah, likely no secret/forgotten Targs in the Vale.
Today, I was reading about the lack of extended family for the Starks, and also Robb’s will, and how Robb did not want to leave Winterfell to some rando from the Vale, and a train of thought occurred to me.
Jocelyn Stark married Benedict Royce and they had three daughters, one married a Waynwood, one a Corbray, and one a Templeton (maybe). Catelyn mentioned them in that order, so presumably the Waynwood marriage involved the oldest daughter. The daughters and their husbands are unnamed.
Harry the Heir is heir to the Vale by virtue of his descendancy from Alys Arryn, Jon Arryn’s sister, who married Elys Waynwood.
Elys Waynwood is Anya Waynwood’s uncle, but she rules as Lady of Ironoaks instead of someone from Elys’s line, so her father was the oldest sibling. Lady Anya’s parents are unnamed, as are her father and uncle Elys’s parents.
Tapestries could still be family tree related, not necessarily Targaryen family tree.
So, my question about Harry the Heir is this:
Is Harry descended from Jocelyn Stark’s daughter and the daughter’s Waynwood husband, via their (grand)son Elys Waynwood?
Or, in other words:
Is Harry the Heir the heir to both the Eyrie AND Winterfell, and is Littlefinger is going to solidify his claim on the North by marrying Sansa to Harry (a la Downton Abbey)?
Other related questions:
Is Sansa currently second in line to Riverrun, until Edmure’s baby is born?
Will Littlefinger leave Robert Arryn alive and under his control? (I feel like controlling 3 of the 7 kingdoms through his grandchildren is the ultimate FU to Hoster Tully)
Please note I’ve done zero timeline comparisons to see if this is even possible, just checked family trees to confirm no names. Like I said, Littlefinger’s interest in both Harry and some random tapestries from King’s Landing has always seemed a little much for me, the Vale seems a little too small potatoes. This is the first “ooooh” thought I’ve had about the series in a long time, hopefully it’s not a complete dud.
