Why Petyr Baelish Didn't Win the Game of Thrones!

8/27/2017

If you're like me, then you are absolutely pissed that Littlefinger is not sitting on the Iron Throne by now...

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Lets be real. He is easily the best character on Game of Thrones and he is obviously the most clever. So why was Littlefinger killed at the season 7 finale? Here are the Top 3 Mistakes that Lord Baelish made that put him off his game and caused him to lose the Game of Thrones.

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, they cling to the realm or the gods or love. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.
-Lord Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger)

#1 He Lost his Focus

In Littlefinger's most iconic quote, he mentions that chaos is a ladder. He talks about how power can be attained by climbing higher on the ladder, but some get distracted from climbing or worse, get distracted and fall off the ladder, by simple things like the realm, gods, or love.

Lord Baelish fell prey to one of these distractions, and lost his focus off of his climb. He invested too much trust into Sansa Stark, revealing to her his true ambitions and his intentions of seizing the throne. He even revealed to Sansa how he got to where he is and told her the manipulative things he had to do to get there.

Out of all the people in Westeros (or Essos for that matter) he never once told information like that to anyone. Let alone ALL of his big secrets to ONE individual. This was the beginning of his downfall. He gave into the wants and desires of the flesh and heart by exploiting his position to someone he shouldn't have.... out of love.

#2 He Didn't Follow His Own Rules

Littlefinger's biggest threat wasn't an army. It wasn't a dragon. It wasn't even a white walker. Lord Baelish created his own worse enemy, Sansa Stark. By teaching Sansa everything that he knew (about money, power, manipulation, etc.) he was arming Sansa with the skills she needed to bring him down.

One such piece of advice, was that he taught her to imagine what was the worse intention that someone could have for doing something, and then plan to defend against it. Well, she took his advise! Against him! He gave her the knowledge and planning ability she needed to bring Lord Baelish to his knees.

Another one Petyr Baelish's rules that he didn't follow was to imagine every possible scenario. Good ones, bad ones, unexpected ones, and have a plan in place for them. He obviously didn't plan for Sansa and Arya to plot against him and turn the trial into an execution for his own crimes. Had he followed his own rules, we might have seen "King Petyr Baelish, First of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm."

#3 He Was Unaware of a Big Threat

Let's be real... Its hard to manipulate someone to complete loyalty when they have a brother who can see through fricken time! Petyr Baelish was unaware, and therefore unable to plan against, Bran's Three Eyed Raven abilities. It's hard to be a good liar and manipulator when all your BS is being pointed out behind closed doors by Bran Stark. (Is he even a Stark anymore?)

Had Littlefinger been aware of Bran's powers, he probably would have played his cards much differently. He knows when he would lose in a situation, and he would avoid all of those situations at all costs. Had he been aware that his greatest skills were worthless, even deadly to himself, by staying in Winterfell, he would have gone a different route in a different part of the world.

Conclusion

What do you think of these points? Do you agree with them? Smack down a comment below and tell me what you thing I should have added. I know that I am doing this more to help me mourn the loss of my favorite character, so I hope that this consoles you as well.

Thanks for reading! See you next season in Game of Thrones!

PS.... Maybe we'll get to see some more of Littlefinger via Arya Stark! ;)

-Dick Polipnick

12 Comments

jord son

10/9/2017 07:05:13 am

Is this how justice is done in the north? You accuse me of crimes, I deny them. So you cut my throat and let me die? Where is the king's justice?
And why did HBO decide to kill him? Is this going to push the story somehow? No, they did it because they did not know what to do with it. He was one of the most valuable characters in previous seasons, but this season he just walked, smiled here and there and created an illusion of manipulative activity. Maybe, if he really did do at least something this season, that scene would not be so bad and more valuable.
And this HBO bullshit started S6E10. Look, we do not know what to do with these characters, so we just kill them for no reason. In books, if Martin kills a character, he does it for a reason, not because he does not know where to put them.
Am I the only one who thought this was a disappointing ending to Littlefinger? When you were not paying attention in class and everyone is looking at you? It's not as if Sansa and Arya have knocked him down at his own game. They simply moved him.

Dick Polipnick

10/11/2017 05:42:33 pm

Jord Son, I totally agree with you. Now that the TV show writers have taken over the storyline, the climax leading up to character's deaths has been much weaker. I think that he should have been much more influential in this last season, and honestly I believe that this was their way of tying up a loose end before the last season of the show.

I too think that starting in season 6, the show has lost a lot of the suspense and passion that it had in previous seasons. If anything, it should be getting better! I think that Littlefinger did make some mistakes, but I would have preferred him to be more influential in the episodes leading to his death.

Mark Pugner

12/26/2017 01:38:15 pm

His biggest mistake was being written by a chronically tardy author, who had to let TV writers finish his plotline.

Andries Viljoen

12/31/2017 08:05:43 am

Well, this is Petry from the series. The book character would never hand Sansa over to the Boltons.
In the books, Sansa stays with him in the Eagle's Nest and Petyr plans to marry her to the Valley's heir. With this, Petyr will have in his power the Fluvial Lands (for being supreme Lord of the Trident), of the Valley (manipulating Sansa and the heir) and still paving the way to be able to control the North.
Petyr delivered a fake Arya Stark to the Boltons. With this he may already accuse them of treason to the crown. He taking the North with the consent of the crown, may be appointed as the new lord or protector there (he tried to do this in the series, but using Sansa, a mistake).
With three regions under your control, taking the Iron Throne becomes easy. Especially when all other regions are facing major problems.
Porto Real is in trouble with the Militant Faith. Campina is in trouble with Euron Greyjoy. The Storm Lands is in trouble with the Young Griff. Dorne is quiet, but for the other regions, it is not a problem (taking into account that nobody knows the plan of Doran Martell). The Iron Islands are occupied.

jord son

10/9/2017 07:12:10 am

Despite his ingenious planning and manipulation, Baelish is not incapable of making mistakes, nor is he above overplaying his hand if he is convinced of the superiority of his position, political or otherwise, which is a direct contrast to Littlefinger's usual meek and cautious nature, proving himself not above arrogance. The first mistake was when he subtly made a jab at Cersei about her unnatural relationship with her brother Jaime, that knowledge is power, which resulted in Cersei nearly having him killed before deciding to remind him of his place. Another fatal flaw Baelish has is underestimating people. He remarked to Varys that Tyrion is an unworthy ally, seemingly underestimated Ramsay Bolton's vile nature, wrongly believed that the North would not rally behind a "motherless bastard" like Jon Snow, and was initially skeptical of Bran Stark's omniscience as the new three-eyed raven, the last of which led to his death.

Dick Polipnick

10/11/2017 05:46:03 pm

Wow! I love your points. I had totally forgotten about the comment Lord Baelish said about Tyrion. The whole show Varys and Littlefinger had been gunning for a different end game. It makes me wonder what they could have accomplished had they teamed up. I guess that would have never happened, considering that Varys even said, "(Littlefinger) would burn the whole world to the ground if he could be King of the ashes."

Andries Viljoen

10/12/2017 09:23:46 am

O ator Isaac Hempstead Wright, que interpreta o personagem Bran Stark na série Game of Thrones, deu uma série de entrevistas contando um pouco sobre o final da sétima temporada e a teoria dos fãs que sugere que Bran é, na verdade, o Rei da Noite!
De acordo com o ator, Bran foi mesmo o responsável por abrir os olhos de Sansa sobre a manipulação de Mindinho em colocar as irmãs Stark uma contra a outra.
Em entrevista à Variety, Hempstead Wright contou que eles haviam gravado uma cena na qual Sansa vai até Bran para pedir ajuda sobre a situação com Arya, e o caçula da família usa sua habilidade de onisciência com o Corvo de Três Olhos para desmascarar Mindinho. A cena, porém, foi cortada, possivelmente para aumentar o efeito dramático da revelação da sentença de Lorde Baelish na season finale.

Andries Viljoen

10/12/2017 09:43:36 am

The actor Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays the character Bran Stark in the series Game of Thrones, gave a series of interviews telling a little about the end of the seventh season and the fan theory that suggests that Bran is actually the King of Night !
According to the actor, Bran was responsible for opening the eyes of Sansa about the manipulation of Littlefinger in putting the Stark sisters against each other.
In an interview with Variety, Hempstead Wright recounted that they had recorded a scene in which Sansa goes to Bran to ask for help about the situation with Arya, and the youngest of the family uses his omniscient ability with the Three-Eyed Raven to unmask Littlefinger. The scene, however, has been cut, possibly to enhance the dramatic effect of the revelation of Lord Baelish's sentence in the season finale.

Dick Polipnick

10/12/2017 09:46:02 am

I did not know that! That makes total sense, and it makes me feel better knowing that Sansa really was wrapped around Littlefinger's finger.. haha ;)

What you said really supports the third reason he was killed, and knowing this now it really means that perhaps the first two didn't matter as much. HE REALLY GOT SCREWED OVER!!!

andries viljoen

10/12/2017 09:33:27 am

rved that side in the first place when all is said and done, and nobody appears capable of trusting him.

Varys, in spite of appearing subservient and passive, is an extremely intelligent man, a master of deception, manipulation and calculation. Varys's subtle and calculative nature is made more impressive by him owning the most prominent spy network in all of Westeros, which is only matched by the spy network of Petyr Baelish. Despite having a mutual rivalry and hatred for one another, both Baelish and Varys are incredibly similar: they appear to be sycophantic and meek, but are in fact shockingly ruthless and possess powerful intellect, they both have vast networks of personal spies, traitors and double agents that are entirely at their disposal, and they both rose to positions of great political power. Varys and Littlefinger have such a rivalry with one another so unusually complex that they are able to spar verbally with one another intensely without ever coming to blows. Instead they calmly insult one another as quickly and as precisely as two master swordsmen sparring to the death. However, while Littlefinger has a personal ambition to take all of the reachable power there is in the Seven Kingdoms for himself and eliminate anyone who obstructs him, Varys dedicates himself to be the ultimate kingmaker and is hell-bent on restoring what he sees as prosperity to Westeros for the sake of the people . For all the similarities in their means, the pair are antithetical to each other in their intended ends. Their origins are also significantly different: Littlefinger was born the heir to a noble house (albeit a lower-ranking one) whereas Varys was born a slave, a status he only escaped from after being left for dead following his castration.

Dick Polipnick

10/12/2017 09:55:02 am

Andries Viljoen you pointed out some great details. I love you you compared Varys and Littlefinger giving each other insults the way two masterswords men have a duel. That was a cool thought!

I do think that perhaps if Littlefinger would have placed it in Varys's mind that HE would be the best King to bring prosperity to Westeros, then perhaps Varys would have used his skills to help him attain the throne? Just an interesting thought that if they could have used their biggest rival as their ally then they might have both been successful.

Andries Viljoen

7/17/2018 07:48:43 pm

We get used to vibrating when we hear Daenerys - the breaker of chains ... - say that it will destroy the wheel and create a new world. The statement is especially striking with fire-breathing dragons in the background. There's only one problem: Daenerys is part of the wheel.

As she herself admires, she is of the blood of the dragon, a Targaryen, the true heir to the throne. It comes from a noble lineage that has perpetuated itself in power for centuries until Robert's Rebellion put other nobles in place.

Symbolically, Baelish is the guy.

It is not possible for a series of such things to be - either in the TV series or in the books. When we engage in a good work of fiction, we connect to characters with whom we most identify. And this issue is especially generated by witnessing the characters passed by adversities and how they act to overcome these adversities. When they act morally, however difficult a situation may be, we cheer for them (hello, Jon Snow). Doing this is nice to think we would do the same thing instead.

He does not follow this logic. His intelligence is admirable, but as a person he is reproachable. He has an aspect of humanity, although he has always accompanied us, we like to make the account that does not exist.

He's still an immoral bastard capable of anything to get what he wants and I would not have him in my friends' circle. But from a historical perspective, their victory would be far more important and beneficial in the long run than rebuilding old hierarchies.

Either way, loving it or hating it (a bit of both) is undeniable to the fact that it was one of the best things Game of Thrones has brought us.

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