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"The Winged Wolf" A Bran Stark Re-read Project - Part 1: AGOT


MoIaF

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Thanks a lot, everyone! :blushing:





snip snippity snip snip





I hadn't considered that Hodor's cameo could be linked to his later task of carrying Bran. That's a really good connection. I'm starting to think we might need to re-look at everything and everyone in this chapter very carefully.



To the part about Bran being a victim, I agree with you completely. I also noted that he's having one of those especially nightmarish [i wanted to use 'nightmaric' but apparently it's not a word] dreams where he knows he's dreaming but the dream world still scares him. And he cannot wake up.





I don't know that it needs to be one or the other. Bran certainly has some of John Barleycorn in, the god who dies and is reborn with the harvest and seasons. But that fertility god is associated with life and death, summer and winter. I think Bran will always be part of both--but so is, for example, fire's champion. Dany is both life and death, mother and dragon, and all the good things we talked about in Dany Re-Read. Both have the "nature" part down pact. Dany's next POV (Dany III) will find her heavily embedded with natural imagery: it opens with Jorah telling her about the growing plants on the Dothraki seas, but he tells her of their DEATH too. And Dany walks amogst them, barefoot, muddy, but at peace. And then comes the ultimate life and death story: dragons born from a dead cracked moon, and Dany herself becoming pregnant to a baby that will not live.





I can only agree with this.



My post keep getting deleted. I had written so much more. Let me try again on a word document.


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Realize the situation:

This is no normal dream, it is a near death experience. There will be no awakening if he hits the ground, he will die. Bloodraven makes him realize the danger he is in to help him survive and awaken his powers, something which could not take place if he just went oblivious into his death. This is what you mentioned when you say that the biggest obstacle for the other dreamers is that their assumption was that their dream is just a normal one.

Bran looked down. He could see the mountains now, their peaks white with snow, and the silver thread of rivers in dark woods. He closed his eyes and began to cry.

That won't do any good, the crow said. I told you the answer is flying, not crying. How hard can it be? I'm doing it.

I wanted to digest your post a bit but this part sticks out to me.

I think you're right that the fall here is a near death experience and I think we can take that and parallel it to its reverse at the end of the chapter....Bran flying. The flight is scary and terrifying and all sorts of nightmare horror. But the flight is better than anything, better than running, better than climbing.

So if fall = near death experience then the flight = near LIFE experience. Anyone seen the movie 'Fight Club?" It's one of my favorites, but there is a scene in which the Narrator has a near life experience in the midst of a life altering near death experience with the message being "just let go" and that it's only after we've lost everything are we free to do anything.

I am remind of that. Bran has to let go--let of go of what happened to him, let go of being the Bran who wanted to be a knight--in order to fly. I think that's what BR/3EC is doing in this dream.

Great observations!

I would also add that this near death / near life experience is also an experience of surviving death about "seeing" the "other" side. He faced death and he didn't blink when it mattered, thus his abilities were awakened. Surviving death, gave him life.

This happened with Jojen and Dany and most likely with Jon. So what is it about looking at the other side, the side of death (pun totally intended) that give you new life. Perhaps, it's like BearQueen87 mentioned above that after loosing everything you know you can do anything.

Also note that as of now both Bran and Dany not only had near death experiences but also lost a great deal in the process Bran lost his ability to walk and Dany her husband and child. It makes me really wonder what Jon will lose. The magic in ASOIAF comes at a very high price.

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Thanks a lot, everyone! :blushing:

My post keep getting deleted. I had written so much more. Let me try again on a word document.

You are very welcome, you did do an awesome job! :cheers:

If you don't want to loose your work, type it in a Word document and then post it. If your on your phone you can type it as an email and that way you won't loose your work either. Advice from experience.

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You are very welcome, you did do an awesome job! :cheers:

If you don't want to loose your work, type it in a Word document and then post it. If your on your phone you can type it as an email and that way you won't loose your work either. Advice from experience.

Thanks. I think it's also my computer because I just lost another one. I will try again later later.

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Wonderfully done Kyoshi!





-----The Cloud Space: the space where Bran appears to be flung from the darkness and told to fly by a voice in the darkness. After he is flung, only physical forces such as gravity seem to be at work.



-----The Winterfell Space: the space where Bran glimpse his immediate reality and the actions which led him there. One could also refer to this as the Ser Jaime Lannister Space.



-----The Greenseeing Space: the supernatural space where Bran is “brought into Bloodraven’s confidence.” He travels the world and into the past, the present and the future with just his eyes.



Love the breakdown. Very organized





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



I agree that the face of the hound is the Hound. But I think the one armored like the sun is Oberyn. His actual armor in Tyrion's trial is brightly shining copper disks. And this leads me to think the one looming over them is the Mountain. Both Oberyn and the Hound have a hatred for the Mountain that has been a driving force in their lives and even leads to Oberyn's death. This also leads me to think the Hound (who I believe is the grave digger) will be the champion for the Faith in Cersei's trial against Robert Strong (his brother, the Mountain).





Overall, I think this was Bloodraven’s first step in recruiting Bran. He probably searches the dream space [which I imagine is something between life and death] for potential champions and when he finds them he tests them with the simple instruction: fly or die. Brandon Stark passes this test and he is rewarded by the crow in this manner: Its beak stabbed at him fiercely, and Bran felt a sudden blinding pain in the middle of his forehead, between his eyes. This action shatters the grey mists of the dream world and Brandon Stark is returned to the real world, alive.



Bloodraven needs Bran to fall in order to fly so Bloodraven helps Bran fall.





I had not thought of this before and I friggin love it! That's why he watched Ned and Bran their whole lives. Trying to find out who had the gift he needed. It also answers a question I struggled with...when Bran stated to remember being pushed the Crow told him not to think about it. Why? Wouldn't things have been easier if he had woken up with the memory and told his family? Catelyn wouldn't have arrested Tyrion leading to Ned's injury from Jaime and the snowball of tragedies from there. Your explanation answers perfectly. Because that was/is not BRs end game and the tragedies were just collateral damage necessary to bring Bran to him.





Also worth noting is the opening line of the chapter: It seemed as though he had been falling for years. Is it possible Bran has been in a sort of limbo the entire time he has been in his coma, and this chapter is where he transitions from the limbo to ‘ordinary dreaming?’



Not to get off topic, but bc it relates to Bran's warging abilities there's an interesting statement in Jon's chapter just before. When Jon goes into the room to say goodbye to Bran before leaving for the wall he describes Bran as, "His eyes were sunken deep into black pits; open, but they saw nothing." Jon, another strong Stark warg, is the only one to describe Bran with his eyes open. Catelyn is our other strongest POV when Bran is in his coma and she talks about him opening his eyes and waking up. If his eyes were open the way Jon describes them I think it would be unusual and the other characters would comment on it. This makes me think that Jon "sees" him while he's warging or being wargged but doesn't know it.



Very interesting and insightful. Thank you for the food for thought! :)


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Also...




BearQueen87:


Irony: I am deeply reminded of Jaime's own words to Prince Tommen about "going away inside yourself"



I'll take this a bit further. He's not just a free object; he's a victim. The things that are in the cloud space are almost violent against him. The grey mists whirl around him, it's cold; the ground is coming up to smash him. Everything is acting on him and he is unable to act on anything around him. And even further, this might be a theme for Bran as a whole: being used by forces outside of himself that are greater than him but manage to entice and provoke.



Nice note that Jaime here is the sun to his wingless Icarus.



Yes, yes and YES!





BearQueen87...


As for giant stone....I have an opinion, I just don't know how RIGHT it is. I think it's Rhaegar. Stone is, like I said in my analysis, often used to hide kings and princes. In Dany's own prophetic dream post "fall" she also sees a giant who is armored but when she opens the visor, there is HER face inside (and that's more about Dany accepting that she's the last dragon), but she thinks it is Rhaegar. In Dany's vision we have a black visor and here we have thick black blood. Bran is seeing everyone at the Trident which is the place where Rhaegar and Robert came together.



Metaphorically, Rhaegar's shadow is all over the Trident scenes as we have Arya--a wild wolf girl--defending her friend (a la the KotLT) from someone above Mycha. We have Ned thinking about lying with honor in his chapters at the Trident. Robert's Rebellion is all over those chapters; makes sense that Rhaegar's "shadow" or SHADE is too.



I had not even considered that before. It makes sense, defiantly something to think about.




BearQueen87...


Interesting. I never thought about it, interesting. I always assumed George meant the breath of the wolf is hitting Bran in the face. But yeah, that does read funny now that you point it out. Warging seems like the best answer.



This is an interesting take. I was my quadriplegic mother’s care giver for a while. She often had phantom feelings and sometimes she felt like her legs were burning even if they were cold to the touch. The doctor said it was her nerve endings. Either trying to spark to the next one or dying off. But for Bran to feel it with Summer next to him makes me think it’s the warg connection too. Did he feel his own heat warming Summer via the warg connection with Summer?




BearQueen87...


No. And because this is George, I am going to give one of my saddest theories: Summer will die. Bran will sacrifice his wolf for something else (cough ice dragon cough). The boy of ice and winter who has been touched by the gods to lead the Wintery Charge cannot have any connotation with heat and warmth and light. He is cold and darkness and winter. And lest we forget, coming soon, a certain hero who also lost his beloved dog.



I cannot get behind this. You make a valid point, but I just refuse to believe that this poor kid has to endure more pain and suffering. I prefer denial. :)




MoIaF...


I believe Jon has died and I think that might be what Bran is seeing, however, I do believe he'll be resurrected.



Agreed.


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*snip snip*

There will be plenty of conflict without having the top characters on opposite sides. But of course this is just MHO and as always I might just be completely wrong. :D

LOL. We're probably both wrong and the series will end with Bran, Dany, and Jon being revealed to be aliens from the planet Krypton or something equally silly... :grouphug:

ETA: I will say this, though. If part of Bran's narrative is "Old Nan's stories coming to life" as Queen Alysanne said then there is a certain story coming up that I think is going to be super important to Bran's overall arc, especially the way that supposed story ends.

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Also note that as of now both Bran and Dany not only had near death experiences but also lost a great deal in the process Bran lost his ability to walk and Dany her husband and child. It makes me really wonder what Jon will lose. The magic in ASOIAF comes at a very high price.

Ghost puppy is not long for this world. *cries*

This is an interesting take. I was my quadriplegic mother’s care giver for a while. She often had phantom feelings and sometimes she felt like her legs were burning even if they were cold to the touch. The doctor said it was her nerve endings. Either trying to spark to the next one or dying off. But for Bran to feel it with Summer next to him makes me think it’s the warg connection too. Did he feel his own heat warming Summer via the warg connection with Summer?

Oh that's a good idea too! Phantom limb syndrome is pretty common with paralytics or amputees.

I cannot get behind this. You make a valid point, but I just refuse to believe that this poor kid has to endure more pain and suffering. I prefer denial. :)

It's happier there, I know. (Or I'm 100% wrong.)

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Hi everybody !

So Kyoshi, that was a wonderful analysis. Everything was covered and I have barely nothing to add except point out the obvious parallels with Jon's arc in this chapter with the crows and "corn" which is a theme which comes often in Jon chapters via Mormont's raven (warged by Bloodraven). I'm really interested by your idea of Bran "flying dream experience" as a test to pass to become the right candidate. It seems that Bloodraven has invested a lot in the Starks children (the direwolves) but especially in Bran and Jon (who is the first to experience a warging experience and got the albino weirwood-like direwolf). This made me wonder if Bloodraven would have try the same experience with Jon if the occasion has presented itself or if Jon will have to go through a similar experience in the next book. Could Bran and Jon have been exchangeable for Bloodraven in the beginning or did Bloodraven always planned two differents parts for them ?

I agree with Fil Stark interpretation of the stone giant with no face, I immediatly thought of the Titan of Braavos and the faceless men. The Rhaegar one is a poetic one but unlikely I think (Sorry BearQueen)

MoIaF, your parallels between Bran and Dany are really interesting

There is another similarity related Bran and Dany. Fro Dany it appears in her fevered dream but for Bran it appears in a later chapter:




Dany IX AGOT

"Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. Faster, they cried, faster, faster. She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. Faster! the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings."

Bran VII AGOT

Do you recall your history, Bran? the maester said as they walked. Tell Osha who they were and what they did, if you can. He looked at the passing faces and the tales came back to him. The maester had told him the stories, and Old Nan had made them come alive. That one is Jon Stark. When the sea raiders landed in the east, he drove them out and built the castle at White Harbor . His son was Rickard Stark, not my fathers father but another Rickard, he took the Neck away from the Marsh King and married his daughter.

Theon Starks the real thin one with the long hair and the skinny beard. They called him the Hungry Wolf, because he was always at war. Thats a Brandon, the tall one with the dreamy face, he was Brandon the Shipwright, because he loved the sea. His tomb is empty. He tried to sail west across the Sunset Sea and was never seen again. His son was Brandon the Burner, because he put the torch to all his fathers ships in grief. Theres Rodrik Stark , who won Bear Island in a wrestling match and gave it to the Mormonts.

And thats Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt . He was the last King in the North and the first Lord of Winterfell, after he yielded to Aegon the Conqueror. Oh, there , hes Cregan Stark. He fought with Prince Aemon once, and the Dragonknight said hed never faced a finer swordsman. They were almost at the end now, and Bran felt a sadness creeping over him . And theres my grandfather, Lord Rickard, who was beheaded by Mad King Aerys.

His daughter Lyanna and his son Brandon are in the tombs beside him. Not me, another Brandon, my fathers brother. Theyre not supposed to have statues, thats only for the lords and the kings, but my father loved them so much he had them done.

Here both Bran and Dany see their ancestors as they go down long hallways, they are passing them by. This will become very important in their future development. Bran is underground in the crypts when he passes his ancestors and Dany in her dream is running down a long hallways in which will lead her to become a dragon and fly. Both Bran and Dany find themselves in these places (underground and in flight) by the end of ADWD.


I think that you forgot to add Jon's crypts dreams to the mix for the ancestors dreams. I had done a quick list of the parallels between Dany's dream and Jon's in a other thread ( Kyoshi's thread actually : http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/112729-a-feast-for-the-dead-a-snow-in-the-tombs-a-dream-in-dust/?p=5933567):

Clearly the dream shares the same themes that Jon and Jaime's crypt dreams: the ancestors of her family, the burning sword...

But even more so, it seems to be a "waking the dragon from stone" imaginary.

The other interesting thing is that there is a strong Jon imaginary as well, especially to the ides of march and what may come out of it:

- first all the references to Ghosts

- the description and the words employed : Dany feels "a knife of pain" ripping "down her back" and then she smells "burning blood". Really, the connection is easy with Jon's stabbing (knife in the back) and his wounds "smoking".

- Then, we have "shadow of wings": Jon is the character with the shadow imaginary, so it is interesting that this expression is employed there.

-> I think that reinforce the theory that after his coma and visit in the crypt in his dreams, Jon will wake as a dragon."

Edit : But, heh, derailling the thread there.

On the last parallel, it's interesting that Bran feels both element of ice and fire when he wakes up. I tend to agree that it is more complicated that Bran = ice, Dany=Fire and Jon= ice and fire. Bran is more connected to earth than ice it seems.

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I agree with Fil Stark interpretation of the stone giant with no face, I immediatly thought of the Titan of Braavos and the faceless men. The Rhaegar one is a poetic one but unlikely I think (Sorry BearQueen)

Oh, it's okay :)

I hadn't even considered The Mountain That Rides as being a contender for that dream vision--but that one does seem more logical. The Titan is also an interesting choice.

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snip snippity snip snip

Thanks for providing the parallels between Bran and other characters. One of the reasons I love re-reads: everything is so beautifully connected. I also noticed this from this chapter: 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. The quotes you provided and this one are the reason I am now leaning towards the side of Bran being a champ for nature as opposed to ice. [i know you don't believe in these champions but IMHO ice is being set up as the big baddie. I would, however, be very glad to be wrong]. Bear Queen makes a compelling case for the balance argument. :dunno:

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I really like this analysis. I have nothing to add except that I also thought about Jojen and the role Bloodraven may or may not have played in his "illness."

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Very interesting ideas. I'm not disagreeing with you but I would like to point out that Jaime has a rather significant interaction with Arya. Had he been the one to find her after the incident with Joff, he would have killed her. He also sent Brienne, with one half of Ice, to search for Sansa. Something to note is that perhaps some of the shadows were only hovering over Bran's family in a negative light at that moment; as you said, that part of the dream seems to be more observational than prophetic. I agree with Bear Queen on the issue of champions. Also, a champion does not have to be the good guy [looking at you Melisandre].

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I agree with Bear Queen on the issue of champions. Also, a champion does not have to be the good guy [looking at you Melisandre].

As for the idea of good or evil champions, I very much believe it all depends on where the person making that judgement is standing.

If Bran is 'ice" champion (go with me for a second) he'll be a "good" guy to the people who recognize ice champion as good and necessary, just like Dany as fire champion is recognized as good guy by Moqorro and Benerro, ect. But to others who don't see her role as fire champion as good she is "the whore queen who bathes in blood" (The Volanteese who talk to Tyrion)

And of course I could be totally wrong. lol (we need Winds...)

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snip snippity snip snip

Not to get off topic, but bc it relates to Bran's warging abilities there's an interesting statement in Jon's chapter just before. When Jon goes into the room to say goodbye to Bran before leaving for the wall he describes Bran as, "His eyes were sunken deep into black pits; open, but they saw nothing." Jon, another strong Stark warg, is the only one to describe Bran with his eyes open. Catelyn is our other strongest POV when Bran is in his coma and she talks about him opening his eyes and waking up. If his eyes were open the way Jon describes them I think it would be unusual and the other characters would comment on it. This makes me think that Jon "sees" him while he's warging or being wargged but doesn't know it.

Very interesting and insightful. Thank you for the food for thought! :)

I love this. Absolutely love it!

Thanks for the contribution, Elfoy. Welcome to the re-read!

snip snippity snip snip

I think that you forgot to add Jon's crypts dreams to the mix for the ancestors dreams. I had done a quick list of the parallels between Dany's dream and Jon's in a other thread ( Kyoshi's thread actually : http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/112729-a-feast-for-the-dead-a-snow-in-the-tombs-a-dream-in-dust/?p=5933567):

Clearly the dream shares the same themes that Jon and Jaime's crypt dreams: the ancestors of her family, the burning sword...

But even more so, it seems to be a "waking the dragon from stone" imaginary.

The other interesting thing is that there is a strong Jon imaginary as well, especially to the ides of march and what may come out of it:

- first all the references to Ghosts

- the description and the words employed : Dany feels "a knife of pain" ripping "down her back" and then she smells "burning blood". Really, the connection is easy with Jon's stabbing (knife in the back) and his wounds "smoking".

- Then, we have "shadow of wings": Jon is the character with the shadow imaginary, so it is interesting that this expression is employed there.

-> I think that reinforce the theory that after his coma and visit in the crypt in his dreams, Jon will wake as a dragon."

Edit : But, heh, derailling the thread there.

On the last parallel, it's interesting that Bran feels both element of ice and fire when he wakes up. I tend to agree that it is more complicated that Bran = ice, Dany=Fire and Jon= ice and fire. Bran is more connected to earth than ice it seems.

I really like these. Thanks again for the contribution.

As for the idea of good or evil champions, I very much believe it all depends on where the person making that judgement is standing.

If Bran is 'ice" champion (go with me for a second) he'll be a "good" guy to the people who recognize ice champion as good and necessary, just like Dany as fire champion is recognized as good guy by Moqorro and Benerro, ect. But to others who don't see her role as fire champion as good she is "the whore queen who bathes in blood" (The Volanteese who talk to Tyrion)

And of course I could be totally wrong. lol (we need Winds...)

I also think it depends on the side of said champion. There is always speculation on which of our "heroes" are being set up as villains. I had always looked at BR/3EC as the older, benevolent, all-knowing mentor who could never do wrong. Seeing the thousand other dreamers I assume were impaled on the ice spears, my opinion has kind of changed. I don't believe in traditional villains, especially where this series is concerned, and I'll admit that I'm naive enough to only start questioning BR's intentions now :blushing: Yeah, we need Winds.

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I also think it depends on the side of said champion. There is always speculation on which of our "heroes" are being set up as villains. I had always looked at BR/3EC as the older, benevolent, all-knowing mentor who could never do wrong. Seeing the thousand other dreamers I assume were impaled on the ice spears, my opinion has kind of changed. I don't believe in traditional villains, especially where this series is concerned, and I'll admit that I'm naive enough to only start questioning BR's intentions now :blushing: Yeah, we need Winds.

I think BR is ruthless but has what he thinks is best for Westeros in mind. Now that we know why he was sent to the Black Cells by Egg--killing by beheading a Blackfyre who was invited to partake in the succession debate--because he thought it would keep the peace...he's definitely not benevolent. I think a big piece of the missing puzzle peace is why BR left the Wall.

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I really need to get that World of Ice and Fire book. I didn't even know that.

Oh I'm sorry!! Today the embargo has been lifted so I thought it was safe to mention as I thought everyone here had it.

I'll go hide in a corner now.

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It's okay. :) I really don't mind spoilers. We just had a nationwide postal strike and the bookstore didn't have it. I also live deep, deep, deep somewhere in a rural town somewhere in Africa. It's cool though, I'm all for spoilers.


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As for the idea of good or evil champions, I very much believe it all depends on where the person making that judgement is standing.

If Bran is 'ice" champion (go with me for a second) he'll be a "good" guy to the people who recognize ice champion as good and necessary, just like Dany as fire champion is recognized as good guy by Moqorro and Benerro, ect. But to others who don't see her role as fire champion as good she is "the whore queen who bathes in blood" (The Volanteese who talk to Tyrion)

And of course I could be totally wrong. lol (we need Winds...)

The thing that bugs me it's that as far as this reread currently goes this "champion of X" definition relies too much on hindsight, assuming that it's even valid of course.

Hope my comment won't sound offensive or look like a pointless debate on semantycs and empty air, but I think it's important, since this reread will go on for a while.

Breaking the rule about future events discussion just for a little to explain myself: up until the end of ADwD Bran's just been training, struggling to survive and developing some kind of special gift that other few people have.

An immediate objection to this reasoning is obviously "well, if Bran is training for something, doesn't that ring you a bell?" - my answer is that we should start from the very begining, because maybe our premises are wrong.

The dualism between Ice and (not "or") Fire is part of the series since the very title, and that's a given. What's not a given is that there must be an opposition between the two.

And if the two are not in opposition, what's the reason for having a "champion"?

-Maester Aemon says that ice preserves and fire consumes, yet he dies a cold without anything to warm him up despite being apparently kept alive by the low temperatures at the Wall.

-Rhaegar doesn't speak of contrasting elements when speaking of the PTWP... actually, if Jon Snow is the famed Azor Ahai he's the union of the Houses who most embodies an aspect of these two apparently contrasting elements, and not the opposition.

-Azor Ahai, the Last Hero, the Prince that was Promised... be them different individuals or the same being, all of them have something in common: they lack a champion to defeat. Their purpose is to defeat some kind of enemy, but if this enemy has a leading figure, up until now we have no way to know except one line from Melisandre (the one who is wrong 99% of the time), about some kind of enemy to Rhllor.

-That of course assuming that Azor Ahai and the Rhllor cult are actually tied together by something that's not just wishful thinking. The Azor Ahai myth showed up in the north of Westeros way before the Andals coming and the Rhllor cult is seen as a foreign religion that has nothing to do with Westeros during ACoK. No points of contact. The myth of a hypotetical saviour is present in both Essos and Westeros, but tied to Rhllor only in one case - and everytime by Rhllor cultists.

Currently we have some Ice cold zombies who oppose the living, who do not necessarly represent any Fire of sort. That's why I can't believe of champions of sort except for a single figure, Azor Ahai.

Unless you believe that these fire/ice champions are supposed to fight together against a common enemy... but in that case, every legend about Azor Ahai speaks of him and him alone. In one he loses his companions, but they don't strike as completely necessary in the bigger scheme of things.

More than a champion Bran looks like a possible successor, if Bloodraven is searching for a champion he might have already found it in Jon Snow.

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I think BR is ruthless but has what he thinks is best for Westeros in mind. Now that we know why he was sent to the Black Cells by Egg--killing by beheading a Blackfyre who was invited to partake in the succession debate--because he thought it would keep the peace...he's definitely not benevolent. I think a big piece of the missing puzzle peace is why BR left the Wall.

I think in the world book it said that he went ranging and got missing. I think it's probably similar to what happened to the guys in the prologue, that went ranging and also the Last Hero and BR had to cut a deal up North.

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The dualism between Ice and (not "or") Fire is part of the series since the very title, and that's a given. What's not a given is that there must be an opposition between the two.

And if the two are not in opposition, what's the reason for having a "champion"?

I hope you're okay with me not giving a really long answer or anything (Thanksgiving coma and I don't want to exhaust this topic) but this is my view. Ice and Fire ARE in opposition. The point of the "and" if the idea of balance, a central theme in the entire series and the great balance is found in one person: Jon. That's Jon's mythological role in this series; TPTWP, the blood of ice and fire.

I think in the world book it said that he went ranging and got missing. I think it's probably similar to what happened to the guys in the prologue, that went ranging and also the Last Hero and BR had to cut a deal up North.

I guess I'm a little suspicious that he didn't leave of his own volition: like had a vision and decided to leave. However, i do think there might be a deal involved

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