11 examples of George R.R. Martin’s subtle foreshadowing in A Song of Ice and Fire

5. Hints about Lady Stoneheart

Lady Stoneheart is the reanimated version of Catelyn Stark, cut from the show. Her grisly fate is hinted at a few times in the books, like when she sees her reflection in Renly’s green-tinted armor:

"The steel was polished to such a high sheen that she could see her reflection in the breastplate, gazing back at her as if from the bottom of a deep green pond. The face of a drowned woman, Catelyn thought. Catelyn, A Clash of Kings"

Catelyn doesn’t die by drowning, but her body does spend a lot of time in the river after the Freys toss her in following the Red Wedding. Nymeria the direwolf finds her washed up along the river banks, cold and clammy, and Arya witnesses it thanks to the unique connection the Stark children share with their wolves:

"She saw it too, something pale and white drifting down the river, turning where it brushed against a snag…The white thing lay facedown in the mud, her dead flesh wrinkled and pale, cold blood trickling from her throat. Arya, A Storm of Swords"

Another hint comes even earlier in A Game of Thrones, as Catelyn reflects on the cost of her journey through the Vale to see her sister Lysa.

"“We learned that to our sorrow, Ser Donnel,” Catelyn said. Sometimes she felt as though her heart had turned to stone; six brave men had died to bring her this far, and she could not even find it in her to weep for them. Catelyn, A Game of Thrones"

If she only knew how much worse it will get.