Thats What Ygritte Said

Weekly Game of Thrones Musings by Sam Ryu

Not to make hyperbolic statements or anything but... last weeks episode (S4E5, the one Im writing
about in this newsletter) might be the most important Game of Thrones episode up to this pointif
not from a structural point, then definitely from a story/plot one. I want to emphasize: not the best
or even the most shocking episode, but the most important. Why? Because it revealed that Lord
Petyr Littlefinger Baelish was the impetus for and the mastermind of almost all of the events
that weve witnessed in the past four and half seasons of this show. Or to use Matrix terms, he is
The Architect. You could see him almost break the fourth wall and wink at the audience as Lysa
Arryn spewed the revealing truth into his ears. In S3E4, Varys said, Littlefinger is one of the most
dangerous men in Westeros [...] But he would see this country burn if he could be king of the
ashes. So if you didnt take Littlefinger seriously then, you have to now. (Detailed breakdown of
his master plan below.) If he keeps playing the game like he is now, he will end up being king of
more than just the ashes. The reason this reveal is so great is because no one saw it coming. Before
this episode, Lysa Arryn was a fringe character (absent since S1E8) wed written off as Catelyns
crazy sister who still breastfeeds her way-too-old-for-breastfeeding son. And Littlefinger, while
entertaining and skin-crawling as hell, was an overzealous ladder climber with creepy facial hair
from a minor house. Now, they are as powerful and influential as the Tywin Lannisters of Westeros.

Season 4, Episode 5 First of His Name

Im mostly going to focus on the ramifications (in hindsight) of Littlefinger as The Architect, but
there were some really good moments in this episodethough surprisingly little of the new king,
Tommen Baratheon for whom the title of the episode is named. We got some A+ horse acting
from Podricks steed, Arya showing off her moves in Step Up 6: All Men Must Die, Oberyn the poet
(or is he scheming something with pen and paper, behind his desk la Tywin and the Red
Wedding?), Sansa eating more lemon cakes, and a Jon Snow/Ghost reunion (dawww). Also, step
aside Daenerys TargaryenHodor is the new Breaker of Chains. (Hodor!)
May 11, 2014
Lets start with a question. Why is Cersei being nice
(and generally less cunt-y) in this episode? I dont
doubt that shes being genuine in her protectiveness
over Tommen with Margaery, and her sense of family
duty with Tywin, or her sadness over Myrcella (her
daughter, currently with the Martells in Sunspear)
with Oberyn. But what do those three conversations
have in common? She has something to gain. She
wants Tyrion dead. The three judges for Tyrions
trial? Mace Tyrell (Margaerys father, with whom she
will discuss about becoming queen again), Tywin Lannister, and Oberyn Martell. I see you, Cersei.
Quick Hits: Remember how Jon explained that the signal for all the wildlings to attack the Wall
was when Mance Rayder lights the biggest fire the North has ever seen? What if they mistake
Crasters Keep burning as that biggest fire? Another lesson for Arya from Headmaster Hound of
the Hard Knock Academy. Arya, meet the backside of the Hounds left hand.
All this talk of Lannister insolvency has gotten the B.S.-in-business-from-USC inside me hot and
bothered. Tywin admits to Cersei that House Lannister is broke and basically has been doing the
Westerosi equivalent of printing money for the past three years (roughly since the most recent war
began). Even the powerful Tywin Lannister knows not to mess with the Iron Bank of Braavos, to
which he is a tremendous amount in debt. The Lannisters derive a lot of their power from their
perceived wealth (A Lannister always pays his debts.), so what happens when the Iron Bank comes to
collect? Or if the Iron Bank funds the Lannisters persistent enemy, Stannis Baratheon? The
Lannisters cant even ask for sub-prime loans from their closest and richest (current) ally, House
Tyrell, because that would show weakness and maybe even cause the Tyrells to reevaluate their
alliance-via-marriage of their two heirs Margaery (betrothed to Tommen) and Loras (betrothed to
Cersei). But the most underrated tangent to House Lannisters financial woes might be that
Littlefinger, during his stint as Master of Coin, purposely buried the Iron Throne in debt on debt
on debt. Looks like Littlefinger has his (little)fingerprints all over this mess.
Fun Trivia: Game of Thrones has shown it is not afraid to recast certain roles. Apparently they dont
have a problem giving castles between-season makeovers either. Check out the new and improved
Eyrie (the castle of House Arryn, in the Vale) compared to the old one from Season 1 (left).
May 11, 2014
The Saga of Petyr Baelish and Lysa Arryn
Now lets talk about these crazy kids, Littlefinger and Lysa Arryn. Littlefinger (originally from the
Vale) has been in love with Lysas sister, Catelyn, since he was a kid. Catelyn went on to marry into
the powerful Stark family of the North, while Lysa married into the Arryns of the Vale. This all
happened before the timeline of the show started, but apparently Littlefinger and Lysa have since
been busy behind the scenes. Lets do a
chronological cause-and-effect breakdown:
Cause: Lysa poisons and kills her husband, Jon
Arryn, who was acting as Robert Baratheons Hand.
Effect: Robert travels north to Winterfell to ask
Ned Stark to be his new Hand of the King. This
also means that Jaime and Cersei didnt kill Jon
Arryn, despite him knowing about their twincest.
Cause: Lysa Arryn, who fled back to the Vale from Kings Landing after Jons death, writes a letter
to Catelyn saying that she suspects the Lannisters are responsible for the poisoning.
Effect: Ned, who was comfortable in Winterfell and never wanted to be Hand of the King, is
driven by his sense of duty to accept the position and try to figure who killed Jon Arryn (who was a
father figure to both him and Robert. This sets all the pieces in place for Littlefinger.
Cause: After Bran is pushed off the tower, Littlefinger arms an assassin with his Valyrian steel
dagger to kill Bran. When asked by Catelyn whose dagger it was, Littlefinger says it once belonged
to him, but he lost it to Tyrion. Blame for the failed murder attempt is now redirected to Tyrion.
Effect: Catelyn believes Littlefingers lie and takes Tyrion as prisoner. This in turn angers Jaime (he
really does love Tyrion), which leads to the massacre of Stark men, a spear through Neds knee, and
ultimately Ned being taken as a prisoner and losing his head.
Cause: Littlefinger promises Catelyn both Sansa and Arya back if she releases Jaimedespite him
not knowing where the hell Arya is.
Effect: Catelyn does the motherly thing and agrees. This causes discord in the northern army and
eventually leads to a lot of the northern lords withdrawing their support for Robb Starks cause.
So basically, blame Littlefinger for everything going wrong (in his favor). What do you do when you
come from a minor house with no land, power, or army? Littlefinger pits the two strongest houses
(Lannister and Stark) against each other, weakening both sides. He then secretly marries a crazy
lady with a lot of power and an impregnable castle (it looks like they got married around the time
the show started), and uses her weird obsession for Littlefingers little finger to manipulate her to
do whatever he wants her to doincluding betraying her entire family (minus Robin). This explains
why Lysa didnt send troops to help Robbs forces and why she didnt go to her own dads funeral.
And because that isnt enough chaos, he masterminds the death of King Joffrey. Well played.
***If you want to join the weekly newsletter mailing list, send an email to samryu9@gmail.com
May 11, 2014