Game of Thrones begins....

[grumbler]

By the way, anyone else gets the[spoiler] "support AQ against Russia" vibe from Cersei's latest plot of allying herself with the sparrows?[/spoiler] Especially as the hints of [spoiler]"the faith militant was disarmed for a good reason"[/spoiler] are dropped all over the place.

Does anybody argue to "support AQ against Russia?" 

I was referring to more historical support of Afghanistan taliban against Russia in the last century.

Ah, you didn't mean Al Quaeda or Russia. 

"Support the Muj against the Soviets" is more accurate and less flame-baity.

[grumbler]

I agree. It was a very stong ep. The only thing I didn't like was [spoiler]Littlefinger being completely in the dark about Ramsay.[/spoiler]

Or, at least, pretending to be...

[Berkut]

The wife was railing about how insane it was for Sansa to agree to this, and why would Littlefinger make such a deal, etc., etc.

I just pointed out that so far the reason Littlefinger has done anything has never, not once, been the reason he has given "publicly". I rather doubt that is the case now either.

Of course he knows about Ramsay. How could he not? Ramsay's reputation is common knowledge, hell, that is pretty much the *point* of what Ramsay does...

[Martinus]

So is he using Sansa as a pawn he can sacrifice or is he actually caring for her safety and having some plan up his sleeve so that Ramsay does not turn her into a modern sculpture?

[Martinus]

Or to put it into the narrative/storytelling perspective, I hope we are not up for another season of "Sansa getting brutalised by a psycho". I hope she will somehow turn tables on the Boltons.

[Berkut]

No, that is exactly my point. He looks like he is just making a deal to ally the Eyrie with the Boltons, and poor Sansa is the one paying the price.

Whatever we know about Littlefinger is that we can be relatively sure that what he appears to be doing, certainly what he appears to be agreeing with to the principals involved in his deal, is almost certainly NOT his actual plan.

I think Roose knows this - he doesn't trust Baelish at all, even though he cannot help but make this deal, which he knows is almost certainly some kind of trap.

I don't know how much Littlefinger actually cares about Sansa, or how much he is even capable of caring about Sansa. Not even sure the writers know that yet.

Which is another entire line of interesting questions...does Littlefinger care at all about vengeance? To the extent that he will account for it in his plans, for example?  He *did* care very much about Catelyn, but that didn't stop him from lying and manipulating her and started a conflict the ultimately resulted in her death and the near destruction of her family. Does he consider that a mistake on his part, something he wishes never happened? If he thinks the best move to secure more power to himself is to climb into bed with the Freys and Boltons, will he do that, truly do that?

I suspect not, at the end of the day. They will have his character end up actually giving a shit about something other than just power for it's own sake. But it could still go either way...

[grumbler]

I suspect Littlefinger is setting up Roose and Ramsey for a falling-out, and Sansa is going along with this in order to get revenge on Roose.  The problem for Sansa will be that, afterwards, Ramsey is going to be a far more useful ally to Littlefinger than Sansa herself.

Its hard to tell whether Littlefinger wants to ally with the Freys or crush them.  He certainly has to have some plan to gain control of the Twins for himself or his allies.  To get the Freys, though, he pretty much has to abandon the idea of getting support in the North.  He's probably better off crushing them.  It's possible that, in the series, Littlefinger plays the role of Lady Ironheart!

[Martinus]

I am beginning to think Sansa may actually play that role.

[KRonn]

Or to put it into the narrative/storytelling perspective, I hope we are not up for another season of "Sansa getting brutalised by a psycho". I hope she will somehow turn tables on the Boltons.

She hates them for the part they played against Winterfell and her father so wants to get back at them. I think right now she feels she doesn't have much better choices than to go along with Littlefinger's plan. However I think she has in mind some way of getting back at the Boltons, not that she has any plan as yet. Maybe in time she could work with other northern lords,against the Boltons, as she works to betray the Boltons.  Many of the northern lords still have allegiance to the Starks and would love to get revenge on their enemies.

[KRonn]

If the story follows the books in this regard, [spoiler]it was a terribly stupid decision by Cersei, especially as Lancel knows she has sinned.[/spoiler]

This is quite true - I was thinking the same thing.

[grumbler]

I am beginning to think Sansa may actually play that role.

That would be quite a turnaround for her character.  I'm not sure viewers would buy into psycho Sansa.

[Berkut]

I suspect that Sansa in the end will be the downfall of Littlefinger.

[grumbler]

I suspect that Sansa in the end will be the downfall of Littlefinger.

That certainly seems to be what Martin and the show have both been building towards.

[Zanza]

In the books, [spoiler]Stannis marches to conquer Winterfell to free "Arya" (Jeyne Poole)[/spoiler] a bit after the events we've seen so far in the show. So this would add another angle to the Sansa storyline.

[grumbler]

In the books, [spoiler]Stannis marches to conquer Winterfell to free "Arya" (Jeyne Poole)[/spoiler] a bit after the events we've seen so far in the show. So this would add another angle to the Sansa storyline.

I thought that [spoiler]Jeyne Poole and reek had already escaped Winterfell and joined Stannis before he reached Winterfell (perhaps before he marched).  In any case, Stannis should march soon in the series and the only question is whether Jon marches with him or, as in the book, separately and later. [/spoiler] I'm thinking the show might feature more Sansa and less Snow, however.