If you could put sole blame on a single person for the events that follows in ASoIaF, who would it be?

[Pecnut]

Quite often in a song of ice and fire, I repeatedly come across "This never would have happened if such and such..." So in your own personal opinion (entirely opinion orientated), who do you think is responsible for the sequence of events that follows in the series?

Rhaegar Targaryen: Abducted Lyanna Stark, many argue that this was the big pow that made the war kick off

Aerys Targaryen: The Mad King. Descended into madness, made very unwise decisions which had grave consequences. Dismissed Tywin Lannister, married Rhaegar to Elia Martel, murdered Brandon and Rickard Stark etc.

Robert Baratheon: The Usurper. Rebelled against his King, causing a mighty rebellion within the Seven Kingdoms, seized the Throne.

Jaime Lannister: Kingslayer, oathbreaker, the man without honour. Went against his King's orders and broke his oath by murdering King Aerys and ending the war in favour of the Usurper. Had an incestuous relationship with his sister Cersei resulting in children believed to be Robert Baratheons, this would later go on to be one of the major reasons for the beginning of the War of the Five Kings.

Cersei Lannister: Was not loyal to Robert and had an incestuous relationship with Jaime, resulting in Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen.

Tywin Lannister: Sided with Robert Baratheon during the rebellion, deceived King Aerys by initially pretending that he was there to save the Targaryen Dynasty, which then later resulted in the Sack of Kings Landing.

Barristan Selmy: Holds solemn regret and often blames himself shamefully for failing to dismount Rhaegar Targaryen at the tourney of Harrenhal, where he believe that he could of prevented the rebellion by stopping Rhaegar from crowning Lyanna as queen of love and beauty. Instead crowning his own love, Ashara Dayne.

Varys: The Spider. It is argued that he was the enhancer of King Aerys's madness, continually whispered into his ear of rumours and apparent traitors etc.

Maester Pycelle: Deceived King Aerys by advising him to open his gates to the Lannister forces, in which King Aerys trusted his advice and counsel and disregarded Jaime Lannister's and Varys's.

Daenerys Targaryen: Blamed by Viserys for not being born sooner so that Rhaegar could of taken her as a wife and never would have laid eyes on Lyanna Stark.

Viserys Targaryen: In turn blamed by Daenerys for not being born a female...

Other?

[Victarion Chainbreaker]

George.

[Lemonking]

There is only one mastermind behind this all, Littlefinger

[OmnomnomPomelo]

The last hero (aka Azor Ahai, hero of Hyrkoon, etc.), coz he saved humanity during the Long Night.

[The Prince Of Tatters]

Maester Aemon, if he had accepted the throne when offered, then the mad king Aerys would never have been king

[Lowborn]

The one person most responsible for the events in ASOIAF is in my opinion Littlefinger. It's clear that he was the one who started the conflict by having Lysa murder Jon Arryn, and probably influencing Joffrey to execute Eddard. Right now he is conspiring against the Lannisters. He created the current conflict and is taking steps to ensure it goes on.

However, I don't think he is the only person responsible. Even if Littlefinger did not exist there would be a conflict sooner or later when Varys' plan starts. Without Littlefinger and Varys the only known conspiring person left is Cersei and I don't think she would have been successful on her own. Without Littlefingers first support she looses to Eddard big time. Maybe she doesn't even manage to murder Robert.

And of course, after Littlefinger and Varys there is still a big conflict left, the biggest one. The Others. But since we currently don't know enough about why they are attacking now, it is impossible to say who is to blame for it. I personally believes it is part of a bigger set of events that lies beyond any human's machinations.

I don't count people like Aerys or Rhaegar since I would consider it to happen outside the scope of the books. If we go that far back, why not even further? The Dance that killed off most Dragons? Aegon's conquest? I draw the line at the actions during and just before the books.

[Rrachel]

You missed LF

[Ingelheim]

Littlefinger.

[Gibzit]

Storm King Argilliac for not accepting Aegon's offer to marry Orys to his Daughter

[Lord Lyman]

Bran for not listening to his mother, and continuing to climb towers.

[Equilibrium]

Eddard fucking Stark, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow caused the invasion of Others too.

[King Tyrion I]

Littlefinger

[BrianBoru]

Rhaegar may have caused RR, but that ended years ago.

Cersei and Catelyn caused tWot5K.

[ummester]

The last hero (aka Azor Ahai, hero of Hyrkoon, etc.), coz he saved humanity during the Long Night.

Or whatever leader took the First Men to Westeros in the first place - there may not have been a Long Night if the humans just stayed in Essos.

[Lion of the West]

I put the blame on Littlefinger. Together with Varys he is the architect of Westeros' current suffering.

[KingofSothoryos]

Of course it is Littlefinger!

If LF had killed Brandon Stark in their duel for Catelyn's hand, Brandon would never have gone to KL to challenge Rhaegar. Then Rickard Stark would never have gone to KL for both of them to die and for the Mad King to call for Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark's heads. Without the life or death implications, Jon Arryn and Ned would counsel caution on Robert's part.

Lyanna never wanted to marry Robert, so she and Rhaegar would have had time to come back from the ToJ and explain that they got married and Lyanna was pregnant. Lyanna would have had the care of the maesters, so she may not have died. Robert may have been mad but I'm sure the fact of being spurned and a lot of wine and access to pretty much every available woman, high or low born in the 7 Kingdoms and Free Cities, would help him forget his idealized love for Lyanna.

LF is contented by marrying Catelyn, so he doesn't scheme, Varys and Illyrio don't have the pretense of fAegon and Danaerys grows up in the Red Keep, probably gets married to Visaerys, Aegon or Jon and Rhaenys would be married to one of the other, leaving one male blood royal to marry to a great house. Sadly though, this probably means there are no dragons.

Oh yeah, Aerys probably gets around to killing Tywin at some point and Casterly Rock falls to Tyrion. After Tywin's death Aerys tells Tyrion that he's his father and legitimizes him on his death bed as a Targaryan as one last slap at Tywin as the male line of the mainline of House Lannister will die with him since Jaime is in the Kingsguard. Cersei probably still gets married to Robert, so no twincest or Joffrey, since Cersei would be at Strom's End and Jaime in the Kingsguard.

So Jon Snow grows up with his real father Rhaegar in KL or on Dragonstone, but he still has an affinity for the North through his mother. He and his brother Aegon read the same scrolls Rhaegar does and are prepared when Mance and the wildlings and when the Others come. Ned probably marries Lysa, so his kids still have the Stark/Tully blood that made them all wargs and Bran a greenseer. Bloodraven still summons him but now Bran has brother's and uncles and cousins in the Royal family so he can communicate with them about how to defeat the Others.

So you see, it all comes down to LF and if he had been strong and fierce and beaten Brandon Stark, all would have worked out in Westeros and thousands wouldn't have had to die!

[OmnomnomPomelo]

Rhaegar may have caused RR, but that ended years ago.

Cersei and Catelyn caused tWot5K.

With this way of logic we can go back into history for hundreds and thousands of years. For example you say Cersei caused the war. In this way: I guess Cersei caused it coz destroyed Robert's letter of his will and prisoned Ned. But it is possible only coz Ned went to KL after Jon Arryn's death, who was killed by Lysa and Littlefinger, so they caused the war. But Robert chose Ned, so he caused the war. And Robert became king coz he started and won a rebellion to get back Lyanna who was stolen by Rhaegar, so Rhaegar caused it. Etc. etc. etc. it's a never ending path.

Also a lot of you say that Littlefinger is behind everything. But Littlefinger himself was "caused" by more people, for example Hoster Tully=didn't marry his daughter to a lowborn, Jon Arryn=brought Littlefinger to KL, Brandon Stark=bullied LF, etc.

So this is why I think that the "prehistoric" guys are behind everything, like the last hero, or this:

Or whatever leader took the First Men to Westeros in the first place - there may not have been a Long Night if the humans just stayed in Essos.

[Isobel Harper]

I dare say Aerys, the unreliable king who had ultimate power.

[imaginepageant]

Littlefinger.

If he hadn't killed Jon Arryn, Robert wouldn't have gone to Winterfell to ask Ned to be Hand of the King, Bran wouldn't have caught Cersei and Jaime, Joffrey wouldn't have sent the assassin to kill Bran, Catelyn wouldn't have arrested Tyrion, and so on and so on.

[Chaircat Meow]

Cersei Lannister.