Warning: Contains Spoilers
Daenerys the would-be dictator is no more, her body taken away into the skies by her heartbroken remaining dragon child, Drogon.
With the Iron Throne no more than a molten puddle, the showrunners were keen to show a sense of peace and renewed order after the fear and chaos of previous episodes.
Tyrion can be seen heading up a well-appointed King’s Small Council, with a genuinely touching sense of humour and kinship between the members after years of horror and disappointment.
Meanwhile, the remaining Stark siblings are seen beginning new, very different destinies. The greatest destiny of course was bestowed on Bran Stark, or King Bran the Broken as we should probably refer to him as.
A perhaps surprising choice of monarch, Tyrion reasoned that Bran had the sort of story arc that people could get behind. The respective adventures of Jon Snow and Arya seem to have slipped his mind in this regard.
However, I could initially get behind this decision. Bran is not really Bran after all, he is the Three-Eyed Raven, without the sort of wants and desires which would drive other more egocentric monarchs.
There isn’t much chance of Bran being blinded or made miserable by falling in love (Jon Snow, King Robert Baratheon) or making poor, emotionally driven choices (Ned Stark, Robb Stark).
Most importantly, he has the sort of cool, logical insight which would have served tragic Daenerys well. He is unlikely to get caught up in delusions of destiny at any cost, having the weight of the centuries to draw from.
However, there are some fans who are not convinced that Westeros will be a peaceful place during King Bran’s reign, with some questioning the excessively mysterious character’s motivations.
Some fans even think Bran plotted the whole traumatic upheaval simply to become king. I mean, if he already knew what was going to go down, why didn’t he swoop in to stop Daenerys frying the people of King’s Landing?
People are also concerned that the longevity of the Three-Eyed Raven means Bran could live for years beyond those who elected him. This would of course make this new, ‘modern’ system of governing completely invalid, with Bran needing no heirs or successors.
Also, what was up with him being so keen on finding Drogon? I mean, I was devastated by Drogon’s sorrow over his dead mother. However, this boy can famously warg into animals, making me – and plenty of other viewers – a bit nervous.
Writer Siobhan Thompson tweeted a text message exchange of her sister Alex’s ‘very fun Bran theory’:
I hated it [the ending] until I thought a bit – bran is essentially the host body for a vicious parasitic consciousness that through extremely selective inaction has tricked everyone into putting it in a position of supreme power – and we know from the books that the host body for the three eyed raven can live thousands of years.
They have accidentally sworn in an immortal to be a life tenure ruler. It’s so fucked up and they don’t even realize it.
Alex posited:
I’m not sure that’s how they MEANT it to come across but it makes so much sense for a creature so bent on self preservation
“That’s why I came all this way”
[And] all the giving of information that would sow discord, withholding vital info like the future vision of drogon in kings landing
It was all a huge puppet show, the three eyed raven is the real villain of the piece and no one even knows it!
On Siobahn’s agreement, Alex added:
It’s how I see it. Played straight it’s awful but it’s the only way [Bran’s] actions make any sense to me ever since the three eyed raven ate his brain
And if that IS how it was I think it’s actually really good. Of course I’m probably just theory crafting it and if I’m wrong then fuck sake this is awful but at least Sansa and Arya are okay
Exactly!
And Sansa seceded for a damn reason
Because he creeps her the fuck out and she knows her brother isn’t the one in charge
Alex’s theory hinges on a very big maybe:
And now he’s dreamquesting for drogon? After all that deal about not giving people nukes? The memory of the world is somehow more ruthless that [sic] Dany ever could be and is rewarded for it and I kind of love that. Again, only if it’s true. Sigh.
Many others on Twitter have read into the final acts in Westeros of leading to a dark future for the realm.
Maybe the Night King wanted Bran gone for a good reason.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.