For a moniker that sounds so harmless, Littlefinger was quite the opposite. Actually named Petyr Baelish, he grew up with the Tully children after Lord Hoster Tully of the Riverrun took him as his ward. Due to his conniving schemes, Baelish rose through the ranks. From the Lord of minor holdings, he became one of the most important players in the Game of Thrones.
Achieving tall statuses such as Master of Coin, Lord Protector of Vale, Lord of Harrenhal required meticulous planning and execution. He turned family against family, sister against sister. Before he could do the same to the Stark sisters, Arya slit his throat. Thus died the pretty picture of him and Sansa seated on the Iron Throne. Baelish has done more harm than good on the show. Here are ten of those instances.
Betrayed Sansa Stark
Petyr betrayed the two women he claimed to love, Catelyn and her daughter Sansa. He set up Sansa's marriage to the Boltons. He led Sansa to the marriage by telling her if she wanted to build a better home, she would have to destroy the old one. Petyr knew Sansa wouldn't immediately say yes to his plan, so he dangled a carrot in front of her. Either Stannis would take Winterfell and name her wardeness of the North. Or, Sansa would take the Bolton boy Ramsey and destroy the Boltons from within. He assured her by saying Ramsey had fallen in love with her.
Every time Petyr selflessly claimed something for Sansa, he only had his best interests at heart. It appeared to the Boltons that Littefinger was helping them secure control of the North by a marriage alliance with the Stark girl.
Lysa Wrote To Catelyn On His Behest
Littlefinger claimed to love Catelyn Stark far more than anyone could imagine. Yet, he betrayed her. It all dates back to the pilot, "Winter Is Coming." Littlefinger had Lysa write a letter addressed to Catelyn from Eyrie. The letter said Lysa had fled the capital, and Jon Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters. Lysa furthered that the King was in danger. Who but Ned Stark could protect the King, after all?
Lord Stark was motivated to ride to King's Landing, knowing very well what riding South meant for Starks. Ned accepted the Hand of the King offer.
Poisoned Jon Arryn
The Lannisters, however, cruel they may be, didn't play a part in Jon Arryn's death. It was Littlefinger who conspired with his wife, Lysa Arryn to poison the former Hand of the King with tears of Lys. This one event powered a cataclysmic chain of events. Most important of all, he controlled the Vale through Lysa as his proxy. He sowed seeds of suspicion in Starks' minds. Ned lost his life. It sparked the War of the Five Kings, the Red Wedding, and Sansa's marriage to Ramsey.
But most immediately, Littlefinger married Lysa to become the Lord Protector of the Vale.
The War Of The Five Kings
A battle of succession ensued after the death of King Robert. It is commonly known as the War of the Five Kings. The Starks, the Lannisters and the Baratheons were pit against each by Petyr Baelish. The five of these were Robert's heir apparent- Joffrey Baratheon, his two brothers, Stannis and Renly Baratheon, Robb Stark, and Balon Greyjoy.
The civil war was incited by Baelish, the Master of Coin, with the troubled Lysa Arryn. Two of them poisoned Lysa's husband Jon Arryn, Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon. This was followed by sending a letter to Catelyn Stark claiming Jon Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters.
Framing Tyrion Lannister
A helpless Catelyn Stark was trying to identify the assassin who unsuccessfully tried to kill her son Bran. Another one of Littlefinger's lies was telling Catelyn the dagger belonged to Tyrion Lannister. While in fact, the dagger belonged to him. Tyrion was framed falsely for the assassination of a boy of 10 and held captive soon after.
Petyr told Catelyn the knife wielded by the assassin used to be his, but he lost it in a bet with Tyrion Lannister. This increased the rift between the Starks and the Lannisters. Jamie Lannister ambushed Ned Stark for taking Tyrion captive.
I Did Warn You Not To Trust Me
Ned Stark was quick to discover the truth about Cersei's children. His mercy led him to confront Queen Cersei alone. He warned her to run as far with her three children as she could. In wake of these events, Ned thought Littlefinger would keep his promise to Catelyn and help him out. Ned needed the Gold Cloaks. The City Watch consisted of 2,000 strong men, sworn to defend the King's peace. But Petyr had conspired with Cersei and Joffery to betray Ned. He and the City Watch turned on Ned Stark.
Only a fool would trust Littlefinger. Before Ned Stark was held prisoner on false charges of treachery, Littlefinger held a knife at his throat and said, “I did warn you not to trust me." Thanks to Littlefinger's treachery, Ned Stark was imprisoned and later executed at King's Landing.
Pushed Aunt Lysa Through The Moondoor
The master manipulator pushed Lysa Arryn through the moon Door and watched her die. "I did it to protect you, Lady Sansa," said Petyr Baelish when Sansa confronted him with charges of murder in "The Dragon and the Wolf."
This took place after Petyr whisked away Sansa Stark from King's Landing to the Vale. He married Lysa for the power. But once her hysteria overpowered everything else, Petyr knew there was no place for her at the Vale. He was lawfully wedded to her and as her widower, he would become Lord Protector of the Vale. Sansa was Littlefinger's ward now, who sold her to the Boltons.
Turned Arya Against Sansa
Petyr's last of the tricks was to try to turn Sansa against Arya in Jon's absence. But in doing so, he dug a grave for himself and lost his life. He started warping Arya's mind by deliberately engaging in a conversation with a common girl and paying her. Arya grew more suspicious as Baelish conversed with Yohn Royce and Robett Glover. Finally, Wolkan gave Baelish Maester Luwin's copy of Sansa's letter to Robb, asking him to surrender to Joffrey. Baelish's masterstroke was when he thanked Wolkan for his services on behalf of Lady Stark.
Arya heard this and sneaked inside his chambers to get hold of the letter. She sparred with her sister for betraying their family. A sly Baelish knew his plan was in effect.
Tried To Un-name Jon As King In The North
Petyr's next step was to turn Sansa against Jon. This was before he walked Sansa through the motives of Arya's presence in Winterfell. In The "Dragon and the Wolf" Sansa receives Jon's declaring his pledge to Daenerys Targaryen. Petyr picks this moment to tell her he can't believe Jon would surrender the Northern Crown without consulting her. Petyr says Jon is young and could very well be mesmerized by Dragon Queen's beauty.
"What does that have to do with anything?", asks Sansa. Petyr says Jon and Daenerys are unmarried, a marriage alliance would make the most sense. Together they would be invincible to defeat. Petyr almost convinced Sansa to unname Jon as King in the North. The only person standing in their way at the time was Arya.
Turned Sansa Against Arya
Petyr walked Sansa through Arya's motives of coming back to Winterfell. He taught her a little game to understand people's motives. It was assuming the worst in them. Arya was a deadly assassin, she'd come to kill Sansa for marrying their enemies (Tyrion and Ramsey), she unearths Sansa's letter to Rob to provide proof of betrayal. After Sansa was out of her way, Arya would become Lady of Winterfell.
Unfortunately for Petyr, Sansa learned her lessons very well. She knew that battles were to be fought in mind, there was no justice in this world-not unless we made it. She knew the worst reason Petyr would have for turning sister against sister.