Game Of Thrones Season 7: What Littlefinger's Scroll Said (And Why It Matters)

Sister friction incoming?

Arya Scroll Game Of Thrones
HBO

If you're smart, you don't bet against Littlefinger, even in the most testing of circumstances. Despite being cornered at Winterfell by the reunion of the Starks, threatened by Jon, outed by Bran, seemingly spurned by Sansa and hated by Arya, he's somehow made his way back into the great game.

'Eastwatch' saw Baelish back to his manipulative best, picking at a wound neither Arya nor Sansa seemed to know existed: their fundamental difference.

Even before she disappeared and became Faceless, Arya was nothing like her sister, treasuring "boyish" pursuits deemed not befitting of her. Sansa was the archetypal wannabe princess, and it was their differences that ultimately saved them.

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Both were able to keep up the pretence of being their ideal when faced with adversity: Arya became Arry, Sansa became the lie of a dutiful wife to Joffrey (albeit temporarily). And in both cases, they survived, just about.

Unfortunately for Sansa, that survival technique, which was somewhat rooted in an idealism that blinded her from the truth - and which is far removed from what she is now (pragmatic, regal almost) - has come back to haunt her in the shape of the scroll Littlefinger enabled Arya to find.

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Though it was only on screen for seconds, it's possible to work out exactly what the scroll said and why it's a dangerous thing for Arya to have read.

"Robb, I write to you with a heavy heart. Our good king Robert is dead, killed from wounds he took in a boar hunt. Father has been charged with treason. He conspired with Robert’s brothers against my beloved Joffrey and tried to steal his throne. The Lannisters are treating me very well and provide me with every comfort. I beg you: come to King’s Landing, swear fealty to King Joffrey and prevent any strife between the great houses of Lannister and Stark."

It didn't go well, of course, as Joffrey betrayed her anyway and killed Ned, but in her desperation, Sansa foolishly called Ned a traitor, which is sure to upset Arya. You could immediately see it on her face.

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So why is Littlefinger doing this? DB Weiss talked up Littlefinger's plan:

“Arya is very used to being more clever and more stealthy, and smarter than any of the people she’s up against, but she hasn’t dealt with Littlefinger for a while. She gets roped into spying on somebody who's actually leading her by the nose to something that he wants her to have.He’s looking for a way to prevent this sister bond from developing further because the tighter they are the more definitively he is caught on the outside of it.
On the Sansa end of the relationship he’s seen the opening and now all he needs to do is give Arya a cause to display real rage towards Sansa. And, he knows full well that with what’s going on in Sansa’s head with regards to Arya and how dangerous she is, when Arya starts to act dangerous, and act angry, he knows where Sansa is going to turn.”

It's a dangerous game to play, particularly as we've already seen that Arya has a monster inside her that she's been suppressing since she returned to Winterfell, and there's no saying how she will react to her sister. Presumably, Littlefinger doesn't think the reaction will lead to Sansa's death, as that would be pretty hilariously counter-productive (unless he plans to sic the sisters on each other and focus his attentions on Bran instead?)

That's somewhat unlikely, of course, so perhaps Littlefinger is banking on Arya simply leaving in disgust? The problem for him, of course, is that all it will take is a well-placed word from Bran to reveal Baelish betrayed Ned and is manipulating them both and he's done for. And it's hard to see anything other than that in the long term for the slippery manipulator, to be perfectly honest.

And whether that will see him killed by Arya when she discovers the truth, or by Brienne, fulfilling her oath to protect the Stark daughters remains to be seen, but you have to suspect Brienne is still at Winterfell for some reason rather than being part of the raiding party heading beyond the Wall currently.

So it won't work out well for Littlefinger, but at least he's back in the Game for a while.

Did you enjoy 'Eastwatch'? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.

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