To answer this question, we need to delve into Sansa’s motives. Thus far, her primary motive was to survive and somehow get out of King’s Landing. When she arrives at the Eyrie, Sansa receives a very cold welcome from her own aunt, whose mind had become twisted with paranoia. Quickly, she realizes that in order to defend herself, she has to depend partly on Petyr Baelish’s aid. In the TV series, we see this reflected through her deflection of blame of Lysa’s demise away from Petyr. When Petyr goes to question Sansa’s reasons for helping him, she remarks that these relatives could thwart her as well.

While Petyr accepts her rationale for her succor, we have to wonder to what degree is Sansa being truthful here. Why is it that she ends up deceiving her own relatives and keeping Petyr alive? Currently, as far as we know, Sansa has not discovered Petyr’s ultimate motives nor his part in creating the chaos that has taken many of her family and friend’s lives. Without a doubt we can guess though that she more than likely suspects Petyr of corruption and hence maintains some healthy distance. If anything though, I think she does recognize that she needs Petyr at this very time to somehow get back home as she really doesn’t have any allies.

For Sansa, she already knows that her mother, father and eldest brother are all dead. There’s a very good chance that she has learned of Bran and Rickon’s “death” (as only a very select few know the truth). That only leaves Jon Snow as someone she might attempt to ally herself with except that the story never really depicts her relationship with Jon Snow as someone she’s close to (unlike Arya). Finally, we have Arya, whom despite her training, really offers nothing at this point as someone Sansa can rely on for support (not to mention Arya being too distant at this point and rumored to be possibly dead).

Given this situation, Sansa appears quite isolated in supporters. It’s quite clear that remaining in King’s Landing after Joffrey’s assassination will only spell her own doom. Thus, the north remains her only sanctuary. Unfortunately though, even in that situation, her options seem limited as Lysa’s threats against Sansa’s life proves that even family members might not be trustworthy.

What is clear though is that as the current, eldest, known, living family member of the Starks, Sansa does have proper ties back to Winterfell as the heir. It seems that in her current state, she only has the option to assume that responsibility or remain hunted. My guess is that deep within her, she has her mother’s heart and father’s sense of duty, thus pointing her to eventually accept the duty as the possible rightful heir to Winterfell.

In the little season 5 preview, we did hear Littlefinger insinuate to Sansa that she could avenge her family. The only way she can do such an act is to assume control over Winterfell and rally the north as the queen. Littlefinger’s plan thus far in A Feast for Crows is for her to continue under the guise of her alternate identity and marry Harrold Hardyng so that the Vale and the rest of the North will rally behind her. In this manner, she can use these forces to take revenge.

Yet something to ask is whether Sansa will remain naive in blindly accepting Petyr’s proposal or will she suspect an ulterior motive from him, especially after he blatantly told her that he desires “Everything.” When Petyr murders Lysa through shoving her out the Moon Door, Petyr admits aloud that he loved Catelyn while Lysa mentions that he has an unhealthy fondness for Sansa. Also, we do know that Sansa has learned from Cersei that “Tears aren’t a woman’s only weapon. The best one’s between your legs.” We have also seen her employ the first weapon against Lord Yohn Royce, Lady Anya Waynwood, and Ser Vance Corbray in defending Petyr. And one can argue that by allowing Petyr to (creepily) kiss her, she uses Cersei’s advice to assure Petyr’s trust.

Given these things, we have to assume that at the very least Sansa is suspicious. The only thing she’s missing is the connection to the events resulting from Petyr’s chicanery. I think what she will do is use Petyr to gain her own outfit of power and eventually expose Petyr’s machinations and have him executed. I do not know how the character of Harrold Hardyng will play into the storyline; it feels at this stage he’s too late in the game (pun partly intended) to make a huge difference and that somehow Petyr will concoct his demise so that Petyr can eventually wed Sansa himself, thus becoming lord of the North.

If somehow Petyr meets an untimely demise (which I predict if he, indeed, is not some supernatural entity), then what will happen to Sansa’s reign? The main thing is that Tyrion remains alive and legally is still married to Sansa. Petyr more than likely was attempting to kill Tyrion in having him framed so that Petyr could free up that claim for himself. Since Tyrion is missing though, Petyr will try to have their marriage annulled. My feeling is that Petyr will be too late in his deeds and that Tyrion will emerge with Dany to restore order to the kingdom.

In turn, because of his marriage to Sansa, Tyrion will assume co-rulership with Sansa in the north if Dany succeeds in reclaiming the Iron Throne. Now, here’s where the plot can become very intriguing with regards to Sansa’s continued character development. We have seen this darker image of Sansa and the master manipulator beginning to emerge. Will Sansa gradually become a more obsessive and tyrannical version of Cersei given the abuse and manipulation she has received at the hands of everyone? Or will she remember her lineage and her father’s sense of duty and honor in collaborating with Dany in attempting to unify a fair and just kingdom?

I mentioned in a previous blog post how one of the key things people have not talked about is how the war will most likely impact the coming of winter and White Walkers. All signs lead to Sansa having the ability to determine a huge portion of that outcome in condemning or elevating the North through a campaign of vengeance if and when she is able to reclaim her birthright. It’s an interesting development that makes her such a hugely pivotal character in the series with the possibility of a monstrous burden to save or damn a kingdom.

The post Game of Thrones: What Is Sansa Stark’s Plans and Role? appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

Before tackling that question, I think a better question to ask is just who is Petry Baelish? We have history based on the snippets revealed to us by Catelyn as his love interest. We know him as someone who everyone realizes is both dangerous, ambitious and manipulative. Also, it has been revealed that we’ll never probably see a viewpoint chapter for Petyr Baelish as “he simply knows too much.”

Ironically, there is one scene from the TV series that reveals a lot about the Petyr Baelish character where we see him in his brothel and he provides a monolog about his intentions to “fuck them” (i.e. everyone in the realm). This scene is pretty important to me as it resembles in some ways a view point chapter that doesn’t exist in the novels. Considering the exposition (or sexposition as they have labeled it), we have to ask as a viewer whether or not this side of Petyr was being frank and that he had enough trust in unveiling his true personality to his whores or if he had long foreseen Varys’ hiring of Ros and intentionally was feeding Varys false information.

In addition, one other critical scene in the TV series is where Sansa asks what he wants and he remarks, “Everything.” Again, we have to question his reliability in being forthcoming where he possibly is feeding Sansa false information or allowing her, as one of the few people in the world, into his true personality. For myself, I think the truth in that scene lies somewhere in the middle where he’s not being deceitful in his desires. If that’s the case, then some may argue that he desires the Iron Throne for himself (and we often see him staring at it while in conversation with people like Varys).

Yet part of me wonders if he would stop at the Iron Throne. The word “Everything” entails quite a bit and quite literally can mean Everything. If that is the case, I want to examine the TV scenes with him and Varys. Both characters lack their own viewpoint chapters in the novel, but the TV producers have opted instead to provide small scenes with both characters demonstrating their struggle against each other. In some ways, it seems that their existence (at least with regards to the TV series) seem to be as opposites of one another. If we take that Varys’ true desire is to lack desire with the exception of helping the realm in an objective manner and that Petyr represents the polar extreme of complete selfish desire and utter need for power, then one has to wonder additionally if perhaps they serve or are higher powers themselves.

While people enjoy the story because there’s a more grounded sense of reality in an otherwise fantasy themed world, there still exist a connection to the supernatural that slowly is beginning to manifest. One hypothesis I have for both characters is that perhaps they are a form of a higher being and that their existence is similar to the theme of Ice and Fire; in short, they live to antagonize one another and bring imbalance or balance to the world. Petyr clearly in the TV show embraces chaos to serve his ambition. Does he actually represent chaos or perhaps serves one of these deities of an unknown entity that seeks to create chaos in the world? Does Varys represent an entity that desires order?

Another interesting question is Petyr’s connection to the supernatural events that slowly are encroaching? Does he care or even know about the White Walkers? How will he react to the coming of Dany and her dragons? Most of his focus at the moment seems to be solely around Sansa and the acquisition of power slowly such as Harrenhal or the Vale. I have to wonder if these are simply incidental or if he has a greater purpose, such as using the war to create hundreds of thousands of bodies to feed to the White Walkers when they eventually march from the north. If anything that seems to be the most logical answer considering that he more than likely just wants to “fuck them” (where “them” represents virtually everyone in the world).

Another thing to ask is his newly acquired allies. During his speech on chaos, he talks about his current conspiracy with the partnership of some “new friends” (particularly a male) and how this friend seemed interested in the “fresh” experience that he would provide. One could point to the Tyrells as they obviously worked with Petyr in deposing of Joffrey. However, one of the key points in Petyr’s speech is using the gender of “male” to denote his ally. Well, with Olenna in the mix, it seems rather odd for him to suggest that she is his primary ally, thus defying the gendered implication.

The show’s current season 5 previews has Varys clearly aligning himself with Dany, making him gravitate towards the “Fire” side of the equation whereas Petyr remains in the north. Yet if his intention is to continue brewing plots to cause wars, I would like to venture at this point that somehow he managed to align himself with the White Walkers. Yes, I’ve said it. The only other ally that would make sense to me would be the Iron Bank, but in looking at the overarching elements in the story, the logical conclusion would be having him ally with the “Ice” side to fight Varys.

Perhaps, Petyr is not a supernatural being but just a metaphorical representation of chaos. More than likely, he is simply an ambitious person willing to commit any risk, as he has admitted to Sansa, to obtain the power he desires. That risk is to put the entire kingdom’s existence at stake in bargaining with the White Walkers to act as a ruler with possibly a young, fertile and naive Sansa at his side for him to pleasure and manipulate through eternity.

In reality, the character of Petyr is probably just another scheming weasel, who manipulate everyone around them to further their gain. Part of what I think the thesis of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire is about is what makes a successful ruler. If you look at people like Ned Stark, Joffrey, Robert Baratheon, Tywin Lannister, Cersei Lannister, etc., you have to examine their representations as failures in ideologies of power. I think Petyr, while an absolutely intriguing character, is someone whose schemes will eventually get the better of him in that endless manipulation, dishonesty and ambition wind up consuming themselves when everything one days is unraveled by a misplay. While justice is not given lightly in the realm of Westeros, I doubt that Petyr will escape him eventual demise at his own hands.

The post Game of Thrones: What Is Littlefinger Up To? appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.