The original 'Game of Thrones' outline included an insane love triangle involving Arya Stark

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones."

George R.R. Martin's plan for the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series has changed drastically since he first wrote an outline in 1993. Aside from some gruesome prospects (like Sansa having a baby with Joffrey), one original storyline in particular is extremely off-putting: Jon Snow and Arya Stark falling in love.

And we thought the fans shipping Jon and Sansa were bad enough.

Turns out, Martin had quite the dramatic romance in store for Jon and Arya when he was first plotting out the Stark family dynamics. Jon was always destined to be Lord Commander, but Martin wanted Arya to travel to the Wall along with her mother Catelyn and younger brother, Bran. After arriving at Castle Black, Arya would have discovered that she had feelings for Jon that extended beyond a sibling love.

Here's the excerpt from Martin's original outline [emphasis ours]:

Jon Snow, the bastard, will remain in the far north. He will mature into a ranger of great daring, and ultimately will succeed his uncle as the commander of the Night's Watch. When Winterfell burns, Catelyn Stark will be forced to flee north with her son Bran and her daughter Arya. Wounded by Lannister riders, they will seek refuge at the Wall, but the men of the Night's Watch give up their families when they take the black, and Jon and Benjen will not be able to help, to Jon's anguish. It will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon and Bran. Arya will be more forgiving ... until she realizes, 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.

Thanks to the television adaptation, we now have confirmation that Jon Snow's parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, making Jon Snow the cousin of Arya and the other Stark children. But even as cousins, a romance between Arya and Jon seems completely out of character at this point.

Martin clearly pivoted when it came to their relationship, and mapped out Jon and Arya as bonded outcasts of the Stark clan instead of tormented lovers. And Jon Snow wasn't the only main character Martin planned to connect romantically with Arya.

Her other suitor was going to be none other than Tyrion Lannister.

"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," Martin's original outline explained. "His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow."

Thankfully Martin opted to have a different Stark daughter enter a relationship with Tyrion, but the circumstances of his marriage to Sansa were completely different.

All in all, we're glad the Stark incest was left off the table. Arya's lone wolf character is interesting enough without including a love interest, and Jon Snow's brief love affair with Ygritte was heartbreaking itself without dipping into the same gene pool.

This article has been updated from its original version.

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