Bran the Builder. Bran the Breaker. Will we have Bran the King of Westeros next?
Despite being over a year away, speculation on the final denouement of Game Of Thrones is rife. HBO have doubled down on security, to avoid embarrassing hackings and script leaks. A wall has even been built around the set to keep filming secret and away from prying eyes. However, there is one thing HBO cannot control – the bookies’ odds.
Over the weekend it emerged that the odds on Bran Stark being the final ruler of Westeros when the show closes. He was priced as an also-ran, but now has similar odds to Cersei Lannister. Considering she is the current queen, and only has to survive six more episodes, those aren’t bad odds. Indeed perennial favourites Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are the only two characters now priced shorter than Bran.
While there have been Kings in the North, there haven’t been any Starks who have risen to be king of all seven kingdoms, so if Bran was to succeed to the throne it would be unprecedented in the history of Westeros.
Bran has also shown little interest in power, growing up as a second son, so it can be assumed that if he does indeed become King it is reluctantly thrust upon him rather than a power grab from the greenseer.
It is unclear where the flurry of bets have come from, as well as the rationale behind them. As far as everyone knows – besides Samwell Tarley and Bran himself – Bran is Jon Snow’s heir, so should he fall fighting the Night King or Cersei Lannister, Bran would become King in the North – and perhaps beyond, depending on events. Furthermore Nikolai Walder-Coster has said in an interview there has always been something special about Bran’s character, and wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up King.
Fan theories on Bran’s role in the story focus on his relationship with The Night King, suggesting that they are one and the same. Given that Bran has shown he can move through time and warp into body’s in the past, some fans think he warged into The Night King, and got trapped as Jojen Reed warned could happen.
This was a further failed attempt to end the nightmare of the white walkers, with his first attempt, whispering to King Aerys The Mad to “burn them all”, being mistaken with tragic consequences, and setting the events we all know so well in motion.
Another fan theory is that all the Brans in the story are the same; and Bran uses his warging powers to go back in time to protect Westeros by building the Wall. This is given credence in the novels by Old Nan, who regularly confused Brans and was unable to tell them apart.
However if Bran is to become King of Westeros, or even The Night King, his character arc has been strange. Why would such a crucial character by entirely omitted from season five? Indeed his presence in season seven was more for plot exposition than anything else. This makes these theories unlikely but not impossible.
Both George R R Martin and Sophie Turner are on record stating that the resolution of the show will be bittersweet; there are a couple of theories as to what this alludes to; such as Jon Snow will kill Daenerys to create an all powerful weapon to defeat the whitewalkers, or perhaps if Bran is indeed the Night King, Jon Snow will have to kill his beloved brother.
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