(Spoilers) So what's Littlefinger up to?

[dornishdame]

Long-term (as much as LF plans long-term) LF wants Sansa.  He is not going to be happy to see that she has teamed up with Jon - someone he will find it hard to manipulate - and should the likes of Davos and Tormund survive the season, I can't see him wanting to work with them either. 

For the short-term, though, LF should concern himself with Bronze Yohn Royce; as Bronze Yohn pointed out when Sansa revealed who she was to the Vale Lords in season 4 (and as they referenced in 'Home') Ned Stark grew up in the Eyrie and so the Vale Lords knew him well.  He looked pretty angry in the promo, and will not be happy to find that LF has given Sansa to the Boltons as part as a marriage pact. 

[Stangler]

17 hours ago, King Edd of House Tollet said:

This might be a strecht, but a way to Vale troops reach Winterfell is through White Harbor....Perhaps we will indeed have the Manderlys on the battle, and at the Stark side

I am kind of assuming this will happen too. The story will focus around LF bringing the Eyrie but it will also be noted that White Harbor joined in as well. The preview seems to be telegraphing that outcome so it could be a misdirect. We will see. 

[Stangler]

2 hours ago, Nerevanin said:

It's clear that the book LF wants Sansa for himself but he can't do it at the moment for several reasons. The show LF seems to be very similar in this aspect but I think that he did a terrible mistake in his master plan when he let Sansa out of his sight in S5 which was critical for her. If he stayed with her and bring her with him, they could become some kind of business partners imo, but she was left alone and will probably see it as a betrayal (although she agreed to marry Ramsay, which I am sure she won't remember if/when she meets LF again) and with Brienne by her side Sansa will surely become more confident, independent and strong. LF will have a hard time persuading Sansa to marry him.

LF clearly wants to control the north in the books and the show. Not because he really wants to rule it but that he wants it to be loyal to him and his plans. 

He will be losing control of Sansa though and after the Starks win back the north their attention will turn to the Freys and the Riverlands. The Eyrie is very important for them to do anything there. 

I think the High Sparrow is about to shake up everything with regards to the Lannisters and Highgarden and the Crown. 

[CrastorsLivingSon]

23 hours ago, DJE said:

I am starting to think that LF will be th eone who reveals R+L=J to Jon

How in the name of the seven gods does that wanna-be batman know R+L=J?  Because D$D like him?  Jebus if they do the reveal with him .... 

[ArthurDude]

I kind of assume he's working on a way to eliminate SR. In the absence of Harry the Heir, possibly jockeying for the position himself. SR does not survive the series. 

[Smoke317]

Littlefinger wants Sansa for himself but not without the power. He already made a deal with Cersei to become warden of the north and kill Sansa. If he gains full control of the north, he wouldn't kill her though. He'd go to war for her against the Lannisters with the Vale backing. The problem he'll encounter will be Bran returning as the rightful heir of winterfell. As well as Sansa having grown and changed since he last saw her with people that really care about her surrounding her now.  She won't be so easily manipulated this time.  That look that Royce gave didn't look too pleasing. Perhaps Littlefinger will overplay his hand and lose his head at the end of this season. But knowing him, he'll survive and probably turn his eye towards the Riverlands with Sansa as his chess piece. If lady stone heart shows up, he'll die by hanging at her command. Now that would be the perfect way for him to die. Killed by the lady he's always loved for causing all of the drama that's gone on. But they may save that for next season. But that shocked looked he had on his face while standing in the forest kinda implies he checks out this year. Perhaps it will be bran who spills the beans on him...

[A Ghost of Someone]

19 hours ago, Ashlesha said:

In last season LF had taken Cercei's permission to take the army north and destroy the Boltons. He is going to do just that. LF does not have experience in warfare. He is not going to lead the army, he is going to camp it out in Vale.

Royce will lead the army.

Sansa is going to use this army.

No, He will be with the Army but him leading it into Battle is not likely but then again, we have Shirtless Ramsay and Ramsay the Great so anything is possible.

[A Ghost of Someone]

9 hours ago, bb1180 said:

Myself,  I'm reluctant to place much blame on Sansa for the Bolton situation.  Technically, she did agree to it,  but it wasn't her idea and she didn't exactly go into it enthusiastically.  She did it because Littlefinger manipulated her into doing it and convinced her it was in her best interests (when it was really in HIS best interests).  She's not stupid,  but she is young,  naive and trusting,  and Littlefinger used those weaknesses,  his position as her mentor/guardian and his overall position of power in their relationship to his advantage. 

If LF really wanted Sansa to have a choice in the marriage, he would have told her at Royce's stronghold. Instead, he lied to Royce, snuck her out of the Vale, led her to believe the proposal was for him and when at Moat Cailin, where he knew she would figure out, he told her then, when she was surrounded by LF and 8 loyal to him knights and no where else to go. If LF had not delivered Sansa to the Boltons, a known fugitive for Regicide, the Boltons could have sent the "marriage proposal" that had to be  orginally sent by LF to get "the ball rolling" to Cersie and LF would have been stripped of his titles and a wanted man. So, although Sansa went along with this, it did not take a brain surgeon to see that she was going to Winterfell whether she wanted too or not. Then, she was surrounded by Boltons with no body guards or anywhere to go. A little old lady and a candle. Not much of a choice.

[A Ghost of Someone]

3 hours ago, Smoke317 said:

  But that shocked looked he had on his face while standing in the forest kinda implies he checks out this year. Perhaps it will be bran who spills the beans on him...

The Hound is coming back this year and he loves Sansa, he also knows, as he was Joff's main personal bodyguard that LF did her father in. If he gets wind of Sansa's plight and that LF had something to do with it, the Hound might do Lord Baelish, for her.

[bb1180]

8 minutes ago, A Ghost of Someone said:

If LF really wanted Sansa to have a choice in the marriage, he would have told her at Royce's stronghold. Instead, he lied to Royce, snuck her out of the Vale, led her to believe the proposal was for him and when at Moat Cailin, where he knew she would figure out, he told her then, when she was surrounded by LF and 8 loyal to him knights and no where else to go. If LF had not delivered Sansa to the Boltons, a known fugitive for Regicide, the Boltons could have sent the "marriage proposal" that had to be  orginally sent by LF to get "the ball rolling" to Cersie and LF would have been stripped of his titles and a wanted man. So, although Sansa went along with this, it did not take a brain surgeon to see that she was going to Winterfell whether she wanted too or not. Then, she was surrounded by Boltons with no body guards or anywhere to go. A little old lady and a candle. Not much of a choice.

No argument.  Although the marriage proposal is presented as a choice,  it wasn't much of one.  Manipulation and yes,  a not-entirely-subtle amount of coercion were in play as well.  That's why I'm pretty reluctant to place blame on Sansa for that situation. 

[jbob]

On 09/05/2016 at 9:23 AM, CrypticWeirwood said:

No, probably Osha.  

Unfortunately.

One of the trailers showed there were like a dozen people flayed.

[A Ghost of Someone]

41 minutes ago, bb1180 said:

No argument.  Although the marriage proposal is presented as a choice,  it wasn't much of one.  Manipulation and yes,  a not-entirely-subtle amount of coercion were in play as well.  That's why I'm pretty reluctant to place blame on Sansa for that situation. 

The show runners and in particular Bryan Cogman, who wrote the actual wedding episode says that she was a hardened woman making a choice. To me it was never a question as to whether she was, it was more like, you can do this the easy way or it will be done the hard way. Not much of a choice indeed.

[TheLastLibrarian]

in the trailers we saw boltons versus starks so there are two possibilities :

• Baelish attacked Winterfell before the attack of the starks with the army of the Vale and failed miserably
• Baelish reaches Winterfell too late, the starks already won the war and took their home back (more plausible because we saw LF in the snow)

[Morgred]

1 hour ago, TheLastLibrarian said:

in the trailers we saw boltons versus starks so there are two possibilities :

• Baelish attacked Winterfell before the attack of the starks with the army of the Vale and failed miserably
• Baelish reaches Winterfell too late, the starks already won the war and took their home back (more plausible because we saw LF in the snow)

the 3rd option in the middle of battle  when stark almost lost it came arryns army like stanis to castle black. They will defeat bolton army, catch ramsay and in ep 9 we will finally see ramsay tortured and killed :3

[TheLastLibrarian]

57 minutes ago, Morgred said:

the 3rd option in the middle of battle  when stark almost lost it came arryns army like stanis to castle black. They will defeat bolton army, catch ramsay and in ep 9 we will finally see ramsay tortured and killed :3

Yes, It's a possibility but there is  too much 'deus-ex-machina' in it

[tinka10]

9 hours ago, Smoke317 said:

That look that Royce gave didn't look too pleasing.

He didn't look happy at all! I have a feeling The Vale are going to sit this one out (again). Little Finger is going to have to convince them hard to go to war, otherwise he'll have to find other means to 'help' Sansa.

[Lemore]

On 5/9/2016 at 0:16 AM, Darren Allen said:

The spoiler picture showing someone flayed and burning on a cross? My guess is that is LF.

Nah, LF is an important player in this, I think he'll be there till the bitter end

[bb1180]

8 hours ago, A Ghost of Someone said:

The show runners and in particular Bryan Cogman, who wrote the actual wedding episode says that she was a hardened woman making a choice. To me it was never a question as to whether she was, it was more like, you can do this the easy way or it will be done the hard way. Not much of a choice indeed.

It seems like I actually remember them saying that now.  Pfft.

I'm on the same page you are.  If that's what they wished the whole sequence to convey,  they failed miserably.  

[Lautrec]

I think LF's overall plan is to become Warden of the North (but it only really works if we assume that he did know what Ramsay was, and generally doesn't care about Sansa as a human being but only as an embodiment of his desires and ambitions). He wants this not just for power but to be like Ned was, in regards to Catelyn. Anyways, the plan being:

1. Marry Sansa to Ramsay
2. Ask for Cersei's approval of invading the North to kill the Boltons after telling her that Sansa was found, concealing your own involvement in the marriage pact. For the reward if successful, ask to be named Warden of the North
3. Return to the Vale and manipulate Robin into gathering the Vale army and naming yourself as their commander, under the pretense of rescuing Sansa, her mistreatment being the casus belli (Here, he can feign ignorance of knowing what Ramsay would be like)
4. Invade the North and defeat the Boltons
5. Return Sansa to Cersei and be named Warden of the North, with all the Boltons and Starks now dead 


So, I think the steps 1-4 will be successful, but Littlefinger will die near the end of the season, having step 5 foiled, by either Sansa (realizing what he did to her) or Jon, or someone else. Also, Cersei probably will not be in a position to grant requests. 

This is a bit tangential, but, since we know that Walder Frey is in this season, does anybody think that while marching North with his army that LF will have the Freys killed as revenge for killing Catelyn?

[TheLastLibrarian]

1 minute ago, Lautrec said:

4. Invade the North and defeat the Boltons

But we saw in the trailers a battle between starks and boltons!!