Game of Thrones: Another Major Player Dies In Season 7 Finale

The Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones offered quite a few shocking revelations, but one that may have been a tad over-shadowed by everything else was the death of a character who first made their debut in Season 1.

Warning: Spoilers are coming.

While the majority of the finale dealt with the whether or not Cersei Lannister would join the fight with the North, there was an incredibly important moment that happened at Winterfell. Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish has been playing Sansa Stark for far too long, trying to turn her against her own family, and presumably turning Arya against her; the conflict between the three characters has been the focus this season in Winterfell.

Sansa has a decision to make about her sister and her family. She has Arya brought to the Great Hall where it seems like Sansa is going to try her sister as a traitor. However, she turns to Lord Baelish to have him answer to the accusations of treason and murder. Sansa calls out Baelish on his years of manipulation, murder, and selling Sansa off. Baelish is thrown off by this and begs to explain the matter to Sansa in private. She thanks Baelish for his "many lessons," and without hesitation, Arya walks over to him and slices his throat.

For Game of Thrones fans, this is one of the more satisfying deaths on the show, right up there with King Joffrey and Ramsay Bolton. Baelish has really been the one thing in the way of everything running smoothly for House Stark, which has been in a complete nosedive since the tail end of Season 1. His death means that the family will be able to work together again without paranoia and suspicion. Sansa obviously struggled with Baelish dying, as a tear rolled down her face while Arya slashed his throat, but for better or worse (mainly worse), Littlefinger has been the only constant person in her life that wasn't abusing her or trying to kill her--he just sold her off to a sociopath. It was a horribly toxic relationship, but luckily, Arya has no problem killing off people who have wronged her or the Stark household.

Aidan Gillen, who played Petyr Baelish, appeared in 41 episodes of the series, making his debut as Littlefinger in Season 1, Episode 3. The character started his journey at King's Landing as a brothel owner, and the Master of Coin on the Small Council of the king. Throughout the series, he spent quite a bit of time manipulating members of the Stark family, trying to put himself in a more powerful position in Westeros. However, his lies finally caught of with him, and he's dead. Many fans couldn't be happier.