[Spoiler extended] The motivations and plans of Littlefinger

I'm currently relistening to the books, working night shift so it is good to have something to think about- be gentle with me- i'm new here!

I have lurked on here a while, and a couple of things I find interesting when people discuss Littlefinger:

GRRM once said: “Book Littlefinger and television show Littlefinger are very different characters. They’re probably the character that’s most different from the book to the television show. There was a a line in a recent episode of the show where, he’s not even present, but two people are talking about him and someone says ‘Well, no one trusts Littlefinger’ and ‘Littlefinger has no friends.’ And that’s true of television show Littlefinger, but it’s certainly not true of book Littlefinger. Book Littlefinger, in the book, everybody trusts him. Everybody trusts him because he seems powerless, and he’s very friendly, and he’s very helpful. He helps Ned Stark when he comes to town, he helps Tyrion, you know, he helps the Lannisters. He’s always ready to help, to raise money. He helps Robert, Robert depends on him to finance all of his banquets and tournaments and his other follies, because Littelfinger can always raise money. So, he’s everybody’s friend. But of course there’s the Machiavellian thing. He’s, you know, everybody trusts him, everybody depends on him. He’s not a threat. He’s just this helpful, funny guy, who you can call upon to do whatever you want, and to raise money, and he ingratiaties himself with people and rises higher and higher as a result.”

I think surely it is more nuanced than that, Petyr IS a threat, but he's not recognised by most of the other players as one. Petyr has been looked down upon for most of his life, even now at the height of his power, he doesn't *belong*, because he is not from a great family. He reminds me a bit of a Cardinal Wolsley figure to Henry VIII, and history shows how that worked out. Once he became an 'equal' to other lords and not 'the help', resentment and jealousy eventually led to his downfall.

So why am I saying this?

Well the stage is set: he is the lord of Harenhall, the consort/protector of one of the great houses, he has immense wealth, and he also has a wolf still in his pocket. He will be feared, as he perhaps never has been before, because he has become a major player in the game- even if he does nothing, and no word of his other plotting is revealed.

If I look at people in the real world who I believe are similar to Littlefinger, what do I think they yearn for? To me Littlefinger yearns for importance, relevance, and he wants to 'be someone' (we see this in his reaction when Tyrion offers him Harenhall). I don't think he ever loved Cat, i.e for the woman herself. No he loved the idea of marrying a beautiful great lords daughter, and how important that would make him. I refuse to believe when Ned died, that it didn't occur to him, he could go on to marry Cat, and fulfill that boyhood fantasy. It could easily be why he made efforts to secure Sansa too- if Littlefinger had brought Sansa back to Cat I doubt she would have refused him. Again not because I believe he loves *her* but because it would be his 'I made it moment'.

In Sansa, I believe he struggles between seeing her as the daughter he should have had (i.e with Cat). And between seeing her as his opportunity to make himself important (particularly now her mother is dead).

An undeniably greedy man, she is the lady of winterfell, he could essentially control two great houses by marrying her (beyond the wildest dreams of little boy Petyr). But the issue goes back to resentment and snobbery- they'd fight for Sansa, maybe even little Robin, but absolutely not him. His marriage to Lysa, is very unpopular, and she's considered quite a sour and matronly woman. But a young, fertile heiress? That's going to go down like a political sack of shit in the Vale, especially a beautiful maiden of a noble house with close ties of friendship to their own liege house.

Now he could solve that, by having some children with her pronto, but war etc, it's a risky route. Robin is also sickly, and likely to die, his power in the vale would vanish almost immediately.

I think he's self aware enough to understand this, but equally he clearly is sort of grooming her too. I think this is a head vs trousers situation for him. His good sense should tell him, marrying Sansa to a noble lord suitable to her, would beget gratitude from all sides, and thus help him retain influence. But as he's probably the second richest man in the seven kingdoms, maybe he thinks his gold can make up for his lack of breeding? He could even leave the Vale to restore the north and riverlands.

Why does he tell her about the match though? To me the obvious thing would be, it's a lie, but why? If he told her honestly about his own plans to marry her, would she be likely to confide in one of the vale lords and ask for help? This is surely a ploy to keep her quiet and compliant while he works out his plan.

Sansa herself should be a ticking time bomb, she is described as having her mothers 'look', and the knights of the vale have spent years looking at Lysa, and we know they too look alike. The older and more beautiful she gets, even with dying her hair to a dark brown, that resemblance is going to be more difficult to hide.

Ultimately, it is my belief that Littlefinger cares most about Littlefinger, and self preservation is highest on his priority list. I believe Sansa's fate relies on how quickly the Jon/dany character arc comes to fruition; i.e I don't think he's going to forcibly wed the half sister/cousin of Jon if Jon resurrects to become a central power..

Anyway i'm tired, so what do you think of my night time ramblings?