Petyr Baelish

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Petyr Baelish
A Song of Ice and Fire character
Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish.jpg
Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish
First appearance Novel:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
Television:
"Lord Snow" (2011)
Created by George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by Aiden Gillen (Game of Thrones)
Information
Aliases Littlefinger
Title Master of Coin
Lord of Harrenhal
Lord Protector of The Vale
Lord Paramount of the Trident
Warden of the North (TV series only)
Spouse(s) Lysa Arryn
Children Robert Arryn (stepson)
Nationality Westerosi

Petyr Baelish, nicknamed Littlefinger, is a fictional character created by American author George R. R. Martin. He is a prominent non-point of view character in Martin's award-winning A Song of Ice and Fire series, and a main character in HBO's adaptation of the series, Game of Thrones, where he is portrayed by Aidan Gillen. In A Feast for Crows it is revealed that several major plot points have hinged on Baelish's intrigues, including the framing of Tyrion Lannister for the attempt on Bran Stark's life, the downfall of Ned Stark, the deaths of Jon Arryn and King Joffrey, and the War of the Five Kings.

Character

Background

Despite the title of Lord, his ancestral holding is an extremely small and poor stretch of land on the Fingers, in the Vale of Arryn. As a child he was a ward of Lord Hoster Tully and reared at Riverrun with Hoster's daughters Catelyn and Lysa. He was a sly, mischievous child with the ability to always look contrite after his mischief.[1] When Catelyn was betrothed to Brandon Stark (Ned Stark's brother), Petyr challenged him to a duel for her hand in marriage and lost.[2] He later sired a child by Lysa, but the pregnancy ended in a forced abortion. Lysa's patronage gives Baelish a succession of important positions, culminating in his appointment as Master of Coin (treasurer) of the Seven Kingdoms.

Appearance and personality

Petyr Baelish is a small man, shorter than Catelyn Stark.[1] He is slender and quick with sharp features and laughing gray-green eyes.[1] He has a pointed chin beard and threads of silver in his hair.[1] He often wears a silver mockingbird to fasten his cloak.[1] He clearly enjoys the intrigues of court life at King's Landing.[3] He is dangerously intelligent[4] and cunning enough to hide his machinations.[5] Since Petyr is not a POV character his motivations are somewhat of a mystery. However, his methods have been totally ruthless, including murder to achieve his goals.[6][7]

Storylines

Book series

Petyr is first introduced in A Game of Thrones as a member of the Small Council[3] when Eddard and his daughters arrive at King's Landing. He hides Catelyn at one of his brothels when she brings the news of the attempt on Bran's life, and tells her the dagger used was won from him by Tyrion Lannister.[1] This leads to Catelyn's capture of Tyrion; but this information is later identified as a lie.[8] Petyr helps Eddard expose the secret parentage of the royal children;[9][10][11] but later betrays Lord Stark[12] and aids his arrest.

After the death of Renly Baratheon in A Clash of Kings, Petyr arranges an alliance between the Lannisters and the powerful House Tyrell, which leads to Stannis Baratheon's defeat. When Joffrey is convinced to marry Renly's widow, Margaery, in A Storm of Swords, Petyr is named Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Trident in place of Edmure Tully. He is also given charge to marry Lysa Arryn and bring the Vale under the control of the Lannisters;[13] before departing he reveals Olenna Tyrell's plan to marry Sansa to Willas Tyrell,[13] leading to Sansa's forced marriage to Tyrion. When Sansa is accused of Joffrey's murder, Petyr takes her to his holdings on The Fingers disguised as his illegitimate daughter.[6] Lysa arrives at Petyr's keep and the two are promptly married at Lysa's insistence, though Petyr would prefer a court wedding.[14] At the Eyrie, he spends much of the time asserting his new authority over the lords of the Vale. Near the end of the book, he kisses Sansa after helping her build a replica of Winterfell from snow. Witnessing the encounter, Lysa tries to kill Sansa a short time later, only to be murdered by Petyr instead.[7]

Blaming Lysa's death on the only other witness, a minstrel,[7] Petyr names himself Lord Protector and claims Lysa's son Robert as his ward. The Lords of the Vale try to claim Robert, but Petyr plots to eliminate them or win them to his side, and to help Sansa regain the North. Over the course of his storyline it is gradually revealed that it was he who convinced Lysa to poison Jon Arryn[7] and blame the Lannisters, and that he conspired with Olenna Tyrell to assassinate Joffrey.[14]

Television series

Baelish's storyline begins to diverge from the book storyline in the fourth season, when he claims that Lysa Arryn committed suicide and Sansa Stark supports his story by revealing her identity. His storyline fully diverges in the fifth season when he travels to Winterfell with Sansa, having persuaded her to marry Ramsay Bolton, the sadistic heir of the new Warden of the North Roose Bolton. Although Baelish assures Roose that the marriage alliance will strengthen their respective positions and that Cersei Lannister lacks the power to punish Roose following Margaery Tyrell's marriage to King Tommen Baratheon, Baelish privately tells Sansa that Stannis Baratheon is marching on Winterfell and will likely defeat the Boltons in battle. However, before Sansa and Ramsay's wedding, Cersei summons Baelish to King's Landing to ascertain his loyalties. Baelish reassures Cersei of the Vale's allegiance to the Lannisters and tells her of Sansa's marriage to Ramsay, neglecting to reveal his role in brokering the marriage. Cersei is outraged at the Boltons' treachery, and Baelish offers to use the Vale's forces to defeat whoever is left of the Bolton and Baratheon armies following the battle, revealing that his true plan all along was to be named Warden of the North, a request Cersei grants. However, before his departure Baelish meets with Margaery's grandmother Lady Olenna Tyrell, who is furious that testimony from Baelish's spy Olyvar has led to the arrest of Margaery and her brother Loras. When Olenna threatens to reveal Baelish's role in Joffrey's murder, Baelish arranges for Lancel Lannister to tell religious leader the High Sparrow of Cersei's crimes, leading to her arrest.

Reception

Writing for The Huffington Post, Gil Kidron described Petyr as "gross...creepy...evil" and stated "you should root for him to win." Kidron claims "in Westeros he's a 99 percenter." Kidron writes Petyr is "doing it for himself", but "he's working tirelessly to destroy an old and decaying world that none of us would want to live in."[15]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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