Bran will warg Ghost

[TyrionTLannister]

There is evidence to suggest that Bran will "steal" Ghost from Jon and start warging him, and that Bran made sure Jon found Ghost in the first chapter.

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He was still trying to decide on a name. Robb was calling his Grey Wind, because he ran so fast. Sansa had named hers Lady, and Arya named hers after some old witch queen in the songs, and little Rickon called his Shaggydog, which Bran thought was a pretty stupid name for a direwolf. Jon's wolf, the white one, was Ghost. Bran wished he had thought of that first, even though his wolf wasn't white. (AGOT Bran II)

Not yet, anyway.

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Soon, Jon thought as they climbed. He’d seen the harbinger that had come to Maester Aemon with word of summer's end, the great raven of the Citadel, white and silent as Ghost. He had seen a winter once, when he was very young, but everyone agreed that it had been a short one, and mild. This one would be different. He could feel it in his bones. (ACOK Jon I)

Bran is heavily associated with ravens. For example, Bran's name means “raven” in Welsh, and he frequently skinchanges one of the ravens in the cave. Bran was born at the height of summer, and this means that the world’s been getting colder since then. So in a way Bran is the harbinger of winter, just like the white raven. The white raven could then represent Bran. Keeping this in mind, it’s interesting that Ghost is equated with a white raven in the above-quoted passage.

Ghost’s coloring is identical to that of the weirwood trees. This is often pointed out in the text. For example: 

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And suddenly Ghost was back, stalking softly between two weirwoods. White fur and red eyes, Jon realized, disquieted. Like the trees … (AGOT Jon VI)

Red eyes, Jon realized, but not like Melisandre's. He had a weirwood's eyes. Red eyes, red mouth, white fur. Blood and bone, like a heart tree. He belongs to the old gods, this one. (ASOS Jon XII)

Bran is heavily associated with weirwood trees. So Ghost’s appearance could foreshadow his allegiance ultimately being on Bran’s side, which would be the case if Bran wargs him. I also like how Jon thinks to himself that Ghost belongs to the old gods. What is Bran if not an old god?

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“Ghost.” Melisandre made the word a song.

The direwolf padded toward her. Wary, he stalked about her in a circle, sniffing. When she held out her hand he smelled that too, then shoved his nose against her fingers.

Jon let out a white breath. “He is not always so …”

“... warm? Warmth calls to warmth, Jon Snow.” Her eyes were two red stars, shining in the dark. At her throat, her ruby gleamed, a third eye glowing brighter than the others. Jon had seen Ghost’s eyes blazing red the same way, when they caught the light just right. “Ghost,” he called. “To me.” (ADWD Jon VI)

Melisandre is described as having red eyes, and Jon compares her eyes to Ghost’s eyes, which in turn are often compared to that of the weirwood trees. Moreover, Melisandre is described as having a third eye, just like Bran. This could be a way of creating an association between Melisandre and Bran. So Melisandre “stealing” Ghost from Jon in this scene could foreshadow Bran doing likewise sometime down the line.

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None of them had been as strong as Varamyr Sixskins, though, not even Haggon, tall and grim with his hands as hard as stone. The hunter died weeping after Varamyr took Greyskin from him, driving him out to claim the beast for his own. No second life for you, old man. Varamyr Threeskins, he'd called himself back then. Greyskin made four, though the old wolf was frail and almost toothless and soon followed Haggon into death. (ADWD Prologue)

Varamyr Sixskins, another powerful skinchanger, took his mentor’s wolf, Greyskin, from him, preventing him from living a second life in the wolf. Most of us can agree that Jon will warg Ghost upon his presumed death at the end of ADWD. So Varamyr warging a wolf meant for the second life of another warg could foreshadow Bran warging Ghost. Plus, Varamyr mentions that Greyskin was the fourth life form he skinchanged. Bran has skinchanged three life forms so far: Summer, Hodor, and one of the ravens in the cave. Ghost would be the fourth life form Bran skinchanges.

As a side-note, I wonder if Bran, like Varamyr, will ultimately skinchange six life forms over the course of the story. There is some foreshadowing that Bran will skinchange three human beings. Hodor is the first, but who could be the next two? Also, if this is true, Bran will have had seven bodies by the end of the story, his own and six others. In ASOIAF, the number seven is a highly significant number — there are seven kingdoms, seven gods, seven Starks, and so forth. This would further develop the theme.

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He had known what Snow was the moment he saw that great white direwolf stalking silent at his side. One skinchanger can always sense another. Mance should have let me take the direwolf. There would be a second life worthy of a king. He could have done it, he did not doubt. The gift was strong in Snow, but the youth was untaught, still fighting his nature when he should have gloried in it.

Varamyr could see the weirwood's red eyes staring down at him from the white trunk. The gods are weighing me. (ADWD Prologue)

Varamyr thinks that he should have taken Ghost from Jon, which he thinks he could have done with ease. This could foreshadow another warg taking Ghost from Jon. The mention of the weirwood immediately after he thinks this suggests it’ll be Bran.

As others have pointed out, when the direwolves are first found, Jon probably doesn't hear Ghost with his ears. Ghost has been silent his whole life so far, so the account of how he is found doesn't really make sense: 

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Bran could hear the wind in the trees, the clatter of their hooves on the ironwood planks, the whimpering of his hungry pup, but Jon was listening to something else.

"There," Jon said. He swung his horse around and galloped back across the bridge. They watched him dismount where the direwolf lay dead in the snow, watched him kneel. A moment later he was riding back to them, smiling. (AGOT Bran I)

It's hard to believe that Jon heard Ghost, a wolf that has never made a noise, amidst all the commotion, and goes right to the exact spot where he can be found. It's more likely that instead of hearing Ghost make a noise, a powerful greenseer such as Bran or Bloodraven led Jon to Ghost, as "Bran could hear the wind in the trees” seems to indicate. It being Bran would create an interesting parallel, because Jon was the one who gave Summer to Bran, as shown here:

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Bran gave the pup a quick nervous stroke, then turned as Jon said, “Here you go.” His half brother put a second pup into his arms. (AGOT Bran I)

So it would be fitting if Bran was the one who "gave" Ghost to Jon.

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"Or been driven away," their father said, looking at the sixth pup. His fur was white, where the rest of the litter was grey. His eyes were as red as the blood of the ragged man who had died that morning. Bran thought it curious that this pup alone would have opened his eyes while the others were still blind. (AGOT Bran I)

Perhaps Ghost alone opened his eyes while the others were still blind because Bran "opened his eyes” (although I’m not sure what this would entail).

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There were five of them when there should have been six, and they were scattered, each apart from the others. He felt a deep ache of emptiness, a sense of incompleteness. The forest was vast and cold, and they were so small, so lost. His brothers were out there somewhere, and his sister, but he had lost their scent. He sat on his haunches and lifted his head to the darkening sky, and his cry echoed through the forest, a long lonely mournful sound. As it died away, he pricked up his ears, listening for an answer, but the only sound was the sigh of blowing snow.

Jon?

The call came from behind him, softer than a whisper, but strong too. Can a shout be silent? He turned his head, searching for his brother, for a glimpse of a lean grey shape moving beneath the trees, but there was nothing, only...

A weirwood.

...

Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him.

And suddenly he was back in the mountains, his paws sunk deep in a drift of snow as he stood upon the edge of a great precipice. (ACOK Jon VII)

This scene evokes the scene in which Jon finds Ghost, and strongly suggests that Bran was the one who led Jon to Ghost. In both scenes, Ghost is separated from his siblings. The direwolves are described as small and lost, which better describes how they were in the first chapter. And in both scenes, Jon tries to listen to a sound, (presumably) made by Bran, that comes from behind him. Then Bran opens his eyes, which seems to point to Bran opening Ghost's eyes in the first chapter.

I'm not sure why Bran would go to the trouble of doing this. Perhaps this allows Bran to form a connection with Ghost, making him able to easily warg Ghost. His warging Ghost might someday mean the difference between life and death for Bran and many others. GRRM has seemingly been foreshadowing that Bran will warg Ghost from the beginning, so I assume it’ll turn out to be very important to the endgame of ASOIAF. This theory might go a long way towards explaining Ghost’s almost human-like intelligence, and why in the know characters like Varamyr and Melisandre believe that Ghost is special.

[Free Northman Reborn]

No.

[TyrionTLannister]

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No.

Why not?

[TyrionTLannister]

I guess I should mention that I think this will only happen after Summer somehow dies. There is some foreshadowing to that effect. The Last Hero loses his dog, which could foreshadow Bran losing Summer. And Summer's name could foreshadow that he'll die when winter comes. There are some interesting transitions from grey to white in connection with Bran, Summer, Ghost, and Jon that suggest Ghost will become Bran's new direwolf after Summer dies.

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They spent that night together, for the rain did not let up till well past dark, and only Summer seemed to want to leave the cave. When the fire had burned down to embers, Bran let him go. The direwolf did not feel the damp as people did, and the night was calling him. Moonlight painted the wet woods in shades of silver and turned the grey peaks white. Owls hooted through the dark and flew silently between the pines, while pale goats moved along the mountainsides. Bran closed his eyes and gave himself up to the wolf dream, to the smells and sounds of midnight. (ASOS Bran II) 

Summer leaving the cave could be a metaphor for him dying. "Bran let him go" and "the night was calling him" are very evocative of Summer dying. Then the grey peaks turn white, which could point to Ghost becoming Bran's new direwolf after this.

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So they went exploring, Jojen Reed leading, Bran in his basket on Hodor's back, Summer padding by their side. Once the direwolf bolted through a dark door and returned a moment later with a grey rat between his teeth. The Rat Cook, Bran thought, but it was the wrong color, and only as big as a cat. The Rat Cook was white, and almost as huge as a sow . . . (ASOS Bran IV)

 

When Summer returns to Bran, Bran thinks that what comes out should be white, not grey, and bigger. He's referring to the rat, but we could interpret this to be about the direwolves.

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Ghost had shared his cell before the ranging, warming it against the chill of night. And in the wild, Ygritte had slept beside him. Both gone now. He had burned Ygritte himself, as he knew she would have wanted, and Ghost . . . Where are you? Was he dead as well, was that what his dream had meant, the bloody wolf in the crypts? But the wolf in the dream had been grey, not white. Grey, like Bran's wolf. (ASOS Jon VIII)

This is suggestive.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I think Bloodraven has borrowed, or at least communicated with, Ghost, so I would agree that Bran might be able to as well.  But I don't think Bran's is going to steal Ghost. Why would he? 

[aryagonnakill#2]

Bran has warged several of the ravens in the cave...

[HouseFossoway]

If Jon Snow warged into Ghost before "dying", would Bran be able to have a conversation with Jon? 

[Lost Melnibonean]

25 minutes ago, HouseFossoway said:

If Jon Snow warged into Ghost before "dying", would Bran be able to have a conversation with Jon? 

Why not? They already had that weird weirwood hookup in Clash. 

[Jon's Queen Consort]

13 hours ago, TyrionTLannister said:

Why not?

Because it doesn't make sense. Why should Bran do that? After all it was Jon the one who persuade Ned to keep the wolves, Jon is blood relative with BloodRaven and Nymeria. If anyone Jon will warg both Summer and Nymeria.

[TyrionTLannister]

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I think Bloodraven has borrowed, or at least communicated with, Ghost, so I would agree that Bran might be able to as well.  But I don't think Bran's is going to steal Ghost. Why would he? 

Perhaps "steal" is the wrong word. At the very least, I think he will warg him while Jon is dealing with Dany and fAegon down south to carry out his own ends.

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Because it doesn't make sense. Why should Bran do that? After all it was Jon the one who persuade Ned to keep the wolves, Jon is blood relative with BloodRaven and Nymeria. If anyone Jon will warg both Summer and Nymeria.

Well, I'm working under the assumption that Summer will die. In that case, Bran might be on the lookout for a new direwolf to warg. 

[Jon's Queen Consort]

3 hours ago, TyrionTLannister said:

Well, I'm working under the assumption that Summer will die. In that case, Bran might be on the lookout for a new direwolf to warg. 

Even if Summer dies why would Bran need a new direwolf? We know that the relationship between a Stark child and his wolf is a bond of a lifetime or as Jon said;

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Ghost did not count. Ghost was closer than a friend. Ghost was part of him.

Do you think that if someone loses a part of himself even if he could just go on and found a new one, would just go outside to take his brother’s soul just in order to have one?

3 hours ago, TyrionTLannister said:

Perhaps "steal" is the wrong word. At the very least, I think he will warg him while Jon is dealing with Dany and fAegon down south to carry out his own ends.

Because from all the siblings in asoiaf the Stark children are known to stab each other in the back and when Bran will find the chance will steal his brother’s soul.

[Free Northman Reborn]

I don't discount Bran warging into any of the other Starks' direwolves from time to time. He will after all be a skinchanger who can warg into any creature anywhere at will.

If he does so, however, it won't be to "steal" the wolf. It will be to fulfil a specific purpose at the time.

[TyrionTLannister]

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Do you think that if someone loses a part of himself even if he could just go on and found a new one, would just go outside to take his brother’s soul just in order to have one?

It might be necessary for the greater good. But I'm not sure that Jon and Bran will be on good terms when they next meet. The outline makes them out to be bitter enemies, and maybe GRRM hasn't totally abandoned that storyline. I can definitely see some conflict in their future. 

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Because from all the siblings in asoiaf the Stark children are known to stab each other in the back and when Bran will find the chance will steal his brother’s soul.

Jojen has said the wolves will come again, so I think Bran escape the cave and arrive at Winterfell, where Jon will leave Ghost when he goes south. 

[TyrionTLannister]

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If he does so, however, it won't be to "steal" the wolf. It will be to fulfil a specific purpose at the time.

I mean, there's a lot of foreshadowing for it. I don't get why it's being dismissed so easily. 

[Jon's Queen Consort]

15 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

I don't discount Bran warging into any of the other Starks' direwolves from time to time. He will after all be a skinchanger who can warg into any creature anywhere at will.

If he does so, however, it won't be to "steal" the wolf. It will be to fulfil a specific purpose at the time.

True. 

6 minutes ago, TyrionTLannister said:

I mean, there's a lot of foreshadowing for it. I don't get why it's being dismissed so easily. 

Sorry I don't see the foreshadowing you are talking about.

9 minutes ago, TyrionTLannister said:

It might be necessary for the greater good. But I'm not sure that Jon and Bran will be on good terms when they next meet. The outline makes them out to be bitter enemies, and maybe GRRM hasn't totally abandoned that storyline. I can definitely see some conflict in their future. 

It still doesn't make sense. No animal in the books is unique so far, not even the dragons, even if Bran wants one can find another one. He doesn't have to take the only wolf that even GRRM has told how much like Jon, Ghost is. All the clues we have so far is about how much Ghost and Jon are the same. It doesn’t make sense for Bran to just steal him for no reason when he can have another one.

Jojen has said the wolves will come again, so I think Bran escape the cave and arrive at Winterfell, where Jon will leave Ghost when he goes south. 

Why Jon has to leave his soul back? Will Dany cut her hand and leave it at Essos, for example?

[TyrionTLannister]

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It still doesn't make sense. No animal in the books is unique so far, not even the dragons, even if Bran wants one can find another one. He doesn't have to take the only wolf that even GRRM has told how much like Jon, Ghost is. All the clues we have so far is about how much Ghost and Jon are the same. It doesn’t make sense for Bran to just steal him for no reason when he can have another one.

 But Ghost is unique. Varamyr says that a life in Ghost would be worthy of a king. Mel says that there is power in Ghost. He displays a level of intelligence not shown by the other direwolves -- he actually seems to understand human speech. And I'm guessing that Ghost would be the only direwolf in the general area at the time. 

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Why Jon has to leave his soul back? Will Dany cut her hand and leave it at Essos, for example?

Because at best Ghost would just be locked up the whole time so as to not pose a threat to Dany, and at worst he would be killed like Grey Wind if things go sour.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

8 minutes ago, TyrionTLannister said:

 But Ghost is unique. Varamyr says that a life in Ghost would be worthy of a king. Mel says that there is power in Ghost. He displays a level of intelligence not shown by the other direwolves -- he actually seems to understand human speech. And I'm guessing that Ghost would be the only direwolf in the general area at the time. 

From what we have seen all the wolves understood their Stark children. Varamyr also said that Jon also has power, Jon is the King and he is even more than the King. Why Bran has to have Ghost when he can have another wolf?

10 minutes ago, TyrionTLannister said:

Because at best Ghost would just be locked up the whole time so as to not pose a threat to Dany, and at worst he would be killed like Grey Wind if things go sour.

I cannot understand what you mean.

[TyrionTLannister]

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From what we have seen all the wolves understood their Stark children. Varamyr also said that Jon also has power, Jon is the King and he is even more than the King. Why Bran has to have Ghost when he can have another wolf?

But Ghost has shown himself to be more intelligent than even his siblings (I provide a link above explaining this). And warging Ghost would obviously be a different experience than warging a regular wolf.

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I cannot understand what you mean.

Jon wouldn't take Ghost with him, because it would endanger his life. He'd be safer at Winterfell.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

8 minutes ago, TyrionTLannister said:

Jon wouldn't take Ghost with him, because it would endanger his life. He'd be safer at Winterfell.

Jon has no reason to go to South without Ghost either.

9 minutes ago, TyrionTLannister said:

But Ghost has shown himself to be more intelligent than even his siblings (I provide a link above explaining this). And warging Ghost would obviously be a different experience than warging a regular wolf.

And Jon has shown himself to be more intelligent than his siblings but Ghost intelligence doesn't explain why Bran would either need a “special” wolf as his wolf since it will be just a vessel, while he can have another one. Or maybe he is resentful of Jon and he is so jealous that he will try to steal his wolf the first chance he will got.

[TyrionTLannister]

18 minutes ago, Jon's Queen Consort said:

Jon has no reason to go to South without Ghost either.

What if he wants to convince Dany to give him troops to fight the Others?

18 minutes ago, Jon's Queen Consort said:

And Jon has shown himself to be more intelligent than his siblings but Ghost intelligence doesn't explain why Bran would either need a “special” wolf as his wolf since it will be just a vessel, while he can have another one. Or maybe he is resentful of Jon and he is so jealous that he will try to steal his wolf the first chance he will got.

The way I see it, you lose some of yourself in the animals you warg. It's more akin to fusing your consciousness with it than taking full control. Perhaps Ghost is an exception. Perhaps Bran would be able to warg Ghost and still be "Bran".