Warning: Contains Spoilers
HBOI know, I know, another Game of Thrones article. But hey, if you’re here I’m guessing you don’t really mind that much and I can continue babbling on.
Anyway, cast your minds back to the latest episode, The Long Night, and see if you can remember anything other than Arya’s badass takedown of (spoiler alert) the Night King.
Pretty difficult, I know, but just before Arya became the hero of the hour/year/century, her younger brother Bran became immersed in one of his greensight visions and began acting rather strangely.
As was the plan all along, Bran’s mission was to bait the Night King into coming to Winterfell. While stationed under the Weirwood Tree with Theon Greyjoy (who was defending him), the young Stark suddenly left the battle.
Turning to Theon and saying, ‘I’m going to go now,’ Bran then wargs into some ravens which are flying overhead and spots the Night King for the first time approaching Winterfell.
But what was the reason for this, and why was there so much emphasis on it in the first place? Since watching the episode, fans have been confused by Bran’s bizarre exit – and quite frankly we deserve to hear answers.
HBOWhile some fans are speculating that Bran may have been spying on the Night King, others think he was up to more than that.
Reddit user u/DontMicrowaveCats has suggested that Bran is the physical embodiment of the Lord of Light, pointing out moments in the series which seem to confirm this.
As per this theory, the facts are as followed:
Bran is a powerful warg. We know he gets visions of the past, present and future…and can manipulate the past to help save his future self. We don’t yet know the extent of this power.
We knew the Night King can reanimate the dead into evil still-dead soldiers. But this episode we learned he can also manipulate snow and ice at will, sending a full blown blizzard. (This is key.)
Followers of the Lord of Light believe that their Lord is always at war with his evil opposite deity. There’s always a dichotomy. Light vs Dark. Good vs Bad. Fire vs Ice. Everything in this world has an antithesis.
The 3 eyed raven seems to be NK’s eternal adversary. He intentionally killed the OG 3 eyed raven, and ever since he’s been after Bran.
The lord of light supposedly has a ‘purpose’ for everyone. Consequently, everyone supposedly brought back by the lord of light helped Arya defeat the Night King.
Bran gave Arya the dagger, and offered himself as bait. So like the Lord of Light, everything Bran has done recently also ultimately leads to Arya defeating the Night King.[sic]
So whereas the Night King seemed to be the physical embodiment of the Great Other, Three-Eyed Raven Bran could well be the physical embodiment of the Lord of Light.
That would mean Bran is potentially one of the show’s most impactful characters, as he would have brought about everything in the show we previously thought was a result of the Lord of Light.
Compelling or nah?
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).