#meta petyr baelish
(I lost my post on this when I deleted my old account, so I decided to try it again. Coincidentally, this has ended up being different from my previous one.)
Joffrey wasn’t solely responsible for Ned’s death, nor were Janos Slynt and Ilyn Payne. Behind it all, there was a hidden player – someone more than used to manipulation, lying, and murder.
A lot of things don’t add up about Ned’s execution on the steps of the sept.
1. It was a planned event designed to look spontaneous:
It definitelylooked like Joffrey had just gone rogue the day of Ned’s execution— but did he, really? It’s true that most were shocked when he gave the order to execute Ned, but it doesn’t all add up.
“It does seem my sister was telling the truth about Stark’s death. We have my nephew to thank for that madness.”
“King Joffrey gave the command. Janos Slynt and Ser Ilyn Payne carried it out, swiftly, without hesitation…
“…almost as if they had expected it. Yes, we have been over this ground before, without profit.” —Tyrion & Varys, ACOK
The plan was for Ned to go the Wall. So if this really was just an impulsive act on Joffrey’s part, it seems unusual that Slynt and Payne would carry out the command without any hesitation.
2. What Arya sees:
We witness Ned’s execution through Arya’s eyes, and if you pay close attention you can catch some interesting details.
Clustered around the doors of the sept, in front of the raised marble pulpit, were a knot of knights and high lords. Joffrey was prominent among them, his raiment all crimson, silk and satin patterned with prancing stags and roaring lions, a gold crown on his head. His queen mother stood beside him in a black mourning gown slashed with crimson, a veil of black diamonds in her hair.
Arya recognized the Hound, wearing a snowy white cloak over his dark grey armor, with four of the Kingsguard around him. She saw Varys the eunuch gliding among the lords in soft slippers and a patterned damask robe, and she thought the short man with the silvery cape and pointed beard might be the one who had once fought a duel for Mother. AGOT
She also identifies Sansa. So other than her sister, Arya notices her father, the High Septon standing behind him, and then (from the excerpt above) she sees Joffrey, Cersei, the Hound, four members of the Kingsguard, Varys, and obviously the last man is Petyr Baelish.
And then this is what happens after Joffrey gives the command to execute Ned:
The crowd roared, and Arya felt the statue of Baelor rock as they surged against it. The High Septon clutched at the king’s cape, and Varys came rushing over waving his arms, and even the queen was saying something to him, but Joffrey shook his head. AGOT
At this point Sansa falls to her knees sobbing, and Ilyn Payne climbs the steps to the pulpit—without hesitation.
Look at who’s missing. Out of the people who Arya named, Petyr Baelish is conspicuously absent from this passage. And that’s because he wasn’t surprised, and because he didn’t rush forward to try and dissuade Joffrey from killing Ned like the High Septon, Varys, and Cersei all did.
And that’s probably because he was the one who signed Ned Stark’s death warrant in the first place.
