Hashara

Hashara is the het ship between Howland Reed and Ashara Dayne from the Game of Thrones fandom.

Canon
Canonically, there is only one indication that Howland and Ashara knew each other.

When Howland's daughter, Meera Reed, narrates the story of the Tourney at Harrenhal to Bran Stark, she lists many of the guests, including:

The crannogman saw a maid with laughing purple eyes dance with a white sword.

Some readers have observed that an unusual level of detail is given to Ashara's appearance, especially as Howland's daughter two decades later knew what he thought of Ashara. Some have taken this to mean that Howland was infatuated with Ashara, or consider that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

The A Feast for Crows Appendix claims that Howland is presently married to a woman called Jyana, with whom he has two children, Meera and Jojen. Meanwhile, most of Westeros believes that Ashara gave birth to a stillborn daughter and committed suicide at her home of Starfall (which Howland was stationed near to) the end of Robert's Rebellion, although the truth of this account is debatable.

Fanon
Because of the ambiguity of Ashara's death and the number of unanswered questions regarding the events at Harrenhal, some fans have formed a theory that Ashara is still alive, living as Jyana Reed. Some of the evidence of this theory entails Ashara apparently giving birth to a daughter, and Meera being the same age as that daughter (Bran notes that she is around the same age as Jon Snow, who was born around the same time). Besides, it is noted, that there are no master-at-arms and no maester at Greywater, the seat of House Reed in the north, meaining that no one will report back to the Citadel of things that happen in the castle, making it a perfect place to hide. Additionally, some speculate that since Howland saved Ned Stark from Arthur Dayne, Howland might have been able to put Arthur off guard thanks to some hidden knowledge (like being secretly married to his sister Ashara).

Some fans are less certain on this theory, but might like the idea that a young Howland was infatuated with Ashara during the tournament. Many agree that Ashara's story is tragic and in order to do her justice and give her some agency, they choose to believe she shaped her own fate and now lives happily under the disguise. Some believe Meera could be Ashara's daughter by someone else, as Barristan has noted, someone must have "dishonored" Ashara during the Tourney, and Howland accepted her child as is own, but others reject this theory as Meera has way too much Howland in her to be someone else's daughter. Some fans believe it odd that the reader never learns what Jojen's eyes really looked like before he was infected with greywater fever, as a result of his near-death experience, he was gifted with greensight, that made his eyes moss-green. Readers speculate that the boy originally might have had Ashara's purple eyes.

There is also the observation of Barristan Selmy that Daenerys "wants fire, and Dorne sent her mud. You could make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever. You could plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children. Mud would nourish you, where fire would only consume you, but fools and children and young girls would choose fire every time." Proponents of this theory argue that it would be especially ironic if Ashara chose to be Lady of Greywater Watch, an especially muddy place, as Barristan once loved Ashara himself, making him wrong about his observation regarding Ashara, just as he is wrong about Daenerys and Daario.

The pairing is quite rare, however. There are less than 20 fanfics on AO3 as of the beginning of 2022, and it is usually complementary to other ships such as Rhaegar and Lyanna rather than being entertained in its own right. In fandom, this theory might be not as popular and well-known as the famous "R+L=J" or Sandor in the Quiet Isle, but still, there are indeed some that entertain the "Jyana Reed" theory.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Ashara/Howland tag on FanFiction.Net
 * Ashara/Howland tag on FanFiction.Net

TUMBLR

DISCUSSION
 * Howland Reed + Ashara Dayne = Meera & Jojen? at A Forum of Ice and Fire