S04.E07: Mockingbird

[Mz Anthrope]

Littlefinger's sigil is the mockingbird and Sansa was being called a 'little dove' all along?  Hmm

 

And I am wondering if Robin finds out about his mother by seeing her on the rocks below.  Or if somehow he's talked into going after her.

 

That little simp can't live much longer.  He has Joffrey potential written all over him

Edited May 19, 2014 by Mz Anthrope

[sugarbaker design]

I don’t think I feel comfortable with how Arya is developing into a killer.

 

 

I sure do, she's a teen-age girl with a target on her back, half her family has been slaughtered.  Either she kills or she's going to be killed.

[scrb]

Can someone explain Oberyn's past?  His sister was killed by The Mountain, whom Cersei has chosen as champion in the trial by combat?

 

Surely people knew about this history and maybe Cersei would have chosen someone else?

[Conan Troutman]

I have a thing with hair this week.  Sansa’s hair seems to get redder with every episode and why has Arya’s hair not grown any? In all this time, Arya’s hair ought to be down her back. 

Yeah, that hair thing is weird. One would assume that Arya maybe just likes it a bit shorter now, if only for practical reasons (although Ygritte seems to be doing just fine, I guess conditioner is way overrated...). But her hair is getting longer, just in super slo-mo. And Sansa's hair is indeed getting redder.

 

 

Oberyn and Tyrion.  Love their scene!  Oberyn killed it.  And Tyrion’s facial expressions were just perfection.  I am so afraid for Oberyn.  I mean, The Mountain is HUGE.  Oberyn is a normal sized man.  How can Oberyn expect to win?  Clearly he DOES expect to win, but can he?  I guess it depends on the manner in which they fight.  Do you suppose it will be hand to hand combat?  Swords?  Something on horses?   I am just on needles and pins.

 

I guess it will be a swordfight, as the two other trials by combat have been. And he probably won't have the advantage of location, so either he got something up his sleeve (maybe quite literally, a throwing and/or poisoned dagger perhaps?) or he's simply just that good of a fighter and wins through speed and technique. Considering how awesome he generally is and that the show made a point of telling us earlier, it could very well be the latter. Either way, I'm pretty sure he'll win. Would be a giant waste of potential by Martin if not.

 

Can someone explain Oberyn's past?  His sister was killed by The Mountain, whom Cersei has chosen as champion in the trial by combat?

 

Surely people knew about this history and maybe Cersei would have chosen someone else?

 

Yes, the Mountain raped and killed his sister (not necessarily in that order, though...).

And it's Cersei we're talking about. Of course she would make the most shortsighted decision possible, how could she not?

 

Edited May 19, 2014 by Conan Troutman

[bluvelvet]

No offense but the current Mountain doesn't look old enough to have killed Oberyn's siblings about 24 years ago, ( This is based off Jaime being 16 when he killed the mad king and he is now 40 ). Also how old is Oberyn ?

Also the other skeeve factor, the way Littlefinger was touching Sansa's hair, *shudder* I wonder if he would be so fixated on her if she wasn't a redhead. I assume the actress is now 18 since they allowed that kiss in there.

Honestly I don't know if I consider Arya a Stark anymore, she doesn't have much Stark like tendencies left.

Edited May 19, 2014 by bluvelvet

[Isazouzi]

Yes, the Mountain raped and killed his sister (not necessarily in that order, though...).

And it's Cersei we're talking about. Of course she would make the most shortsighted decision possible, how could she not?

 

 

It's not just Cersei. Tywin should have thought of it too. Oberyn very clearly told him he blamed him for his sister's murder since Tywin was and still is the one who gave the Mountain orders. With that being said, I don't blame them because 1/ they probably expect that no one in their right mind would want to go against the Mountain, 2/ why would they expect Oberyn to fight for Tyrion, a Lannister, after Oberyn has made his hate for the Lannisters very clear.

Honestly I don't know if I consider Arya a Stark anymore, she doesn't have much Stark like tendencies left.

 

Good. Maybe she'll stay alive.

[Haldebrandt]

Cersei can't keep her hands off her relatives' dicks, can she?

[Starving Writer]

 

No offense but the current Mountain doesn't look old enough to have killed Oberyn's siblings about 24 years ago, ( This is based off Jaime being 16 when he killed the mad king and he is now 40 ). Also how old is Oberyn ?

 

Jamie was 16 when he joined the Kingsguard.  He was older when he killed the Mad King.  In Season 1, "Robert's Rebellion" happened 16-17 years earlier, and it's been about 2-3 years since then, so the death of the Mad King and the sacking of King's Landing happened about 18-20 years ago.  

 

Mountain v.3 looks young, though.  The actor is 25 years old, so that doesn't help.  

[Neurochick]

 

I'm like, throw his ass out next.  See what it's like to fly.

 

I'm with you there; Robin bothers me.  I have a feeling that he could easily become Joffrey 2.0.  I say let's throw him out the moon door and see if that robin can fly.

[Conan Troutman]

It's not just Cersei. Tywin should have thought of it too. Oberyn very clearly told him he blamed him for his sister's murder since Tywin was and still is the one who gave the Mountain orders. With that being said, I don't blame them because 1/ they probably expect that no one in their right mind would want to go against the Mountain, 2/ why would they expect Oberyn to fight for Tyrion, a Lannister, after Oberyn has made his hate for the Lannisters very clear.

I think Tywin does know, but didn't overrule because he thinks the Mountain will crush Oberyn and so he could kill two birds with one stone. I'm very curious how they react to the fact that Oberyn will be Tyrion's champion. My guess: Cersei will be completely shocked by this and Tywin, as usual, will show no reaction at all.

[JTMacc99]

Did Brienne and Pod take the correct direction at the fork in the road??  Hmmm??

That is such an interesting question.

 

From the way it was shot, where one path was straight ahead and the other was off to the right, I felt like I was to assume that they took the wrong one.

 

As they went off to the right, the camera was looking straight ahead at the empty path they did not select. It just felt like the camera was telling us, "NO! Go down this one you dummies!"

[KurlyGrl]

Folks here are talking about the ages of the characters.  How much older than Tyrion is Oberyn?  He talks about seeing Tyrion as a baby.  Oberyn can’t be (or certainly doesn’t look) any older than Tyrion. 

 

Robin reminds me of Anthony Fremont.  Kudos to anyone who gets the reference. LOL!!

[Conan Troutman]

That is such an interesting question.

 

From the way it was shot, where one path was straight ahead and the other was off to the right, I felt like I was to assume that they took the wrong one.

 

As they went off to the right, the camera was looking straight ahead at the empty path they did not select. It just felt like the camera was telling us, "NO! Go down this one you dummies!"

 

I guess since they've been traveling north the straight path has to lead north, to the Wall. So they probably took the right (read: correct) one.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Conan Troutman

[Constantinople]

Honestly I don't know if I consider Arya a Stark anymore, she doesn't have much Stark like tendencies left.

Despite telling the Hound last season that she would kill him, and this season that he was on her death list, Arya was surprisingly tender with the Hound when tending to his injury. Some of it was likely self-interet, but her tone could have been much harsher.

I would argue that killing Rogre was self-defense, so she made sure she struck the first blow. Also, her father killed men in battle, and since there were two men fighting, it met the Hot Pie definition of battle.

But I'm concerned about what's happening to her.

[msophelia]

God, that Moon Door just gives me the creeps. However it is useful in taking out the crazy trash.

i am terrified of heights, and the fact that the moon door appears to be just a gaping maw with no actual door freaks me out every time they show it.  almost backed through the back of the couch trying to get away from it last night.

[taanja]

I, personally, love what is happening to Arya. She is learning exactly what she needs to learn in order to survive this world. It is a dangerous, brutal place where people die and are murdered and tortured and downright stomped on just for the fun of stomping on someone. So she needs mad skilz to survive/thrive. You go girl!

 

Sansa didn't bug me this ep which is good. I liked her smacking that little brat. She finally did something rather than stand there looking like a deer in the headlights. Maybe she is finally learning to swim in the social circles of deceit, duplicity and pretense that is the world of the Highborns.

 

I love the Littlefinger obsession of his little dove. Oh yes! And I am completely unspoiled (No books no previews no nothing!) so color me surprised when he threw his loving wife down the giant gapping hole in the middle of the room (I mean seriously that is some crazy shit right there!) I wonder how this will all play out? Because that seemed more like an act of passion as opposed to a pre-meditated act. And Littlefinger doesn't strike me as someone who let's his emotions rule his actions very often --if ever. So wow!

 

 

[Dandesun]

I think my absolute favorite Sansa moment last night was the expression on her face when she stood in the falling snow. I thought that was a kind of beautiful, yet heartbreaking moment... she grew up in Winterfell. She's of the North. King's Landing, it seems, doesn't get much in the way of Winter (although the way Summer and Winter are in Westeros it makes me wonder) so as long as she's been away she's not seen snow. Standing there in falling snow for the first time since everything in her and her family's life went to utter hell was very poignant. It's no wonder that the next thing she did was build a Winterfell of snow.

 

Oberyn's whole story to Tyrion about the first time he saw him as a baby and he wasn't at all the monster people claimed was weirdly beautiful, too. It also clearly demonstrated that Cersei hated Tyrion from jump and Jaime did not since he's the one that made her stop all those years ago.

 

Whenever I talk about the show with my Mom she finds a way to find sympathy for Cersei. She feels bad that Cersei has to do all of these things to get some power because she's a women and I'm sitting there going 'Cersei's a monster, if she were a man, she would have been Joffrey' so that's where we tend to deviate. 

[dramachick]

Of the three fantastic visitor scenes with Tyrion in his cell, Oberyn's affected me the most.  It provided such heartbreaking insight into Tyrion's tortured life with his family.  I think that monologue should be Pedro Pascal's Emmy submission.

 

If there be gods, old and new, please let Littlefinger die soon.  I'm not gonna be able to stomach scenes of him groping and slobbering Sansa, the daughter that should have been his. Ugh.

[Drogo]

 

Can someone explain Oberyn's past?  His sister was killed by The Mountain, whom Cersei has chosen as champion in the trial by combat?

    

    Surely people knew about this history and maybe Cersei would have chosen someone else?

 

I don't think Cersei selected The Mountain to entice Oberyn to fight, I think she chose The Mountain so that no one would come to Tyrion's aid.  As The Hound let us know last episode, Meryn Trant is somewhat regarded as a joke of a swordsman.

 

I imagine Cersei will be at least a little disturbed at the news of Oberyn volunteering, as if tragedy were to befall him it could jeopardize her daughter's safety in Dorne. 

[bluvelvet]

I thought they were heading towards the Eyrie, only because Brienne asked Pod if he was sure to which he nodded in the affirmative.

[Dandesun]

I thought they were heading towards the Eyrie, only because Brienne asked Pod if he was sure to which he nodded in the affirmative.

 

Brienne did ask Podrick if he was sure but he said he wasn't. I actually think that's why Brienne chose to go to the Eyrie. She likes honesty like Pod's.

[Isazouzi]

Well, the Wall is north and the Eyrie is northwest, so I took it as a very simple way to show us that the straight path was going to the Wall and the right path was going to the Eyrie. It made me laugh, but I think that's what it meant.

[Constantinople]

From previous episodes I knew Tyrion had a cushy cell, but this time I noticed 2 if not 3 windows, and a stone bench.

Does the Iron Bank about this kind of irresponsible financial behavior?

[JTMacc99]

Well, the Wall is north and the Eyrie is northwest, so I took it as a very simple way to show us that the straight path was going to the Wall and the right path was going to the Eyrie. It made me laugh, but I think that's what it meant.

If there are two paths, and one goes north and one goes northwest, the one on the left would be northwest, wouldn't it?

 

Are you sure that Eyrie is northwest? I'd look it up, but every time I try to Google something on Game of Thrones, I get hit in the face with spoilers.

[Dandesun]

Try Googling 'Map of Westeros' -- that shouldn't spoiler the crap out of you.

[Popples]

Are you sure that Eyrie is northwest? I'd look it up, but every time I try to Google something on Game of Thrones, I get hit in the face with spoilers.

 

The official HBO map is spoiler free. The Eyrie is more in the eastern portion of the middle of Westeros.

 

God, I loved Oberyn's scene with Tyrion so much, especially the story how he saw Tyrion as a baby.

[polyarchive]

Didn't Littlefinger play a large part in the destruction of Catelyn's family? I thought that his actions up until this episode were an indication that he had moved on from his feelings about Catelyn and transferred them to some sort of need for power, but in this episode he declares her his only love twice. He was just playing on her emotions, right? Both times he proclaimed his love in front of Sansa. 

 

It is interesting, because I don't know if we ever got to see Littlefinger's reaction to Catelyn's death (and the manner of it). If that were actually his reason for killing Joffrey, you'd think he'd have some self-blame, so he's just playing her, right? But it was satisfying to see Sansa's smile. If anyone thinks he was sincere about Catelyn, I would love to hear some other perspectives.

[The Ragged Man]

Anyone else think the new Mountain looks like Will Sasso?

[JTMacc99]

The official HBO map is spoiler free. The Eyrie is more in the eastern portion of the middle of Westeros.

 

Ah! Thank you!

 

Well, that is pretty easy to figure our that the path to the right goes to Eyrie, and it is nice and close to where they are at the moment.  Now I just need to figure out where Sandor and Arya are in this episode and things could really start to make sense. It's too bad that map doesn't work like the Marauder's map from Harry Potter.

[Holmbo]

From previous episodes I knew Tyrion had a cushy cell, but this time I noticed 2 if not 3 windows, and a stone bench.

Does the Iron Bank about this kind of irresponsible financial behavior?

Also it seems he got to change clothes. :O

Unless I'm misremembering but I think he has different clothes before.

Comparing to the other long term prisoners seen so far that is quiet the luxury.

[millahnna]

Anyone else think the new Mountain looks like Will Sasso?

Especially in the behind the scenes pictures where he's smiling. He looks like such an affable fellow.

[Libby96]

I'm willing to give them a pass about the slow growth of Arya's hair. Girlfriend has been on the road apprenticing to be a killer for how long now? I imagine when her hair gets on her nerves, she just saws it off with her sword.

[Isazouzi]

If there are two paths, and one goes north and one goes northwest, the one on the left would be northwest, wouldn't it?

 

Are you sure that Eyrie is northwest? I'd look it up, but every time I try to Google something on Game of Thrones, I get hit in the face with spoilers.

 

Damn it, I meant east! I don't know why I always confuse east and west. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to confuse you!

 

The HBO map is pretty great, as is the background history the site provides (if you don't consider it spoilers, which I don't).

[halgia]

Now I just need to figure out where Sandor and Arya are in this episode and things could really start to make sense. 

They're somewhere in the Riverlands, on their way from the Twins (post Red Wedding) to the Eyrie: the viewer's guide entry on Rorge says he "was killed by Arya Stark, with the Hound's blessing, after the two encountered him in the Riverlands."

[Wilowy]

HA HA! *Nelson laugh*

 

Moon Door for one?

 

 

Expression? Priceless.

[SourK]

I think my absolute favorite Sansa moment last night was the expression on her face when she stood in the falling snow. I thought that was a kind of beautiful, yet heartbreaking moment... she grew up in Winterfell.

 

Also, props to the music people for that scene. My memory isn't good enough to know which theme they were playing, but it was definitely one of the ones associated with the Starks/Winterfell. I think they used to play it for Catelyn sometimes, too, but I could be wrong. Either way, it was a nice nonverbal way of showing us what Sansa must be feeling.

 

Didn't Littlefinger play a large part in the destruction of Catelyn's family? I thought that his actions up until this episode were an indication that he had moved on from his feelings about Catelyn and transferred them to some sort of need for power, but in this episode he declares her his only love twice. He was just playing on her emotions, right? Both times he proclaimed his love in front of Sansa. 

 

It is interesting, because I don't know if we ever got to see Littlefinger's reaction to Catelyn's death (and the manner of it). If that were actually his reason for killing Joffrey, you'd think he'd have some self-blame, so he's just playing her, right? But it was satisfying to see Sansa's smile. If anyone thinks he was sincere about Catelyn, I would love to hear some other perspectives.

 

I think Littlefinger is sincere in believing that he loved Catelyn, but he's lying to Sansa about that being the reason he went after Joffrey. I suppose there's a possibility that he didn't intend for Ned to die when he betrayed the Starks in season one and blew up their whole family (and therefore he's mad at Joffrey), but I think it's much more likely that this is a lie.

[Wilowy]

Anyone else think the new Mountain looks like Will Sasso?

 

Yep. Also way too modern. He looks like one of those circus wrestlers who wore a handlebar mustache and a striped unitard. BOO on the (third) casting. He should look more filthy, unkempt, smelly, and scary.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

i am terrified of heights, and the fact that the moon door appears to be just a gaping maw with no actual door freaks me out every time they show it. almost backed through the back of the couch trying to get away from it last night.

There is a door that closes it, which we saw back in S1 when Cat brought Tyrion to Lysa, but lately it looks like it's usually open. This week Lysa had it opened on purpose before calling Sansa in but I imagine they must close it at night or when it's windy. I'm afraid of heights too (I start hyperventilating whenever the teams on the Amazing Race have to do anything more than a few feet off the ground) so I know how you feel!

[Wilowy]

The sky cells always freaked me out way more than the moon door. 

 

Always open to the frigid air, with a sloping floor that you just might roll out of if your sleep was deep enough. Tyrion was lucky.

 

Fucking sky cells. *shudder*

[NoWillToResist]

 

Surely people knew about this history and maybe Cersei would have chosen someone else?

 

The Mountain is allegely scary as fuck and brutal to boot. If anyone were even crazy enough to volunteer to go against him, I'm sure no one would expect the Mountain to lose.

 

Oberyn for King! No, seriously. He's awesome. He's fun, smart, observant, compassionate, just and fun.

[msophelia]

There is a door that closes it, which we saw back in S1 when Cat brought Tyrion to Lysa, but lately it looks like it's usually open. This week Lysa had it opened on purpose before calling Sansa in but I imagine they must close it at night or when it's windy. I'm afraid of heights too (I start hyperventilating whenever the teams on the Amazing Race have to do anything more than a few feet off the ground) so I know how you feel!

i know, there has to be a door, right?  because all i can think is, 'man, the heating bill must be ridiculous!'

[bluvelvet]

I just rewatched parts of the episode, still find Oberyn declaring himself Tyrion's champion EPIC!!

 

However, I noted that after Littlefinger kissed Sansa he had a look of... dare I say *passion* on his face, I think that is the most emotion we have ever seen from Littlefinger as he has always seemed so detached. Honestly in that moment I wonder if he was seeing Sansa or Catelyn.

 

I also absolutely believe that he meant for Ned to die, why else would he have Lysa send a letter to Catelyn accusing the Lannisters. He must have known Robert would ask Ned to be the new Hand (an offer Ned couldn't refuse) and once honest Ned came to Kings Landing he just played his role.

[LittleIggy]

I wondered why Arya didn't have any more of a reaction when that bounty seeking guy said that the King was dead. I expected her to say something like "Wait! Did you say Joffrey was dead?" Maybe the news went over her head. BTW, I was surprised that the Hound gave a dying man a drink of water.

[CeeBeeGee]

Damn it, I meant east! I don't know why I always confuse east and west. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to confuse you!

 

L. Frank Baum forgives you :)

I also absolutely believe that he meant for Ned to die, why else would he have Lysa send a letter to Catelyn accusing the Lannisters. He must have known Robert would ask Ned to be the new Hand (an offer Ned couldn't refuse) and once honest Ned came to Kings Landing he just played his role.

 

I rewatched the episode tonight--once I'd gotten past the shock of Lysa getting shoved through the Moon Door last night (I thought I was going to vomit), I started thinking about Littlefinger.  Damn, he plays a hell of a long game--and I think he set up Ned.  He set up Lysa to set up Ned, and played Ned juuuuust enough in King's Landing that it would look plausible that he had to change sides at the last minute because Ned just couldn't play the game, wouldn't step into the vacuum and seize power and therefore Littlefinger was in danger.  He must've known all along that Ned, once he found out about the twincest, would Do the Right Thing and give LF a reason to turn on him.  But here's the deal--Jon Arryn really DID find out about the twincest, so LF (through Lysa) was just saving Cersei the dirty work--right?  Is LF working with Cersei on some level?  Or was but now isn't?  Or did Cersei know that Jon Arryn had figured her and Jaime out?

 

The big clue that LF was playing the long game is in season 2, when he visits Catelyn at the Stark camp and lies to her that Arya is still in King's Landing.  At that point nobody knew where she was.

 

Once Brienne finds Sansa (and presumably Arya, as they all slouch toward Bethlehem the Eyrie)--what is she going to do with her??? Where can Brienne take them? Neither sister has any option left--except maybe for Littlefinger but I certainly wouldn't trust him.  God, they're all f*****!

[Nonlinear]

Is Oberyn a very good fighter or is he suicidal in his thirst for vengeance? I hope he doesn't get killed.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Nonlinear

[Lady S.]

No offense but the current Mountain doesn't look old enough to have killed Oberyn's siblings about 24 years ago, ( This is based off Jaime being 16 when he killed the mad king and he is now 40 ). Also how old is Oberyn ?

Also the other skeeve factor, the way Littlefinger was touching Sansa's hair, *shudder* I wonder if he would be so fixated on her if she wasn't a redhead. I assume the actress is now 18 since they allowed that kiss in there.

Gregor 3.0 is played by a guy my age, 25. Unless he killed Elia's children then raped and killed her when he was 6, I'd think the character is meant to be older than the actor. Would the book ages of characters be considered spoilers? I can't find Pedro Pascal's age, but Lena and Nikolaj are both younger than Peter. And Stephen Dillane is 7 years older than Mark Addy, so the actors' ages must not be considered important. Gregor 3.0 being 20 years younger than Rory McCann is the only one to really stretch credibility too much.

 

Sophie just recently turned 18, as in after s4 was filmed. I don't think there are strict regulations regarding kissing, as opposed to sex scenes/nudity. Or any specific clause about what age difference is too creepy. Vikings had Jessalyn Gilsig mouthkissing underage boys in the pilot to welcome them into warriorhood. And recently her character offscreen deflowered a boy, who at the very least, looked like he could still be underage.

 

I think Littlefinger is sincere in believing that he loved Catelyn, but he's lying to Sansa about that being the reason he went after Joffrey. I suppose there's a possibility that he didn't intend for Ned to die when he betrayed the Starks in season one and blew up their whole family (and therefore he's mad at Joffrey), but I think it's much more likely that this is a lie.

I'm not going to re-post the gif since that would be obnoxious, and my gif posting is probably annoying anyway. But there really is no possibility he didn't want Ned to die. It's not a close-up shot but after Joffrey called for Ned's head, Littlefinger was smiling while Sansa was screaming.

 

Well, that is pretty easy to figure our that the path to the right goes to Eyrie, and it is nice and close to where they are at the moment.  Now I just need to figure out where Sandor and Arya are in this episode and things could really start to make sense. It's too bad that map doesn't work like the Marauder's map from Harry Potter.

 

This map's pretty close. You can trace character paths according to chapter or episode.

 

As for why Arya wasn't happier that Joffrey had died, for one thing she had nothing to do with it. It'd be like Sandor finding out someone else had killed Gregor. And Joffrey's death was no victory at all. Her parents and Robb are still dead, Winterfell has been sacked and Bran and Rickon are MIA. She has no home and no hope of seeing her surviving immediate family. Hatred is as good a fuel as any, The Hound says. But hatred alone isn't enough. What happens when the object of the hatred is gone, leaving only an empty space? Gotta find someone else to kill, a new source of fuel. It's the same reason why Sandor has never been a happy man, despite expounding on the joy of killing, he's been on his own from an even younger age, surviving on hatred, anger, and fear, and trying to suppress his better nature so he can feel strong and invulnerable.

ETA:

I rewatched the episode tonight--once I'd gotten past the shock of Lysa getting shoved through the Moon Door last night (I thought I was going to vomit), I started thinking about Littlefinger. Damn, he plays a hell of a long game--and I think he set up Ned. He set up Lysa to set up Ned, and played Ned juuuuust enough in King's Landing that it would look plausible that he had to change sides at the last minute because Ned just couldn't play the game, wouldn't step into the vacuum and seize power and therefore Littlefinger was in danger. He must've known all along that Ned, once he found out about the twincest, would Do the Right Thing and give LF a reason to turn on him. But here's the deal--Jon Arryn really DID find out about the twincest, so LF (through Lysa) was just saving Cersei the dirty work--right? Is LF working with Cersei on some level? Or was but now isn't? Or did Cersei know that Jon Arryn had figured her and Jaime out?

Cersei and Jaime knew that Jon Arryn had found them out, they were talking about it above his corpse in the pilot. Pycelle also tells Tyrion when he's arrested in s2 that he knew the Queen needed Lord Arryn gone, so Pycelle, as royal physician, made sure he didn't survive the poisoning-indicating he should be able to help with poisonings. I can see why Littlefinger thought he needed to arrange Jon Arryn's murder himself instead of leaving it in Cersei's hands. Cersei's murder of Robert wasn't exactly foolproof. Littlefinger's interests aligned with the Lannisters long enough to get Jon Arryn killed and Ned arrested, but he did both for his own personal ambitions. Luring Ned Stark to the capital with the murder of his mentor, framing Tyrion, and helping Ned get to point of challenging King Joffrey's legitimacy were all actions against Lannister interests.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Lady S.

[fantique]

 

The big clue that LF was playing the long game is in season 2, when he visits Catelyn at the Stark camp and lies to her that Arya is still in King's Landing.  At that point nobody knew where she was.

Actually I was thinking about something similar after the reveal that he was behind Arryn's death. Did he recognise Arya when he was with Twyin? I still don't know... I am hoping he did because that would mean there are more schemes to come and they were set in place before SOIAF even began!!!

 

Also, I think LF was in love with Cat. I think he literally sees Cat everytime he looks at Sansa. I don't think anyone would have predicted Ned Strak death because nobody expected Joffrey to be that much of a twat and a psycho because that was sure to start a war. So he probably thought "my,my,my... this is turning out even better than I thought!". His speech about love conquering all leads to believe that he thinks that had he been a Lord, he and Catelyn would have been together 100%. Delusion? Maybe, but I think he genuinely thought so, I think he probably idealises their story in his mind everytime he reminisces. He probably thought that power was the only obstacle between them, because he was so gauche when he saw her in the tent that I can't help but think that was one of the few times he was expressing his real feelings.

[Eucrid]

I like Aiden Gillen as an actor and he's seemed nice when I've seen him at an annual music festival here in Ireland, even took pictures with us etc, so I do have a soft spot for the guy but what the hell is going on with his accent? He sounds like a posh pirate.

[Isazouzi]

I like Aiden Gillen as an actor and he's seemed nice when I've seen him at an annual music festival here in Ireland, even took pictures with us etc, so I do have a soft spot for the guy but what the hell is going on with his accent? He sounds like a posh pirate.

 

Many people have commented on that. Aiden is a good actor, so he must have a reason for this. Is he trying to sound more highborn than he is? To show LF's attempts at hiding his true origins? I may be reaching (non-native speaker here, the only one who strikes me as weird is Tyrion's).

 

ETA: ok, I just read an article where he says he wants LF to sound "patriarchal" and that his accent should shift. So, make of that what you want.

 

An article about the GoT accents (no spoilers): http://gawker.com/what-is-going-on-with-the-accents-in-game-of-thrones-485816507

Edited May 20, 2014 by Isazouzi

[JTMacc99]

Thank you everybody for helping me with the maps and where the two pairs of travelers are in relation to The Eyrie.

 

Depending on how they travel and when Arya and the Hound get on the main road, it appears as though they will both arrive there fairly close to the same time.

 

Now that Lysa has added 'physical' to 'mental and emotional' to the things about her that are a complete mess, I wonder what is going to happen when Sandor shows up looking for his reward. Will Littlefinger pay him? Will Arya and the Hound even be allowed in?

 

God, I hope that at least this part of this season doesn't end up a miserable nightmare the way I'm expecting the Kings Landing and the Castle Black stories to go.