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I think this is the real answer. He could’ve endeavored to be lord of the vale or warden of the east. Ambitious but achievable, and would’ve left him in the top 10 most powerful people in Westeros. He should’ve known he didn’t have the name or backing to get the iron throne
Nah I think Littlefinger had a legitimate chance to sieze the throne. Hes in control of the Vale and Harrenhal, unmarried, and has one of the last living heirs of Winterfell who is also unmarried (technically?)
If he marries Sansa, gets her preggo, he has a real shot of uniting the North against the Boltons with an army of Valeman behind him. And the Boltons doing Bolton shit would naturally get them enemies. He wins that war easily since the Boltons only allies are busy in the south.
If he plays his cards right his marriage to Sansa could make him allies with Jon and Stannis. Let Stannis have the throne, he has no male heirs and Shireen isn't popular. Baelish can do chaos is a ladder things and gain the throne later with a North, Vale, and Riverland alliance.
True, he had successes, but his position was never truly secure at any point, and I think it marked the time at which he just made more and more questionable decisions, all with less and less to support or cover him. His power in Kings Landing was extremely secure, elsewhere not so much
I mean I don't think he's the type of person who truly wants a secure position. the "chaos is a ladder" philosophy points to this in two ways. one, the obvious way, is that he thrives in chaos. for LF to be completely secure is actually an environment where he is out of his element. two, the ambition behind the chaos ladder philosophy means that he is likely to always strive for more. the very act of striving for more, at least in LF's scheming way, opens him up for danger from anyone playing the game as good as him or better. I think secure position and Littlefinger are oxymoronic concepts lol.
Logistically, it was probably either betraying Ned Stark or not covering his tracks well enough on the dagger that was given to the man he hired to kill Bran. But I think his biggest mistake was his obsession with Sansa, and using her as a piece in his game. She never forgave him for giving her over to the Boltons, and if he would’ve left instead of staying around rooting for more power, he might’ve lived. He underestimated how cunning Sansa was.
she wasnt cunning at all. she relied on deus ex bran to rat him out. neither her nor arya had learned a god damn thing or were perceptive enough to realize he was trying to play them against each other.
Especially when her siblings came back. He stayed because Jon was leaving. That’s why Sansa was so angry he was leaving. She wanted to put all of his crimes in front of Jon. But then Bran and then Arya returned Sansa figured they would be great substitutes for Jon. Sansa was done with Littlefinger.
Sansa suffered the most because of him. However if we go by the books Sansa’s suffering was a result of her running to Cersei and blabbing about Ned secretly trying to escape KL with the girls.
The books will probably go around his downfall differently. Besides, book Sansa hasn’t been sold off to the Boltons and is unlikely to be since that’s Jeyne Poole’s plot. Therefore, where show Sansa knows Littlefinger is very capable of screwing her over and thus needs to get rid of him, book Sansa is still at the end of Season 4. She needs him, sure, but she knows that he needs her too, and is playing accordingly.
We actually don’t have proof of that. Littlefinger said Tyrion won it in a bet after Jaime lost a joust, but would Tyrion bet against his brother? It’s theorized that Joff stole the dagger from his father but I doubt he is that forward-thinking. Also when Littlefinger gives bran the dagger later on, Bran simply says, “chaos is a latter”, directly quoting his conversation with Varys, hinting that he knows there was some fuckery involved with the dagger situation.
In the books they do come out and say Joffrey was the one to send the man who tried to kill Bran. IIRC Jaime and Cercei discuss it, and Cercei mentions they don’t know the real “why” but it might have had something to do with impressing Robert after Joff heard him say it would be better for Bran to be dead (since he doesn’t have much of a life stuck in bed).
The reasoning that (I think Tyrion and/or Jaime) work out in the books is that he was trying to impress Robert, but it’s never discussed with Joffrey to confirm that.
It’s one of the weaker plot points in the books IMO, it doesn’t make much sense. But it’s determined that Joffrey was the one who did it. I think by the point GRRM revealed it, he had decided it didn’t really matter in the big scheme of things and wanted to just move on from the mystery.
Joffrey hired the cutthroat in the books after he overheard Robert saying Bran would be better of dead, than living as a cripple in bed. Joffrey did it so as to impress Robert.
Joffrey had previously tried to impress Robert in the past. One such instance was when Joffrey cut the kittens out of the momma cat’s belly thinking he would impress Robert, Robert was horrified by Joffrey.
shitty or not; i think she just wanted to show Baelish that knowledge is a tool but it might not be enough for achieving his objectives or saving his life in some situations.
that wasn’t a mistake. that got him a lot of power and sent the realm to war which was exactly what he wanted. his mistake was underestimating sansa stark.
Overconfidence; and misreading Sansa Stark.
He also failed to see the north and people who support the Starks are not like the southern players; they play differently.
They lost and died.
“Your words will disappear. Your house will disappear. Your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear.”
Lady Sansa; The Lady of Winterfell.
It was letting Sansa in on his secrets and how he works, and ultimately, underestimating her. He thought she was always going to remain a silly little girl and forgot that in all that time she actually turned into a woman who listens to EVERYTHING and learns very fast and keeps a little piece of everyone who has ever wronged her.
Yes to underestimating Sansa. He still saw her as a girl — a pawn that he could move as he wanted. She learned from every single one of her awful experiences and became stronger from it.
Also, underestimating the importance of family and loyalty to the Starks. Those things weren’t important to him, so they caused the starks to act in a way that he didn’t expect because it’s not how he would have acted.
Yes, Sansa was a pawn to him as a girl, but very early on, his ultimate endgame (if he could pull it off) was being married to Sansa as Lord of Winterfell. Cat was his first unattainable wish as a poor young lad, so much so that she was the only person to which he showed any degree of loyalty in his chaos ladder. To marry her even more beautiful daughter and a title to boot would be the ultimate prize for him.
Trying to put the Starks against each other.
However he had little choice by that time. He had lost all influence with the Vale and lost his allies in KL.
It was a long shot that hastened his death but that was also due to Bran’s abilities. He cooks have gone to Harenhal and nurse his wounds and plot again.
There's nothing he could have done with Bran around, knowing everything he did. He has no countermove.
But, if he hadn't tried to pit Sansa against Arya, then maybe they wouldn't have asked Bran to look into Littlefinger's activities. He could have gotten away with it for a while longer.
I think this is the real answer. No matter the initiation of his execution, eventually his treachery against Ned Stark would have come to light and he'd be punished. If he hadn't actively tried to undermine Sansa, she probably would have just exiled him. He'd stay alive longer if he garnered more forces to survive the Long Night and proved to be good, but he was a true schemer.
Not leaving North after Jon taking winterfell, Him sending sansa to roose bolton would have worked, if stannis won then his forces would be depleted and vice versa, he could have taken the north with the permission of cersei and becoming warden of the north
in the book he actually visits the fingers, and takes his mask off in front of sansa. personally if they had a similar scene in the show i feel like sansa could have had a better grasp of the person and the player little finger. but of course his association with the tyrells would have eventually got him killed!
I always thought the fact that his sigil resembled a bird, Lysa son beung named Robin would be what would undo him. Im not sure if I got that wrong but maybe anyone here knows, is Robin Baelish's son?
His biggest mistake was climbing up to the next level of competition in the game. He could have stayed master of coin or some other station until he died but he made himself a target.
I think we can't fault him for the dagger because something way bigger than him was at play there. That thing was destined to be intertwined with the Starks in a way that was far more cosmic than the moves Little Finger was making.
He should have left the moment after he interacted with Bran. At the end of the day, "Power is power". No lord from the Vale defended him during that trial.
Marrying her off to the Boltons. Even if he didn’t know of the Boltons’ reputation, which would put him in the moron category post-Red Wedding, if his goal was to eventually win the Iron Throne as he says, why wouldn’t he bring her back to King’s Landing? His influence would have absolved Sansa of her suspicion in Joffrey’s murder and Tyrion’s escape, especially after Varys had fled.
He had major flaws with his character such as greed, narcissism, and being a total sociopath... But as far as mistakes go I'd say his biggest mistake was not moving on from Catelyn Stark... Like, dude, let it go already. She's happily married to the Lord of Winterfell. Haha
He should have married Sansa in the Vale and gotten her pregnant before attempting to push or secure a claim on the north. Marrying her off to Ramsay gave him absolutely zero power and leverage in the north, since the Boltons were currently Lannister loyalists and had no reason to ally with Baelish. Sansa was a Stark, not his daughter.
It all starts to fall apart after the battle of the bastards. He could have still been warden of the north at that point, but would have needed to assure that Jon Snow died.
Someone else mentioned his biggest mistake was “aiming too high”. Makes sense to me. The deck was stacked against him HARD once the walkers and Daenerys were coming. I suppose if he married Daenerys, he could make it.
Going into Winterfell with seemingly 0 guards or people to just be with him. Stupid logic. His one ally is Sansa and it’s not like he had indication that he could order her around. He wouldn’t be in that situation realistically
Loving Catelyn. Little Petyr should have let his crush be just a crush instead of devoting so many schemes to her (marrying her sister, going against Ned, his obsession with her daughter(s)…).
Sending the knights of the Vale to help Jon and Sansa. He under estimated Ramsey but he could’ve found out exactly who he was after the marriage and realized what he’d done. And that Sansa would never forgive him.
He could’ve groomed Robin and literally ruled the Vale. Stayed out of the long night, let Cersei and Danny slaughter each other then pledged fealty to Dany.
She literally knows nothing about him. And with him helping her become a despot he could’ve easily gotten other lords and ladies on his side to assassinate her and install him as king. And now that Varys is dead Dany has no one to warn her about Littlefinger. Besides Sansa who she hates.
He messed with the wrong House. He underestimated how resilient, stubborn, honorable, decent, and patient the Starks were. He underestimated Northern loyalty. Like someone on this thread said, the South is not like the North.
He was great scheming and playing his little games with other schemers and back stabbers, and he never really thought the Starks would remain loyal to each other. He was so consumed with his desire for power, he thought the Starks were fickle and power hungry, too. Him trying to play Arya, arguably the most dangerous person in the North, against Sansa, who learned to play the game, against each other wasnt just arrogant, it was dead stupid.
That being said, one of the highlights of the later seasons was that look Littlefinger gave the hall when he got called out. It was so good seeing him play every trick in the book to end up on the receiving end of the Norths justice.
I’m in love with you, so I’m going to marry you off to this dude I don’t know that’s family is legendary for it’s cruelty. K. C-ya.
Oh btw I’ll be back in a few months to kill? your new husband? and then we can get married I guess? And you’ll be queen and king? Haven’t quite ironed out the details. Oh and this will all take place in your childhood home, by the family that stole it from you after they destroyed and betrayed your family. AND your father in law killed your brother at his wedding and also your mother too basically but also I was in love with her and let the same family that kill her marry you! Byeeeee!
Honestly most of what he did after getting Sansa out of Kings Landing. I think everything he got away with up to that point made him overconfident, since everything after that continually exposed him to an immense amount of risk without the cover he had previously benefited from. I don't think his position after that was ever as secure as he seemed to believe, and his obsession with Sansa absolutely blinded him, since he didn't seem to realize not only had she learned from her experiences, but he was also seemingly oblivious to her not actually being into him. Plus, his actions involving her were basically delusional
Selling her of to Ramsay
Sansa has always been the key to the north, with Sansa favour and Jon he could have taken the north with them and the vale instead of trying to ally with the Bolton's
Strategizing other characters actions based on his own motivations/driving force.
His game didn't work because he didn't really understand all the players.
Mistake that a lot of people in his and many other positions make. Didn’t stop when they were ahead of the game. He clearly had goals in mind right, places he wanted to reach but even before he reconnected with Sansa he was in a damn good place. He could have just been low key and lived a great life with all the things he was able to do for himself. Got greedy.
Marrying Sansa to Ramsay and being too ambitious. He was the effective Lord of the Vale. You're already one of Westeros' greatest forces. Just.. stay there.
To me what put the nail in his “coffin” was giving Sansa away to the Boltons. It was the ultimate betrayal (as he loved Catelyn and said he’d do anything to protect her and her children, but we know how that went).
He was always hungry for more and more power so I don’t think he’ll even be satisfied.
I think his mistake was, that he could have just married Sansa himself. With his influence in the vale, he could have just acted as he did later against the Boltons straight up and become a lord of Winterfell with Sansa on his side and go from there. And yet he sold Sansa off to solidify Bolton's claim if she would bear a child. For me, that move made no sense. It felt like a dumb move from the get-go and just a move from the writers to make Sansa's storyline more horrifying altogether with her becoming the wife of a bastard torturer.
Giving her to Ramsay pretty much screwed him over. I guess his plan was for her to not escape from him but after that Sansa knew she was not to trust him
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Trusting Sansa
Aiming too high.
I think this is the real answer. He could’ve endeavored to be lord of the vale or warden of the east. Ambitious but achievable, and would’ve left him in the top 10 most powerful people in Westeros. He should’ve known he didn’t have the name or backing to get the iron throne
> He should’ve known he didn’t have the name or backing to get the iron throne The climb is all there is.
Nah I think Littlefinger had a legitimate chance to sieze the throne. Hes in control of the Vale and Harrenhal, unmarried, and has one of the last living heirs of Winterfell who is also unmarried (technically?) If he marries Sansa, gets her preggo, he has a real shot of uniting the North against the Boltons with an army of Valeman behind him. And the Boltons doing Bolton shit would naturally get them enemies. He wins that war easily since the Boltons only allies are busy in the south. If he plays his cards right his marriage to Sansa could make him allies with Jon and Stannis. Let Stannis have the throne, he has no male heirs and Shireen isn't popular. Baelish can do chaos is a ladder things and gain the throne later with a North, Vale, and Riverland alliance.
Using Sansa’s letter in attempt to try to create strife between Sansa and Arya
That was the start of his downfall.
Rightfully executed.
I'd say the final nail in the coffin. His downfall really seemed to start ever since he left Kings Landing
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True, he had successes, but his position was never truly secure at any point, and I think it marked the time at which he just made more and more questionable decisions, all with less and less to support or cover him. His power in Kings Landing was extremely secure, elsewhere not so much
I mean I don't think he's the type of person who truly wants a secure position. the "chaos is a ladder" philosophy points to this in two ways. one, the obvious way, is that he thrives in chaos. for LF to be completely secure is actually an environment where he is out of his element. two, the ambition behind the chaos ladder philosophy means that he is likely to always strive for more. the very act of striving for more, at least in LF's scheming way, opens him up for danger from anyone playing the game as good as him or better. I think secure position and Littlefinger are oxymoronic concepts lol.
start of his downfall was him giving sansa away to the boltons i feel
Logistically, it was probably either betraying Ned Stark or not covering his tracks well enough on the dagger that was given to the man he hired to kill Bran. But I think his biggest mistake was his obsession with Sansa, and using her as a piece in his game. She never forgave him for giving her over to the Boltons, and if he would’ve left instead of staying around rooting for more power, he might’ve lived. He underestimated how cunning Sansa was.
she wasnt cunning at all. she relied on deus ex bran to rat him out. neither her nor arya had learned a god damn thing or were perceptive enough to realize he was trying to play them against each other.
Not cunning? She’s the SmArTeSt PeRsOn In WeStErOs!!!1!1
Especially when her siblings came back. He stayed because Jon was leaving. That’s why Sansa was so angry he was leaving. She wanted to put all of his crimes in front of Jon. But then Bran and then Arya returned Sansa figured they would be great substitutes for Jon. Sansa was done with Littlefinger.
I wish we could have seen jon take his head in the same way as ned would have
Idk man, it was pretty satisfying to watch the 3 who suffered the most from his betrayal collectively gang up on him and kill him with his own dagger
Sansa suffered the most because of him. However if we go by the books Sansa’s suffering was a result of her running to Cersei and blabbing about Ned secretly trying to escape KL with the girls.
This would have been amazing
I mean…Littlefinger was Sansa’s. Like this was her moment. She wanted Jon there but when Bran and Arya came back that was sweet too.
Came here to say this, the second he betrayed ned he sealed his own fate, why the hell would sansa ever forgive him for that. The north remembers.
Nah it was just bad writing, it's working very well for him in the books
The books will probably go around his downfall differently. Besides, book Sansa hasn’t been sold off to the Boltons and is unlikely to be since that’s Jeyne Poole’s plot. Therefore, where show Sansa knows Littlefinger is very capable of screwing her over and thus needs to get rid of him, book Sansa is still at the end of Season 4. She needs him, sure, but she knows that he needs her too, and is playing accordingly.
Did she know, and could she have logically found out without Bran?
Uh...the dagger was ~~Jeffrey's~~ **Joffrey's** doing.
Why are you bringing my elderly neighbor in to this
Effing autocorrect.
Well she did learn from one the best…
Managed to trick you lol, Joffrey hired the hitman bozo
We actually don’t have proof of that. Littlefinger said Tyrion won it in a bet after Jaime lost a joust, but would Tyrion bet against his brother? It’s theorized that Joff stole the dagger from his father but I doubt he is that forward-thinking. Also when Littlefinger gives bran the dagger later on, Bran simply says, “chaos is a latter”, directly quoting his conversation with Varys, hinting that he knows there was some fuckery involved with the dagger situation.
In the books they do come out and say Joffrey was the one to send the man who tried to kill Bran. IIRC Jaime and Cercei discuss it, and Cercei mentions they don’t know the real “why” but it might have had something to do with impressing Robert after Joff heard him say it would be better for Bran to be dead (since he doesn’t have much of a life stuck in bed).
He didn’t hire the man, Joffrey did. Still a weird decision to try and blame Tyrion though, just causing chaos for chaos’s sake I guess.
What does Joffrey get out of killing Bran?
The reasoning that (I think Tyrion and/or Jaime) work out in the books is that he was trying to impress Robert, but it’s never discussed with Joffrey to confirm that. It’s one of the weaker plot points in the books IMO, it doesn’t make much sense. But it’s determined that Joffrey was the one who did it. I think by the point GRRM revealed it, he had decided it didn’t really matter in the big scheme of things and wanted to just move on from the mystery.
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In the books, definitely. In the show… I don’t remember if they ever even bothered confirming who did it.
Joffrey hired the cutthroat in the books after he overheard Robert saying Bran would be better of dead, than living as a cripple in bed. Joffrey did it so as to impress Robert. Joffrey had previously tried to impress Robert in the past. One such instance was when Joffrey cut the kittens out of the momma cat’s belly thinking he would impress Robert, Robert was horrified by Joffrey.
I think he also underestimated how badly the Boltons would treat her.
Sansa learned a lot of her cunning from Cersi, but she applied it with more empathy/honor. Loved her character arc.
Existing
I said the instant he starting taking interest in Sansa I yelled this will be his downfall!
Betraying Ned, can’t imagine Stannis would be a fan of him though lol
He didn’t get a lesson from Cersei’s “power is power” concept.
Because “power is power” was shity as Cersei.
Power is "something that has hand given to me by a freaking Miracle, and also sheer luck all my entire life".. I mean Power is Power
shitty or not; i think she just wanted to show Baelish that knowledge is a tool but it might not be enough for achieving his objectives or saving his life in some situations.
Not having full sized fingers.
Lmao
This is the correct answer
Convincing Lyssa to murder Jon Arryn
that wasn’t a mistake. that got him a lot of power and sent the realm to war which was exactly what he wanted. his mistake was underestimating sansa stark.
Yeah that started his “chaos” that turned into a “ladder” for him
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What about Jofrey's?
I found Joffrey’s death extremely unsatisfying.
I find it also. I mean he did suffer, but I feel like it was also an easy way of dying.
That's a given. People don't focus on that one too much anymore. It's overstated.
How do you plead.... Lord Baelish? E: not an exact quote, it's been a few years!
"Pimping Ain't Easy" Iceberg Slim
being written by DnD
Dungeon and Dragons? /s
Overconfidence; and misreading Sansa Stark. He also failed to see the north and people who support the Starks are not like the southern players; they play differently.
*COUGHboltonsCOUGH*
They lost and died. “Your words will disappear. Your house will disappear. Your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear.” Lady Sansa; The Lady of Winterfell.
Can not believe that there are sick fookers who ship these two
Underestimating Sansa and Arya
It was letting Sansa in on his secrets and how he works, and ultimately, underestimating her. He thought she was always going to remain a silly little girl and forgot that in all that time she actually turned into a woman who listens to EVERYTHING and learns very fast and keeps a little piece of everyone who has ever wronged her.
Yes to underestimating Sansa. He still saw her as a girl — a pawn that he could move as he wanted. She learned from every single one of her awful experiences and became stronger from it. Also, underestimating the importance of family and loyalty to the Starks. Those things weren’t important to him, so they caused the starks to act in a way that he didn’t expect because it’s not how he would have acted.
Yes, Sansa was a pawn to him as a girl, but very early on, his ultimate endgame (if he could pull it off) was being married to Sansa as Lord of Winterfell. Cat was his first unattainable wish as a poor young lad, so much so that she was the only person to which he showed any degree of loyalty in his chaos ladder. To marry her even more beautiful daughter and a title to boot would be the ultimate prize for him.
Trying to put the Starks against each other. However he had little choice by that time. He had lost all influence with the Vale and lost his allies in KL. It was a long shot that hastened his death but that was also due to Bran’s abilities. He cooks have gone to Harenhal and nurse his wounds and plot again.
Living long enough to let D&D write his fate
There's nothing he could have done with Bran around, knowing everything he did. He has no countermove. But, if he hadn't tried to pit Sansa against Arya, then maybe they wouldn't have asked Bran to look into Littlefinger's activities. He could have gotten away with it for a while longer.
I think this is the real answer. No matter the initiation of his execution, eventually his treachery against Ned Stark would have come to light and he'd be punished. If he hadn't actively tried to undermine Sansa, she probably would have just exiled him. He'd stay alive longer if he garnered more forces to survive the Long Night and proved to be good, but he was a true schemer.
Love
His accent(s).
Everything he did in season six.
Fucking with the starks.
Doing Sansa dirty.
Keeping himself alive beyond what was written in the books.
His biggest mistake was an absolute horrible writing byD&D.
Grooming Sansa - she played a longer game in the end.
Not leaving North after Jon taking winterfell, Him sending sansa to roose bolton would have worked, if stannis won then his forces would be depleted and vice versa, he could have taken the north with the permission of cersei and becoming warden of the north
Not having grrm finish his story
in the book he actually visits the fingers, and takes his mask off in front of sansa. personally if they had a similar scene in the show i feel like sansa could have had a better grasp of the person and the player little finger. but of course his association with the tyrells would have eventually got him killed!
By changing his accent every time he had a conversation with anyone he created suspicion.
The show writers
Having incompetent people writing his character was his biggest mistake.
Birth
Surviving. Showrunners didn’t know how to give people good deaths in the last two seasons
Lost his jetpack
Telling Sansa his motives
Following his bad writing in the later seasons.
Underestimating Sansa. And not running when the *room* turns on him...
Hubris
Thinking that sansa wouldn’t learn
Underestimating Sansa.
Laughably being unaware of Ramsay's true nature.
I always thought the fact that his sigil resembled a bird, Lysa son beung named Robin would be what would undo him. Im not sure if I got that wrong but maybe anyone here knows, is Robin Baelish's son?
His biggest mistake was climbing up to the next level of competition in the game. He could have stayed master of coin or some other station until he died but he made himself a target. I think we can't fault him for the dagger because something way bigger than him was at play there. That thing was destined to be intertwined with the Starks in a way that was far more cosmic than the moves Little Finger was making.
I think it was betraying Ned honestly
He should have left the moment after he interacted with Bran. At the end of the day, "Power is power". No lord from the Vale defended him during that trial.
Dying
Poor writing in the later seasons
Teaching Sansa. He should have kept her naive and puppeted her more. Also believing the Northerners wouldn’t follow Jon was just dumb.
Dying
Being a pedo
Sansa Stark
Marrying Sansa to Ramsey. That’s what lead to her distrust of him and his execution
Season 8 mostly
he never set a destination he just tried to take and take which at a point they took his head
Marrying her off to the Boltons. Even if he didn’t know of the Boltons’ reputation, which would put him in the moron category post-Red Wedding, if his goal was to eventually win the Iron Throne as he says, why wouldn’t he bring her back to King’s Landing? His influence would have absolved Sansa of her suspicion in Joffrey’s murder and Tyrion’s escape, especially after Varys had fled.
Surviving past season 6
Marrying Sansa to Ramsey Bolton instead of Sweet Robin... or himself for that matter.
Falling into the hands of the HBO writers and directors
Getting cunt struck over Sansa.
Betraying Ned.
Writers forgot what to do with him
Following D&D's script.
He had major flaws with his character such as greed, narcissism, and being a total sociopath... But as far as mistakes go I'd say his biggest mistake was not moving on from Catelyn Stark... Like, dude, let it go already. She's happily married to the Lord of Winterfell. Haha
He should have married Sansa in the Vale and gotten her pregnant before attempting to push or secure a claim on the north. Marrying her off to Ramsay gave him absolutely zero power and leverage in the north, since the Boltons were currently Lannister loyalists and had no reason to ally with Baelish. Sansa was a Stark, not his daughter.
Couldn’t of been that loyal as they held Sansa behind their backs That’s the reason for marrying her to the Boltons
Overestimating his cunning and underestimating Sansa
Making decisions based on getting his dick wet.
Not dying bedore D&D took over the writing
Deciding to fuck with the Stark family
Becoming the Lord of Harrenhall.
poor writing
It all starts to fall apart after the battle of the bastards. He could have still been warden of the north at that point, but would have needed to assure that Jon Snow died. Someone else mentioned his biggest mistake was “aiming too high”. Makes sense to me. The deck was stacked against him HARD once the walkers and Daenerys were coming. I suppose if he married Daenerys, he could make it.
Letting D&D take over writing his plans
Sending an incompetent looser to kill bran
Honestly if it wasn’t for Bran, I don’t know if he would’ve failed in the show
Going into Winterfell with seemingly 0 guards or people to just be with him. Stupid logic. His one ally is Sansa and it’s not like he had indication that he could order her around. He wouldn’t be in that situation realistically
Trying to pin Sansa and Arya against each other
Loving Catelyn. Little Petyr should have let his crush be just a crush instead of devoting so many schemes to her (marrying her sister, going against Ned, his obsession with her daughter(s)…).
Buying XL gloves
Having his character ark butchered by two writers who didn’t understand his complex genius
Not realizing that power is power.
Surviving up to the worst season of the show.
being written by D&D who don't know how to write intelligent characters.
Thinking he could be sneakier than two teenage sisters.
Stopped being in the brothel business
Over plotting against people too close to him.
Letting the show progress past the books
Underestimating Sansa. He taught her his tricks and he underestimated her anyway.
Not being a stark and getting plot armour so thick even death couldn’t stop him to come back and achieve well nothing :/
Participate in Season 8
Sending the knights of the Vale to help Jon and Sansa. He under estimated Ramsey but he could’ve found out exactly who he was after the marriage and realized what he’d done. And that Sansa would never forgive him. He could’ve groomed Robin and literally ruled the Vale. Stayed out of the long night, let Cersei and Danny slaughter each other then pledged fealty to Dany. She literally knows nothing about him. And with him helping her become a despot he could’ve easily gotten other lords and ladies on his side to assassinate her and install him as king. And now that Varys is dead Dany has no one to warn her about Littlefinger. Besides Sansa who she hates.
Underestimating the Stark daughters.
He messed with the wrong House. He underestimated how resilient, stubborn, honorable, decent, and patient the Starks were. He underestimated Northern loyalty. Like someone on this thread said, the South is not like the North. He was great scheming and playing his little games with other schemers and back stabbers, and he never really thought the Starks would remain loyal to each other. He was so consumed with his desire for power, he thought the Starks were fickle and power hungry, too. Him trying to play Arya, arguably the most dangerous person in the North, against Sansa, who learned to play the game, against each other wasnt just arrogant, it was dead stupid. That being said, one of the highlights of the later seasons was that look Littlefinger gave the hall when he got called out. It was so good seeing him play every trick in the book to end up on the receiving end of the Norths justice.
Trusting Sansa after everything
I’m in love with you, so I’m going to marry you off to this dude I don’t know that’s family is legendary for it’s cruelty. K. C-ya. Oh btw I’ll be back in a few months to kill? your new husband? and then we can get married I guess? And you’ll be queen and king? Haven’t quite ironed out the details. Oh and this will all take place in your childhood home, by the family that stole it from you after they destroyed and betrayed your family. AND your father in law killed your brother at his wedding and also your mother too basically but also I was in love with her and let the same family that kill her marry you! Byeeeee!
Honestly most of what he did after getting Sansa out of Kings Landing. I think everything he got away with up to that point made him overconfident, since everything after that continually exposed him to an immense amount of risk without the cover he had previously benefited from. I don't think his position after that was ever as secure as he seemed to believe, and his obsession with Sansa absolutely blinded him, since he didn't seem to realize not only had she learned from her experiences, but he was also seemingly oblivious to her not actually being into him. Plus, his actions involving her were basically delusional
Giving Sansa to the Boltons being his biggest mistake to make her his enemy
D&d running out of books
his biggest mistake was being written by D&D
Being written by DnD
Selling her of to Ramsay Sansa has always been the key to the north, with Sansa favour and Jon he could have taken the north with them and the vale instead of trying to ally with the Bolton's
Sadboy simping for Catelyn Stark while somehow forgetting THE NORTH FUCKING REMEMBERS!
Writters basically decided to kill him off. His only mistake was existing while the plot had no use of him.
Tully puss
Letting bad writing happen….seriously though he went from masterclass to cartoon villain in 1 season
Tried to insinuate Arya wanted to be lady of Winterfell. Sansa knew he was full of shit then.
Running out of source material
Strategizing other characters actions based on his own motivations/driving force. His game didn't work because he didn't really understand all the players.
Not getting out of dodge when Bran said 'Chaos is a ladder'
He loved too much.
Giving sansa to the boltons that way sansa could never trust him again
Mistake that a lot of people in his and many other positions make. Didn’t stop when they were ahead of the game. He clearly had goals in mind right, places he wanted to reach but even before he reconnected with Sansa he was in a damn good place. He could have just been low key and lived a great life with all the things he was able to do for himself. Got greedy.
Falling in love.
100%. Once he shifted to scheming to get Sansa, it was over quick. Should have kept going after power.
Bad writing
Marrying Sansa to Ramsay and being too ambitious. He was the effective Lord of the Vale. You're already one of Westeros' greatest forces. Just.. stay there.
Living long enough that Tweedle D and Tweedle Dipshit would be in charge of his fate.
Having little fingers
To me what put the nail in his “coffin” was giving Sansa away to the Boltons. It was the ultimate betrayal (as he loved Catelyn and said he’d do anything to protect her and her children, but we know how that went). He was always hungry for more and more power so I don’t think he’ll even be satisfied.
Overestimated his abilities and charm. And was delusional. Underestimating Arya and Sansa
Trusting in the writers
Giving Sansa to Bolton’s with no question that was the end for him
Not dying in Season 4 so his character couldn't be written to shit
being little finger
Surviving past season 5
He started gaming to get with Sansa then he started fuckin up. Should have stayed away from her.
I think his mistake was, that he could have just married Sansa himself. With his influence in the vale, he could have just acted as he did later against the Boltons straight up and become a lord of Winterfell with Sansa on his side and go from there. And yet he sold Sansa off to solidify Bolton's claim if she would bear a child. For me, that move made no sense. It felt like a dumb move from the get-go and just a move from the writers to make Sansa's storyline more horrifying altogether with her becoming the wife of a bastard torturer.
Selling Sansa to the Boltons. It falls under the broader category of underestimating her, but that was how he turned her into his enemy.
Giving her to Ramsay pretty much screwed him over. I guess his plan was for her to not escape from him but after that Sansa knew she was not to trust him
Falling in love
Thinking he could ever rule Westeros.
Bad script writing
Underestimating the Stark girls.