The "Winged Wolf" A Bran Stark Re-read Project - Part II ASOS & ADWD

[Illuminated by Fire]

Is there a new analysis soming soon? I understand not having free time for something, I just ask to make sure that the re-read does not fall asleep before finishing the last chapters.

[MoIaF]

Is there a new analysis soming soon? I understand not having free time for something, I just ask to make sure that the re-read does not fall asleep before finishing the last chapters.

I sent Loic a message. Hopefully he's able to get back to me soon.

ETA:

I'm sorry I haven't been as attentive to the re-reads as I should. This has been a very busy time for me. But I'll try to get as back on track.

[DarkSister1001]

I'm sorry I haven't been as attentive to the re-reads as I should. This has been a very busy time for me. But I'll try to get as back on track.

No need to apologize; it's a hobby. :) Plus the forums have been very difficult lately.

[BearQueen87]

The forums are driving me mad.

But I do miss talking to all of you

[Loic]

I've read it now, my apologies.

Sorry to be rude, but I don't think I'll have the time to either do my part of reread nor being here in the future days.

If mods find necessary to ban me, I'll understand... making a promise and run away isn't fair.

Sorry for letting you down, I should have been more considerate and polite.

Good luck with the reread, thanks for your understanding and availability!

[MoIaF]

I've read it now, my apologies.

Sorry to be rude, but I don't think I'll have the time to either do my part of reread nor being here in the future days.

If mods find necessary to ban me, I'll understand... making a promise and run away isn't fair.

Sorry for letting you down, I should have been more considerate and polite.

Good luck with the reread, thanks for your understanding and availability!

Loic - nobody is going to throw you out. This is a voluntary group and if you aren't able to join us anymore then that's that. Thank you for you contribution throughout, it has been greatly appreciate it.

Okay then, any volunteers for Bran I?

[DarkSister1001]

I'm not quite as skilled at this as others, and I'd need a few days, but if no one else wants or is able to I can do it.

[BearQueen87]

If DarkSister can do it (and thanks for that) then can we set the date sometime between the 24th and the the 28th, maybe? Then based on when DS posts and when it looks like we've all had a chance to respond, I can post Bran II (which has only been somewhat started on my end) with the understanding that I would have it up by no later than June 3 or 4th. Since we only have a few chapters left, we could be a little more open to dates since 1) real life and 2) the forums hate humankind with Game of Thrones is on the air and we get an influx of people.

[DarkSister1001]

If DarkSister can do it (and thanks for that) then can we set the date sometime between the 24th and the the 28th, maybe? Then based on when DS posts and when it looks like we've all had a chance to respond, I can post Bran II (which has only been somewhat started on my end) with the understanding that I would have it up by no later than June 3 or 4th. Since we only have a few chapters left, we could be a little more open to dates since 1) real life and

Sure thing. That works for me. It's been some weeks since I read the chapter.

2) the forums hate humankind with Game of Thrones is on the air and we get an influx of people.

Is that what it is? I was only a lurker until a few months ago and didn't know what the heck was the problem.

[DarkSister1001]

I'm going to go ahead and post today while the forums are somewhat cooperating.

[DarkSister1001]

A Dance with Dragons, Bran I

“Your monster, Brandon Stark.”

Bran’s first chapter in a Dance with Dragons finds the group beyond the Wall with their guardians, Coldhands, his elk and the ravens, still traveling to the Three-Eyed-Crow. It’s colder, food is scarce, even for Summer, and there is a sense of hopelessness in the company. They learn a little about Coldhands and the Three-Eyed-Crow. Summer dominates the head of another pack. Bran continues to slip into the skin of Summer and Hodor.

Winter is coming

The sound was strangely reassuring. On their journey from Winterfell to the Wall, Bran and his companions had made the miles shorter by talking and telling tales, but it was different here. Even Hodor felt it. His hodors came less often than they had south of the Wall. There was a stillness to this wood like nothing Bran had ever known before.

Bran has been on the edge of death and in dire situations before, but never like this. This is a new level of desperation and the fear is palpable. The tone and verbiage used in this chapter has a foreboding feel to it. Jojen is weakening but still seems to be the decision maker of the group, though Meera has become his caretaker.

A crust of frozen snot had formed below Jojen’s nose, and from time to time he shivered violently. He looks so small, Bran thought, as he watched him sway. He looks smaller than me now, and weaker too, and I’m the cripple.

Bran is still struggling with his disability. To Bran a cripple is little and frail and it seems odd to him that Jojen has become those things. I suspect Bran doesn’t realize he’s still growing despite his injury and as Little Granfather sickens he seems to be shriveling; like a person at the end stage of an illness or an elderly person approaching the conclusion of their days.

Cold hands, warm heart

The ranger set astride his [elk’s] broad back, grim and silent. Coldhands was the name that the fat boy Sam had given him, for though the ranger’s face was pale, his hands were black and hard as iron, and cold as iron too. The rest of him was wrapped in layers of wool and boiled leather and ringmail, his features shadowed by his hooded cloak and a black woolen scarf about the lower half of his face.

“The boy must be protected.” (Coldhands)

Coldhands’ attire is described as if he is a brother of the Night’s Watch. His cold, black hands are indicative of the wight’s raised by the Others. Different from the wights, Coldhands speaks, he seems to care, particularly about Bran and his eyes are not the burning ice color of other wight’s uplinked to the Others. This leaves two possibilities.

1. He is being controlled by a different being than the Others
   
2. He’s an entirely new creature to the series.
   

Short of ice dragons or ice spiders (oh please, oh please, oh please!) I doubt we will be introduced to a new creature this far in; especially considering the similarities Coldhands shares with his wighted cousins. I agree with the majority of the fandom that he is being controlled by Bloodraven/The Three-Eyed-Crow. There are oodles of theories about his original identity but that is best left to a latter chapter when we learn a little more about him.

By day only half a dozen ravens stayed with them, flitting from tree to tree or riding odorHoion the antlers of the elk. The rest of the murder flew ahead or lingered behind. But when the sun sank low they would return, descending from the sky on night-black wings until every branch of every tree was thick with them for yards around. Some would fly to the ranger and mutter at him, and it seemed to Bran that he understood their quorks and squawks. They are his eyes and ears. They scout for him, and whisper to him of dangers ahead and behind.

The above quote is a pretty clear indication that Coldhands is under the control of someone else; someone who can speak the language of the ravens…the Three-Eyed-Crow. It is pretty cool that Bran and company are so closely protected. The ravens are scouting by day and acting as alarms and sentinels at night.

Bran found himself remembering the tales Old Nan had told him when he was a babe. Beyond the Wall the monsters live, the giants and the ghouls, the stalking shadows and the dead that walk, she would say, tucking him in beneath his scratchy woolen blanket, but they cannot pass so long as the Night’s Watch are true. So go to sleep, my little Brandon, my baby boy, and dream sweet dreams. There are no monsters here.

If Bran’s recollection of Old Nan’s reassurance sounds familiar, it should. This is a thought he had in his chapter with Sam, almost verbatim.

Meera suspects they’re going in circles and has her doubts about Coldhands, and Bran voices his concerns as well. In this they learn a little more about their handler.

Sometimes Coldhands closed his eyes, but Bran did not think he slept. And there was something else…

Meera halted them again. “We should have come on the village by now.” Her voice sounded hushed and strange.

In the heat of their doubts they ask Coldhands some very direct questions. Some of which he answers.

The ranger studied his hands as if he had never noticed them before. “Once the heart has ceased to beat, a man’s blood runs down into his extremities, where it thickens and congeals.” His voice rattled in his throat, as thin and gaunt as he was. “His hands and feet swell up and turn black as pudding. The rest of him becomes as white as milk.”

“He’s dead.” Bran could taste the bile in his throat. “Meera, he’s some dead thing. The monsters cannot pass so long as the Wall stands and the men of the Night’s Watch stay true, that’s what Old Nan used to say. He came to meet us at the Wall, but he could not pass. He sent Sam instead, with that wilding girl.”

Old Nan's tale has true before them; he is dead. He’s the first wight they’ve encountered. Osha warned Bran a while back about what was north of the Wall . Though Coldhands has protected them, they have no way of knowing his intentions and base their fears on what stories they’ve heard.

Summer doesn’t like the cold smell on the ranger. Oddly Craster is described eerily similarly.

The direwolf did not like the way that Coldhands smelled. Dead meat, dry blood, a faint whiff of rot. And cold. Cold all over.

So long as he gives us a hot meal and a chance to dry our clothes, I’ll be happy. Dywen said Craster was a kinslayer, liar, raper, and craven and hinted that he trafficked with slavers and demons. “And worse,” the old forester would add, clacking his wooden teeth. “There’s a cold smell to that one, there is.” ACoK, Chapter 23, Jon.

Another similarity is their blood. Coldhands confesses his black blood to the group and explains how it happens. It is peculiar that one of the few other charatcers described as having black blood is also Craster.

Sam looked dubious. “Dolorus Edd says Craster’s a terrible savage. He marries his daughters and obeys no laws but those he makes himself. And Dywen told Grenn he’s got black blood in his veins. His mother was a wilding woman who lay with a ranger, so he’s a bas…” Suddenly he realized what he was about to say. ACoK, Chapter 23, Jon

I always attributed his cold smell and black blood to Coldhands being a wight and to Craster being a worshipper of the Others. But looking at the descriptions side-by-side seems a bit more mysterious. Could the cold smell be simply a mark upon them because they’re both thralls? Does this indicate an alliance between the 3EC & the Others?

Does Coldhands actually feel? Or is it the fear of Three-Eyed-Crow coming through? The loss of Coldhands would be devastating to the group and I suspect the 3EC knows that.

The ranger killed a pig. Coldhands stood beside the door, a raven on his arm, both staring at the fire. Reflections from the flames glittered off four black eyes. He does not eat, Bran remembered, and he fears the flames.

OR is he staring into the flames like Mel and Thoros? Bran has no knowledge of the red priests and priestesses or of the Red God. He could be wrongly assuming that Coldhands is fearful when in all actuality Bran may be witnessing what readers see often. Considering that Bloodraven has some other connections to R’hllor (Mel possibly being his offspring, using a glamour to help Dunk), I would not rule out this option.

Slip into something more comfortable

Bran is still warging Summer regularly. He is actually spending more time in his wolf than his own body; something he was specifically warned against by Jojen. And he is unnecessarily spending time in Hodor.

Summer brought up the rear of their little band. The direwolf’s breath frosted the forest air as he padded after them, still limping on the hind leg that had taken the arrow back at Queenscrown. Bran felt the pain of the old wound whenever he slipped inside the big wolf’s skin. Of late Bran wore Summer’s skin more often than his own; the wolf felt the bite of the cold, despite the thickness of his fur, but he could see farther and hear better and smell more than the boy in the basket, bundled up like a babe in swaddling clothes.

Other times, when he was tired of being a wolf, Bran slipped into Hodor’s skin instead. The gentle giant would whimper when he felt him, and thrash his shaggy head from side to side, but not as violently as he had the first time, back at Queenscrown. He knows it’s me, the boy liked to tell himself. He’s used to me by now. Even so, he never felt comfortable inside Hodor’s skin. The big stableboy never understood what was happening, and Bran could taste the fear at the back of his mouth. It was better inside Summer. I am him, and he is me. He feels what I feel.

Bran is lying to himself. The fantasy that Hodor is ok with the intrusion is how Bran rationalizes the act to himself. In truth it frightens Hodor and he doesn’t like. Bran recognizes that wearing Summer’s skin is much different and more comfortable than Hodor, but Bran ignores how it makes Hodor feel. Hodor is not some mule or dog to be broken, as Maester Luwin once cautioned Bran, but a person with feelings and his lack of ability to communicate those feelings should not make Bran’s actions acceptable. He can feel Summers wound and knows he is in pain. Bran can feel Hodor cower in the back of his mind. At this point I call his invasion intentional and selfish and teetering close to the dark side. (I still love you Bran!)

I strongly suspect the elk is being controlled by the Three-Eyed-Crow as well. If for no other reason than he accepts the presence of a direwolf in their company. The two animals are natural predator/prey and should instinctively act as such. The fact that they don’t is indicative of another power at work.

The elk went where he would, regardless of the wishes of Meera and Jojen on his back. Mostly he stayed beneath the trees, but where the shore curved away westward he would take the more direct path across the frozen lake, shouldering through snowdrifts taller than Bran as the ice cracked underneath his hooves.

When he trotted toward the scent, Hodor lumbered after him at once. The elk took longer to decide, so Bran returned reluctantly to his own body and said, “That way. Follow Summer. I smelled it.”

Bran is gaining control over Summer; Summer is listening to the voice of Bran in his head. Summer is hungry and there is prey stalking right along beside them. For Bran to be able to control Summer’s instinct shows growth in his ability.

As he slipped inside Summer’s skin, the dead woods came to sudden life. Where before there had been silence, now he heard: wind in the trees, Hodor’s breathing, the elk pawing at the ground in search of fodder. Familiar scents filled his nostrils: wet leaves and dead grass, the rotted carcass of a squirrel decaying in the brush, the sour stink of man-sweat, the musky odor of the elk. Food. Meat. The elk sensed his interest. He turned his head toward the direwolf, wary, and lowered his great antlers.

He is not prey, the boy whispered to the beast who shared his skin. Leave him. Run.

Though ultimately Summer is still in charge of his skin.

Long leagues away, the boy stirred uneasily.

Black. Night’s Watch. They were Night’s Watch.

The direwolf did not care. They were meat. He was hungry.

Summer has his first run-in with his wolf cousins. He takes control of the pack and literally pisses on Varamyr.

Head. And he does not fear me though I am twice his size.

And again like calls to like. Bran/Summer and Varamyr/One-Eye recognize each other as wargs.

Their eyes met.

Warg!

<snip>

But finally the old one-eyed wolf lay down and showed his belly. The direwolf snapped at him twice more, sniffed at his butt, then lifted a leg over him.

Ravens watched him from the trees, squatting dark-eyed and silent on the branched as snow drifted down and around the, The other wolves made do with his leavings; the old male fed first, then the female, then the tail. They were his now. They were pack.

This is a milestone for any wolf. He is no longer a pup, like Bran, he’s almost [a man] grown. We were told previously that wargs are fearless and that certainly seems to be the case. Summer is younger, larger and presumably stronger and faster yet One-Eye does not fear him as he should. Summer kicks his ass and establishes himself as the alpha. In doing so he takes the pack and eats the choicest meats from the dead men. The rest wait on their new leaders to finish. Bran reminds him that they have another pack.

No, the boy whispered, we have another pack. Lady’s dead and maybe Grey Wind too, but somewhere there’s still Shaggydog and Nymeria and Ghost. Remember Ghost?

Maybe Grey Wind. Maybe. I’ll just leave that right there for my fellow Grey Wind Hopefuls.

Spreekt u True Tongue?

Over roots and rocks the direwolf sped, through a drift of old snow, the crust crackling beneath his weight. His paws grew wet and cold.

Coldhands had warned them against that [fire]. These woods are not as empty as you think, he had said. You cannot know what the light might summon from the darkness.

Three times in this chapter cracking ice/snow crust has been mentioned. It’s reasonable that this is simply meant to establish the setting and reiterate the frozen environment that the company is in. However, Coldhands’ comment about the woods not being empty and what we learn of the language of the Others way back in the beginning could suggest that the Others are close and speaking to each other in the True Tongue.

The Other said something in a language that Will did not know; his voice was like the cracking of ice on a winter lake and the words were mocking. AGoT, Prologue

And now their watch has ended

The direwolf moved toward the meat, a gaunt gray shadow sliding from tree to tree, through pools of moonlight and over mounds of snow.

Alive, they had been as many as the fingers on a man’s paw, but now they were none. Dead. Done. Meat.

He went from man to man sniffing, before settling on the biggest, a faceless thing who clutched black iron in one hand. His other hand was missing, severed at the wrist, the stump bound up in leather.

The ranger found a sow.

This is really the only identifying description to figure out who these men were. One hand gone, the stump bound in leather and he is a man of the Watch. It could only be Ollo Lophand, and the mutineer’s from Craster’s Keep. It would make sense for Coldhands/3EC/BR to hand out justice to those that turned their cloak and killed the Lord Commander; a post once held by Bloodraven. It also got the group out of danger in the event that the mutineer’s came upon them. And lastly, food. This group was the “sow” that Coldhands found. Though it isn’t outright stated there isn’t any other prey around, he doesn’t deny killing them to Bran and the “pork” is described similar to the pork in Manderly’s Frey Pies.

I didn’t have the time to go back through Sam’s chapters and the Prologue describing the mutiny so I have to rely on the wiki. Summer counts 10 dead men of the Night’s Watch. According to the wiki there were exactly ten mutineers: Dirk, Ollo Lophand, Grubbs, Garth of Greenaway, Alan of Rosby, Rolley of Sisterton, Mawney, Clubfoot Karl, Orphan Oss and Muttering Bill. Rolley of Sisterton broke his neck falling out of the loft at Craster’s so he couldn’t have been in the Haunted Forest when Coldhands came upon them (unless he was reanimated). Who was the tenth that Summer found? Was this an error?

It is interesting that just after learning of what constitutes a skinchanging “abomination”, Bran is in Summer’s skin while he eats man flesh. An argument could be

made that the men were already dead and Summer/Bran didn’t kill them but that doesn’t make it any less noteworthy.

Say, got any corn?

And finally there is a little information on who the group is going to see.

“A friend. Dreamer, wizard, call him what you will. The last greenseer.” The longhall’s wooden door banged open. Outside, the night wind howled, bleak and black. The trees were full of ravens, screaming. Coldhands did not move.

“A monster,” Bran said.

The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist. “Your monster, Brandon Stark.”

First and foremost the 3EC is said to be a friend; probably in hopes of calming their alarm and distrust. Meera and Bran seem to be the only ones worried. Meera unleashes a flurry of questions at Jojen, the decision maker of their group.

“Jojen, did you dream this?” Meera asked her brother. “Who is he? What is he? What do we do now?”

Ignoring the other questions flung at him, Jojen only answers the last one.

“We go with the ranger,” said Jojen. “We have come too far to turn back now, Meera. We would never make it back to the Wall alive. We go with Bran’s monster, or we die.”

For the first time he does not say “this is not the day I die”. He doesn’t even seem reassuring in the decision. He seems defeated. Perhaps it is because he knows his fate awaits him. Or perhaps he doesn’t have the strength to try to soothe them. Ultimately, this exhausting leg of their journey is almost complete.

Observations

The trees stood shoulder to shoulder, like men in a battle line, all cloaked in white.

When I read that, all I could think of was this…

They were seven, facing three. In the dream as it had been in life. Yet these were no ordinary three. They waited before the round tower, the red mountains of Dorne at their backs, their white cloaks blowing in the wind. AGoT, Chapter 39, Eddard

“Crushed acorns? My belly hurts, but that only make it worse. Leave me be, sister. I’m dreaming of roast chicken.”

“Dreams will not sustain you. Not even greendreams.”

“Dreams are what we have.”

Poor Jojen. It was not that long ago that he was admonishing Bran to not get lost in his dreams. The wolf may eat but Bran doesn’t get any nourishment. His despair is an affirmation of their situation.

[MoIaF]

A Dance with Dragons, Bran I

“Your monster, Brandon Stark.”

snip

Excellent analysis! Thank you for posting. :cheers: :thumbsup:

Now I need to go an re-read and will get back with my thoughts.

[DarkSister1001]

Excellent analysis! Thank you for posting. :cheers: :thumbsup:

Now I need to go an re-read and will get back with my thoughts.

Thanks!

[BearQueen87]

A Dance with Dragons, Bran I

“Your monster, Brandon Stark.”

Very nice job, DarkSister! And thanks for stepping up to take on Bran I :)

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that this chapter opens with the question that every child in the world has asked at least once in their life, but also opens with the question that many ASOIAF readers ask about Bran's entire arc in general: "are we there yet?"

Bran has been on the edge of death and in dire situations before, but never like this. This is a new level of desperation and the fear is palpable. The tone and verbiage used in this chapter has a foreboding feel to it. Jojen is weakening but still seems to be the decision maker of the group, though Meera has become his caretaker.

Life is very different beyond the Wall, as both Jon and Bran have learned at different points in ASOIAF. The land beyond the Wall feels very much like you've stepped into death's domain. It's cold; there is no food; wights and wildlings are around every corner not to mention the overarching threat of the Others. I like that you titled this section "Winter is coming" because this really is the land and home of WINTER. And while the other families in Westeros see the Stark words as being odd, they've also never experienced the kind of Winter that puts fears into the hearts of men and more importantly never ends. What Bran is living through right now is real winter; the sort of raw, primal deathly force that real Winter connotes. That's what the Starks of old meant when they gave themselves those words. Odd though they may be, they aren't meant to be uplifting either. They are meant to strike honest to heaven fear into the hearts of others.

Bran is still struggling with his disability. To Bran a cripple is little and frail and it seems odd to him that Jojen has become those things. I suspect Bran doesn’t realize he’s still growing despite his injury and as Little Granfather sickens he seems to be shriveling; like a person at the end stage of an illness or an elderly person approaching the conclusion of their days.

In this chapter we see a return of a cripple mentality that Bran hasn't had for awhile, not since he openly embraced warging: boredom. Bran is bored. There is nothing to do or see or even talk about while the gang travels in the far north. He doesn't like being in his own body (something that's been true for a long while now) so he'll go into Summer for a bit and then Hodor when he gets tired of being inside Summer. Bran the Boy is trying to alleviate his own boredom that comes from being unable to walk or fight but also from the fact that no one is really up to telling tales.

Coldhands’ attire is described as if he is a brother of the Night’s Watch. His cold, black hands are indicative of the wight’s raised by the Others. Different from the wights, Coldhands speaks, he seems to care, particularly about Bran and his eyes are not the burning ice color of other wight’s uplinked to the Others. This leaves two possibilities.

1. He is being controlled by a different being than the Others
2. He’s an entirely new creature to the series.

At the very very start of this re-read we brought up Coldhands and how he's the exception to the rule of the wights. We've also learned that Coldhands is definitely not Benjen. I think Coldhands is just some poor NW man who is being warged by Bloodraven. He's a meat suit who is taking care of Bran, guiding him like he's been doing for Bran's life post-fall. His killing of the other NW men that Summer later feasts on shows his pragmatic nature; BR doesn't care about anything except making sure that Bran gets to BR safely. That's very in line with what we've learned about BR from Dunk and Egg and the World Book. As to his original identity: I don't know that it's anyone we've met before. Just one of the many victims of the war against the Others.

The above quote is a pretty clear indication that Coldhands is under the control of someone else; someone who can speak the language of the ravens…the Three-Eyed-Crow. It is pretty cool that Bran and company are so closely protected. The ravens are scouting by day and acting as alarms and sentinels at night.

Speaking of the ravens: this is a nice time to remind us all that BR is GRRM's stand-in for the Norse god Odin (though, this is GRRM so naturally the parallels don't have to be exact or even just limited to one mythic figure). But Odin has his own two birds who spy on the world and report back. That is essentially what these ravens are doing for BR. And this matters why? In Norse mythology, Odin has his own chained wolf to deal with : Fenrir, like we've pointed out a few times before.

Summer doesn’t like the cold smell on the ranger. Oddly Craster is described eerily similarly.

The direwolf did not like the way that Coldhands smelled. Dead meat, dry blood, a faint whiff of rot. And cold. Cold all over.

So long as he gives us a hot meal and a chance to dry our clothes, I’ll be happy. Dywen said Craster was a kinslayer, liar, raper, and craven and hinted that he trafficked with slavers and demons. “And worse,” the old forester would add, clacking his wooden teeth. “There’s a cold smell to that one, there is.” ACoK, Chapter 23, Jon.

Great catch. Don't think I've ever noticed that before! I guess it makes sense since the wights are essentially servants of the Others and Craster is a different kind of servant to the Others.

Does this indicate an alliance between the 3EC & the Others?

Not sure if it's an alliance with the Others so much as the 3EC has roots on both sides of this conflict. I've long suspected that the 3EC isn't trying to "stop the Others" so much as restore balance to the World the only way he can--by playing both sides, giving both sides "champions," (sending Quaithe--AKA his former lover Shiera Seastar--to Dany), also by trying to prepare/keep an eye on the figure who is the representation of the Great Balance (Jon) and make sure that when all is said and done, balance is restored, the world is fixed and neither fire nor ice "win"

OR is he staring into the flames like Mel and Thoros? Bran has no knowledge of the red priests and priestesses or of the Red God. He could be wrongly assuming that Coldhands is fearful when in all actuality Bran may be witnessing what readers see often. Considering that Bloodraven has some other connections to R’hllor (Mel possibly being his offspring, using a glamour to help Dunk), I would not rule out this option.

Very random question: but in order to see into the flames, do you have to be a follower of the Red God?? Can you learn that ability even if you don't follow R'hllor? And would Bloodraven need to stare into the flames? Can he still use the trees while he's inside of Coldhand's skin?

At this point I call his invasion intentional and selfish and teetering close to the dark side. (I still love you Bran!)

Same. But at the same time, we all know that Bran *knows* this is wrong. Luwin has urged him to be gentle with Hodor; we know Cat and Ned raised their son better than this. Bran is traumatized by so many things that he lies to himself to allow himself to seek comfort any way he can; but that doesn't make it right.

I strongly suspect the elk is being controlled by the Three-Eyed-Crow as well. If for no other reason than he accepts the presence of a direwolf in their company. The two animals are natural predator/prey and should instinctively act as such. The fact that they don’t is indicative of another power at work.

Another random question: how many animals/beings can you warg at once? Can you split yourself (soul? essence?) many different ways so that you're in both Coldhands and the elk at once? (I am thinking of Voldemort now)

Coldhands had warned them against that [fire]. These woods are not as empty as you think, he had said. You cannot know what the light might summon from the darkness.

Does anyone else think this line is weird? Aren't wights and Others afraid of/hate fire and light? So why would light SUMMON them from the Darkness? It's weird right? Or am I missing something?

And lastly, food. This group was the “sow” that Coldhands found. Though it isn’t outright stated there isn’t any other prey around, he doesn’t deny killing them to Bran and the “pork” is described similar to the pork in Manderly’s Frey Pies.

Hoooooooooooly crap. Ok, I've read ADWD at least 4 times and I don't think I've ever picked up on that. Wow. Okay. (There is a very interesting cannibal streak running through ASOIAF and it pops up in odd places--Arya thinks she is being fed human flesh in Braavos until the Kindly Man assures her it's just "pork"--a reverse of Bran).

Poor Jojen. It was not that long ago that he was admonishing Bran to not get lost in his dreams. The wolf may eat but Bran doesn’t get any nourishment. His despair is an affirmation of their situation.

:( Poor Jojen. He is not long for this world.

[DarkSister1001]

Very nice job, DarkSister! And thanks for stepping up to take on Bran I :)

Thanks, it was my pleasure. This was a fun one.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that this chapter opens with the question that every child in the world has asked at least once in their life, but also opens with the question that many ASOIAF readers ask about Bran's entire arc in general: "are we there yet?"

lol, freaking kids. It's a great way to remind us that he's still a boy.

Another random question: how many animals/beings can you warg at once? Can you split yourself (soul? essence?) many different ways so that you're in both Coldhands and the elk at once? (I am thinking of Voldemort now)

Ya know, I have no clue. The way Varamyr "jumped" from animal to animal I suspect there's some sort of limited auto pilot capabilities. My question is if BR had to have constant contact with CH to maintain control over him. There's was a lot of good stuff in this chapter but a lot of it left me with more questions than answers.

Hoooooooooooly crap. Ok, I've read ADWD at least 4 times and I don't think I've ever picked up on that. Wow. Okay. (There is a very interesting cannibal streak running through ASOIAF and it pops up in odd places--Arya thinks she is being fed human flesh in Braavos until the Kindly Man assures her it's just "pork"--a reverse of Bran).

Any chance I'm overanalyzing? We KNOW CH came in contact with the mutineers. We KNOW Summer ate of them. We KNOW there's no food, otherwise I think Summer would have picked up the scent. And the Frey pies, of course. I completely forgot about Arya's pork. Perhaps a full-on "pork" re-read is in order? Kindle search function, here I come! :)

Does anyone else think this line is weird? Aren't wights and Others afraid of/hate fire and light? So why would light SUMMON them from the Darkness? It's weird right? Or am I missing something?

Yeah, it's weird. IIRC Waymar tells Gared no fires, Gared tries to convince him by saying that there's things a fire would KEEP away. Fire hurts wights, but not the Others, I think. Fire would most certainly be noticed. Perhaps CH is worried that an Other would take control of him from BR leaving the group without any guardian? Total guess, just all I got.

[BearQueen87]

Any chance I'm overanalyzing? We KNOW CH came in contact with the mutineers. We KNOW Summer ate of them. We KNOW there's no food, otherwise I think Summer would have picked up the scent. And the Frey pies, of course. I completely forgot about Arya's pork. Perhaps a full-on "pork" re-read is in order? Kindle search function, here I come! :)

I don't think you're over analyzing at all. Think about this way: we have a bunch of cold and starving humans and cold and starving animals. Why would a sow--a slowing movie, fat, juicy, sow--be alive? It wouldn't. That thing would have become bacon as soon as any creature laid eyes on it and we know there are other animals in the woods around the same location. It's totally human flesh. It's the eating of the dead by those living beyond the pale of human existence. It adds a very creepy layer to Bran's story

[LongRider]

Wights don't like fire but it doesn't stop White Walkers. Plus, fire makes light and smoke and both can seen from far away. So a fire may attract them. Once the fire is banked for the night, then the wights might attack, as they did Sam and Gilly when they were in the abandoned wilding village. Sam subdued the wight of Small Paul with a branch or something caught afire from their banked fire, inside the shack. Then outside, Cold Hands saved the day.

So, perhaps fire can attract, but unless directly applied to the wights, it's not effective.

[Mehmet Eren]

İf fire dont stop other only Wights I will be glad because it will came to end with sword human power also dany show up kill all other with fire is simple for ı dont prefer and expect it .... also it suit multi hero story type of the books one handle this problem other handle other problems ....

[BearQueen87]

Wights don't like fire but it doesn't stop White Walkers. Plus, fire makes light and smoke and both can seen from far away. So a fire may attract them. Once the fire is banked for the night, then the wights might attack, as they did Sam and Gilly when they were in the abandoned wilding village. Sam subdued the wight of Small Paul with a branch or something caught afire from their banked fire, inside the shack. Then outside, Cold Hands saved the day.

So, perhaps fire can attract, but unless directly applied to the wights, it's not effective.

That's all true but it's still a weird line from Coldhands, then. Lighting a fire would keep away the wights (and be handy in defeating them should a wight decide to descend on the tiny group) and it doesn't affect the Others are all, but thus far the Others have stayed clear of Bran and company. So...might as well light a fire. It's also an odd verb to use: summon. The light would summon them from the darkness. Bring, draw out, lure, attract...all other verbs Coldhands could have used. Summon implies a lack of will, as if whatever is being summoned is being so against its better judgement.

I might be reading too much into it, but I still think it's an odd line.

[LongRider]

That's all true but it's still a weird line from Coldhands, then. Lighting a fire would keep away the wights (and be handy in defeating them should a wight decide to descend on the tiny group) and it doesn't affect the Others are all, but thus far the Others have stayed clear of Bran and company. So...might as well light a fire. It's also an odd verb to use: summon. The light would summon them from the darkness. Bring, draw out, lure, attract...all other verbs Coldhands could have used. Summon implies a lack of will, as if whatever is being summoned is being so against its better judgement.

I might be reading too much into it, but I still think it's an odd line.

No, I think it's worth thinking about. One thing is that Bran and party are the farthest North in story that any have gone. As they get closer to the Heart of Winter, could that make a difference?