What is your opinion about Littlefinger?

[Eulalia]

What do you like about him? What do you hate about him? What do you suspect about him? Do you think he is doomed? What would you like his fate to be? Any redeeming features?

 

[KESpires]

He's one of the reasons I like the series so much. I detest him, but he is acting on his behalf just as a person of his personality and cunning would do. He is one of the reasons that ASoIaF is so damned good. A superb example of characterization.

 

[TK-421]

I also detest Littlefinger and unlike others who see him as this brilliant mastermind, I see him as someone who has finally bitten off more than he can chew. By this I mean, Sansa, who will be his doom. She will kill him.

 

[The Ace]

He's a despicable little sh*t who can't see beyond his own self-interest. He and Sansa deserve each other.

 

[Wiggum]

Lol, I'm a bit surprised.

I for one absolutely adore the facet he brings to the books.

A brilliant character, and the only one that has truly expressed the intial idea behind them, both in words and action.

 

[Ursa major]

Littlefinger definitely brings an extra dimension to the series. And up to now, he's had a good run for his (or the Kingdom's) money. I can't help thinking, though, that now we've been given an insight into his motivations (admittedly only through others' POVs), it may be that he is riding for a fall.


(Just how many books it will take to get him to this fall, who knows?)

 

[KESpires]

I have a feeling that he'll be a snake in the grass for quite a while, unless Sansa betrays him, which is likely.

 

[soulsinging]

Some SPOILERS if you've not finished SoS (I've not finished AFFC)...


I love Littlefinger, he's my favorite character. He's truly fascinating. He's easily the best player of the game in the series and I love his constant joking and cynicism and unapologetic selfishness.

But I think beneath that, there's more going on with Littlefinger than it would seem at first. There's the scene of an upstart not-quite-noble being publicly humiliated before the woman he loves (hopelessly because of his station in life, thus driving his all-consuming ambition). Then there's his clearly petty and insecure bragging about "bedding" Cat (true or not? I'm not done with AFFC yet) and the conflicting desire to both be Cat's savior and win her approval as well as get back at her and her family for jilting him. There's the scene of him playing in the snow with Sansa... careful manipulation or the childishness of a deeply unhappy man yearning for the simple joys of the youth he shared with the Tullys? And he did get Sansa away from the Lannisters. He had his ulterior motives, but it's tough to argue that she's worse off for it.

He is the classic Machiavellean lord, the only man in the series on par with Tywin Lannister. You may love him or hate him for it, but it certainly makes him fascinating. And while he's always looking out for number one, he's never sadistic or deceitful about that.

I've no clue what the future will hold for him, though as someone above said, in some senses he and Sansa are perfect for each other (kinky wish fulfillment aside). Nonetheless, I suspect Littlefinger will overplay his hand one day and suffer the consequences, likely at Sansa's hand for the betrayal of her father.

However, he could also end up getting the prestigious lordship he wants. I can't help but think that it was Littlefinger that secretly met with the Tyrells and brought them to King's Landing to support Joff (after the battle was over of course), and it was a Tyrell that later removed that king and caused the events that allowed Littlefinger to take Sansa out of King's Landing and gain access to the Eyrie. That sort of thing is rarely a coincidence where Petyr Baelish is concerned!

 

[the smiling weirwood]

You didn't need to read AFFC. Lysa reveals that Petyr was drunk and deflowered her, but thought it was Cat.

 

[soulsinging]

You didn't need to read AFFC. Lysa reveals that Petyr was drunk and deflowered her, but thought it was Cat.

Doh, it's tough keeping a couple thousand pages and couple dozen characters straight. In any event, doesn't really change anything with respect to my thoughts on him. Just a little bit sadder maybe.

 

[Boaz]

I love having Littlefinger in the story. I don't admire him at all, but he adds greatly to the intrigue and the plots regarding who sits and who will sit the Iron Throne.

Remembering how he counseled Sansa that "life is not a song" and how he warned Eddard that his precious honor only made him predictable, I wonder how Baelish can continue his fascination with Catelyn. He knows that if his enemies figure out what (or whom) he's emotionally attached to, then they can use it against him. So why would he somehow carry on an infatuation over sixteen years? Unless it's all a ruse. Mayhaps when Sansa becomes a player and she thinks that she is Littlefinger's weak spot, she'll reveal her betrayal of him based upon fake feelings for her... and she'll find that Littlefinger will call her bluff and destroy her...

 

[JDP]

I think Littlefinger's a great character. As has been said, he is a consumate master of the Game, and perhaps the only major player who will play the Game for it's own sake, just to keep his enemies on their toes.

However, I think that these machiavellian tendencies, plus his apprentice Sansa, will be his downfall. He tells her at one point to find out what your enemy wants and use it against them; Littlefinger's achilles heel has always been his obsession with Catelyn, which seems to have quite efficiently transferred to Sansa.

I think her training under Littlefinger will mirror her sister's training under the Faceless Men. In the end, they will be equally deadly, but in different ways.

When Sansa learns that he had a hand in her Father's death, I fear (hope) that her Northern roots will be revealed and her vengeance will be red.

 

[KESpires]

I think that Littlefinger's feelings for Catelyn are legitimate.

But I also think that he's never been the center of attention. He flies under the radar. It is how he has survived.

 

[Eulalia]

I thought I would post the thread because Soulsinging's post about Littlefinger intrigued me. I feel confused by Littlefinger, even though he's despicable in some ways. I am interested in what other people say.

Maybe I like him because he was an underdog. Maybe because he was beating the more complacent aristocrats at their own game. Maybe its revenge of the nerds (brains against the hulking bully warriors). Maybe its because his love has been unrequited and I have sympathy for the small impoverished guy overcoming his disadvantages. Nobody else was helping out P. B. Maybe because he is the one who actually saved Sansa, twice. Maybe because he had the sense to marry up, and when Lysa turned out to be monsterous and threatening he took the nasty lady out.

I don't think it's actually all that creepy, given his background and the times they live in, to be attracted to a teen. Even someone posing as Sansa's father (which he isn't). In similar time in England it was not unknown or unreasonable to marry one's ward or a teenager. Most of the other full blooded guys seem to have the hots for Sansa. He also has protected her, beyond the call of duty and has not terrorized her.

Of course it doesn't hurt that I am interested whenever he appears in the story.

I haven't grasped all of the bad things that Littlefinger has done, yet. And also, well, too bad if you are Ned or Tyrion or Lysa...!

He is the Lord of Harrenhall, right? That can't be good news. I can't wait to see what happens next with Petyr and Sansa.

 

[Syphon of Oor-Tael]

I'm going to beg GRRM to make a character that resembles me to kill Littlefinger. I understand where he's coming from, but he's just a horrible little .... jerk. If you're poor, you want to get higher up. How? Force of arms or will. And he ahs the will.

 

[TK-421]

I think we be making too much of his roots, poor beginnings and the fact he's some "underdog".

There is no mistaking his motives. There is nothing noble or bigger than himself in his plans or schemes. He is in it all for himself and nobody else and he has proven to have the capacity to get rid of anyonwe standing in his way. Be that person a noble lord of the North or a grief-stricken and slightly deranged mother of a little sickly boy.

Eventually the bigger dog catches up to the underdog and bites him in the ass.

 

[Ghost of Harrenhal]

I wish I was Littlefinger.

I'd do a few things differently sure, chuck Sansa for a nice spicy Dornish woman for starters and then use my self-attained wealth to buy a large plot of land on the Eastern continent somewhere. In one of the free cities most likely. Lys sounds nice, isn't it the one with all the pleasure houses? That'd suit me fine I reckon.

Honestly though I don't even know why Littlefinger wants all the power and responsibility that comes with being Lord of the Trident or anything like that. With his ability to make gold so easily he should be living it up in a wonderful palace in one of the free cities and bedding a hundred whores a night and living the playboy lifestyle. That's what I'd do!

 

[Ursa major]

All we know about Littlefinger's motivations comes from the things he's said to others. Trouble is, Littlefinger has form when it comes to telling porkies, so we really do not know what he is about.

 

[soulsinging]

I think we be making too much of his roots, poor beginnings and the fact he's some "underdog".

There is no mistaking his motives. There is nothing noble or bigger than himself in his plans or schemes. He is in it all for himself and nobody else and he has proven to have the capacity to get rid of anyonwe standing in his way. Be that person a noble lord of the North or a grief-stricken and slightly deranged mother of a little sickly boy.

Eventually the bigger dog catches up to the underdog and bites him in the ass.

That's true, but I guess I don't have a problem with that. Speaking as a guy that's been burned a few times and lost a lot of faith in human kindness and decency, I don't quibble with somebody looking out for number one. Nobody ever gave Littlefinger anything, so he decided to take it. Is it better to be a pushover victim to people worse than himself? Rather than being the one gotten rid of for being in someone else's way (Ned Stark, Renly), he decided to play by the rules of a cold, indifferent world. Don't hate the player, hate the game

In any event, I wouldn't call Lysa grieving. She turned her back on her sister to huddle up in her castle and all too happily murdered her husband and set up her brother-in-law for murder on PB's behalf. As to Ned, he was going down whether Baelish did it or not. The Lannisters were not about to let him expose them and Baelish found a way to get some revenge on a man he was jealous of and profit from it. Admirable? Hardly. Worthy of condemnation? Absolutely. The worst act in Westeros making him the most evil man there? Not even close.

As to Petyr's ability to find gold, I always saw him as the Westeros equivalent of Bear Stearns... I think the gold he procured is a house of cards and he's not nearly as wealthy as he seems and the kingdom is going to find out that they owe a lot of money to some unsavory people in return for the gold he procured for Robert and Tyrion.

 

[Eulalia]

Spoiler for AFFC here. Ghost, I think PB should take your advice! He could be the next Hugh Heffner, but he need to bail now. He could run Playboy castle with a parchment subscription.

People admire BFS. As a knight, he has killed lots of people. Perhaps it was in the service of a king. But what a deranged lot they were. I don't know whether it is that great to resign your capacity to make moral judgements, for duty. I kind of admire Baelish at least working for himself and a capitalistic gain, rather than violently killing with the veneer of "honour" or a war. One is better? Gets tricky. He would do really well in this day and age.

I also admire him for taking effective action, when so many more entitled nobs are dithering.

Darn that GRRM for giving moral assumptions a big twist. I like Tyrion a lot, but now he has essentially murdered his girlfriend and his father!

That said, I guess PB is not a boy scout and is also despicable!