'Game of Thrones' Season 7: Catelyn Stark's Rejection Motivates Littlefinger's Cruelty
Now that the world of "Game of Thrones" has become significantly smaller in terms of the remaining main characters, it has become easier to appreciate how cruel Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish (Aiden Gillen) can be.
As a quick recap, Baelish is still lurking at Sansa's (Sophie Turner) side, especially now that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) assigned her as regent of the North. In the fifth episode, fans saw Littlefinger build up another conflict which pit Sansa against her younger sister, Arya (Maisie Williams).
In a recent interview, Gillen provided more insight at what fuelled Littlefinger's cruelty. The actor pointed to an event that happened way before the remaining Starks were born: when their mother, Catelyn Tully/Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley), rejected Littlefinger's love.
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"It's a reaction to being humiliated and spurned as a young man in matters of love," Gillen told the New York Times. "And he's good at it, you know? This 'Game of Thrones' universe, it's a wicked world."
The actor also described Littlefinger's cruelty as "pathological," and while he contributed to a lot of events leading to the Starks' demise, Gillen said: "I'm not trying to play him as a complete villain."
When the actor discussed what his character's plans were in making Arya and Sansa fight, Gillen hinted that there was "always something more to it when it involves the Starks." He reiterated that the rejection Littlefinger experienced from Catelyn was "what's driving him."
Delving deeper into Littlefinger's motives, Gillen explained that ruining the Stark family, however, was not the main goal. As many fans might have figured out already, Gillen agreed that Littlefinger's decisions and plots were "opportunistic."
"He has played his part in the rise of the Starks, showing up last season with the Knights of the Vale, but he will also undermine it and exploit it. That's what he's doing — he's trying to drive wedges between all of them," Gillen said.
So far, Littlefinger is one of the resilient characters who has managed to stay until the penultimate season of "Game of Thrones" — which means he played the game of thrones really well.
However, a detailed leak of the season 7 plot claims that his character will only last until this installment's finale. The spoiler says the Stark siblings, who are now reunited at Winterfell, will figure out his hand in their father's death and everything else.
"Game of Thrones" season 7 still has two more episodes left to air. The show airs every Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO.
