Guessing Bran's Arc- A Hunt for Heart Trees

[jentario]

I think Bran's TWOW arc will largely consist of flashbacks and green dreams. The heart trees being his main mode of transport around the realm of old- I think the best way to guess what Bran will see is to initiate a weirwood hunt around the books. So far, there are five main points I can think of, and the last one is especially exiting...

1) Winterfelll. This one is obvious. There is still much to learn about Winterfells history from here. We may yet see Brandon ride out to King's Landing and Rickard after him, and we might even here more from good old Ned.

2) The North. Heart trees are most common in Westeros in the North. Here we might see Theon's execution (whether GRRM actually goes through with it or not) and an inside look into the lords of the North.

3) Beyond the Wall. There are many faced weirwoods in the lands beyond. Through them we may see the Others, the wights, Hardhome and the clusterfuck that has gathered arroynd it and... Who knows? Maybe even Benjen Stark...

4) The Isle of Faces. This is too interesting a place to go unvisited throughout the series, though I think it would work better from the perspective of someone on the ground rather than an all seeing warg. What truly lied at the center of God's Eye? The 'green men', whatever they are, maybe some secret is waiting to be revealed...

5) Drumroll please... HARRENHALL! Yes, Harenhall has a heart tree. This was set up during Arya's arc in ACOK, though it seemed like nothing but a nod to the Old Gods and something to help Arya keep hold of her Stark heritage, now I truly know what it was doing there...

If there is one historical event (aside from the ToJ) that's surrounded with mystery, it is the Tourney at Harenhall in the year of the false Spring. This is where it all began, this is the place in which almost all the major players of Robet's Rebellion converge. This is where the calm and calculating Rhaegar Targaryan decided to do a most questionable act.

So could will Bran see, really? Everything. Why did Rhaegar decide to "steal" Lyanna? Who was the Knight of the Laughing Tree? Which Stark was it, exactly, that fathered the stillborn child of Ashara Dayne? There is so much gold to dig from here that I finally understand why GRRM keeps saying a Robert's Rebellion spin off will never happen. We will see EVERYTHING.

What will Bran do with this knowledge? Well, no doubt he will sit his ass up (metaphorically) and get over to Jon Snow at the Wall.

PS- Did I miss any important heart trees? Let's see where this topic takes us.

[Iona]

Don't forget that if what BR says about the oak and the acorn and all that stuff is true, I think we can assume that Bran could see past events that took place in front of the heart trees that were later cut down. First ones to come to mind would be the weirwood grove where Arya meets the Ghost of High Heart, and the weirwood they used to have at Storm's End.

I actually think that Bran will be able to see more than just the weirwood channels. This quote from BR makes me think he'll have the full channel package of Westeros.

The singers carved eyes into their heart trees to awaken them, and those are the first eyes a new greenseer learns to use … but in time you will see well beyond the trees themselves.”

Then there's also that weird warg dream Jon has when he's with the Halfhand, where Bran seems to make an appearance.

[Kienn]

The invasion of the First Men

The Pact

The invasion of the Andals

[jentario]

Yes, it's possible that Bran can communicate with other wargs just like Bloodraven did with him. His conversation with Jon was a subconcious moment he thought to be a dream, but clearly it wasn't a dream. Interesting stuff.

[Northernmonkey]

This is a bit off-subject but I really don't see Bran staying in the cave for the rest of his life. Bloodraven lived a full life before he ended up in the cave so I don't see why Bran can't as well. Wouldn't it be weird for GRRM to just keep Bran in the same place for the rest of the books? And what would Meera, Jojen and Hodor do? Stay there as well? I think Bran will almost certainly end up leaving through the bottom of the cave network.

[jentario]

This is a bit off-subject but I really don't see Bran staying in the cave for the rest of his life. Bloodraven lived a full life before he ended up in the cave so I don't see why Bran can't as well. Wouldn't it be weird for GRRM to just keep Bran in the same place for the rest of the books? And what would Meera, Jojen and Hodor do? Stay there as well? I think Bran will almost certainly end up leaving through the bottom of the cave network.

Off topic, yes, but I agree 100%. If the 5 year gap remained, GRRM would open up with Bran having already been in the cave for a while, and there's no way Bran's story would begin and end in the same place for three straight books. I think he'll be out of that cave by the end of TWOW.

[Northernmonkey]

Off topic, yes, but I agree 100%. If the 5 year gap remained, GRRM would open up with Bran having already been in the cave for a while, and there's no way Bran's story would begin and end in the same place for three straight books. I think he'll be out of that cave by the end of TWOW.

Good point about the five year gap. Here's my (probably wrong) prediction for where Bran's arc is heading:

- stays in the cave for a while learning from Bloodraven

- realises that Bloodraven has some sinister ulterior motive

- escapes through the cave network

- ends up in the land of always winter, meets up with benjen and discovers the truth behind the others

- uses this knowledge and his superior greenseeing abilities to try and save the world

His paralysis could be a problem but I've always thought that he might end up riding an elk like Coldhands and the Green Men do.

[Rose of Ice]

The weirwoods and Bran interest me greatly. I've been keeping notes about them from the books and the posts of others in various threads on this forum. (Quotes below are from other posters, so I can’t always give the exact source for text.) I’m still unsure if all weirwood groves have heartrees, some are referred to in the text, some are not. Here is the list I’ve compiled so far of weirwood mentions:

White Harbour:

“ Glover led him along a darkened hall and down a flight of worn steps. They crossed the castle’s godswood, where the heart tree had grown so huge and tangled that it had choked out all the oaks and elms and birch and sent its thick, pale limbs crashing through the walls and windows that looked down on it. Its roots were as thick around as a man’s waist, its trunk so wide that the face carved into it looked fat and angry.” (ADWD)

Raventree:

“Some of the trees in their godswood were said to be as old as Raventree’s square towers, especially the heart tree, a weirwood of colossal size whose upper branches could be seen from leagues away, like bony fingers scratching at the sky.”
“Through their thick, diamond-shaped panes of yellow glass Jaime glimpsed the gnarled limbs of the tree from which the castle took its name. It was a weirwood ancient and colossal, ten times the size of the one in the Stone Garden at Casterly Rock. This tree was bare and dead, though.”

Casterly Rock:

As per the inference above by Jaime. I’ve found no other reference to the weirwood at CR.

Winterfell:

“The gods of Winterfell kept a different sort of wood…At the center of the grove an ancient weirwood brooded over a small pool where the waters were black and cold. "The heart tree," Ned called it. The weirwood’s bark was white as bone, its leaves dark red, like a thousand bloodstained hands. A face had been carved in the trunk of the great tree, its features long and melancholy, the deep-cut eyes red with dried sap and strangely watchful. They were old, those eyes; older than Winterfell itself. They had seen Brandon the Builder set the first stone, if the tales were true; they had watched the castle’s granite walls rise around them. It was said that the children of the forest had carved the faces in the trees during the dawn centuries before the coming of the First Men across the narrow sea.” (AGOT)

The Black Gate at the Wall:

“A glow came from the wood, like milk and moonlight, so faint it scarcely seemed to touch anything
beyond the door itself, not even Sam standing right before it. The face was old and pale, wrinkled and
shrunken. It looks dead. Its mouth was closed, and its eyes; its cheeks were sunken, its brow withered,
its chin sagging. If a man could live for a thousand years and never die but just grow older, his face might come to look like that.
“The door opened its eyes.
“They were white too, and blind. "Who are you?" the door asked, and the well whispered,
"Who-who-who-who-who-whowho."
"I am the sword in the darkness," Samwell Tarly said. "I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that
bums against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the hom that wakes the sleepers. I am the shield that guards the realms of men."
"Then pass," the door said. Its lips opened, wide and wider and wider still, until nothing at all remained
but a great gaping mouth in a ring of wrinkles. Sam stepped aside and waved Jojen through ahead of him. Summer followed, sniffing as he went, and then it was Bran's turn. Hodor ducked, but not low enough. The door's upper lip brushed softly against the top of Bran's head, and a drop of water fell on him and ran slowly down his nose. It was strangely warm, and salty as a tear.” (aSoS)

Crackclaw Point:

Where Brienne meets Shagwell and Timeon.

Highheart (a circle of weirwoods):

“The next day they rode to a place called High Heart, a hill so lofty that from atop it Arya felt as though she could see half the world. Around its brow stood a ring of huge pale stumps, all that remained of a circle of once-mighty weirwoods. Arya and Gendry walked around the hill to count them. There were thirty-one, some so wide that she could have used them for a bed. High Heart had been sacred to the children of the forest, Tom Sevenstrings told her, and some of their magic lingered here still. “No harm can ever come to those as sleep here,” the singer said. Arya thought that must be true; the hill was so high and the surrounding lands so flat that no enemy could approach unseen. The smallfolk hereabouts shunned the place, Tom told her; it was said to be haunted by the ghosts of the children of the forest who had died here when the Andal king named Erreg the Kinslayer had cut down their grove.” (?)

The Isle of Faces:

“In the south the last weirwoods had been cut down or burned out a thousand years ago, except on the Isle of Faces where the green men kept their silent watch. Up here it was different. Here every castle had its godswood, and every godswood had its heart tree, and every heart tree its face.” (AGOT)

Riverrun:

“Lord Robb went to visit the godswood, my lady...”
... She found Robb beneath the green canopy of leaves, surrounded by tall redwoods and great old elms, kneeling before the heart tree, a slender weirwood with a face more sad than fierce.” (AGOT)

Storm’s End:

“At Melisandre’s urging, he had dragged the Seven from their sept at Dragonstone and burned them before the castle gates, and later he had burned the godswood at Storm’s End as well, even the heart tree, a huge white weirwood with a solemn face.” (ASOS)

Harrenhall:

“Not knowing where else to hide, she made for the godswood....
... Through the leafy canopy she could see the bone-white branches of the heart tree. It looks just like the one in Winterfell from here. If only it had been... then when she climbed down she would have been home again, and maybe find her father sitting under the weirwood where he always sat.
Shoving her sword through her belt, she slipped down branch to branch until she was back on the ground. The light of the moon painted the limbs of the weirwood silvery white as she made her way toward it, but the five-pointed red leaves turned black by night. Arya stared at the face carved into its trunk. It was a terrible face, its mouth twisted, its eyes flaring and full of hate. Is that what a god looked like? Could gods be hurt, the same as a person?” (ACOK)

Oldtown:

“It was cool and dim inside the castle walls. An ancient weirwood filled the yard, as it had since these stones had first been raised. The carved face on its trunk was grown over by the same purple moss that hung heavy from the tree’s pale limbs. Half of the branches seemed dead, but elsewhere a few red leaves still rustled, and it was there the ravens liked to perch. The tree was full of them, and there were more in the arched windows overhead, all around the yard. The ground was speckled by their droppings.” (ASOS)

Rainwood in the Stormlands:

Arianne sees weirwoods in the Rainwood in the Stormlands in the Arianne II chapter. (From Arianne chapter of TWOW)

King’s Landing:

“The night the bird had come from Winterfell, Eddard Stark had taken the girls to the castle godswood, an acre of elm and alder and black cottonwood overlooking the river. The heart tree there was a great oak, its ancient limbs overgrown with smokeberry vines; they knelt before it to offer their thanksgiving, as if it had been a weirwood.” (AGOT)

The Grove north of the wall where Sam and Jon say their NW vows (a circle of weirwoods:

“The sun was sinking below the trees when they reached their destination, a small clearing in the deep of the wood where nine weirwoods grew in a rough circle. Jon drew in a breath, and be saw Sam Tarly staring. Even in the wolfswood, you never found more than two or three of the white trees growing together; a grove of nine was unheard of. The forest floor was carpeted with fallen leaves, bloodred on top, black rot beneath. The wide smooth trunks were bone pale, and nine faces stared inward. The dried sap that crusted in the eyes was red and hard as ruby.” (AGOT)

Darry:

“Maester Ottomore led Jaime to the top of the keep. “I trust you will be comfortable here, my lord. There is a privy, when nature calls. Your window looks out upon the godswood.
...To escape them, they sought out Darry’s godswood. There were no sparrows there, only trees bare and brooding, their black branches scratching at the sky. A mat of dead leaves crunched beneath their feet.” (AFFC)

The Eyrie – The Exception (but worth noting, IMO):

“Lysa’s apartments opened over a small garden, a circle of dirt and grass planted with blue flowers and ringed on all sides by tall white towers. The builders had intended it as a godswood, but the Eyrie rested on the hard stone of the mountain, and no matter how much soil was hauled up from the Vale, they could not get a weirwood to take root here. So the Lords of the Eyrie planted grass and scattered statuary amidst low, flowering shrubs.”

“The Eyrie boasted a sept, but no septon; a godswood, but no heart tree. No prayers are answered here, she often thought, though some days she felt so lonely she had to try. Only the wind answered her, sighing endlessly around the seven slim white towers and rattling the Moon Door every time it gusted.” (AFFC)

TLDR:

Weirwoods or their stumps are all over Westeros, more prevalent in the North. The text contains only 2 references to weirwood circles, one of those now just a circle of stumps. Attempts to plant them have failed. The potential for Bran to take us anywhere in Westeros geographically and in time to see any event seems unlimited. (Apologies for any errors in quotes.) One Bran to rule Them All :D

[Jon Dovahkiin Snow]

Is there a Heart Tree on Braavos? Maybe I'm mistaken. I could simply be thinking of the main gate (or door, can't remember) to The House Of Black And White. Maybe he can use it to find Arya.

What about anywhere on Essos? I know it's the Old Gods, with the CotF carving the faces, but a few could have been planted. I know it's unlikely, but my head is too full right now to think if any of Dany's chapters mentioned any Western religious representation. It would be interesting to see what he would do if he saw a dragon via greensight.

I also wonder if there's any on Skaagos so he (and we)

can see what his little brother has been up to for so long.

Endless possibilities with this. As someone said, eventually he will be able to see beyond the trees. Mayhaps this means beyond Westeros.

[History of Westeros]

snip

TLDR:

Weirwoods or their stumps are all over Westeros, more prevalent in the North. The text contains only 2 references to weirwood circles, one of those now just a circle of stumps. Attempts to plant them have failed. The potential for Bran to take us anywhere in Westeros geographically and in time to see any event seems unlimited. (Apologies for any errors in quotes.) One Bran to rule Them All :D

Very nice list, I've been researching this myself lately (our next episode).

There is also a weirwood stump circle near Whitewalls that we see in The Mystery Knight! It's extra awesome because it just so happens to be the place we see Bloodraven for the "first" time, as this is where Dunk and Egg meet "Maynard Plumm" and others...

Consider this about Whitewalls:

Inside were floors and pillars of milky white marble veined with gold; the rafters overhead were carved from the bone-pale trunks of weirwoods.

I assume that means they were carved from stumps, since Whitewalls was new and there would be no other source, unless it was taken from an existing castle. Since the Bloodraven intro scene is near to Whitewalls, it might mean there were quite a few stumps in the area, since those were still untouched.

Jaime rests his head on a weirwood stump while heading to KL with Steelshanks. This could be a grove, maybe just the one stump... he doesn't notice at first because of moss so perhaps other stumps were mossy too. But there are no mention of other stumps at all, so it is probably just the one.

PS that Darry quote/entry doesn't belong I think, no mention of a weirwood.

[History of Westeros]

Is there a Heart Tree on Braavos? Maybe I'm mistaken. I could simply be thinking of the main gate (or door, can't remember) to The House Of Black And White. Maybe he can use it to find Arya.

What about anywhere on Essos? I know it's the Old Gods, with the CotF carving the faces, but a few could have been planted. I know it's unlikely, but my head is too full right now to think if any of Dany's chapters mentioned any Western religious representation. It would be interesting to see what he would do if he saw a dragon via greensight.

I also wonder if there's any on Skaagos so he (and we)

can see what his little brother has been up to for so long.

Endless possibilities with this. As someone said, eventually he will be able to see beyond the trees. Mayhaps this means beyond Westeros.

Roose Bolton indicates there are Heart Trees on Skagos in Dance, and given that Skagos is the least tamed part of the Seven Kingdoms (and because of the cannibalism) I would expect them to very serious of their Heart Trees, and they possibly give sacrifice the old way, with blood and such. If you're going to eat people, it's nothing to give some blood to your Heart Tree, I think.

No Heart Trees or Weirwoods that we know of on Essos, you are thinking of the doors in the House of Black & White I guess.

[Rose of Ice]

Can't seem to multiquote, so please excuse me...

History of Westeros wrote:


Very nice list, I've been researching this myself lately (our next episode).
Cheers :) Episode of What? Id love to read, can you link please?


There is also a weirwood stump circle near Whitewalls that we see in The Mystery Knight! It's extra awesome because it just so happens to be the place we see Bloodraven for the "first" time, as this is where Dunk and Egg meet "Maynard Plumm" and others...
Oooh! Ill add to my list and reread TMK I forgot about Dunk and Egg

Whitewalls
Inside were floors and pillars of milky white marble veined with gold; the rafters overhead were carved from the bone-pale trunks of weirwoods.
Yes, could mean they were carved from the entire stumps, including the trunk.

Darry quote/entry doesn't belong I think, no mention of a weirwood.
You are technically right - no mention, but as its a Godswood I included it.

At Winterfell there is also a sentinel tree growing next to the armoury wall, inside the godswood. Branches overhang the armoury roof and (from memory), somebody uses it to get into or out of the Godswood at some point. Cant recall any other mentions of sentinel trees. Although not a weirwood either, it interests me too.

Things made from weirwood:

• Ygritte and Brynden Rivers had weirwood bows.
• The meeting table of the Kingsguard is white weirwood in the shape of a shield
• The throne of House Arryn in The Eyrie is also carved of weirwood.
• The House of Black and Whites main door is made of weirwood and ebony.
• The chairs in the room where the faceless men sit are weirwood with ebony faces and ebony with weirwood faces
• A door at KL is described by Ned as a hunting scene carved in ebony and weirwood (at the smiths where Gendry was an apprentice IIRC)
• Dany sees a weirwood/ebony door at the temple of the Undying
• One of the High Septons had a staff made of weirwood.
• The Moon Door at the Eyrie is made of weirwood, as is the throne.
• The three arrows cut from a weirwood in Brans weirwood vision (by Bloodraven IMO)

Another Harrenhall snippet I found:
Catelyn tells us that weirwoods that had stood for three thousand years were cut down to provide the beams and rafters of Harrenhal. Which helped me to vaguely remember something about Weirwoods never dying they live forever unless cut down or destroyed some other way. As we know, even the stumps still have some power to impart visions.

(edit for formatting)

[By the Old Gods Not theNew]

Nice list, indeed.

here are some more random tidbits:

Morna the warrior witch of the free folk has a weirwood mask (ADwD).

The Raven's teeth used weirwood bows and arrows (TMK, TSS).

Brandon Snow planned on using weirwood arrows to assassinate Aegon the Conquerers dragons (Grrm did a reading from the forthcoming Worlds of Ice and Fire book and revealed this info). I think he's probably the fierce looking dark-eyed youth who bran's sees making arrows in the winterfell godswood.

the bowl that bran eats weirwood seed paste out of is a weirwood bowl w/ faces carved into it (ADwD).

[BitsOfBrains]

I think he is going to get run up on and be forced to second life Hodor,

[Thucydides]

Roose Bolton indicates there are Heart Trees on Skagos in Dance, and given that Skagos is the least tamed part of the Seven Kingdoms (and because of the cannibalism) I would expect them to very serious of their Heart Trees, and they possibly give sacrifice the old way, with blood and such. If you're going to eat people, it's nothing to give some blood to your Heart Tree, I think.

This is a good point. Ricken is pretty wild anyway. After learning the ways of Skagos, he could come back to Winterfell seeking a restoration of the pre-Targarian Northern customs. (I realize Ricken is off topic here.)

[Thucydides]

Everyone is convinced that Arya cannot be 100% Faceless Man, because she will never surrender her Stark identity. I tend to think that Bran can never be 100% Greenseer due to his Stark identity. I think that he'll escape the temptations of BR and the Children of the Forest and emerge from the cave to seek out his place in the world as a Stark. Seriously, life in that cave really sucks.

(This is also why one of the reasons I don't believe that Benjen is Coldhands. He's not actually helping Bran, but assisting BR and the Children of the Forest in trying to trap him.)

[Jessica Rogers]

doesn't Mel keep seeing the circle of weir tree where John took his vows beyond the wall?

[History of Westeros]

Nice list, indeed.

here are some more random tidbits:

Morna the warrior witch of the free folk has a weirwood mask (ADwD).

The Raven's teeth used weirwood bows and arrows (TMK, TSS).

Brandon Snow planned on using weirwood arrows to assassinate Aegon the Conquerers dragons (Grrm did a reading from the forthcoming Worlds of Ice and Fire book and revealed this info). I think he's probably the fierce looking dark-eyed youth who bran's sees making arrows in the winterfell godswood.

the bowl that bran eats weirwood seed paste out of is a weirwood bowl w/ faces carved into it (ADwD).

Adding to this:

- Ygritte's bow

- Styr's spear

- the huge table in White Sword tower intended for all 7 Kingsguard

- one of the high septon's staves (I forget which High Septon)

- Arryn high seat

- several castles have weirwood rafters including Harrenhal and what used to be Whitewalls

[The Crow's Third Eye]

We have the Hollow Hill which appears to be the HQ of the BwB i believe? I'm doing a reread of Storm atm and will get to Arya's chapter there soon so i need to check this. But of there are Weirwoods there, it may be that Bran is able to see his mother and reach out to her (or try). This is all in keeping with my.new belief that rather than the Old God religion being about human sacrafice, it is JUsTICE that brings prisoners before.the heart tree; and ancient custom where those judged guilty were brought before the hearttree so that the CoTF (who are part of the tree now) can determine whether the prisoner is really guilty and intervene if they arent. Hence why I believe

Theon wont be beheaded before the heart tree as he is not.guilty of the crime he is accused of

and Rickard Karstark was allowed to die quickly and cleanly when Robb beheaded him. Its also why i feel Brienne and Jamie wont die. The old gods (Bran) will see what his mother has become.and stop her (or at least try)

[jentario]

Snip...

Very nice list! That's quite a project. But now that we have this, what could it all mean for Bran as a greenseer? What events (of the present and the past) could he bear witness to that will be important to his arc and to the continuation of the series?