In Game of Thrones season 3, episode 6 "The Climb," Lord Varys sneaks up on Lord Petyr Baelish aka Littlefinger in the throne room and finds him gazing intently at the Iron Throne. Varys who works as Master of Whisperers on Joffrey Baratheon's small council, walks towards Master of Coin, Baelish, wanting to engage him in a conversation about the symbolic power of the throne. "A thousand blades, taken from the hands of Aegon's fallen enemies. Forged in the fiery breath of Balerion the Dread," he says to his fellow councilor. But before Varys has the chance to say more, Baelish refutes the claim saying he's counted that the Iron Throne barely has two hundred blades.
While Baelish would much rather keep looking at the royal chair, the snarky and argumentative Varys downplays the allure of the Iron Throne by describing it as an "ugly old thing" and "the Lysa Arryn of chairs." He makes the latter comparison in the personal context of Baelish's life. Disguised as an insult at the throne, the remark, "the Lysa Arryn of chairs" is meant to hit Baelish where it hurts. The crown is in the middle of a war with Robb Stark and his bannermen, and Tywin Lannister is doing everything in his power to crush this rebellion. Regardless, it's still time before Game of Thrones' storytelling and subtext put into perspective what Baelish is about to say to Varys about the power of chaos.
Littlefinger Says Titles Seem To Breed Titles
In Game of Thrones season 3, episode 3, "Walk of Punishment," Lord Tywin calls a small council meeting and Baelish aka Littlefinger pushes past everyone to occupy the seat to his left. Varys sits in the second-closest chair. After chastising the council for not knowing Jaime Lannister's whereabouts, Tywin asks for updates. Varys informs him Robb Stark and most of his bannermen are in Riverrun for Lord Hoster Tully's funeral, and that Roose Bolton holds Harrenhal in his absence. Meant to be a jab at Littlefinger's promotion as Lord of Harrenhal, Varys points out that Bolton holding the castle makes him the lord in practice if not on paper. To that, Tywin says he'll let Roose have the castle that's turned into rubble, adding, the title alone is enough to make Baelish a worthy suitor for Jon Arryn's widow, Lysa.
Varys pulls a face and Baelish thanks Tywin saying that he and Lysa Arryn have known each other since childhood and that she's fond of him. At this point, Grand Maester Pycelle chimes in and says that a successful courtship with Lysa will make Baelish acting Lord of the Vale. In other words, Robb Stark who has rebelled against the crown will have no choice but to cross off Aunt Lysa and Vale from his list of allies. With that, Tywin dispatches Baelish to Eyrie to bring Lysa into the fold. While these developments take place at a macro level on the small council, the truth is, at the end of the day, every Game of Thrones character seated at the table is driven by their own agendas.
Littlefinger's Machinations
Varys rightly describes Littlefinger as the most dangerous man in Westeros to Lady Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones season 3, episode 4, "And Now His Watch Is Ended." He brokers Sansa Stark's marriage with Olenna's grandson, Ser Loras. He asserts that the Stark girl is the key to the North, should her brother, Robb Stark fall. Varys does so after finding from Ros that Baelish plans to take Sansa Stark with him to Eyrie. Baelish, who on the other hand, is one step ahead of the game, finds out about the Tyrell-Stark marriage plot through his spy Olyvar in Game of Thrones season 3, episode 5 "Kissed by Fire." He relays the information to Tywin who then outplots the Tyrells by arranging Tyrion's marriage to Sansa. This marriage alliance will give his house control of Winterfell and the North.
Varys maintains he arranged the Stark-Tyrell marriage for the good of the realm, emphasizing that they will birth a pit of chaos if they stop caring about the welfare of the realm. Baelish says the word chaos has a certain ring to it and tells his adversary that chaos isn't a pit but a ladder to advance one's interests. He creates chaos to turn people against people and takes advantage of their differences to reach his desired destination. It's what he did when he gave Lysa the Tears of Lys to poison her husband, Jon Arryn. He made her write a letter to Catelyn, claiming it was the Lannisters who murdered Jon, thus sparking the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters.
Baelish betrayed the one woman he claimed to love - Catelyn Stark - and turned her against her sister, Lysa. Ned Stark was dead because of his treachery. Later, he got rid of Lysa by pushing her through the Moon Door and took power in the Vale. He sold Sansa to the Boltons and in doing so, he was able to climb the flight of stairs to the Iron Throne. He could only go so far, and it truly was a full circle moment when Sansa exposed him and had him executed for treason and murder in Game of Thrones season 7, episode 7 "The Dragon and the Wolf." Thus, Varys' words that chaos is a gaping pit came true and Baelish got what he deserved in the end.