Game of Thrones made plenty of changes to the characters of A Song of Ice and Fire, and many of those changes were made with a mind toward simplifying the story. With such a massive ensemble set in a world with centuries of history to unpack, translating all of that lore and development to the small screen was going to be an impossible task, but in adapting Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger, the HBO series may have oversimplified the mastermind.

The iconic "chaos is a ladder" speech defined the TV show's adaptation of the character early on, but as the series unfolded, it became clear that it may have been the writers more than the character who made things up as they went along. The Littlefinger of the books has far more complicated machinations in the works, and as a result, he may be a better character.

On paper, Littlefinger's origins in the show and books are much the same. As the lord to a backwater house, Littlefinger cultivates greater amounts of power for himself through complex machinations and manipulations. A fundamental difference between each medium's portrayal of Littlefinger, however, is evident from the start of the HBO series.

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Whereas the books have discreet point of view characters limiting and filtering the reader's perspective of other characters, the TV series drifts around from one scene to another with a far more objective portrayal of characters and events. This means that early on the audience can be sure Littlefinger is a villain not to be trusted, whereas the character of the books plays a subtler game, ingratiating himself to much of the cast through favors and alliances.

A key point of divergence between both versions occurs in the HBO series during a scene between Varys and Littlefinger, neither of whom are point of view characters in the novels. In a scene unique to the show, Littlefinger describes his outlook and methodology with his "chaos is a ladder" speech, revealing his part in pitting the kingdoms against each other is part of a grander scheme to use the ensuing confusion as an opportunity for his own advancement toward the Iron Throne. It makes for a powerful, character-defining moment, yet as his character unfolds in the series, it becomes increasingly clear it's not Littlefinger capitalizing on the confusion of ill-defined plans -- it's the writers.

In the books, Littlefinger's designs are less explicit yet more sensible. After sowing chaos between the main players in King's Landing, Littlefinger escapes to the Vale with Sansa Stark in tow. There, he becomes the Lord of the Vale after marrying Lysa Arryn and molds both Sansa and the young Robin Arryn into wards whose high-ranking lineage he can leverage into uniting the North with the Vale. While simultaneously bribing and blackmailing allegiances in both territories, including a plot in which he creates an Arya Stark imposter to wed to the Boltons, Littlefinger is the furthest thing from a shortsighted opportunist.

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Arya killing Littlefinger

Quite the contrary, the Littlefinger of the books is one of the most farsighted masterminds in Westeros, yet the changes the show made did a disservice toward that end. In the show, he not only trades away Sansa to the Boltons, losing a key piece to his future ambitions in exchange for an alliance to the North, but he also outright leaves the protection of the Vale, where his early exposure as a villain leaves him vulnerable to countless enemies.

By Game of Thrones' finale, Littlefinger is predictably left to the mercy of Sansa and Arya, who had virtually no reason to spare him. In his pursuit of creating chaos, the show's Littlefinger seemingly put the cart before the horse and forgot the whole point of that chaos was to leave him in a better position than he was previously.

The latest developments in the timeline of A Song of Ice and Fire leave Littlefinger in a stronger position than ever before, with the plans he has ahead both clear and sound. The very essence of the character showcases just how far cleverness and amoral ambition can ascend through the ranks of nobility. If he can't capably conspire, then the character isn't a mastermind at all.

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