"There was a a line in a recent episode of the show where, he’s not even present, but two people are..."
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GRRM on Littlefinger - WinterIsComing.net
To be clear, I enjoy Aidan Gillen and showLittlefinger a great deal. But that’s mostly because that adaptation takes all the things I already believe about that character and confirms them by forefronting them.
(via inthisworldonlywinteriscertain)
Uh….I think George R.R Martin is somewhat forgetting his own writing on this point. In Bran II, even *Jaime*, who doesn’t give a damn about politics, says “the King might as easily have named one of his brothers, or even Littlefinger, gods help us. Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I’ll sleep more easily by night.” Add on to that Cersei treating him like a tool in Sansa IV, Stannis wanting to purge him from the Small Council, Tyrion in ACOK, Varys overall, etc. etc. Hell, even Ned doesn’t really trust him, as late as Eddard XII: "there was something in Littlefinger’s japes that irked him. The man was too clever by half…aside from his own retainers, there was scarcely a man in this city he trusted. Littlefinger had concealed Catelyn and helped Ned in his inquiries, yet his haste to save his own skin when Jaime and his swords had come out of the rain still rankled."
People don’t trust Littlefinger, but he’s made himself indispensable, so they have to work with him because he’s the only one who understands the money. But I do agree that people think of him as powerless because he doesn’t have land, bannermen, etc.
(via racefortheironthrone)
Tyrion is suspicious of LF but a LOT of people brush him aside as insignificant. It’s not that he successfully projects “HERO”, it’s more that he uses the prejudices of his classist society as a shield. So MOST people DON’T distrust LF, because MOST people don’t even think of him that much. We’re seeing the story through high level courtiers, but there are wayyyyy more “underling” type figures that LF has successfully fooled.
There are several emotional and plot beats that operate on the idea that people do not suspect LF *enough* (even some who have an aversion to him like Ned). They dismiss him because of traits that are coded as unmanly in the society, and this is to their detriment. There is a similar thematic thing going on with Varys.
I think GRRM is pretty accurate about Littlefinger. Do other high level players trust him? No, but they’re the elite, and even they don’t totally grasp the depth of his danger factor.
(via onionjulius)
Interesting! So many of the interactions in the book are about displays of strength and respect. It’s all very codified, but because Littlefinger is an outsider, a worm instead of a dragon, a creature deserving of disdain if not outright contempt, he isn’t bound by the same rules. In a way, he’s using guerrilla warfare when everyone else is wearing uniforms and marching around in lines.