Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aiden Gillan) popped back into our Game of Thrones lives in this week’s “Book of the Stranger,” after a too-long absence. As is Littlefinger’s way, he immediately started in on manipulating the most powerful people in Westeros, using his sway over Robyn Arryn to persuade the knights of the Vale into mobilizing, with his eye on attacking Ramsay Bolton at Winterfell.

This is only the latest example of Littlefinger’s usually successful behind-the-scenes machinations. Perhaps more than any other character on Game of Thrones, Littlefinger is a master puppeteer, popping from storyline to storyline to manipulate the situation with a high degree of success. Let’s take a moment to reflect on all of the events Littlefinger has engineered:

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    Image via HBO
    He persuaded Lysa to kill Jon Arryn and tell Ned and Catelyn Stark it was the Lannisters, effectively starting the War of the Five Kings and sowing the seeds for the Lannister/Stark feud.
  • He convinced Catelyn that it was Tyrion who tried to kill Bran, which led to her capture of the Lannister.
  • He helped bring about Ned Stark’s downfall (though, along with Varys and Cersei, didn’t have plans to kill him — that was all Joffrey).
  • He created the alliance between the Tyrells and Lannisters by securing the Margaery/Joffrey marriage.
  • He planned Joffrey’s murder, and snuck Sansa Stark out of King’s Landing in the immediate aftermath.
  • He arranged for Sansa to be married to Ramsay Bolton, and persuaded her into going through with it.
  • He gave Olenna the information that led to Cersei’s arrest by the Faith Militant.

And those are only the things we know about. But what is Baelish’s endgame? Does he just want as much power as he can get his slimy hands on? Does he want to claim Winterfell and Sansa Stark for his own? Or does he just want to watch the world burn? Here are our top theories. Which one do you think might be right?

Littlefinger is motivated by power.

Littlefinger is the son of a minor lord with minor holdings. This has always been at least one of the factors that drives Petyr — but is it the major one? Is power truly the only thing that Littlefinger cares about?

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Image via HBO

To be fair, the drive for power is one of the main themes of the show, so it’s not so hard to imagine that Littlefinger would also want to win the game of thrones. He has certainly caused enough chaos to upset the relatively sturdy power structure that was in place when the show began. He instigated the War of the Five Kings by convincing Lysa to kill Jon Arryn, then tell Catelyn and Ned that it was the Lannisters who did it, and further escalated things by convincing Catelyn that Tyrion was responsible for Bran's "accident," ensuring that the two houses would be pitted against each other.

Did Littlefinger start the war to bring about the downfall of the Starks with the ultimate goal of ruling the North in their stead, using the Lannisters as a weapon? From the North, Littlefinger could eventually make a play for the Iron Throne. Was he planning to “rescue” Sansa from Bolton, conquer Winterfell for himself, and marry the girl he once creepily referred to as a daughter before kissing her? As far as Game of Thrones plans go, it’s not inconceivable.

Littlefinger is motivated by a twisted version of love.

For a few solid seasons, Littlefinger has had a Snape-like vibe going on. He is usually playing multiple sides at any one time, and is potentially motivated by an unrequited love he has for a dead woman, a.k.a. Catelyn Stark. This infatuation, developed in childhood when they lived together in Riverrun, has seemingly led Petyr to placing her child in his larger Westerosi machinations. We’re one “always” away from a Game of Thrones parallel to Severus Snape’s love/infatuation/whatever for Lily Potter.

Though Baelish did turn Sansa over to Ramsay Bolton, there is a possible argument to be made that he didn’t realize the extent of Ramsay’s terribleness. Conversely, it could be part of a larger plan to bring the Boltons down in retribution for Catelyn's death. If this is the case, it has been a pretty convoluted plan, but it would explain why he is currently rallying the knights of the Vale to attack Winterfell.

Littlefinger is motivated by revenge against the Starks.

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Image via HBO

Season 6 seems to be the season of the flashback, i.e. the season when we find out what really happened at the Tower of Joy (R + L = J?), shedding light not only on the true parentage of Jon Snow, but also the truth about why Robert’s Rebellion happened. Could the key to understanding Petyr's motivations also be part of the Tower of Joy plot Season 6 is slowly unveiling? This possibly connection is a bit farfetched, but it would also be cool, unexpected, and would serve what is always my larger Thrones wish for narrative streamlining (sorry, Greyjoys, Dorne, and any characters named Sam).

Before we delve into the events leading up to Robert’s Rebellion, let’s talk about a major event in Petyr Baelish’s life: his duel with Brandon Stark. You see, Petry was in love with Catelyn — he had been since he first came to live with the Tullys as a child. Catelyn loved Petyr like a brother, and was betrothed to marry Brandon Stark, so prospects did not look good for young Petyr.

But teenage Petyr fancied himself the underdog hero of a great love story and thought that, if he challenged Brandon Stark to a duel, he would win and he and Catelyn would live happily ever after. (Obviously, he didn’t yet realize he was in this particular story, where no one ever lives happily ever after.) Petyr lost the duel, but Catelyn pled for his life, and Brandon Stark let him live. So you better believe that Petyr has been harboring some unresolved resentment towards both the Starks, and classic hero-types, ever since. (Editor's Speculation: Or is he a wizard / agent of change, and a stand-in for GRRM even more so than Tyrion?)

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Image via HBO

OK, so here’s what we know about Robert’s Rebellion: We know Ned’s brother and father, Brandon and Rickard, were executed by the Mad King Aerys Targaryen after Ned’s sister, Lyanna, was kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen. Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon and, in the wake of the abduction and the Starks’ murders, Houses Baratheon, Stark, and Arryn all revolted and eventually overthrew the Targaryen regime with the help of Houses Lannister and Tully, amongst others.

Here’s the thing: If you believe that R+L=J, and that Rhaegar and Lyanna were in love rather than that Rhaegar raped Lyanna, then why would Lyanna not have tried to contact her family to let them know that she chose to go with Rhaegar? Brandon and Rickard may have still protested their union (especially as Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon), but would they have stormed into King’s Landing to demand that the Mad King Aerys let her go? Maybe not.

Could Littlefinger have somehow been behind Robert's Rebellion? Again, this is a stretch, but we’ve also learned never to underestimate Petyr Baelish. Could he have somehow intercepted a letter from Lyanna to her family explaining the situation? He obviously wanted revenge for his humiliating defeat in the duel against Brandon Stark, and this would have been the perfect way to do it — even if he didn’t realize how quickly things would escalate out of control. Has he been responsible for both of the major coups in recent Westeros history? Because that would be impressive, and so very Littlefinger.

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