What can Bran actually do?

[Northernmonkey]

Most people on here seem to think that Bran will stay in the cave, help save the world and become an all-powerful tree god, but it got me thinking, what can Bran actually do from the cave?

As as we know all he can do is see what's happening in front of a weirwood and things that have happened in front of weirwoods in the past. That's fascinating, but what practical purpose does it serve? How much action happens in front of weirwoods?

So my question is how is Bran going to help save the world, or affect the outcome of the war with the others? Are his powers actually that useful?

[TallTyrion]

I don't know if that's the full extent of the GreenSeers power but maybe just what we have seen so far.

Also a lot of castles have weirwoods in them so Bran could be privy to a lot of important information which may end up being his major contribution to the narrative for the next little while.

[Good Guy Garlan]

Warg ALL the wights!

Maybe Bloodraven's throne is kind of like Cerebro, so Bran could kill every wight with his mind

Eh, I don't know really, but it's a good question. I also wonder if Bloodraven is truly doing something against the Others. For all we know even he is playing the game of thrones, especially now that his rival Bittersteel is back in Westeros.

[ummester]

Warg skinchange dragons.

Dragons bad, Others good.

Actually, it's probably Dragons grey, Others grey - but the most powerful thing in the story that Bran can skinchange into, other than other people, is a dragon - so I hope to see some of that action. Why waste the potential?

[Northernmonkey]

For all we know even he is playing the game of thrones, especially now that his rival Bittersteel is back in Westeros.

What? Am I missing something?

[Good Guy Garlan]

What? Am I missing something?

In his skull form, I mean :p

[The Bedding]

Great POV for WOW?

[Northernmonkey]

In his skull form, I mean :P

Oh yeah I forgot about that. That was confusing.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

"In time you will see beyond the trees as well."-Bloodraven

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." -Jon, ACOK.

"It was the singers who taught the First Men to send messages by raven … but in those days, the birds would speak the words. The trees remember, but men forget, and so now they write the messages on parchment and tie them round the feet of birds who have never shared their skin."-Bloodraven, telling Bran that the ravens can be skinchanged to speak human words.

When Bran is taken away from his weirwood throne, the first thing he does is slip back into the weirwoods in his sleep. His powers are only starting to grow. Soon he will be able to skinchange potentially any animal, anywhere.

Even the human animal, and not just men with mental disabilities.

The kid is a tree-god king.

[Northernmonkey]

"It was the singers who taught the First Men to send messages by raven … but in those days, the birds would speak the words. The trees remember, but men forget, and so now they write the messages on parchment and tie them round the feet of birds who have never shared their skin."-Bloodraven, telling Bran that the ravens can be skinchanged to speak human words.

Well most people think Bloodraven is doing that with Mormont's raven, but it can only say one word at a time. It doesn't seem that impressive.

When Bran is taken away from his weirwood throne, the first thing he does is slip back into the weirwoods in his sleep. His powers are only starting to grow. Soon he will be able to skinchange potentially any animal, anywhere.

Is there any evidence for this? We haven't heard of Bloodraven being able to it, or is Bran more powerful than BR? I don't think any greenseers can just instantly warg any animal on the planet.

[opinionn]

Yep I have no idea what he's going to do. What has bloodraven done in the past 100 years or however long he's been gone?

Just slept and spied on people until the Others started appearing again? Or maybe he actually helped the Others?

yep

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Well most people think Bloodraven is doing that with Mormont's raven, but it can only say one word at a time. It doesn't seem that impressive.

Is there any evidence for this? We haven't heard of Bloodraven being able to it, or is Bran more powerful than BR? I don't think any greenseers can just instantly warg any animal on the planet.

Well the idea is that the ravens can speak whole sentences through the ravens, hence the messages not needing to be written on parchment at one time in the distant past.

Arya can warg Nymeria from across the sea in Braavos, without knowing that she's a skinchanger, without knowing it's Nymeria she's warging, and without training at all. If Bran is, like is implied in the text, a more naturally gifted skinchanger, think of what he could do considering he:

1. Is a greenseer and is wedded to a tree.

2. Has unlocked Jon's own wargin abilities

3. Is in training, but has only started.

4. Is already warging a human, something that in its nature is considered nearly inconceivable.

I don't know if a dragon is in his future, but I think we'll see him use his skinchanging powers to a much wider degree then seen up till now.

[RoamingRonin]

"In time you will see beyond the trees as well."-Bloodraven

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." -Jon, ACOK.

"It was the singers who taught the First Men to send messages by raven … but in those days, the birds would speak the words. The trees remember, but men forget, and so now they write the messages on parchment and tie them round the feet of birds who have never shared their skin."-Bloodraven, telling Bran that the ravens can be skinchanged to speak human words.

When Bran is taken away from his weirwood throne, the first thing he does is slip back into the weirwoods in his sleep. His powers are only starting to grow. Soon he will be able to skinchange potentially any animal, anywhere.

Even the human animal, and not just men with mental disabilities.

The kid is a tree-god king.

He can't do this for Sansa because there are no heart trees in the Vale.

That's probably why GRRM made it so there are none. :(

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

He can't do this for Sansa because there are no heart trees in the Vale.

That's probably why GRRM made it so there are none. :(

Well, that's where I'm not so sure:

The Eyrie didn't have a weirwood "cause the soil was too thin" (actually, I think it's cause executions are done out the Moon Door, so no blood sacrifice) and other southern noble houses, for whatever reason, have weirwoods with faces on them. Harrenhall had one. Storm's End had one, as did Riverrun. So, actually, the Bloody Gate could very possibly have a weirwood heart tree with a face on it. It's possible at least.

[Masha's apron]

I wonder whether it is just weirwoods. Part of me wonders whether anything wooden, symbolic or religious, with a face on it might be part of weirnet, which would include wooden statues of the seven. After all, I've always thought there was something else in the fact that Melisandre burnt all the wooden seven statues on Dragonstone.

Bran could also have access to anything seen or heard by an animal, not just the crows. As he can warg/skin change, he might be able to influence events in subtle but devastating ways ... sending rats to eat an army's food supplies, controlling a kraken to overturn a ship, or doing a Hitchcock and sending birds to divebomb key players and peck out their eyes.

The options could be limitless. Maybe he has the power to turn weirwood trees into Ents and they will march on Kings Landing, squashing Kingsguard with their enormous root feet.

[Contents of pie may be hot]

The options could be limitless. Maybe he has the power to turn weirwood trees into Ents and they will march on Kings Landing, squashing Kingsguard with their enormous root feet.

Asha Chapter - Page 400 Paperback

"She thought back to a tale she had heard as a child, about the children of the forest and their battles with the First Men, when the greenseers turned the trees to warriors."

He may also warg giants...

Jon Chapter - Page 605 Paperback

"(About Wun Wun) He reminded Jon of Hodor. Hodor twice as big, twice as strong, and half as clever. There's a thought to sober even Septon Cellador."

[Northernmonkey]

Well the idea is that the ravens can speak whole sentences through the ravens, hence the messages not needing to be written on parchment at one time in the distant past.

But Bloodraven hasn't mastered this, so is that because he's not as powerful as Bran, or because he just hasn't bothered?

Arya can warg Nymeria from across the sea in Braavos, without knowing that she's a skinchanger, without knowing it's Nymeria she's warging, and without training at all. If Bran is, like is implied in the text, a more naturally gifted skinchanger, think of what he could do considering he:

1. Is a greenseer and is wedded to a tree.

2. Has unlocked Jon's own wargin abilities

3. Is in training, but has only started.

4. Is already warging a human, something that in its nature is considered nearly inconceivable.

Buy Arya already had a connection to Nymeria. I'm not sure of the warging rules, but I think you have to have physically encountered something before you can warg it, although Bran can probably warg something he sees through the weirnet, or warg a bird that he encounters while warging another bird. But I don't think he can just instantly warg something anywhere in the world.

Personally I think Bran's role involves the others, and it involves leaving the cave and heading to the land of always winter. I think there's more to his story than sitting in the cave and using his greenseer powers, because I think there's a limit to what he can achieve by doing that.

[SnowHeart]

I'm not sure he we be able to do that much directly (like warg a dragon) , but I think he will be really importiant in influencing other charatcers or giving them imformation, somthing along the lines of revealing R+L+J

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

But Bloodraven hasn't mastered this, so is that because he's not as powerful as Bran, or because he just hasn't bothered?

Buy Arya already had a connection to Nymeria. I'm not sure of the warging rules, but I think you have to have physically encountered something before you can warg it, although Bran can probably warg something he sees through the weirnet, or warg a bird that he encounters while warging another bird. But I don't think he can just instantly warg something anywhere in the world.

Personally I think Bran's role involves the others, and it involves leaving the cave and heading to the land of always winter. I think there's more to his story than sitting in the cave and using his greenseer powers, because I think there's a limit to what he can achieve by doing that.

He's likely not as powerful as Bran, or he would the one with the POV at this point. It's complex narrative argument to make, but Bran is basically a tree messiah.

He can't do that, yet. Really, to be fair, the only thing we can be certain about Bran's powers is that they are going up. There's no handbook, and honestly I don't want there to be because that would just steal the mysteriousness of the magic, and make it a lot less magical, really.

Ha! This is the true point of disagreement between us. I think he's leaving the caves, too. But to go back to Winterfell in TWOW.

I've made some meta that shows that the Starks's journeys have closely paralelled each other from the start.

Since Littlefinger's death and Arya leaving the FM all seems likely to happen in TWOW, I think it makes sense for them to all make their big returns to the scene at the same time; leave their current mentors and come out of hiding.

That's just my theory.

[Northernmonkey]

Ha! This is the true point of disagreement between us. I think he's leaving the caves, too. But to go back to Winterfell in TWOW.

I've made some meta that shows that the Starks's journeys have closely paralelled each other from the start.

I really like the stuff on that link. Why are you so sure that Bloodraven has got good intentions? Wouldn't it be more fitting if Boodraven, the kindly man and Littlefinger were all evil?

I do think that Bran will eventually return to become lord of Winterfell, but not until he's been to the far North, discovered what happened to Benjen and learned the secrets of the others.