7 Interesting Theories About Bran From "Game Of Thrones" Season 8, Episode 3

Are Bran's powers more than we even realize?

Alright. Let's talk about Bran during Season 8, Episode 3 of Game of Thrones.

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For years, fans have believed he and his Three-Eyed Raven powers would be key to defeating the Night King. But beyond acting as bait, he was kind of useless?

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Like, as soon as the battle started, he mentally noped out. He warged into his ravens and we saw him check the Night King's location, but after that it was entirely unclear what he was doing — at least until the moment the Night King entered the godswood, and Bran checked back in.

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The whole thing has a lot of fans questioning what exactly Bran was doing. Here are some theories that are bouncing around...

1. He was tracking the Night King's movements.

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This is certainly what we see him doing to start with, so it makes sense that's what he continues to do. But we don't see him communicate that information or do anything with it. So what would be the purpose of him just watching the Night King? I guess he'd at least know when the Night King was coming for him — and whether Arya was in the right place, if he knew exactly what was going to happen (which many believe he did).

2. He was manipulating the battle.

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Some fans think Bran was somehow exerting power over the events of the battle. But if that were the case, surely we would have seen Bran's ravens floating around the place beyond that one shot? Then again, maybe they were there but it was too dark to see them.

3. Bran is the Lord of Light.

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Ooft. This one is pretty tinfoil-y, and comes courtesy of redditor DontMicrowaveCats. They suggest that Bran, and all Three-Eyed Ravens before him, are actually a physical embodiment of the Lord of Light. Which would mean Bran was actually taking part in the battle through fire magic. The thing is, the Three-Eyed Raven/Bran has always been more associated with the Old Gods than the Lord of Light. Although perhaps they're meant to be one and the same at the end of the day? Honestly I don't buy this theory at all, but points for creativity.

4. Bran was changing history.

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Ever since Hodor held that door and we learned the truth about what happened to him in the past — that it was Bran's interference and warging that made him the way he is — people have been theorizing that Bran is manipulating much more throughout history. So, of course, some fans think that's exactly what he was doing during the Battle of Winterfell — going back to the past to manipulate events in order to ensure everything happened exactly as it needed to. There's no evidence of this within the episode, though, unlike the other instances of time travel/visions we've seen. It feels like there's a low chance they'll reveal this in future episodes, too.

5. He was looking at the future.

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We've seen Bran experience visions of the future in previous seasons. He has the same white-eyed look when he sees visions as he does when he wargs. There's a chance that, as he knew how the battle was going to end, he was looking to what happens next in order to ensure the aftermath happens as it needs to. The problem with this theory is, again, we see no evidence of it beyond Bran's eye thing.

6. He warged into other animals.

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Birds aren't the only thing Bran can warg into — we saw him warg into Summer, his direwolf, in the past, as well as Hodor. Some fans have suggested Bran actually warged into Ghost and/or the dragons during the Battle of Winterfell. This would be cool, but it's another theory for which we have zero onscreen evidence.

7. Bran was simply recording history.

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As the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran is quite literally the memory of humanity. He can see and know everything (it begs the question why he never looked up how the White Walkers were defeated the first time around during the Long Night, but that's an issue for another day). Some fans have suggested Bran was simply watching the battle through his ravens in order to remember it and store the knowledge. It's a pretty basic and boring explanation — but it also feels like the most likely at this point.

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