The one where I Defend Benioff & Weiss
I think many people were baffled by Arya and Sansa’s deadly ‘surprise’ turn on Peter Baelish.
I was not.
I became convinced Arya was ‘working’ Littlefinger after the Beyond the Wall episode (a ‘work’ for non-wrestling fans, is when you totally fool someone):
Many folks appear to be very frustrated with the conclusion of the Arya, Sansa, and Littlefinger subplot. Today, for example, here were some of the quotes from a “Winter Is Coming” roundtable on the finale:
Dan said: “I enjoyed Littlefinger’s death scene, but I would have liked it more if the build-up had been more carefully written.”
Corey said: “Littlefinger’s death scene was fantastic in a vacuum, but we can’t forget the sloppiness of how we got there.”
Richard said: “The Sansa/Jon and Sansa/Littlefinger/Arya conflicts at Winterfell have felt forced and over-accelerated all season, and that took some of the dramatic explosiveness out of the excellent scene where the Stark girls finally bring Littlefinger down.”
And, trust me, not only have I seen hundreds of other folks saying it on Twitter and in articles, I felt it myself. At least I felt that way until, with the help of some Reddit therapy, I started to see the world clearly again.
So, here it is, the Arya/Littlefinger/Arya subplot was NOT that sloppily written. I suspect that the reason we were all so surprised is that we aren’t used to Benioff and Weiss being subtle (okay, maybe my defense of B & W is not exactly full-throated).
The “Game of Sisters” broke down like this:
- Sansa NEVER trusted Littlefinger but was using him until she had a more reliable base of power. Sansa also did not trust Arya. Arya gave Sansa clues throughout that she was putting on a show (what the House Of Black and White calls the ‘Game of Faces’).
- Arya NEVER fell for Baelish’s ruse (she was letting him believe she had fallen for his ruse while using his ruse to build up his confidence and hubris).
- The proof Sansa was thinking for herself was that she sent Brienne away. This was a very strategic move, clearly designed to increase Littlefinger’s confidence that she had nobody to rely on but him (and getting great leverage out of his patriarchal belief that she needs HIS protection).
- Arya eventually convinced Sansa she was on her side (by telling her she wanted to wear fancy dresses then handing her the knife) and then, according to an interview with Isaac Hemphill Wright (aka Bran), she confirmed the details of Baelish’s crimes with Bran (who has access to Treeflix).
Now, I don’t blame you for not seeing it (in all honesty, I didn’t see it until I re-watched Season the episodes in question after reading some Reddit posts).
I was pretty grumpy during my recap of ‘Eastwatch’:
“…also pretty grumpy that Arya, trained by the best house of Assassins in the world, doesn’t know to watch her own back? She is like a super ninja but allows herself to be easily duped and then followed by a guy who sure has some experience in political games but is not a super-ninja. I am supposed to believe that she doesn’t even understand basic entry-level spycraft? Total nonsense.”
In my recap of ‘Beyond the Wall,’ I put it like this:
“Arya is an assassin trained at the best school of killing, intrigue, and spycraft in the world of ASOIAF. The Assassins of the House of Black and White literally specialize in misdirection and in the careful planning of operations. They are so obsessive about carrying out their contracts they even made Arya learn how to infiltrate and kill while blind. Despite this, after planting two simple false leads and “hiding’ a note in his room so inartfully and obviously that even a clumsy oaf like me could have found it we are supposed to believe that Arya would fall hook, line, and sinker into this ‘genius trap’ by Littlefinger?”
But then I started thinking, what if Arya seeming to be hoodwinked was exactly the point?
Trust me, the whole thing makes a LOT more sense if you start off by assuming that Arya knew what Littlefinger was attempting from the very beginning.
Because, I know people are still not comfortable with this twist, I will try to answer some of your questions in advance:
Littlefinger was too smart to let this happen:
Except that the exact same thing was as true of Arya as it was of Baelish.
If Littlfinger had duped Arya, it would have made even less sense (she is arguably the second or third best living Assassin on the planet at this point, she took out the entire House of Frey in ONE meal).
But, I suspect, it makes much more sense for Littlefinger to fall for this. Think about it, he started the War of the Five Kings and nobody ever suspected him. He was survived for decades influencing events from the shadows. By now, Baelish has a lot of confidence in his ability to interfere in major events while not being seen.
There really is only one person who plays the game like Baelish does and Varys has never had reason to start a “war of spiders” with Littlefinger. Baelish is MUCH more used to being confronted in more straightforward macho ways (like how Jon confronted him before going on his Wight hunt).
Littlefinger also seemed to see Arya as immature and certainly not smart enough to be playing the GoT on his level. In other words, he was suffering from a king size load of hubris.
It also becomes clear that while he might “Love” Sansa, it was not for her brain (and it was certainly not because he thinks she is anywhere near as smart as him). It would be hard for him, after thinking that he has been leading Sansa around at will for years, to see her as a strategic threat.
And, finally, let’s not forget that he is a man and she is a woman in a VERY patriarchal world. One of the main reasons it is hard to hate Cersei is because you can see how incredible she could have been as a thinker and leader but for being poisoned by a lifetime of being pushed aside because of her gender. Let’s just consider the ‘Walk of Shame.’ Robert Baratheon fathered dozens of bastards, and nobody said a word but Cersei had to be paraded through the streets of Westeros naked while nuns chanted “shame?”
It Only Worked Because She Consulted Bran:
Consulting Bran made the legal case much more convincing but he was not needed, at all, to make Sansa trust Arya or to help Arya trick Littlefinger (although as my friend Lon Shapiro noted “only in Game of Thrones could someone like Bran be considered credible legal evidence <I am paraphrasing>).
In my opinion, this argument is a Red Herring. Sure, it helped to be able to consult the guy with Treeflix, but as I have demonstrated in detail, the clues were there prior to any consultation with Bran.
Why the Public Confrontations Between Sansa and Arya?
Pretty simple, marketing.
Arya was responsible for staging the public confrontations with Sansa to keep Baelish feeling confident in his plan.
Game of Faces?
Yup, it was a game played as part of the training at the House of Black and White. To play the Game of Faces, one person is supposed to make a bunch of statements and then the other person is supposed to guess which statements are TRUE.
Arya doesn’t seem to have a ton of confidence in Sansa either, so she plays a particularly obvious ‘Game of Faces’ with her.
Arya knew 100% that Sansa would know that Arya never wanted to wear pretty dresses or be the Lady of Winterfell. The true statement in her game was that she was on Sansa’s side, which she then backed up by handing her the dagger and turning her back (inviting Sansa to kill her if she wanted to).
Okay, I will try to answer any questions people send (as usual). Hope everyone is having a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Here is a comprehensive guide to everything I have posted about Season 7.
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