Game of Thrones: The significance of that letter Arya found

Note: This post contains a discussion of events in the Game of Thrones episode “Eastwatch”

What was that scroll that Arya found in Littlefinger’s room?

The contents will likely be revealed in a future episode, but there are some very reasonable assumptions that can be made by taking a closer look at what was briefly shown on screen Sunday night:

The scroll is written by “your faithful sister Sansa,” and contains references to King Robert’s death, to somebody trying to “steal his crown,” and has an urging to swear fealty to King Joffrey. Littlefinger got it from a masester retrieving it from the archives at Winterfell. So this is almost certainly the letter that Sansa was forced by Cersei to write Robb Stark back in season 1 when Sansa was held captive. Littlefinger was in the room too:

A cool part of this scene, when watched now, is that Maester Pycelle, as part of this manipulative charade, warned Cersei: “She’s a sweet thing, your grace, but in 10 years, who knows what treason she may hatch?” At the time, those words sounded ridiculous. But looking back, they were prophetic now that Cersei is on the Iron Throne and Sansa’s house is in rebellion.

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The thing is, Sansa was a child at the time who didn’t have any choice and the letter did not ultimately do what Cersei intended. Robb Stark and Maester Luwin saw right through it, and called the Stark bannermen to war — so Sansa did not sway him to bend the knee or to trust Cersei:

But Arya and Sansa don’t know what impact the letter might have had. And now this article is in the hands of Arya, who seems rather suspicious of her sister. And it appeared like Littlefinger either isn’t surprised that she found it or outright intended her to find it (the latter seems more likely — because, Littlefinger).

Here’s a preview of next week, which suggests rising Arya vs. Sansa tension:

More EW coverage of “Eastwatch”:
— Our deep-dive recap of ‘Eastwatch’
— Joe Dempsie on Gendry’s long-awaited return
— Writer Dave Hill explains 5 big ‘Eastwatch’ moments
— Did you miss that huge Jon Snow revelation in that quiet Sam and Gilly scene?
— Our GoT podcast (new episode Monday)

Game of Thrones airs Sundays on HBO.