Put the kettle on, make a brew, and have a seat
Spoilers, obviously.
There are countless Game of Thrones fan theories doing the rounds on the internet claiming all sorts of things, like the idea that Bran is actually the Night King, or that Tyrion and Daenerys are siblings (what?).
But sometimes you come across a theory that stops you in your tracks, and really makes you rethink everything you’ve previously considered to be true. This theory, that Littlefinger isn’t actually dead, is one of them. Strap yourself in, and prepare to have your mind blown.
Now, we all remember Littlefinger’s death at the end of season seven, after Bran revealed that he had seen Littlefinger’s betrayal of their father, Ned Stark, thanks to his ability to see into the past, allowing Arya to execute him. This theory claims that the man whose throat Arya slit was not actually Petyr Baelish. Allow me to explain how that might be possible.
The theory, which originated on Neo’s YouTube channel, suggests that Baelish has been one of the faceless men all along, which sounds far-fetched at first but if you analyse some of his behaviour, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
In season seven, episode four, we see Baelish speaking to a woman in an alleyway from the vantage point of Arya Stark. In this scene, he appears to hand the woman something – possibly an iron coin, the currency of the faceless men in Braavos – before she whispers to him “your time is up.”
Accepting the theory that Baelish is one of the faceless men, in this scene, it is proposed that he bought his way out of danger by swapping faces with this woman. But why would he do this? Well, remember when Bran interrupted Baelish’s monologue to repeat the famous ‘chaos is a ladder’ phrase back to him? That’s when he knew he was in trouble and had to take drastic action if he was to save himself.
Not yet convinced? Consider the fact that throughout the entire series, Baelish has not attached himself to one house, fulfilling the role of ‘no-one’. He also chose his own sigil – a mockingbird, which mimics others. Furthermore, his great grandfather is from Braavos, the home of the Faceless Men, and his reaction when Sansa asks him whether he has heard of the faceless men raises suspicions on second viewing.
It’s made all the more interesting if you evaluate Littlefinger’s behaviour just before his execution in the courtroom. Baelish suddenly descended into desperation, pleading for his life, before his throat was slit. Have we ever seen him so rattled? He’s the most cunning and sly characters on the show. This was not in keeping with his character.
Many criticised this scene for its ‘bad writing’ but could it be possible that the reason he acted so out of character was because it wasn’t actually him who Arya killed.
Now, this is all just a theory, but plenty of video evidence can be found in this Reddit thread to back it up.
Personally, I really, really hope it’s true. His return would throw a spanner in the works of what is already set to be a chaotic final season.
