Will Bran leave Bloodraven?

[Lord_Tyrell]

I'm sure Bran will leave him, especially since I think Bloodraven and the children are up to no good, and Bran will eventually realize it. I think they're going to try to use Bran to destroy Dany's dragons, making the Others unstoppable then.

[silentstark]

People keep talking about 2001: Space Odyssey but I also see a Luke(Bran)/ Yoda(Bloodraven) in the swamp relationship going on. Yoda dies too and Luke carries on with the mission of restoring balance to the galaxy using special powers. Different powers but there's definitely still an aging mentor and the need to destroy evil and restore balance. (Also a serious paternity thing going on in that movie, except now it's Jon, and he's the other Skywalker = dragon rider) Lol just musing, oh and also definitely see Bran back at Winterfell eventually.

[Castellan]

I am afraid think Bran is being sacrified for the good of the many, that weirwood thing does not seem temporary.

But I have another question. Ned and the northerners think important things should be said before the trees - because that way Bran et al can see them as we now know. I was thinking that the weirwood network was mainly an information network - news being conveyed from there to more worldly powers - and thats why the south has cut their trees down, but does it also have a judging role?

I ask because in the show, several scenes have shown Bran to have had potential as a Lord because he is good at hearing people and settling grievances. Firstly, when he took on the Lord's role hearing petitioners at Winterfell, then when he did what Theon told him in surrendering Winterfell he showed good sense, and then on the journey north when telling Osha and Meera not to squabble.

Waddya think?

[King Tam Stark]

he won't return to winterfell in winter (in TWOW) but hopefully he will get his wish (and mine) to be reunited with his remaining family members in ADOS/ATFW

[Waylin Stark]

Yep.

BR will most likely die soon, which is why he called to Bran.

He teaches him everything and goes on to become a tree permanently.

Bran will return, but he wont leave Winterfell.

[MRHD]

That boy just spent like 3 books traveling to GET to Bloodraven. Why is the idea of him turning right around and leaving Bloodraven SO exciting to people? This is Bran's job. It's what he's suited for and what he wanted. You want him to go back home and go on worker's comp?

This. Definitely this. Bran lives in a world where the disabled are pittied and scorned. Does anyone not remember the looks he got in the early books from Winterfell visitors and such? He can be far, far more where he is now than he could be back in Winterfell. Not to mention, never leaving the cave would be fitting for a bittersweet ending, whereas those wanting him to leave and rebuild everything seem to be thinking there will be a truly happy ending to all of this.

As for being a PoV, being able to see just about anywhere like Bloodraven could make him the most exciting and dynamic PoV of the bunch.

[Timothy Quentin Cray]

I think it's a bit superficial to think of Bran as only be in the cave, Bran is constantly far away from the cave and his crippled body and as he grows more proficient he will be everyone / everyone / anything. He has gone from being a crippled boy to a practically god like state so no, I don't think he'll leave. Also, being reunited with Jon but his physical body remaining in the cave would suit the bittersweet thing that GRRM keeps referring to.

[Ser No One]

Exactly. Bran is not only in the cave, he is basically everywhere (except in the South). He has a huge power, so I really don't see why he'd become a boring character, were he to stay in the cave... He's probably been using that power already to affect Theon when he visited the godswood (after all, he did hear the weirwood talking to him).

Besides, if I understood correctly, the tree is growing through BloodRaven. It's not just a chair anymore. He is a part of that tree, and I don't suppose he made that choice. So Bran is pretty much "doomed" to the same fate... which could make it quite difficult to get up and leave the cave.

Plus, Bran leaving would make him Lord of Winterfell/King in the North, and I'm pretty sure it won't end that way. Rickon will probably be seen as the future Lord of Winterfell, then die, and with him, the Stark name (I hope it won't end up that way, but it's definitely the sort of thing that GRRM would do).

[The Idiots Lantern]

Leave Bloodraven? Probably not. But Bloodraven will probably die before the Final Fight so Bran can surpass his teacher.

I currently have a little fantasy in my head (unsupported by anything except my own imagination) where Bran and Bloodraven sense the dragons approaching the wall. Bloodraven, being the eldest and most experienced, does the obvious thing and attempts to warg the dragon. His dry wooden body bursts into flames.

Probably won't happen, but it's fun to imagine.

[Maryalice0919]

Bran can't leave he is a hostage, you really think those Children are good, no they are the true evil.

Yep...evil. I think after he eats the wierwood paste(jojen) he will never want to leave. If the children worked with humans against the others then how did they end up on opposite sides of it? I think blood raven will convince bran to join the others and cotf against humans

[Winds of Winter blow cold]

I hope so. I hate the idea of his just sitting there & have roots grow in him! Bloodraven had a full life before he had to do that Bran deserves one!

[The Prince of Ice]

Yep...evil. I think after he eats the wierwood paste(jojen) he will never want to leave. If the children worked with humans against the others then how did they end up on opposite sides of it? I think blood raven will convince bran to join the others and cotf against humans

The humans forced the children North of the Wall, this should be obvious.

[Dragon Roast]

Bran can't leave he is a hostage, you really think those Children are good, no they are the true evil.

I think this is a bit silly. The CotF have an agenda, which may or may not align with the goals of different characters, POVs and House, but I don't see them as evil.

As for the OP, I think Bran will leave through the caves and tunnels that lead all the way south, past the wall, to Winterfell and beyond. I wouldn't be surprised if he met his uncle on the way. I think these tunnels and caves are the CotF version of the wormways under CB but much, much bigger.

I just don't see Bran becoming a tree like BR until he is an old, old man...

[Ice Turtle]

I don't think that Bran can return among ordinary people. It would be too dangerous for him. If anyone from Stark enemies even suspected what he is they would send assassins after him. Bran also understands that he can never be the lord, he will stay away like Aemon did so one of his siblings could rule.

[IronWinter]

This passage from Jon's dream as Ghost in ACOK convinced me that Bran's future is more sinister than GRRM has lead us to believe, particularly where Bran expresses his preference for the dark. What child does not fear the dark and why is Bran associated with death?

A weirwood.

It seemed to sprout from solid rock, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender compared to other weirwoods he had seen, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother’s face. Had his brother always had three eyes?

Not always, came the silent shout. Not before the crow.

He sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs.

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.

In my opinion Bran will turn to evil; which explains his lack of fear (since he is the monster that hides in the dark and does terrible things) and his association with death (think about sacrifices and the tree from TWOW), but a certain kind of death that even an animal found repugnant.

However, I also have hope that Bran will be the ultimate saviour, not Dany or Jon even though at the end of ADWD there is no feasible way for him to escape the clutches of those creeps in the cave.

It would be a sad cop out to the series if GRRM chose to end the series on the note that George Lucas decided to end the Star Wars prequels, where the powerfully prophesied child loses his soul by embracing a dark force he did not fully comprehend.

[Aetta]

I really hope not, i don't want bran to spend the rest of his life in a dark cave alone. Once the battle with the others is over I hope somehow he gets use of his legs back and become a knight like he always dreamed. I think Maybe like Dany when she thought she was barren and start saving people instead, it's the same with bran without his legs he didn't go to KL, maybe becoming knight. Once that dream is taken away you see the bigger picture saving humanity in both their cases.

This may come to be-

I think GRRM has laid all of the groundwork to tell the story of Ragnarok. The weirwood cave almost describes Yggdrasil, its underground rivers, dwarves (CotF) and its wyrm (BR) exactly. If it is to follow Ragnarok, then there will be human kind after the winter, and after all other life as they know it in Westeros, is gone. And (bonus!) the best of the gods will return to celebrate in the eternal halls-So maybe Ned, Rhaegar, War Hammer B, Egg, BR, Lyanna, et al will be found chillaxing somewhere in the Fiji of the heavens.

The wipeout of all life could be a metaphorical or literal reference. Metaphorically Bran could lead a new republic, settle the foreign lands, etc. after the kingdom falls apart. Literally, the fall of the Wall could cause great tidal waves and during the battle at some point, I believe Dragonstone will erupt (lots of textual foreshadowing, maybe taking Dany and Drogon with it) and smother the south. So, Bran could be the only life that is left, and remain unharmed precisely because he stays within "Yggdrasil" the weirwood.

If Bran is to be Lifprasir of Ragnarok fame, who is Lif? Is this Meera's role?

[The Sleeper]

I think growing into the tree is a part of it, so what would it matter if it's in Bloodraven's cave or Winterfell, it's not like he can just hop up and see the family or anything. Plus there are more people south of the wall who would chop down a Weirwood than there are north of the wall, so he's safer there than at Winterfell.

There is nothing to indicate that. On the contrary Bran exhibited greenseeing long before he went north and there are storng indications from the Dunk & Egg tales that Bloodraven was a greenseer when he was up and about. So, no need for Bran to stay there in that regard.

It might not be practical for him to leave though as it is probably the safest place to be right now in all of Westeros and leaving would involve an almost impossible journey.

[White Ravens]

Bran will never leave the cave under the Weirwoods. By the time the books play out he will be firmly rooted.

[RKOpanther]

When the Others break the Children's wards and come in and slaughter everyone Bran will escape with Hodor, Meera and Summer.

That's why Bloodraven is training him. They've seen visions of what will happen and need someone who is not a tree that can escape and carry on Greenseeing.

That is GRRM`s style.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

Bran is going to leave the cave legs or not, he has been warging, Hodor alot and I am sure thats how he will leave the cave, GRRM isn't letting him warg Hodor just for fun there is a purpose.