*Spoilers for Episode 7 of Season 7*

“Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but refuse. They cling to the realm, or the gods, or love… illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is”…

Chilling words uttered by Lord Petyr Baelish who met a grisly demise on Monday’s episode when he was turned into a pez dispenser by his own Valyrian Steel dagger, which has been in the show for as long as he has. Just ONE more episode Littlefinger… then you would have made it from beginning to end, from season 1 to season 8, but no the final episode of season 7 saw the end to this master manipulator. It was a shame for me personally for his grand plan to not come to fruition. I would have loved to see his scheming pay off, if only for a victor to overthrow him shortly after, or for him to win as a bitter sweet ending; “You defeated the White Walkers, but everyone died” kind of jobby. But this is the type of thing left in the review, so let’s talk about the history of this very character.


Petyr was born to a lesser Lord of a place called the Fingers (which look like a hand on the side of the continent of Westeros). His father and Lord Hoster Tully (Catelyn Stark’s father) were good friends and following Lord Baelish’s death, Lord Tully of Riverrun fostered the young boy. He was fostered as a Ward and raised with his children (Lysa, Catelyn and Edmure), similar to how Theon was the Ward of Ned Stark and raised with his children.
Edmure was the one who gave him the nickname “Littlefinger”, due to him origins on the smallest peninsular of the Fingers, but it was all in good jest. The children played and grew up together.
Petyr fell in love with Catelyn Tully, and played “kissing games” with the two sisters in the godswood at Riverrun. Catelyn would push him away, but her sister Lysa allowed it.

When Catelyn’s betrothal to Brandon Stark (Ned’s brother) was announced, he tried to kiss her once more. Catelyn pushed him away and laughed. Feeling rejected, Petyr got drunk and went to bed. Lysa snuck in after him, and gave Petyr her virginity that night. Still drunk, Petyr believed he was having sex with Catelyn.

When the wedding date of Catelyn and Brandon was announced, Petyr; now a teenager, challenged the 20 something Brandon to a duel for her hand. Catelyn begged Brandon not to kill him, which he agreed to, which was handy as Petyr was beaten savagely. When he had recovered, Lord Tully sent Petyr away. Lysa had become pregnant with Petyr’s child as a result of their sexual encounter during Petyr’s recovery. Lysa revealed her pregnancy to her father, hoping he would relent and allow Lysa and Petyr to marry. Instead, Hoster, forced her to drink moon tea to abort the pregnancy and told her he was too lowborn.


Catelyn and Petyr didn’t see each other for years after that. He wrote to her after the Mad King had Brandon executed, but she destroyed it and never read it. After this she married Ned Stark during Robert’s Rebellion.
Petyr maintained a relationship with Lysa, who had married Jon Arryn at this point, also during Robert’s Rebellion. She (most likely him manipulating her) convinced Jon to give Littlefinger control of customs at Gulltown, which eventually got him noticed by Arryn.
After the war, when Jon Arryn was made Hand to King Robert Baratheon, Jon brought Petyr to court, which eventually lead him to becoming a member of the Small Council and the Master of Coin. He used his power to acquire spies, and place his own people in key positions throughout Westeros. He he also developed a complex web of loans, transactions, and investments, as to supply the King and the King’s Hand with enough gold, and bought several establishments (including several brothels).

During his time at court, Petyr continued his relationship with Lysa, who, as the wife to the Hand of the King, had been living in King’s Landing as well. When Lysa learns that her husband plans to send their son, Robin (Robert in the books), away to be fostered at Dragonstone by Stannis Baratheon, it is Petyr who provides her with the poison she uses to kill the King’s Hand. He also convinces her to send a message to her sister Catelyn at Winterfell, in which she accuses Queen Cersei and of the murder.

This single act is what spawned the entire series. If this never happened, then Robert would have not gone to Winterfell to convince Ned Stark to become his son, Bran wouldn’t have seen the Lannister twins having it off, and the events of both the show and the books would never have taken place.


It was then his own dagger that was used by the assassin to kill Brandon Stark. Although the show, nor the books, have delved into who it was who hired the assassin, the fact that he is carrying Littlefinger’s own dagger speaks volumes. He states he lost it to Tyrion in a bet, but as that turned out to be a lie (revealed in the season 7 finale), I think that it is just left up to our own interpretation. In the books it is hinted that Joffrey was the one who hired the assassin to kill Bran, but it is never officially stated. Joffrey gives a hint of this at his own wedding when he receives the Valyrian steel sword as a gift, stating “I am no stranger to Valyrian steel” which makes Tyrion think that maybe it was him who hired the assassin.
It is unknown why the TV series never reveals that it was Joffrey who sent the assassin; Joffrey receives the Valyrian steel sword Widow’s Wail as a wedding gift in Season 4, as he did in the books, but no mention is made of the assassination attempt on Bran back in Season 1. It is possible that the reason is the same for not revealing the truth about Tysha in the Season 4 finale: the producers grew afraid that casual viewers wouldn’t remember that this happened in early Season 1 – even though this was one of the escalating events which sparked the entire Stark-Lannister conflict.

This leads me to believe that maybe it was Littlefinger. He could have easily done this as a ploy to bring Catelyn to the capital and use her as a means to hatch his little plan, but this is of course just speculation.

As for Littlefinger himself, over the course of the series we have seen him aid Eddard Stark in his quest to discover the truth about Joffrey’s heritage, before betraying him, leading to his execution, which in turn sparked Robb Stark’s uprising and created another whole lot of events which are still rippling to this day.
We saw him plot with and against the Master of Whispers; Varys, as well as working with Tyrion to have Myrcella (Cersei’s daughter) married to Robin Arryn.
He allies himself with Renly Baratheon in secret, but once Renly is murdered with dark magic, he manipulates the Tyrells into making an allegiance with the crown, therefore allowing Margaery to marry King Joffrey, and brought the Tyrells to King’s Landing’s aid during the Battle of Blackwater. Because of this he became the Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.
It was even him who convinced Catelyn Stark to free Jaime Lannister when he was being held captive by Robb Stark; an act which cost Robb some of the support of the other Houses.

Later he worked with Olenna Tyrell to have Joffrey murdered at his own wedding, as well as “rescue” Sansa Stark from her cruel fate, but in reality he did it because Sansa would make a more powerful political wife than his current proposed one; Lysa Arryn of the Vale.
Whilst married to Lysa, he has her murdered (by pushing her out of the Moon Door) so that he can control her sickly child and now sworn protector of the Eyrie (but not without before confessing that he was only ever loved Lysa’s sister all this time). Using Robin and the Eyries’ power, he now controls the entire Vale.


After this he gives Sansa over to the Boltons at Winterfell, and we all know what happened there.

At the end of season 5, he returned for a brief time to King’s Landing where he meets with both Cersei (telling her that Roose Bolton has Sansa Stark and is planning to marry her to his son, which Cersei sees as an act of betrayal, so Petyr makes an offer that if he uses the Vale forces to take back Winterfell, he is to be made Warden of the North; an offer which Cersei agrees to), as well as meeting with Olenna Tyrell once more, bringing information pointing to Lancel Lannister, which Olenna then uses to get him to confess about the his and Cersei’s incest, leading to her being arrested by the Faith Militant, which then created an avalanche of events; Cersei’s walk of shame, the destruction of the Sept, the deaths of many important characters, the eradication of the entire Tyrell House, and Cersei sitting on the Iron Throne.
Afterwards he brought the Knights of the Vale to Jon Snow’s aid during the Battle of the Bastards; whom without Jon and the Wildlings would have surely lost against Ramsey Bolton’s forces.

This shows how powerful Lord Baelish’s influence has on the world of Game of Thrones and how he has been a key playing in pretty much every major event throughout the series.
Ultimately it was his “love” for Catelyn Stark and her daughter; Sansa, while lead to his downfall. He was of course using them for his own gain, but in the end, it was the lessons that he gave Sansa that lead her to betray him.
It is a shame to have seen him exit, but it was a long time coming. From the moment we saw him hold a knife to Ned’s throat, telling him that he was a fool to trust him, we have wanted to see Littlefinger meet his maker. Now that time has come, and I can’t help but feel a little bit saddened that the master manipulator is no longer a piece of the great game. Although he has gone, he has left a legacy of ripples that will continue to cause chaos until the bitter end.

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