Game of Thrones season 7, episode 5: What did the scroll Arya found actually say?

In Sunday night’s episode of Game of Thrones, Littlefinger’s signature scheming led Arya Stark to come across a scroll hidden at Winterfell. But what did it say?

Warning: spoilers ahead.

Near the end of Sunday night’s episode of Game of Thrones, scheming Littlefinger flexed his shadiness once more by leading Arya on a wild goose chase he’s presumably hoping will drive a wedge between the Stark sisters. Arya discovered a scroll tucked into the bedding of a room in Winterfell, and what it said clearly left her shook. The only problem? We viewers only got a brief look at it. So what did the scroll say?

Well, first, let’s back up. The last two episodes have been slowly building up a strained relationship between the just-reunited sisters, Arya and Sansa. There was their lukewarm reunion in the crypt of Winterfell (Arya only went in with one arm for their hug and smirked at the idea that her sister was now “Lady Stark”). Then in Sunday’s episode there were more examples of Arya doubting her sister and her sister’s leadership. She chides Sansa for not being tougher in her defense of Jon. She shames her for liking nice things and taking their parents’ chamber as her own.

It makes sense: as far as Arya knows, Sansa’s essentially still the same meek, prissy sister she remembers from their childhood. We all know that’s not true. Sansa is strong and gaining more confidence as a leader each week we see her.

Enter Littlefinger who also recognizes this weakness in the women’s relationship. The Chief Schemer of the Seven Kingdoms naturally sees a chance to gain more power for himself (presumably through Sansa) and goes for it, as always. He’s one step ahead of Arya, which is relatively new for the Stark sister whose Girl Has No Name training has taught her she’s generally the cleverest one in the room. She thinks she’s uncovering his shadowy trickery, when in fact, he’s tricking her into seeing something he wants her to see: the planted scroll.

So back to what it says: upon pausing the scene, we can decipher the words “killed from wounds,” “Joffrey,” “tried to steal his throne,” “King Joffrey,” and “Your faithful sister Sansa.” Essentially, it seems like Littlefinger wants Arya to thing Sansa was in on stuff relating to Joffrey, Cersei, and perhaps their father’s death.

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If Arya thinks her sister is a traitor who might have played a role in their father’s ultimate death, things could get even tenser between them, just like Littlefinger wanted. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next Sunday in episode 6.