Difference between revisions of "Petyr Baelish"

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Baelish informed Lord Tywin of the Tyrell plot to spirit Sansa Stark to [[Highgarden]] and marry her to [[Willas Tyrell]], giving Tywin the necessary time to wed her to Tyrion instead.  He also agreed to travel to [[Eyrie|The Eyrie]] and win the hand of [[Lysa Tully]] and thus, through her son [[Robert Arryn|Robert]] the armies of the Vale to send against Stannis; though Lysa remained in love with Littlefinger from their youth together, only with his newfound status as a High Lord was he an acceptible suitor to marry her.<ref>[[A Storm of Swords]], [[A Storm of Swords-Chapter 19|Chapter 19]], Sansa</ref>
 
Baelish informed Lord Tywin of the Tyrell plot to spirit Sansa Stark to [[Highgarden]] and marry her to [[Willas Tyrell]], giving Tywin the necessary time to wed her to Tyrion instead.  He also agreed to travel to [[Eyrie|The Eyrie]] and win the hand of [[Lysa Tully]] and thus, through her son [[Robert Arryn|Robert]] the armies of the Vale to send against Stannis; though Lysa remained in love with Littlefinger from their youth together, only with his newfound status as a High Lord was he an acceptible suitor to marry her.<ref>[[A Storm of Swords]], [[A Storm of Swords-Chapter 19|Chapter 19]], Sansa</ref>
  
Though Littlefinger left King's Landing, he did not go immediately to the Vale, and remained near King's Landing until after the wedding between Joffrey and Margaery, in which Joffrey was killed.  In the ensuing chaos, Sansa was spirited out of the city by Dontos and taken to the ship where Littlefinger awaited her.  Petyr then had Dontos killed, explaining to Sansa that she would be wanted in connection with Joffrey's death, that secrecy was of the utmost importance, and that a drunk such as Dontos could not be trusted with such sensitive information.  He went on to explain that he had plotted with [[Olenna Redwyne]] many of the details of King Joffrey's murder, including a hairnet laced with black amethysts that were in reality [[The Strangler]], the poison used to kill Joffrey, as well as a set of jousting dwarfs as entertainment, which were calculated to bring Tyrion Lannister into conflict with Joffrey just prior to Joffrey's death.<ref>[[A Storm of Swords]], [[A Storm of Swords-Chapter 68|Chapter 68]], Sansa</ref>   
+
Though Littlefinger left King's Landing, he did not go immediately to the Vale, and remained near King's Landing until after the wedding between Joffrey and Margaery, in which Joffrey was killed.  In the ensuing chaos, Sansa was spirited out of the city by Dontos and taken to the ship where Littlefinger awaited her.  Petyr then had Dontos killed, explaining to Sansa that she would be wanted in connection with Joffrey's death, that secrecy was of the utmost importance, and that a drunk such as Dontos could not be trusted with such sensitive information.  He went on to explain that he had plotted with [[Olenna Redwyne]] many of the details of King Joffrey's murder, including a hairnet laced with black amethysts that were in reality [[The Strangler]], the poison used to kill Joffrey, which Sansa had unwittingly smuggled into the feast, as well as a set of jousting dwarfs as entertainment, which were calculated to bring Tyrion Lannister into conflict with Joffrey just prior to Joffrey's death.<ref>[[A Storm of Swords]], [[A Storm of Swords-Chapter 68|Chapter 68]], Sansa</ref>   
  
 
With Sansa at his side, Baelish had her hair dyed and gave her the assumed identity of Alayne Stone, a bastard daughter of his.  He then traveled to the Vale,  stopping at his meager inherited holdings on the [[Fingers]], where he was met by Lysa, who insisted they be wed immediately.  Littlefinger agreed, and they traveled to The Eyrie.  There, Petyr's affections for Sansa (seemingly having been transferred from her mother) were made more apparent, and he kissed her.  Lysa witnessed the act, and in a fit of jealous rage attempted to kill Sansa.  Petyr intervened, at which point Lysa revealed that she had murdered [[Jon Arryn]], her husband, and sent a letter to her sister in [[Winterfell]], all at Littlefinger's behest.  Littlefinger then shoved Lysa out the moon door, killing her, and blamed the action on the singer [[Marillion]].<ref>[[A Storm of Swords]], [[A Storm of Swords-Chapter 80|Chapter 80]], Sansa</ref>
 
With Sansa at his side, Baelish had her hair dyed and gave her the assumed identity of Alayne Stone, a bastard daughter of his.  He then traveled to the Vale,  stopping at his meager inherited holdings on the [[Fingers]], where he was met by Lysa, who insisted they be wed immediately.  Littlefinger agreed, and they traveled to The Eyrie.  There, Petyr's affections for Sansa (seemingly having been transferred from her mother) were made more apparent, and he kissed her.  Lysa witnessed the act, and in a fit of jealous rage attempted to kill Sansa.  Petyr intervened, at which point Lysa revealed that she had murdered [[Jon Arryn]], her husband, and sent a letter to her sister in [[Winterfell]], all at Littlefinger's behest.  Littlefinger then shoved Lysa out the moon door, killing her, and blamed the action on the singer [[Marillion]].<ref>[[A Storm of Swords]], [[A Storm of Swords-Chapter 80|Chapter 80]], Sansa</ref>

Revision as of 12:00, 5 July 2011

House Baelish.PNG Petyr Baelish House Baelish.PNG
Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish

Alias Littlefinger
Titles
Allegiance House Baelish
Culture Westeros
Born The Fingers
Spouse Lysa Arryn
Books

Played by Aidan Gillen

Lord Petyr Baelish, sometimes called Littlefinger, was Master of Coin (or treasurer) on the King's Small Council. He is a master of court intrigue, with his brilliance matched only by his ambition. Though a lord, his original holdings are possibly the smallest in all the Seven Kingdoms, situated on the smallest of the Fingers.[1] His grandfather was Braavosi, and took the Titan of Braavos as his symbol. Few are aware of this; Petyr wears a mockingbird as his crest instead. In the TV series he is played by Aidan Gillen. [2]

Appearance

He is handsome and meticulously stylish, but also quite short. He has gray-green eyes, a small pointed beard on his chin and dark, graying hair.[3]

History

According to semi-canon sources, Hoster Tully served in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, making friends with Petyr Baelish`s father, which led to Petyr being fostered at Riverrun.[4]

Petyr was fostered as a ward of Riverrun and raised alongside his social betters, the Tully children - Catelyn, Lysa and Edmure. He fell in love with Catelyn, who in turn loved him as a brother, but no more. When the betrothal between Catelyn and Brandon Stark was announced, Petyr challenged Brandon to a duel for her hand. Brandon won handily, but spared Baelish's life in compliance with Catelyn's pleas. Catelyn did not speak to him afterwards and burned the single letter Petyr sent after Brandon's death.[5]

The nickname 'Littlefinger' was given to him by Edmure Tully when he was a ward of the Tullys.[6]

Lysa Tully, on the other hand, was in love with Petyr. She slipped into his bed one night while he was in a miserable, drunken stupor. The delirious Petyr may have mistaken Lysa for Catelyn, and indeed called her "Catelyn" that night. He has since claimed (at court and in private) to have taken the maidenhood of both Tully sisters. Later, Lysa became pregnant with Petyr's child. When Hoster Tully discovered this, he banished Petyr from his house and had Lysa drink moon tea to abort the pregnancy.

Baelish's wizardry with finances raised him to the position of Master of Coin, although Lysa helped him get his first job at court by mentioning his skills to her husband Jon Arryn. His influence furnished him with many allies and contacts, including the City Guard of King's Landing. With these resources as a starting point, Baelish used a series of lies and double-crosses to achieve a meteoric rise to political power.

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

When Catelyn Tully sailed to King's Landing following the botched assassination attempt on her son Bran, Baelish intercepted her and hid her in a brothel. Catelyn presented the dagger used in the attempt and Littlefinger noted that it had once been his, but that he had lost it in a wager to Tyrion Lannister.[7] Though this was a lie, it would later trigger Catelyn's arrest of Tyrion upon their chance encounter at the Crossroads Inn[8], an important event in sparking what was to become the War of the Five Kings.

During Eddard Stark's tenure as Hand of the King, Littlefinger feigned friendship to him, on behalf of his fondness for Catelyn, superficially attempting to tutor him in the intrigues of the court while noting that Lord Eddard was too trusting and transparent. After the mortal wounding of King Robert, after which Robert named Ned as Regent and Lord Protector, Baelish advised Stark that despite their knowledge that Queen Cersei's sons Joffrey and Tommen were not in truth sons to the king and that Stannis Baratheon was the legal heir, the wisest course of action was to ensure Joffrey's succession and maneuver so as to avoid all-out war and maximize their own power. Lord Eddard refused the suggestion and enlisted Littlefinger's help in securing the allegiance of the city watch to prevent Cersei from obtaining the throne for her son.[9] Baelish agreed, but promptly double-crossed Ned and committed the city watch to assisting Cersei, leading to Stark's arrest and eventual execution for treason.[10]

A Clash of Kings

After the assassination of Renly Baratheon, Littlefinger surprisingly volunteered to travel to Bitterbridge to win over those Lords that did not immediately declare for King Stannis, most notably House Tyrell, and to broker a marriage alliance between King Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell.[11] Though he sent no word back to King's Landing for a considerable amount of time[12][13], he returned to King's Landing with Tyrell forces alongside those of Tywin Lannister's, who were able to take Stannis's army in the rear in the last hours of the Battle of the Blackwater. It was later revealed to have been Littlefinger's idea to dress Garlan Tyrell in King Renly's armor during the battle so as to frighten Stannis's men-at-arms.[14] All the while, Littlefinger maintained contact with Sansa Stark via Ser Dontos the Red, who vaguely informed Sansa that there was a plan to return her home, and acquired key informants in the crown's inner circle in Osney, Osfryd, and Osmund Kettleblack, who were hired to guard Queen Cersei after Tyrion Lannister sent her guards away; Tyrion believed they were in his pay, when in truth their allegiance was to Baelish.[15]

For his role in securing the allegiance of House Tyrell, Littlefinger was granted Lordship of Harrenhal, despite the fact that it was at the time being held for Robb Stark by Roose Bolton, and nominal control over the war-torn Riverlands, making him a High Lord.[16]

A Storm of Swords

Baelish informed Lord Tywin of the Tyrell plot to spirit Sansa Stark to Highgarden and marry her to Willas Tyrell, giving Tywin the necessary time to wed her to Tyrion instead. He also agreed to travel to The Eyrie and win the hand of Lysa Tully and thus, through her son Robert the armies of the Vale to send against Stannis; though Lysa remained in love with Littlefinger from their youth together, only with his newfound status as a High Lord was he an acceptible suitor to marry her.[17]

Though Littlefinger left King's Landing, he did not go immediately to the Vale, and remained near King's Landing until after the wedding between Joffrey and Margaery, in which Joffrey was killed. In the ensuing chaos, Sansa was spirited out of the city by Dontos and taken to the ship where Littlefinger awaited her. Petyr then had Dontos killed, explaining to Sansa that she would be wanted in connection with Joffrey's death, that secrecy was of the utmost importance, and that a drunk such as Dontos could not be trusted with such sensitive information. He went on to explain that he had plotted with Olenna Redwyne many of the details of King Joffrey's murder, including a hairnet laced with black amethysts that were in reality The Strangler, the poison used to kill Joffrey, which Sansa had unwittingly smuggled into the feast, as well as a set of jousting dwarfs as entertainment, which were calculated to bring Tyrion Lannister into conflict with Joffrey just prior to Joffrey's death.[18]

With Sansa at his side, Baelish had her hair dyed and gave her the assumed identity of Alayne Stone, a bastard daughter of his. He then traveled to the Vale, stopping at his meager inherited holdings on the Fingers, where he was met by Lysa, who insisted they be wed immediately. Littlefinger agreed, and they traveled to The Eyrie. There, Petyr's affections for Sansa (seemingly having been transferred from her mother) were made more apparent, and he kissed her. Lysa witnessed the act, and in a fit of jealous rage attempted to kill Sansa. Petyr intervened, at which point Lysa revealed that she had murdered Jon Arryn, her husband, and sent a letter to her sister in Winterfell, all at Littlefinger's behest. Littlefinger then shoved Lysa out the moon door, killing her, and blamed the action on the singer Marillion.[19]

A Feast for Crows

With Lysa dead, Petyr named himself Lord Protector of the Vale, with Robert Arryn as his ward. The most powerful lords of the Vale joined together to demand that Petyr relinquish Robert. Lyn Corbray, who was secretly on Petyr's payroll, drew his sword during the parley. This breach of etiquette gave Petyr the leverage to demand a trial period on his wardship over Robert. Petyr confided in Sansa his plans to use this time to eliminate, win over, or marginalize the lords who stood in his path. He also revealed his plans to help Sansa regain the North and marry her to the Arryn heir, Harrold Hardyng.

References and Notes

See also the article of Petyr Baelish on the Game of Thrones wiki.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Characters from A Song of Ice and Fire.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Characters from A Song of Ice and Fire.
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