Game of Thrones Season 6 Discussion [SPOILERS WITHIN]

[wiploc]

Littlefinger wants to rule the seven kingdoms.  That can't happen unless he destabilizes the ruling houses by pitting them against each other.  That's clearly what he's up to when he says the knife belonged to Tyrion.  Why can't that be what he's up to earlier, when he hires an assassin and gives him a distinctive knife? 

I still like the theory that Tommen is the perp, but the theory that Littlefinger did it is not unreasonable.

It makes the most sense to me that it was Joffrey, and when Cat brought the dagger to Littlefinger he quickly used it to his advantage.

Who killed Jon Arryn?  His wife Lyssa, Cat's sister, send Cat a letter blaming the Lanisters.  We know that that was a lie, but I'm fuzzy on what was the truth.  I think Lyssa killed Jon Arryn, or Littlefinger did.  If Lyssa did it, she was following  Littlefinger's instructions, right? 

I think that's right.

If that's right, then Littlefinger was already moving to turn the great houses against each other.  That is, at the time of the second attempt on Bran's life, Littlefinger was already committed to causing the war.  So he could have planned Bran's death as part of that scheme. 

In fact, it was the attempt on Bran that made the letter from Lyssa so effective.  Neither alone would have worked. 

I've talked myself around:  Littlefinger hired Bran's assassin. 

The assassin who was sent was not supposed to be caught by Cat. He started a fire in one of the towers as a distraction. If the plan had worked, the man would have slit Bran's throat and been gone before anyone noticed, along with the dagger.

Littlefinger may have instructed the man to leave the dagger in Bran. 

Littlefinger didn't hire the smartest guy.  Yes, he could have killed Bran and got away clean, but he wasn't who you'd choose if you really wanted that result. 

And even if he'd gotten out of the room, and out of Winterfell, how likely was it that he'd make it the length of the Kingsroad after Bran's murder? 

Unlikely.  He was expected to get caught.  Which means Littlefinger didn't hire him personally.  He had to have someone else do that for him, and that someone will have given the assassin a story about who he was working for--something somehow incriminating the Lannisters.  For driving a wedge between House Stark and House Lannister was of primary importance.