It was clear to me in that scene with Littlefinger and Tywin that we as viewers were supposed to understand that Littlefinger recognized Arya.
I’ll have to go look at the scene where Littlefinger tells Sansa that Arya is alive, but he’s trying to soothe her or convince her to go along with his plans, right? So he’d tell her that Arya was alive if he thought it would help him regardless if he actually knows she’s alive.
Arya serves Littlefinger and Tywin at Harrenhal in the middle of the war. At the time Robb is winning. I find it implausible that Littlefinger would be aware of that great of a bargaining chip and do nothing about it.
It’s definitely open to interpretation, I just don’t think it’s a slam dunk that Littlefinger knows she’s alive (or knew she was alive two years ago).
I think Littlefinger recognized her and deliberately withheld the info from Tywin. Littlefinger’s game plan at the time was to sow as much chaos as he could. When Tywin and Littlefinger were at Harrenhall (and were served by Arya), Robb was winning every battle and was a serious threat to the established monarchy. Why would Littlefinger willingly return things to the status quo by effectively neutering the one thing that was causing the greatest chaos? That wouldn’t help him in the least.
On the other hand, the knowledge that Arya was alive could be used at some point in the future, if Robb was able to win the whole shebang or at least force a negotiated peace. Robb (and Cat) were under the impression that Arya and Sansa were essentially hostages in King’s Landing. By withholding his knowledge about Arya, Littlefinger kept all his options open – depending on how the war went, he could leverage that info to his greatest benefit.
That was my thinking, too. Even if he said nothing in Tywin’s presence, he would probably seek out Arya in privacy and either get info from her, or offer to spirit her away from Harrenhal. They could probably create a cover story that she had run away (as she did, eventually), but not reveal to Tywin et al. at that moment that she was with him. Having another Stark daughter in his pocket, so to speak, could be very useful later on.
I think at the time it was supposed to be ambiguous whether he recognized Arya but subsequent events, such as him outright saying she is alive, confirmed he did indeed recognize her.
I am still wondering what is over all motivation is. Sure he implies it was love for Cat but I don’t buy it. I guess it could be power but he was already a Lord. I am really curious what his end game eventually ends up being.
It just makes very little sense to me that he would recognize her and then do absolutely nothing about it. There was no reason for him to expect she would stay were she was ready to be plucked whenever he had need for her. No, if he had recognized her he would have done everything he could to get his hands on her to keep her as another ace in the hole. Watching that whole scene again he keeps trying to get a look at her face the entire time but he clearly doesn’t at any point.
Also, i am surprised no one has mentioned the body under the sheet in Maester Mengeles “lab”. While watching it we actually rewinded that part before the jump because we noticed the sheet was moving slightly as if it was breathing. I assume that has to be the Mountain since Cersei let him take care of him.
Go back to his monologue in the brothel that ends with “now play wisth her arse” and I think he plainly lays it out, they(lords, whole royalty system) fucked him, and now he is fucking them.
I think he is a smart, egotistical guy locked out of the things he feels should be his due to his low birth, and now he is just trying to cause as much chaos for the hereditary lords system as possible and doesn’t care how much chaos it causes.
He is almost a mirror for Dany.
Yeah, Littlefinger gains absolutely nothing from “Arya WAS alive a year ago and was serving as a servant at Harrenhal”. If he recognized her he would have done one of two things:
(a) tell Tywin and gain favor with the Lannisters (very valuable)
or
(b) send someone to kidnap her, figuring that a random nobody little girl vanishing from Harrenhal wouldn’t cause much commotion
It’s possible that he tried to do (b) and failed, but I think a much more likely explanation is that he just didn’t recognize her. He’s a master schemer, but he’s not incapable of error.
Yes, he has explicitly laid out his motivation and his broad plan. There’s no mystery there.
We might not know at a tactical level what is behind each of Littlefinger’s decisions, but it is absolutely clear what he is doing at a strategic level.
He is fucking with everyone in the traditional power structure of Westeros. He wants to set them all against each other, create absolute chaos so that none of the traditional institutions of society is able to exercise power in any meaningful way. Chaos. He wants chaos. Simple.
And then he expects to step into that chaos and come out on top.
And a foil for Varys, I feel. Varys lies a lot, but when he says that his ultimate goal is peace, I believe him. He’s trying to install as ruler whoever will bring the least death to the realm.
So he’s Westeros’s Joker? Chaos for Chaos’s sake? I find that hard to believe. Given he is the linchpin that literally set the entire series into motion (it was the death of John Arryn and the implication the Lannisters did it that started all this), there needs to be more than “I did it for the Lulz”.
Then again I guess he could be looked at as a counter weight to Varrys. Varrys is a force trying to stabilize, strengthen and improve the world and Littlefinger is a force trying to tear it down.
It’s not chaos for chaos’s sake, it’s chaos to remove the existing power structure so he can take power.
I’m not saying he should have revealed her to Tywin, just that he should have done something. Just knowing it’s Arya does nothing for him. Kidnap her! Littlefinger deals in human trafficking as a career. I think if he recognized her, she would’ve ended up in a sack and locked up in the Eyrie or the Fingers somewhere.
Right. Littlefinger isn’t from a big powerful family. If the existing power structures are in place the best he can do was probably Master of Coin. That’s not enough.
For the sake of argument, let’s say Littlefinger didn’t recognize Arya at Harrenhall.
Why was he so interested in seeing the face of a random servant girl?
EDIT: Here’s that scene on youtube.
Because she looked familiar? once he actually starts paying attention to her he actually doesn’t get a look at her face at all.
Sounds about right for two young sisters with very different personalities.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t care about each other or each other’s fate.
Did you miss where I said this?
“Top” to him might not mean that he actually rules Westeros in any meaningful way—the absence of any effective ruler might serve his needs just as well—but just that he has the ability to seize for himself whatever he wants whenever he wants.
He has to strike a delicate balance. TOO much chaos and the entire system comes crashing down and there isn’t a kingdom left for him to be king of (or power-behind-the-throne of). Not enough chaos and his lowly birth and general douchiness will prevent him from rising as high as he wants.
He’s certainly not the joker. He doesn’t want the world to burn, because if it burns, what will there be left for him to be in charge of so he can get back at the bullies who were mean to him in Westerosi High School?
But he’s probably willing to RISK the entire world burning if he thinks that’s his best shot at ending up on top.
Sounds about right to me.