Game Of Thrones Theory: Arya Will Kill Littlefinger In "The Spoils Of War"
Littlefinger? More like LittleChanceOfSurviving...
The time you've all been waiting for is coming. Lord Littlefinger Baelish is approaching the end of his watch, and we have a fairly good picture of not only how it's going to happen but when and why. And the key is the Catspaw Dagger that we knew was going to turn up again at some point in the near future.
First, a little history lesson about the Valyrian Steel weapon. It first appeared back in season one as the instrument of murder intended to silence Bran for good in the failed assassination attempt supposedly set up by the Lannisters. With the assassin's throat torn out by Summer, the dagger comes into the possession of Catelyn Stark, who is led to believe it belonged to Tyrion Lannister (as suggested, inevitably, by Littelfinger). She kidnaps him, he absolves himself of guilt in a trial by combat, and the world keeps turning.
The dagger was last seen in Littlefinger's possession after he presumably took it as a trophy when he betrayed Ned Stark (on whose desk the dagger sat in season one, episode four, "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things.") But it's about to come back.
The teaser for the next episode of season 7 - The Spoils Of War - sees the Catspaw Dagger shown very briefly, being drawn in a darkened room...
And if you're wondering whose hands those are: look at the rings. They match these ones rather perfectly...
So it would seem that Littlefinger has murder on his mind in the next episode, and given the fact that Bran is back in Winterfell - and is an almighty obstacle to Littlefinger's plans to have Sansa on as many thrones as possible, since he's the legitimate Lord of Winterfell - it isn't too much of a jump to imagine that that's who he's trying to kill.
He can't succeed, obviously, because as Creepy Bran is keen to let everyone know, he is the Three-Eyed Raven and he has to witness everything going to sh*t when the Long Night comes once more. So presumably he's going to be interrupted in his quest to kill Bran (because, remember, literally everything in this world is destined to be repeated).
And the interruptor is very key. It's not Sansa, because - as much as she's a fierce, independent leader, she's still a little ensnared by Baelish. It's not Brienne, despite her being entirely wasted in Winterfell. And there's nobody else there to help. Well not yet anyway.
The key to this theory is also in the teaser for episode four: Arya is coming home. Here she is wistfully gazing at her family home after disappearing for an entire episode.
It would be pretty poetic for Arya to be the one to rescue her brother, since she's mostly been using her killing skills to serve her own agenda in the name of her family, but there's more to the evidence than that.
Thanks to the Entertainment Weekly cover released ahead of season 7's debut, it was revealed that Arya has the Catspaw Dagger just casually added to her Winterfell costume...
It seems the stars are aligning, and with Littlefinger's murderous plot, the dagger and Arya all in play in Winterfell in the next episode, it's almost impossible for it not to unspool exactly like this. She will rumble him - possibly mid-stab - and either use the knife to immediately open his veins, or he will be imprisoned.
Given Arya's penchant for dispensing immediate, bloody vengeance, there's no way he'll get to a trial - particularly if she discovers the part he played in Sansa's abuse at Ramsay's hands. The long and short of it is that Littlefinger HAS to die.
What do you think of this episode? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.