HBO's House of the Dragon continues to attract record numbers of viewers each week, and fans are slowly making connections between the new show's cast of characters and possible counterparts from Game of Thrones. One question on everyone's mind is who will turn out to be the Petyr Baelish character. This is, who will be the one secretly plotting in the background and quickly rising up the great game's ladder.
As a minor lord with little to his name, Littlefinger quickly became one of the most powerful players in Westeros. One of the final threads to tie in Game of Thrones was the fate of Littlefinger. And someone as calculating as Baelish was always going to require a number of people to unravel his plots. Throughout the course of the series, characters can be ranked by how small or a large a role they had in bringing down the self-made ruler.
Catelyn Stark
This is where it all starts for Lord Petyr Baelish. His unrequited boyhood love for Catelyn is one of the driving forces behind his desire to sit on the Iron Thrones and be worthy of someone's stature. Had Baelish never met the lady, he may not even have begun his quest for power.
Littlefinger's whole life is consumed by his desire to improve the standing of himself and House Baelish. But one of the often stated themes of the show is that "love is the death of duty". And while Littlefinger's love for Catelyn is twisted, it's still enough to distract him from playing the game of thrones with completely clear eyes.
Brienne Of Tarth
Littlefinger is a master manipulator, and he often targets the weak and powerless to use as pawns in his games. But he has a severe weakness when it comes to brute strength. This has been true since Ned Stark's brother Brandon nearly beat him to death. One of the most powerful pawns Baelish has early in the show is Sansa Stark.
He uses her naivety to control her and there is no one alive who seems to have her back. Enter Brienne of Tarth who could very well be the greatest swordsman in the Seven Kingdoms. Her promotion to Sansa's bodyguard begins to spell doom for Baelish who has little hope of duping such a fierce and loyal character as Brienne.
Jon Snow
When Littlefinger makes his plans, he does so carefully. He spends time putting the right people in the right situations so that when the dominos finally fall, he remains on top. But his careful planning never takes Jon Snow into account. As far as anyone in Westeros was concerned, Jon Snow was never and would never be a player in the fight for the throne.
A bastard and a Nights Watchmen would never have the chance to be anything more than Lord Commander. But Snow's revival and elevation to King of the North is the first of steps that ensure Baelish never leaves Winterfell. His carefully laid plans to take control are quickly suspended by the chosen leader.
Maester Wolkan
Maester Wolkan's role is small but important in the downfall of Petyr Baelish. It is Maester Wolkan who is being used, without even knowing it, into helping Baelish drive a wedge between the Stark sisters. Wolkan finds Baelish a note written by Sansa years ago, and under duress, a letter damning her family and showing her support for the Lannisters.
But neither Wolkan nor Baelish know that this is the start of Littlefinger's plans backfiring. Littlefinger wants Arya to find the note and so consider her sister a traitor. But the obviousness and coincidence of all these plots coming together are enough to make Arya and Sansa realize that Baelish has other motivations.
Lysa Arryn
There are few moments in Game of Thrones that surprise Petyr Baelish or go against his plans. But Lysa Arryn and her growing instability and obsession with Littlefinger create a key moment in Sansa's relationship with him and begins to shake the seemingly impenetrable foundation he has built around himself.
Lysa threatens to throw Sansa out the moon door but Baelish convinces her not to and then callously pushes the Lady of the Vale out herself. He is then brought before the Lords of the Vale for trial, and it is only Sansa's lies that protect him, though some Lords remain suspicious. It is a moment Baelish learns his pawn Sansa may be more clever than he thought, and it begins the antagonism between him and Yohn Royce.
Ramsay Bolton
While Littlefinger was happy to sell Sansa to her family's murderers, the Boltons, it can be assumed he was not aware of the depravity of the groom, Ramsay Bolton. The bastard of the Dreadfort plays nice in front of Littlefinger to convince him to marry off the key to the North, Sansa. It isn't until Baelish returns to the Vale that Ramsay's monstrous impulses are revealed.
This unusual lack of insight into someone he is making a deal with comes back to bite Baelish. When he returns to "rescue" Sansa is greeted with cold anger by the Stark for allowing her to be put into the situation. From that moment on, Sansa never fully trusts Littlefingerm, and Baelish's grip on the threads of his plots begins to weaken.
Bran Stark
Bran Stark's arrival to Winterfell begins unraveling many of the stories and plots of Game of Thrones. His foresight and other abilities of being the Three Eyed-Raven means that Littlefinger is not able to keep his secrets for long.
Bran tells Baelish that "chaos is a ladder," a famous line he said long ago that Bran had no way of knowing was uttered. This impossible knowledge unsettles Baelish. Secondly, Bran alludes to Arya that the knife used in his attempted assassination belongs to Baelish. And finally, during the trial, Bran reveals to the courtroom what Littlefinger said as he betrayed Ned Stark.
Yohn Royce
"Bronze Yohn" Royce as he is known was one of the original Lords of the Vale to demand to know what happened to Lysa Arryn and remains antagonistic to Littlefinger despite ostensibly pledging loyalty to him. In reality, Royce has always had his suspicions of Baelish but is forced to do his bidding under threat of death.
But in the trial of Lord Baelish, even when commanded by his liege Lord to protect him, Royce trusts his gut and the information being presented. He states, "I think not" when told to bring Littlefinger back to the Vale. Without the Vale's support, Baelish loses the last of his allies.
Arya Stark
Littlefinger's last effort to take control of Westeros involves pitting Arya against her sister. He does this so that Sansa will run out of allies and be forced to accept him as one. He may even have more insidious plans for her down the road.
But Arya sees through the ruse. Her time with the faceless men has not only given her the abilities of a professional assassin, she also has learned much about others' motivations and machinations. She believes for a second that Sansa is a threat but in the end, it is Arya who slashes Baelish's throat and ends his tale forever.
Sansa Stark
The original and favorite piece on Littlefinger's chessboard, Sansa Stark began the series as a naive young girl who Baelish could use to further his own end. But by the end of Littlefinger's character arc, it's Sansa who ends up having the last laugh.
Sansa becomes a formidable tactician and politician in her own right after going through a series of terrible trials. In Winterfell, all of Littlefinger's moves seem to benefit Sansa more than anyone, but she is still able to see through his lies and order his execution herself.