And Westeros has lost its biggest weasel. (Warning, spoilers for Game of Thrones' season seven finale ahead. Head North and hit the little x if you don't want to be spoiled!)
After seven seasons of plotting, Littlefinger (aka Lord Baelish) finally got what was coming to him, thanks to Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Arya (Maisie Williams) teaming up to beat him at his own game. While it was the younger Stark sister who delivered the fatal blow (or throat-slit), it was the eldest who broke Littlefinger's heart.
After Sunday's episode, Aidan Gillen talked to Entertainment Weekly about his character's death, while co-showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss weighed in on the scene in a video posted to the HBO hit's YouTube account.
Once he received the dreaded call from the GOT bosses that Littlefinger would be killed off in the finale, Gillen admitted to EW, "You're left a little bereft — for your character and for your experience. It also immediately makes you quantify the hugeness of what that experience has been over the last seven years, which has been massive."
And oddly enough, Gillen actually predicted in 2015 that Arya would be the one to take out his character.
Well, I did an interview...they asked me how I thought I would go. I said I thought Arya would deliver the blow. So it was as promised. And even within the scene, as soon as he walks in that room and Arya produces the dagger he knows the game is up."
Speaking of that final scene, Weiss said, "I was actually very interested and excited to see what Aidan would do with that moment because it's a moment he's never been in before. He's imagined every conceivable eventuality except this one."
Though Benioff said Littlefinger is "clearly a sociopath, amongst other things," he did highlight that his feelings for Sansa were very real.
"He does have strong feelings toward Sansa. They're not exactly healthy, appropriate feelings, but they are feelings toward her, so he has a hard time believing she will be able to do this," he explained. "Unfortunately for him, he's trained her too well and she's not about to be swayed by his tears or his pleas."
Of filming the final scene, where Littlefinger professes his love for Sansa, Gillen said it was "a humiliating position" for the always-plotting character to be in. "There were more feelings for Sansa than I've let on the in the past. It becomes obvious. It's an emotional farewell."
What did you think of Littlefinger's death in the finale? Did you like the way he went out? Sound off in the comments!