Game of Thrones | Lowdown of how Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish shaped the powerplay of Westeros

Peter Baelish (played by Aiden Gillen) is one character in Game of Thrones that knows how to play it. He and Varys started as one of the many main masterminds of mischief. But 'Littlefinger' is the architect of the show’s framework that gave this sensational show’s storyline its very momentum!

Right from the beginning of the series, it was clear that Petyr was running his ship. Be it his conversations with the lords and ladies of the many houses or his exceptionally clever give and take with Varys, Baelish was always sure of his next move. If that didn’t work out, he always had a contingency plan too.

Much too often, Baelish has been seen admiring the Iron Throne. He always made the most of what he had – his sly, manipulative brain! Aspiring to only achieve two things – unbeatable power and Catelyn’s love, he didn’t succeed in obtaining the second but he did make considerable progress in amassing the first.

Petyr has always been the devil on the shoulders, motivating the actions of characters from the shadows. Here’s taking a look at how Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish came out to join the ranks of the most powerful people in Westeros.

House Stark:

1. Convinced Lady Arryn to murder her husband, Jon Arryn

He convinced Lysa to murder her own husband, Jon Arryn when he found out that the Baratheon kids weren’t, in fact, Baratheons, they were Lannister children born out of incest between Cersei and Jaime. He died of poisoning in the first scene of the series thus getting the ball rolling for what was about to be the beginning of the end. He convinced Lysa to frame Jon Arryn’s murder on the Lannisters and manipulated her into writing a letter to Catelyn suggesting this. This was the seed that set the stage for the conflict between the Lannisters and the Starks, something that also led to Ned's death and the vulnerability of the North that Littlefinger would later attempt to capitalise on

2. Tricked Ned into believing he had the City Watch

Littlefinger told Ned Stark that he had secured the allegiance of the City Watch. After many of Ned's household guard were either dead or off chasing the Mountain for his crimes, Ned needed some soldiers as back up if he was going to go the Throne room and reveal that he was named protector of the realm, or reveal that Joffrey was a bastard and Stannis should be King. But he couldn’t do so without the backing of the City Watch. However, Littlefinger betrayed him. The consequences were catastrophic. It led to Sansa’s ultimate fate, Arya ending up in Braavos and Robb’s death!

3. Blamed the murder of King Joffrey on Sansa

Littlefinger had Ser Dontos give Sansa the necklace which contained the poison that was used to kill Joffrey, giving Cersei the impression that Tyrion and Sansa killed the king. Whisking away Sansa from the city increased the suspicion on her. Removing Sansa from King's Landing did many things. It allowed him to use her to help murder Lysa Arryn and seize the Vale. It put him in Sansa's good books in a way, as he then used her to pit the Boltons and Lannisters against each other, currying favour with both Houses. He also used the promise of "Sansa's head on a spike" as part of the allure to Cersei Lannister to get Tommen to issue a Royal Decree making Littlefinger warden of the North if he uses the Knights of the vale to seize Winterfell from whoever wins the war between Stannis and the Boltons. 

House Lannister:

1. Got King Joffrey Murdered

Littlefinger conspired with Lady Olenna Tyrell to have King Joffrey murdered. This chipped at the Lannisters’ strength even though the throne passed to Tommen, mainly because it made Cersei extremely unstable. It made her vulnerable enough to accept further deals from Littlefinger

2. Had the Lannisters implicated in the death of Jon Arryn and the attacks on Bran Stark

He not only implicated Lannisters of killing Jon Arryn but also vouched to Catelyn that Tyrion Lannister was behind the attacks on Bran. This sparked off the rivalry between the Starks and the Lannisters thus leading to Tyrion being captured by Catelyn and later Jaime being captured with him subsequently losing his hand. In the battle of the Blackwater, practically orchestrated by Littlefinger, the Lannisters lost a lot of men that will eventually come biting back.

House Tyrell:

One would have thought that with Petyr helping Olenna in killing Joffrey, he is on their side. But no, that’s just underestimating Petyr. 

1. Delivered Olyvar to the Faith Militant

The Tyrells have always been powerful and continued to be till Season 5. The richest of all the houses in Westeros, the members of the Tyrell family – Olenna, Margaery as well as Loras were always smart enough to stay out of that dark side whilst rising to power. They even aided the throne against Stannis during the war. But in Season 5 when Olyvar confessed to the Faith Militant about Loras’ preference for men and Margaery having known this but hidden it from the High Sparrow, both, Margaery and Loras were imprisoned. This was catastrophic for the house and it is only fair to assume that this all was Petyr Baelish’s mastermind. One can argue that it could have been Cersei who pursued and pushed Olyvar to confess but let’s face two major facts:

A. Olyvar worked under Baelish and was extremely loyal to him. He wouldn’t do this without consulting Baelish and without being on the right side of things

B. Baelish told Cersei that he had delivered a ‘handsome young man’ to her, a promise he made to Olenna as well soon resulting in Lancel joining the Faith Militant and admitting to Cersei having killed Robert that eventually resulted in Cersei’s Walk of Shame. 

House Bolton:

1. Manipulation of Roose and Ramsay Bolton

The one thing that backfired for Baelish. He told Sansa to marry Ramsay in order to be able to manipulate the Boltons to eventually take the North. But when that failed and Sansa emerged stronger and escaped from the Boltons, Petyr came in last minute with the army of Vale to help Jon and Sansa fight Ramsay. Now, although Petyr seems apologetic, a man like him hardly feels or does anything without an agenda in mind. In the final trailer for season 7 we hear him whisper, "Don't fight in the north or the south. Fight every battle everywhere." He still has Sansa's ears and that is not a good sign.

Catch Game of Thrones Season 7 as it premieres in India on Star World and Star World HD on Tuesday, July 18 at 11 pm