( Books 1-5 SPOILERS) As Bran's abilities grow, Will He Be able to save Jon?

[Cold Feet]

I saw this post someone (texas_medicinel) made on reddit and it really has me wondering about what really is to come in the last two books. All thats quoted is from that users post, I didn't want to steal his idea on this, just share it because I think it's brilliant!

So there are a lot of posts going around about Jon being AA or TPTWP, Bran being the champion of The Great Other, and whether The Others are the good guys or bad guys. All of this is speculation about what we think the future may hold, but in fact, we've already see first-hand what will happen in Bran's future - and it involves Jon.

In Bran's last chapter in ADWD, after eating the weirwood(Jojen) paste, we see him go back to Winterfell, however brief:

Lord Eddard Stark sat upon a rock beside the deep black pool in the godswood, the pale roots of the heart tree twisting around him like an old man's gnarled arms. The greatsword Ice lay across Lord Eddard's lap, and he was cleaning the blade with an oilcloth.

"Winterfell," Bran whispered.

His father looked up. "Who's there?" he asked, turning ... ... and Bran, frightened, pulled away. His father and the black pool and the godswood faded and were gone and he was back in the cavern, the pale thick roots of his weirwood throne cradling his limbs as a mother does a child. A torch flared to life before him.

This is the first time Bran has seen his father since the first book. He tells Leaf and Bloodraven who he saw. He seems overjoyed and asserts that his father heard him, but Bloodraven tells him otherwise:

"But," said Bran, "he heard me."

"He heard a whisper on the wind, a rustling amongst the leaves. You cannot speak to him, try as you might. I know. I have my own ghosts, Bran. A brother that I loved, a brother that I hated, a woman I desired. Through the trees, I see them still, but no word of mine has ever reached them. The past remains the past. We can learn from it, but we cannot change it."

But Bloodraven is wrong. Bran won't just be able to see through the trees, he'll be able to have others hear his whispers. He will be able to communicate through the trees.....

How do we know this? Because we've already seen it happen. In ACOK (Jon VII), Jon is traveling with the Halfhand's company when he has a dream:

When he closed his eyes, he dreamed of direwolves.

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.

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.

You see, Bran was directly communicating with Jon. And he was doing this well in the future of his last chapter with Bloodraven in ADWD. When Bloodraven tells Bran that he can't talk to anyone in the past, we know this can't be true, since Bran clearly does so in the second book.

And what exactly is Bran doing? He seems to be telling Jon to embrace darkness, to embrace death. But does this mean that Bran needs Jon? Or that Jon needs Bran? I don't know, but one things is clear - Ghost is the key to this communication. After all, it's not Jon who is talking to and understanding the weirwood tree, it's his Direwolf.

Now let's go back to the first book - all the way back to the very first chapter where they find the direwolf pups. Jon sees five of them, claiming that they were meant for the five Stark children (omitting himself). But something happens after they are about to leave (Note, keep in mind that Ghost is famous for always being silent):

It was not until they were mounted and on their way that Bran allowed himself to taste the sweet air of victory. By then, his pup was snuggled inside his leathers, warm against him, safe for the long ride home. Bran was wondering what to name him.

Halfway across the bridge, Jon pulled up suddenly.

"What is it, Jon?" their lord father asked.

"Can't you hear it?"

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.

We know Ghost couldn't have made a noise, and beside the sound of the horses walking and the pups whimpering, all Bran heard was the wind. But Jon clearly hears something else, and it's not until after they head for home, leaving the last pup behind. So what did Jon hear?

I apologize for the length of what he said but there is a lot of information about this theory. From now on, is all my contribution to sharing this with you guys :)

So as well all pretty much are at an agreement on is that Bran, through the last 2 books(maybe 3 but I hope not), Bran's role is going to be integral to the endgame. He was able to go back in time to talk, well whisper, to Ned! If Bran is more powerful than even Bloodraven, what if Bran is able to plug into weirnet & go back just before Jons stabbing to warn him? Or perhaps he could warg Ghost to either take out the attackers or communicate with Jon while Jon's concious is in Ghost to tell him what to do, whether it's to find Mel? I have a gutt feeling that Bran is really going to play a role with the attack on Jon.

[Budraven]

I think you're right in a lot of ways, but my only issue is this: even if he's able to contact them and give them advice or tell them what's coming, who's to say they're going to listen? Who's to say they're going to think "Hmm... now seems like a pretty good time to listen to the voices in my head/direwolves head during my dreams.." Particularly Jon. He doesn't like the idea of warging - for now.. he won't have a choice but to warg into Ghost during his "coma" or "death" - and seems pretty opposed to magic, but he is a pretty faithful man to the Old Gods so maybe he'll take it as a sign.

[too hot to handle]

Seems like a bit of a stretch for the first instance with the direwolf pups. As for the CoK reference that seems to me to be a foreshadowing of Bran and discussion with bloodraven. Mostly because it sounds very similar to what he says to Bran. I don't doubt Bran can communicate to people but it seems to be no stronger than a whisper. If it was time travel from an older Bran then it seems to reason that it would be a more experienced Bran. Yet all we get is that he whispers one word through the breeze. So it stands to reason a whisper may be the pinnacle of that power, which out of context isn't terribly helpful.

[too hot to handle]

I also think Bran will take the philosophy of Tralfamadorians from the Kurt Vonnegut novels with respect to being able to see many events in time the past but cannot really change the outcome. The same philosophy that Bloodraven seems to have.

[Locksley]

It's a neat idea but I agree with 'too hot to handle' on this one. It just seems like a bit of a stretch. I mean, Time-Travelling-Bran through trees to fix the mistakes of the past seems a little too Deus Ex Machina for the series.

And why does everyone think Jon is dead?

[Ghost's Shadow]

Jon is not dead and Bran doesn't time travel.

It's funny how people can bold things in text, but they never notice Bloodraven say that Ned was responding to hearing leaves move, not Bran's actual voice. If that latter was it, he'd have asked "Bran, is that you?" but he didn't.

When Bran went to Jon to force Jon to get that wolf dream, he was sitting in the Stark crypts (smell like death), which have weirwood trees in the vicinity. Bran likely used those.

No need to come up with Bran the time traveller, because you cannot honestly believe it's going to be as simple as them reading the future and correcting the past, now do you?

[Makk]

A nice theory. I would much rather Jon gets help from Bran than Melesandre. I think the passage in ACOK is very interesting, I didn't recall that at all. It doesn't necessarily mean Bran becomes more powerful than Bloodraven (although he might) but rather that Jon can understand him because of his warging, through Ghost and the bond and that he may never be able to control it fully. After all if Bran really could travel back in time and communicate with anyone it would open up too many holes in the story. Just warning Ned before Roberts death would change the entire story. However I agree that that scene almost certainly came from Bran and from the future.

[sagaz]

Jon is not dead and Bran doesn't time travel.

It's funny how people can bold things in text, but they never notice Bloodraven say that Ned was responding to hearing leaves move, not Bran's actual voice. If that latter was it, he'd have asked "Bran, is that you?" but he didn't.

When Bran went to Jon to force Jon to get that wolf dream, he was sitting in the Stark crypts (smell like death), which have weirwood trees in the vicinity. Bran likely used those.

this

"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."

it's clearly the crypts of Winterfell. (warm earth=underground, stone=stone, death=tonbs) they were communicating in real time.

[Dorian Martell]

Weirnet cannot change the past

[Varamyr6skins]

Also another example of Bran communicating to someone via Weirwood network, Is in the Theon chapter in ADWD, or maybe the Prince of WInterfell or Ghost of WInterfell. Theon is Kneeling before the heart tree in the godswood of winterfell. He's asking the old gods to let him die as Theon, not as Reek, when the washerwomen approach him. Right before that Theon hears his name..."Theon" "The old gods know my name, they called me Theon"

Theon was thinking about how easy it would be to slide his knife into one of the spearwives back as shes walking away. But he thinks Reek would have done, but hes Theon, the old gods called him Theon. "They know me" and instead he puts the knife away and decides to go along with sneak fArya out of Winterfell.

Bran has a direct effect on the events happening in the story. Now we don't know if it was present Bran or Future Bran communicating to Theon in Winterfell's gods wood. But we do know he communicated with him and affected his decision making process which leads to fArya and Theon escaping winterfell which inevitably leads to the Pink Letter, and perhaps even Jons stabbing.

BOOM

[Varamyr6skins]

and Ned looked up and said "who's there?" ....now after all the time Ned spent praying and cleaning his sword in the godswood don't u think hed be accustomed to the sound of rustling leaves? Right exactly....so when he asks "whos there?" We know he heard a voice......that was Bran's first time warged into a weirwood.....with practice we can assume he can perfect his communication skills and abilities.

BOOM

[DMC]

Yeah I wouldn't dismiss out of hand Bran's potential ability to affect the past simply because Bloodraven says it couldn't be done. Considering the latter has been coercing the former into joining his weird lair since the beginning of the series, I'd say the extent of Bran's abilities are as of yet unknown to readers and characters alike. That being said, I highly doubt Bran will significantly change any of the major events that have already happened in the books. As others have intimated, that's not Martin's style.

[opinionn]

It doesn't make sense to me that Bran can help Jon. All we've seen him do is the typical greenseer and warg stuff. How could he possible help?

Much more likely that Melisandre helps him or he survives on his own. Can Melisandre not give Jon the kiss of life like Thoros has done? They're both red priests and the ritual doesn't seem too complicated.

[Bran17]

The fifth book shows that Bran CAN change the past. Ned listened to him, Bloodraven said otherwise because he never was heard and assumed Bran couldn't do that too.

And the reason Ned couldn't say "Bran?" is because he wasn't even born by the time of that scene, Robb and Jon were babies. And even if Bran already existed, Ned was sure he was alone in the godswood, anyone would think it was an illusion, the wind or an animal. If Bran said something longer and louder than that, I think something else would have happened.

PS: Theon saw Bran's face in the tree. :eek:

[Stormourne]

What makes people think Ned heard anything¿ it's more likely he "felt a presence" which would make more sense in a way. Verbal communication through weirwoods isn't something G.r.r.m would do, I don't think. Would be to "magical", and would lead to a major plot hole.

And I don't think Bran was consciously communicating with Jon in book 2. I think both their warg abilities made a link and thus Jon ambiguously dreamt of Winterfall's demise.

If Bran could communicate through the weirwoods it would be the biggest plot hole. People would ask; "why does he not just tell Ned about the war?" Etc etc. If Bran could, he would. So I doubt any communication will be conscious.

It will probably be Bran's subconscious that will communicate-to other wargs-in cryptic and ambiguous messages. And those messages are most likely through dreams.

On a side note, in the prologue of AdWd, that wage said/thought something like, Jon has the potential to be the strongest wage. If I remember correctly. I hope that potential is unlocked =)

[messem]

What makes people think Ned heard anything¿ it's more likely he "felt a presence" which would make more sense in a way. Verbal communication through weirwoods isn't something G.r.r.m would do, I don't think. Would be to "magical", and would lead to a major plot hole.

Too magical? cough cough.

I agree partly on the plot hole. Of course Bran or Bloodraven can communicate with the past. Where do you think are the greendreams coming from?

Best tip for all future writers: Stay away from time travel. Unless you write stories for a certain Time Lord because there is an effect in place called "Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey". That's okay.

[Stormourne]

Too magical? cough cough.

I agree partly on the plot hole. Of course Bran or Bloodraven can communicate with the past. Where do you think are the greendreams coming from?

Best tip for all future writers: Stay away from time travel. Unless you write stories for a certain Time Lord because there is an effect in place called "Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey". That's okay.

What I meant to say is that direct commuication with the past wouldn't be something G.R.R.M would do. Since that would lead to the ability to alter the past. And thus "Too magical."

Bloodraven was giving Bran visions in real time, I doubt it was Bloodraven's future self that gave all them visions. And Greensight is the ability to have prophetic dreams. That is more then likely an ability innate to wargs/greenseers and an outside force doesnt provide those 'said' dreams-well maybe it's the Old Gods. Anyway, as we saw in Bran's chapters, Bloodraven can see into the past, but he said aswell that he couldnt comminucate with anyone he knew in the past.

[Bran17]

What I meant to say is that direct commuication with the past wouldn't be something G.R.R.M would do. Since that would lead to the ability to alter the past. And thus "Too magical."

Too late, he already did it...

[Kyrion]

Jon is not dead and Bran doesn't time travel.

It's funny how people can bold things in text, but they never notice Bloodraven say that Ned was responding to hearing leaves move, not Bran's actual voice. If that latter was it, he'd have asked "Bran, is that you?" but he didn't.

When Bran went to Jon to force Jon to get that wolf dream, he was sitting in the Stark crypts (smell like death), which have weirwood trees in the vicinity. Bran likely used those.

No need to come up with Bran the time traveller, because you cannot honestly believe it's going to be as simple as them reading the future and correcting the past, now do you?

Dont forget what Bran said hasnt happened yet:

He said not before the crow and he has opened his third eye.

[James Crow]

Why couldn't it be BR who whispered to Jon about the pups and BR who said something to Ned when he was praying for advice on what to do with a baby to whom BR is Great Great Great Great uncle.

That seems to make a lot more sense than bran being able to whisper through time.