Bran's vision of Jon in Bran III, GoT

[LynnS]

1 minute ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

It would certainly be terrible knowledge.  Interesting idea.  So Bran looked deep into the heart of winter, maybe Jojen "touched" the heart of winter and acquired his terrible knowledge?

Well Jojen is quite certain that his green dreams are all true and the fatalistic view that the future can't be changed.  That's contradicted in the House of Undying when Dany is told about morrows not yet made or never were.  I think it's possible that Bran will affect those 'morrows' at some point.  So Bran sees something and is given a choice by the 3EC; fly or die.

[OtherFromAnotherMother]

1 minute ago, LynnS said:

Yes, everything is layered in meaning.  We have Ned's fever dream of the Storm of Petals as blue as the eyes of death and a storm of swords or war.  And we have Tyrion affected by two storms while crossing the narrow sea. 

The text is: 

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He looked east, and saw a galley racing across the waters of the Bite. He saw his mother sitting alone in a cabin, looking at a bloodstained knife on a table in front of her, as the rowers pulled at their oars and Ser Rodrik leaned across a rail, shaking and heaving. A storm was gathering ahead of them, a vast dark roaring lashed by lightning, but somehow they could not see it.

I'm convinced its the "storm" Catelyn is getting herself into with the dagger, LF, and Tyrion.  The mention of the dagger tells me the storm is related to the dagger.  Despite Rodrik's heaving they have a pleasant voyage, it's not a literal storm.  They cannot see this storm because Catelyn cannot see LF lying to her.  She believes him. This causes the "storm".

[LynnS]

10 minutes ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

I'm convinced its the "storm" Catelyn is getting herself into with the dagger, LF, and Tyrion.  The mention of the dagger tells me the storm is related to the dagger.  Despite Rodrik's heaving they have a pleasant voyage, it's not a literal storm.  They cannot see this storm because Catelyn cannot see LF lying to her.  She believes him. This causes the "storm".

Yes it's a perfectly good metaphor for events to come.  A bit of foreshadowing.  Tyrion will also literally be lashed by a storm front something he calls a big bastard racing up behind him.  Something that both Moqorro and Benerro already know about and navigate a path perilously close to the smoking sea to outrun it.  That scene is heavy with symbolism.    But of course we don't get that scene until much later in DwD.  So a 'storm' ahead of Catelyn and a storm behind Tyrion.   

[Blackfyre Bastard]

I agree that Bran sees Jon "live". He also sees Robb training "with real steel in his hand", which is something mentioned in Catelyn's previous chapter. He sees Ned pleading with king Robert, in all certainly about Joffrey's incident and Lady's death, etc.  

1 hour ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

I'm convinced its the "storm" Catelyn is getting herself into with the dagger, LF, and Tyrion.  The mention of the dagger tells me the storm is related to the dagger.  Despite Rodrik's heaving they have a pleasant voyage, it's not a literal storm.  They cannot see this storm because Catelyn cannot see LF lying to her.  She believes him. This causes the "storm".

I think the storm represents the War of the 5 Kings, which Cat precipitated, but was manufactured by LF when he manipulated her; that's why the storm looms ahead of Cat. This interpretation would make LF the giant standing over the shadows that travel along the king's retinue:  "There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound [the Hound]. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful [Jaime]. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood [Littlefinger]."

 

1 hour ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

Do you have any ideas on what he could have seen in this vision? I think it is something to do with the Others and an end of the world-ish thing but beyond that I am stumped.

Bran takes a look at the heart of winter. What he sees there is so frightening he starts to cry, forgetting all his idea of "being almost a man grown". There must be something terrible. I dare say is the origin of the Others and their motive for making an appearance after so long.

Bran also sees the dead bodies of other seers that never learned to fly as the crow commanded them. He sees "[The jagged blue-white spires of ice] flew up at him like spears. He saw the bones of a thousand other dreamers impaled upon their points. He was desperately afraid." I had never paid much attention to this line, but the other day I was reading (somewhere in this forum, sorry I can't remember) that Euron was probably one of this dreamers that didn't make the cut to become Bloodraven's protégé.

 

[OtherFromAnotherMother]

7 hours ago, Blackfyre Bastard said:

I agree that Bran sees Jon "live". He also sees Robb training "with real steel in his hand", which is something mentioned in Catelyn's previous chapter. He sees Ned pleading with king Robert, in all certainly about Joffrey's incident and Lady's death, etc.  

I think the storm represents the War of the 5 Kings, which Cat precipitated, but was manufactured by LF when he manipulated her; that's why the storm looms ahead of Cat. This interpretation would make LF the giant standing over the shadows that travel along the king's retinue:  "There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound [the Hound]. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful [Jaime]. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood [Littlefinger]."

 

Bran takes a look at the heart of winter. What he sees there is so frightening he starts to cry, forgetting all his idea of "being almost a man grown". There must be something terrible. I dare say is the origin of the Others and their motive for making an appearance after so long.

Bran also sees the dead bodies of other seers that never learned to fly as the crow commanded them. He sees "[The jagged blue-white spires of ice] flew up at him like spears. He saw the bones of a thousand other dreamers impaled upon their points. He was desperately afraid." I had never paid much attention to this line, but the other day I was reading (somewhere in this forum, sorry I can't remember) that Euron was probably one of this dreamers that didn't make the cut to become Bloodraven's protégé.

 

Thanks for your contributions. 

Do we have any text relating LF to being stone or armored in stone? Is there anything on him with "lies like black blood" or close to that? Personally, I think the description fits to well with Undead Gregor, but I am open minded.

I was wondering if someone would bring Euron into this thread. Here is the text:

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Euron stood by the window, drinking from a silver cup. He wore the sable cloak he took from Blacktyde, his red leather eye patch, and nothing else. “When I was a boy, I dreamt that I could fly,” he announced. “When I woke, I couldn’t … or so the maester said. But what if he lied?”

The Reaver, FfC.

[DigUpHerBones]

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But there is no actual "storm" to be seen.

sure there is, it is currently located outside of The Reach, with a false prophet tied to it's bow.

the First, and the Last...

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I was wondering if someone would bring Euron into this thread.

its only 7:30AM in Cali

[LynnS]

10 hours ago, Blackfyre Bastard said:

I think the storm represents the War of the 5 Kings, which Cat precipitated, but was manufactured by LF when he manipulated her; that's why the storm looms ahead of Cat. This interpretation would make LF the giant standing over the shadows that travel along the king's retinue:  "There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound [the Hound]. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful [Jaime]. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood [Littlefinger]."

I'm good with this as well.  Although I wonder if the giant in armor made of stone is the Titan of Braavos representing the Faceless Men.

[Blackfyre Bastard]

4 hours ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

Do we have any text relating LF to being stone or armored in stone?

 

2 hours ago, LynnS said:

Although I wonder if the giant in armor made of stone is the Titan of Braavos representing the Faceless Men.

The sigil of House Baelish is the Titan of Braavos's head, which is a giant made of stone. We know that in Westeros, people represent or identify themselves with their sigils and think of them as lions, dragons, roses, etc. True that LF doesn't actively identify himself with his family sigil; he hides behind a mockingbird (i.e. he mocks everybody else with this change), but he's a giant still.

[OtherFromAnotherMother]

2 hours ago, DigUpHerBones said:

sure there is, it is currently located outside of The Reach, with a false prophet tied to it's bow.

the First, and the Last...

its only 7:30AM in Cali

You don't think the "storm" is related to Catelyn?

Quote

He saw his mother sitting alone in a cabin, looking at a bloodstained knife on a table in front of her, as the rowers pulled at their oars and Ser Rodrik leaned across a rail, shaking and heaving. A storm was gathering ahead of them, a vast dark roaring lashed by lightning, but somehow they could not see it.

Bran is seeing Cat head into this "storm".

[OtherFromAnotherMother]

45 minutes ago, Blackfyre Bastard said:

 

The sigil of House Baelish is the Titan of Braavos's head, which is a giant made of stone. We know that in Westeros, people represent or identify themselves with their sigils and think of them as lions, dragons, roses, etc. True that LF doesn't actively identify himself with his family sigil; he hides behind a mockingbird (i.e. he mocks everybody else with this change), but he's a giant still.

How does he "loom" over Jaime/Oberyn and Sandor? What about the black blood? 

I think there are better and more connections to Undead Gregor. Giant, armor, black blood, stone, looming...

But hey, to each their own.

[Blackfyre Bastard]

36 minutes ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

How does he "loom" over Jaime/Oberyn and Sandor?

Because he's (LF) preparing a war for them all. They're his pawns in the game of thrones.

36 minutes ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

What about the black blood?

Don't know, honestly 

36 minutes ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

I think there are better and more connections to Undead Gregor. Giant, armor, black blood, stone, looming...

I know it better graphically represents unGregor; but up until ADwD, Gregor has had a secondary role at best: he's been Tywin's tool for war, always following orders. I guess it remains to be seen what the rest of the series holds for him.

I'm just relaying an alternate theory, which I think has its own merits.

[Lost Melnibonean]

22 hours ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

Bran's coma dream contains many visions. Several are straight forward and easy to see. Other visions didn't make sense until we had the rest of the books. 

Bran's vision of Jon at the wall is often brought up as evidence of prophetic abilities from Bran. It is believed by many that Bran is seeing Jon's stabbing at the end of DwD. I am not arguing against Bran's prophetic abilities. I am arguing that his vision of Jon at the wall is not one of them. He is seeing Jon as he is right now. 

Let's look at the text. 

The first part is obvious. Bran is seeing the wall.

Note that Bran sees the wall as "shining like blue crystal". This is the same way Jon sees it in Jon's next chapter following Bran's. 

In the stabbing chapter the wall is white: 

The next part, "Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memorty of all warmth fled from him" is trickier. 

Many who attribute this vision to Jon's stabbing use this line because Ghost is not with Jon when he is stabbed, which is true. However, we see Jon describing himself as "alone" in the next Jon chapter following Bran's.

 

Jon thinks of himself as alone. Even though Ghost is with him, he is stil alone.

Jon also thinks on how much he hates the people at the wall. 

 

 

He also misses his family.

Talking with Noye:

I think we can agree that Jon feels very much alone during the time of Bran's dream. This is what Bran is seeing. 

The next part, "in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him."

We have this in the same Jon chapter:

Seems oddly similar, right? Jon remembers the warmth of the warm water running through the walls at Winterfell. But not here. 

I think the wall coloring is the strongest point. But the rest applies as well. Jon's whole chapter following Bran's dream is filled with him being cold and alone. I think Bran is seeing Jon a more "real time" version, rather than seeing the future stabbing incident. 

I wouldna say it's a real time view of a live event, but rather a symbolic vision what was going on at the time with Jon at the Wall. Great analysis. 

[Lost Melnibonean]

18 hours ago, LynnS said:

It does, but in association with Arya, Sansa and Ned in real times.  A bit of premonition perhaps, shadows looming over them but their identity is veiled from Bran and green dream-ish.

Again, I don't believe Bran was actually watching something happen, but I do agree with the vision in the context of the timing. 

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He saw his father pleading with the king, his face etched with grief. He saw Sansa crying herself to sleep at night, and he saw Arya watching in silence and holding her secrets hard in her heart.

In the previous chapter we see the Ned plead with Robert on behalf of Arya and then Lady. We see Sansa become distraught at the royal command to put down Lady, and we know that Arya is furious about her sister's betrayal. Then we read another little trio. . .

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There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.

The first two shadows are easy. The Hound and Jaime fit the images to a tee. The first is Joffrey’s sworn sword, and the second is Jaime Lannister, who was the first to commit a belligerent act between Houses Lannister and Stark in what would become the War of the Five Kings, when he pushed Bran from the tower window. Both had just been leading searches for Arya with hostile intent. And both would act violently against The Ned in King's Landing. The third shadow is a complete mystery at this point. Later, we would see clues that Gregor and Petyr seem to fit this imagery best. My guess is Petyr after learning about the sigil of House Baelish. Although Petyr was a small man who adopted the mockingbird as his personal sigil, the sigil of his house was the stone head of the Titan of Braavos.

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The device painted on the shield was one Sansa did not know; a grey stone head with fiery eyes, upon a light green field. “My grandfather’s shield,” Petyr explained when he saw her gazing at it. “His own father was born in Braavos and came to the Vale as a sellsword in the hire of Lord Corbray, so my grandfather took the head of the Titan as his sigil when he was knighted.”

This interpretation of Petyr as a giant tied in to the presumption that the Ghost of High Heart foresaw Sansa slaying Petyr, the savage giant.

Moreover, Petyr proved to be a much graver threat to Bran’s father and sisters than either Sandor or Jaime, both of whom eventually attempted to aid the Stark girls, and when the Hound and the Kingslayer faced each other during the Hand’s tourney, Littlefinger sat above them in the viewing stands wagering on the outcome, or looming over them.

[Lost Melnibonean]

16 hours ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

Bran sees Luwin, Robb, Hodor, Catelyn, Ned, Sansa, and Arya in "real time" visions.  The "storm" Catelyn is heading into is a future event. "Storm" is ambiguous and figurative.  Descriptions of the Cleganes and Oberyn (I know some think its Jaime, either way it doesn't effect the idea) are also ambiguous and figurative.  The ambiguous and figurative events/figures could be seen as prophetic while Bran's family (also Luwin, Hodor) are seen in "real time".  

The storm shows how this vision blends what can be seen actually, and what is symbolic. 

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He looked east, and saw a galley racing across the waters of the Bite. He saw his mother sitting alone in a cabin, looking at a bloodstained knife on a table in front of her, as the rowers pulled at their oars and Ser Rodrik leaned across a rail, shaking and heaving. A storm was gathering ahead of them, a vast dark roaring lashed by lightning, but somehow they could not see it.

We know that Catelyn is traveling with the Valyrian steel dagger with the dragonbone hilt and Rodrik to Kings Landing by some route faster than the Kingsroad. And we learn in the next chapter that they travel to White Harbor, and by ship from that city to Kings Landing, and that along the way, they pass a violent storm that makes Rodrik sick. The storm is also a metaphor for what awaits House Stark in the War of the Five Kings.

[Lost Melnibonean]

16 hours ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

But there is no actual "storm" to be seen. That is why I think this part is a bit prophetic.  He sees trouble ahead for Cat but it is not a storm in the literal sense.  It is the situation she is going to get herself in by listening to LF about the dagger then arresting Tyrion.

Catelyn and Rodrik do travel into a literal storm. 

[Lost Melnibonean]

16 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

I hate to interrupt, but I always took it as this as well because Bran looks into the distance and sees something terrifying, then we get the line Winter is coming, and at the very end Bran declares his wolf's name is Summer, as in the opposite of what terrified him. But maybe I am simplifying too much???

The entire sequence is an outline for A Song of Ice and Fire. First we see the opening of The War of the Five Kings, and then we see dragons stirring in the east. And then... 

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And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks.

 

Now you know, the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. Now you know why you must live.

 

"Why?" Bran said, not understanding, falling, falling.

 

Because winter is coming.

 

Bran looked at the crow on his shoulder, and the crow looked back. It had three eyes, and the third eye was full of a terrible knowledge. Bran looked down. There was nothing below him now but snow and cold and death, a frozen wasteland where jagged blue-white spires of ice waited to embrace him. They flew up at him like spears. He saw the bones of a thousand other dreamers impaled upon their points.

This passage recalls what we read about in the prologue. And after the release of the 1993 letter from The George to his publisher, we know that we will read about the War for the Dawn after we finish the Second Dance of the Dragons.

 

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Its beak stabbed at him fiercely, and Bran felt a sudden blinding pain in the middle of his forehead, between his eyes.

We will learn later about the significance of the three-eyed crow, that having your third-eye opened allows you to see things not visible to normal men.

[Lost Melnibonean]

6 hours ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

Thanks for your contributions. 

Do we have any text relating LF to being stone or armored in stone? Is there anything on him with "lies like black blood" or close to that? Personally, I think the description fits to well with Undead Gregor, but I am open minded.

I was wondering if someone would bring Euron into this thread. Here is the text:

The Reaver, FfC.

Black blood symbolizes death, because blood appears black after death.

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I failed you, Robert, Ned thought. He could not say the words. I lied to you, hid the truth. I let them kill you.

The king heard him. "You stiff-necked fool," he muttered, "too proud to listen. Can you eat pride, Stark? Will honor shield your children?" Cracks ran down his face, fissures opening in the flesh, and he reached up and ripped the mask away. It was not Robert at all; it was Littlefinger, grinning, mocking him. When he opened his mouth to speak, his lies turned to pale grey moths and took wing.

In addition to the oft-observed moth-attracted-to-fire symbolism, which really doesn't apply here, the moth symbolizes corruption, decay, and death. 

With that line from the black cells, The George is showing us that LF's corruption and lies will lead to the Ned's death. It's another hint that Petyr was the instigator behind Joffrey's order for the Ned's execution.

Death comes out of Petyr's mouth, like the thick black blood behind the giant's visor.

[ravenous reader]

1 hour ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

How does he "loom" over Jaime/Oberyn and Sandor?

Jaime, Oberyn, Sandor, Ned, etc. are the foot soldiers.  Littlefinger and his ilk are the master puppeteers, wagering on and with the lives of others, as pointed out here:

16 minutes ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

This interpretation of Petyr as a giant tied in to the presumption that the Ghost of High Heart foresaw Sansa slaying Petyr, the savage giant.

Moreover, Petyr proved to be a much graver threat to Bran’s father and sisters than either Sandor or Jaime, both of whom eventually attempted to aid the Stark girls, and when the Hound and the Kingslayer faced each other during the Hand’s tourney, Littlefinger sat above them in the viewing stands wagering on the outcome, or looming over them.

Nice!

Ned gets a vague inkling of what or or whom he's up against shortly before his death when he glimpses the shadow of his real opponent out of his peripheral, poorly-developed 'vision'-- but sadly this dim revelation was too little, too late:

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A Game of Thrones - Eddard VIII

When he had gone, Eddard Stark went to the window and sat brooding. Robert had left him no choice that he could see. He ought to thank him. It would be good to return to Winterfell. He ought never have left.

Why did he leave?  Due to events orchestrated by Littlefinger.

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His sons were waiting there. Perhaps he and Catelyn would make a new son together when he returned, they were not so old yet. And of late he had often found himself dreaming of snow, of the deep quiet of the wolfswood at night.

And yet, the thought of leaving angered him as well. So much was still undone. Robert and his council of cravens and flatterers would beggar the realm if left unchecked … or, worse, sell it to the Lannisters in payment of their loans. And the truth of Jon Arryn's death still eluded him. Oh, he had found a few pieces, enough to convince him that Jon had indeed been murdered, but that was no more than the spoor of an animal on the forest floor. He had not sighted the beast itself yet, though he sensed it was there, lurking, hidden, treacherous.

Who is 'the beast...lurking, hidden, treacherous' ('lurking' is similar to 'looming'), the 'beast' responsible for Jon Arryn's death?  The answer is the same:  Littlefinger.  A beast who lurks in the shadows and is reluctant to show his true face might have 'black blood.'  For example, Craster is said to have 'black blood,' presumably because he's treacherous, amoral and in love with his own power first-and-foremost, like Littlefinger ('Littlefinger loves Littlefinger' AGOT-Eddard VII).

'Black blood' is also associated with poisoning.  In Craster's case, he's poisoning his bloodline by committing incest and kinslaying, sacrificing his sons who are then transformed into 'undead' abominations with black blood (we know this from Sam's investigation of the wights' congealed black blood like black crystal or dust).  In Littlefinger's case, he's associated with his fair share of poisonings (e.g. the Tears of Lys administered to Jon Arryn; the Strangler administered to Joffrey; let alone the more figurative poisonings of the mind in which he engages in order to harness others to his perverse will).  

Why do I strongly suspect Littlefinger is the beast in question leaving spoor on the forest floor?  Because of this quote from someone who has actually sighted the beast and seen him for what he is without harboring any illusions (leading to Littlefinger setting up Tyrion in turn and probably trying to have him killed on several occasions):

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A Game of Thrones - Tyrion IV

Just for a moment, he thought he saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes, but what she said was, "Why would Petyr lie to me?"

"Why does a bear shit in the woods?" he demanded. "Because it is his nature. Lying comes as easily as breathing to a man like Littlefinger. You ought to know that, you of all people."

She took a step toward him, her face tight. "And what does that mean, Lannister?"

'Shitting in the woods' is like leaving 'spoor on the forest floor.'  The beast is Littlefinger.  And he befouls everything he touches.

2 hours ago, Blackfyre Bastard said:

The sigil of House Baelish is the Titan of Braavos's head, which is a giant made of stone. We know that in Westeros, people represent or identify themselves with their sigils and think of them as lions, dragons, roses, etc. True that LF doesn't actively identify himself with his family sigil; he hides behind a mockingbird (i.e. he mocks everybody else with this change), but he's a giant still.

Indeed.  Also, his name 'Petyr' is etymologically derived from 'rock' or 'stone' as in 'petrify'-- literally 'turn to stone' or figuratively terrify or overwhelm someone to the extent that they can no longer think, feel, or act for themselves, you know kind of like what he's doing to Sansa...He's literally transforming her into a stone -- Alayne Stone.  

Symbolically, he was also the figure 'looming' over and ultimately responsible for Joffrey's murder.  So, although not physically present at the wedding, his shadow nevertheless 'loomed' large over the proceedings in King's Landing.  I believe Varys is referencing Littlefinger here:

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A Clash of Kings - Tyrion II

"So power is a mummer's trick?"

"A shadow on the wall," Varys murmured, "yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow."

Littlefinger, apart from his name containing the word 'little,' is also physically rather small, yet nevertheless psychologically imposing and dangerous which Varys recognises.  Sansa's hairnet of poison crystals or 'stones' -- which evokes the mythological 'medusa' or 'gorgon' who could petrify anyone trapped in its gaze -- also ties Baelish to the poison stone theme (Bloodstone Emperor also comes to mind) as well as the idea of Baelish ensnaring people, in similar fashion to his nemesis Varys the Spider, in his web of intrigue and deception.

@OtherFromAnotherMother cool thread!  I love brainstorming with other forum members on the various dreams and prophecies.  In general, I agree with the interpretations offered for Bran's so-called 'coma dream,' apart from one major difference, namely I don't believe it's all happening in 'real time.'  There are subtle indications that time is not passing for Bran the way it's passing for those on dimension 'Planetos.'  For one, the light relations do not make sense.  At the beginning of the dream it is clearly daylight or Bran would not be able to clearly visualize the colors and details of the landscape.  However, towards the end of the dream he's suddenly seeing Sansa crying herself to sleep at night and Jon sleeping in an ice cell (which should presumably be happening at night as well, unless you're going to argue he's on a night-duty schedule!)  

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A Game of Thrones - Bran III

Bran looked down, and felt his insides turn to water. The ground was rushing up at him now. The whole world was spread out below him, a tapestry of white and brown and green. He could see everything so clearly that for a moment he forgot to be afraid. He could see the whole realm, and everyone in it.

At this point it's clearly daylight.  Then suddenly it switches to night:

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He looked south, and saw the great blue-green rush of the Trident. He saw his father pleading with the king, his face etched with grief. He saw Sansa crying herself to sleep at night, and he saw Arya watching in silence and holding her secrets hard in her heart. There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.

He lifted his eyes and saw clear across the narrow sea, to the Free Cities and the green Dothraki sea and beyond, to Vaes Dothrak under its mountain, to thefabled lands of the Jade Sea, to Asshai by the Shadow, where dragons stirred beneath the sunrise.

Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him.

And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks.

How come there's a light reflection coming off the wall 'shining like blue crystal if Jon is 'sleeping'?  Is this happening during the day or night?  They're not that far north at the Wall to never experience nightfall.

The way I interpret the shifting light relations at the very least is that time is passing faster for Bran in the dream than it is for others.  In other words, he is able to 'fast-forward' from day to night in the blink of an eye or beat of a wing, which is an indication of how he's already 'time-travelling' into the future.  Therefore, the vision of Jon's body growing cold 'pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled' is a strong intimation of death and may even be a prophetic vision.  I also find it odd that Ghost is nowhere to be seen, considering when Jon first arrived at the Wall he always slept with Ghost who kept him warm and comforted him.  When Bran glimpses 'the heart of winter' it's likely he's seeing a prophetic vision of the 'Long Night' to come.  'Beyond the curtain' is a metaphor for breaking through and circumventing the usual constraints governing time, place and person.  Therefore, I wouldn't presume anything in the dream is happening in 'real time.'

[Lost Melnibonean]

4 hours ago, LynnS said:

I'm good with this as well.  Although I wonder if the giant in armor made of stone is the Titan of Braavos representing the Faceless Men.

Now you are speaking my language. I argued quite some time ago that Petyr hired a Faceless Man to kill Eddard. I think one or three folks even agreed with me.

[LynnS]

2 hours ago, Blackfyre Bastard said:

 

The sigil of House Baelish is the Titan of Braavos's head, which is a giant made of stone. We know that in Westeros, people represent or identify themselves with their sigils and think of them as lions, dragons, roses, etc. True that LF doesn't actively identify himself with his family sigil; he hides behind a mockingbird (i.e. he mocks everybody else with this change), but he's a giant still.

Yes, I know and given LF's machinations; it's an obvious choice.  But I'm always looking for an alternative to Un-Gregor and LF..