The most important wars in Game of Thrones were not fought with swords alone. They were won and lost in the shadows of King’s Landing, through whispers, poisoned words, and perfect timing. Petyr Baelish, the man called Littlefinger, was the architect behind many of these wars. His genius was turning the greed, fear, and love of others into weapons. From his lowly start as the son of a minor lord, he used his mind to climb higher than any knight with a sword. Each move he made created ripples of chaos that changed the fate of Westeros forever.
How Littlefinger Started a War
The entire story of Game of Thrones begins with a single, quiet murder. Before the series even starts, Petyr Baelish convinces Lysa Arryn, who is hopelessly in love with him, to poison her husband, Jon Arryn. Jon was the Hand of the King and was close to discovering that Queen Cersei’s children were not King Robert’s.
After the murder, Littlefinger has Lysa send a secret letter to her sister, Catelyn Stark, blaming the Lannisters for the crime. This lie pulls the honorable Ned Stark to King’s Landing to become the new Hand. It sets the Starks and Lannisters on a path of suspicion that quickly turns to open hatred. Without this scheme, Ned might have stayed in Winterfell, and the War of the Five Kings may never have begun.
The Dagger That Divided Houses
When an assassin tries to kill the young Bran Stark, the weapon left behind is a rare Valyrian steel dagger. Littlefinger sees a golden opportunity. When Catelyn Stark comes to King’s Landing, he lies and tells her the dagger belonged to Tyrion Lannister.
Believing this, Catelyn arrests Tyrion while he is traveling. This act is a direct and public challenge to House Lannister. It turns the cold tension between the two great houses into a hot war. Armies begin to march because of Littlefinger’s simple, convincing lie.
The Ultimate Betrayal of Ned Stark
Littlefinger’s most shocking personal betrayal happens in the throne room of the Red Keep. He pretends to be Ned Stark’s ally, promising him the support of the City Watch to seize control from the Lannisters. Ned trusts him, based on his past love for Catelyn.
“I did warn you not to trust me,” Littlefinger famously said.
At the crucial moment, Littlefinger gives the command, and the City Watch turns its swords on Ned’s men. This betrayal leads directly to Ned’s imprisonment and, later, his execution. With Ned’s death, any hope for peace vanishes, and the war for the throne becomes a fight to the death.
Bankrupting the Iron Throne
While serving as Master of Coin, Littlefinger performed his greatest magic trick: he made the crown’s money disappear. Officially, he increased the kingdom’s income ten times. Yet, he also ran up a massive debt of over six million gold dragons.
He borrowed huge sums from powerful families like the Lannisters and the Tyrells, and even from the fearsome Iron Bank of Braavos. This financial trap made the entire realm unstable. Whoever sat on the Iron Throne would be weak, buried under debts they could not pay, and dependent on the very lords who wanted their power.
Creating the Purple Wedding
King Joffrey’s murder at his own wedding feast is one of the show’s most famous scenes. Littlefinger was a key planner. He worked with Lady Olenna Tyrell to get the poison to the wedding and helped plan Sansa Stark’s escape from the city in the aftermath.
By killing the cruel king, Littlefinger removed a dangerous, unpredictable player. The chaos that followed Joffrey’s death allowed him to climb higher. For his “loyal service” in arranging the marriage that led to the wedding, he was rewarded with the title Lord of Harrenhal, finally making him a great lord.
Taking Control of the Vale
Littlefinger’s next move was to secure a military force. He married the unstable Lysa Arryn, the woman he had used for years. Once he was Lord of the Vale, he no longer needed her. He killed her by pushing her through the Moon Door and made it look like a suicide.
With Lysa dead and her young son, Robin Arryn, under his control, Littlefinger became the true ruler of the Vale. This gave him command of the untouched and powerful Knights of the Vale, one of the largest armies left in Westeros.
A Dangerous Marriage for Sansa
In a desperate play for control of the North, Littlefinger betrayed his protégé. He took Sansa Stark, whom he claimed to protect, and married her to Ramsay Bolton of Winterfell. This move was meant to link his influence to the ruling house of the North.
The plan backfired horribly. Ramsay was a brutal monster, and Sansa suffered terribly. This cruelty destroyed whatever trust Sansa had in Littlefinger. She later confronted him, asking if he was an idiot for not knowing, or her enemy for allowing it. This mistake began the unraveling of his control over her.
Turning Sister Against Sister
In his final, desperate scheme, Littlefinger tried to use his old tricks in a new place. At Winterfell, with Sansa and Arya Stark reunited, he worked to poison their relationship. He whispered to Sansa that Arya might want to become the Lady of Winterfell herself.
He tried to make Sansa so fearful of her sister that she would depend solely on him for advice and protection. This time, however, his manipulations were too obvious. The sisters he saw as simple players were, in fact, several steps ahead of him.
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The Final Mistake and Trial
Littlefinger’s belief in chaos as a ladder finally led to his fall. He underestimated the Stark sisters, thinking he could still control Sansa. He did not realize that the quiet, observant Bran Stark could see all of his past betrayals with his mystical sight.
At his dramatic trial in the Great Hall of Winterfell, Sansa and Arya listed his crimes: the murder of Lysa Arryn, the betrayal of their father Ned Stark, and the conspiracy to start a war between the sisters. With no lies left to tell and no one left to manipulate, Petyr Baelish met his end by Arya’s blade, a victim of the very chaos he loved.
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