Why Do People Dislike Bran?

[Florina Laufeyson]

He still is a wholesome character though, with believable motivations, family issues and anxieties. He is not a tool and neither is Bran IMO.

Quentyn was created simply as a plot device, however. He is flatter than most characters because of that reason. While fleshed out, he doesnt have the kind of roundness as even POV-less characters have. Come on, Gilly and Jaqen H'ghar have more depth.

[HosteenOsteen]

I don;t dislike Bran at all. It is only in ASOS that his pOV becomes associated with the greenseer, Three-EYedCrow aspect, in the first tow books he just is our window on WInterfell.

Honeslty, I don't like any POV. Cersei's was tough to take but even I conceded we had to have it.

[Lady Meliora]

I don't dislike Bran, but comparing his POVs to those of other characters, it's sometimes hard to remain sympathetic to the fact that he's a crippled child who can't go out and do anything on his own. I do see how those chapters could seem boring, but in the re-read I'm currently doing, I find myself skipping Jon's "wildling" POV segments rather than Bran's.

[King Brandon Ice Eyes]

Quentyn was created simply as a plot device, however. He is flatter than most characters because of that reason. While fleshed out, he doesnt have the kind of roundness as even POV-less characters have. Come on, Gilly and Jaqen H'ghar have more depth.

I think Quentyn gives us an interesting insight into a mediocre person and I don't say that as an offense. Most people are mediocre, the idea that everyone is special somehow is comforting and that is why we cheer for heroes who are larger than life or have awesome characteristics: unbreakable sense of integrity, courage, fighting abilities, incredible resilience, sharp intellect, supernatural powers. If you think about it despite their flaws all the major protagonists in ASOIAF fit at least one of these criteria. What is so tragic about Quentyn is that he is none of these things. He is courageous but his courage only brought him misery. He is not a political animal like his father, nor a fighter like his uncle and cousins, nor headstrong, seductive and beautiful like his sister and yet the fate of his family rested on his shoulders. There is something incredibly sad about being set to a heroe's journey and then die painfully in a strange and hostile place knowing that your sacrifice didn't pay off, he is not even a martyr who will live on people's memories. No one loves him except his parents. Ir think Quentyn's personality, coping mechanisms, family issues are all very relatable. In face of this I would not say he is flatter than other characters. I think he is just as good as Arianne and JonCon, for example, in terms of new POV.

[kimim]

I like Bran. OK, he travels on and on, but unlike Tyrion, who has yet to reach Dany, and Brienne, who has yet to do anything, Bran gets where he's supposed to, and starts doing some very weird shit. Same with Arya and Sansa.

Maybe the problem is he does take his time getting to Bloodraven, and, once he gets there, people he meets, stuff he learns to do, are SO SO weird that it's kinda hard to get into, without knowing more?

[Baela of Pentos]

I like Bran but his chapters are not easy to read, a broken child, family off to war, witnessing his home burned, etc. (Nobody has it easy in the wholeague series, but he is the youngest POV, so I think I feel it more for him)

But this part always put a smile on my face and remind me why I like him:

The serving men brought every dish to Bran first, that he might take the lord's portion if he chose. By the time they reached the ducks, he could eat no more. After that he nodded approval at each course in turn, and waved it away. If the dish smelled especially choice, he would send it to one of the lords on the dais, a gesture of friendship and favor that Maester Luwin told him he must make. He sent some salmon down to poor sad Lady Hornwood, the boar to the boisterous Umbers, a dish of goose-in-berries to Cley Cerwyn, and a huge lobster to Joseth the master of horse, who was neither lord nor guest, but had seen to Dancer's training and made it possible for Bran to ride. He sent sweets to Hodor and Old Nan as well, for no reason but he loved them. Ser Rodrik reminded him to send something to his foster brothers, so he sent Little Walder some boiled beets and Big Walder the buttered turnips.

aCoK, Bran III

[Isobel Harper]

I think the dislike comes from "slowness" of his chapters, at least compared to other chapters. Bran is sort of like the "actual (slow) pace" of LOTR. I personally like Bran, not in spite of this, but because of his gradual connection to the "Tree"/Three Eyed Crow, which seems more realistic. But then again, I'm a Bran-fan. *shrug*

Having a sister who was born with spina bifida, I realize the importance of knowing that one's disability difference in ability makes you who you are. But then again, other readers aren't me.

[Blazfemur]

its not even that he's a cripple. hes just SO weak. i mean come on, youre a goddamn sorcerer in training. get some goddamn backbone.

[Isobel Harper]

its not even that he's a cripple. hes just SO weak. i mean come on, youre a goddamn sorcerer in training. get some goddamn backbone.

Bran assumes at first, like other people in Westeros assume, that power comes from physical power, i.e. knights and climbing. The real power, especially to be attributed to him, is in his mind. This is why is chapters are "slow." He has to realize the powers of his mind... in a realistic amount of time.

[Blazfemur]

Bran assumes at first, like other people in Westeros assume, that power comes from physical power, i.e. knights and climbing. The real power, especially to be attributed to him, is in his mind. This is why is chapters are "slow." He has to realize the powers of his mind... in a realistic amount of time.

*sigh*

[Isobel Harper]

*sigh*

If I lost the use of my legs, I wouldn't up and jump off towards the Wall and beyond. I would try to debate that I could use my legs again.

[Blazfemur]

If I lost the use of my legs, I wouldn't up and jump off towards the Wall and beyond. I would try to debate that I could use my legs again.

still, bloodraven taking over brans body to leave the cave is the best possible crackpot.

long live lord branraven

[TimJames]

It baffles me as much as you. I always considered Bran a likable character, one of the few characters who is genuinely a good person.

I haven't watched the TV Series, so I don't know if an annoying child actor is the reason or if it is something else.

[The Mother of The Others]

Why do people turn away from Tom at myspace? Just an odd vibe is all it takes. People say they want something groundbreaking and strange, but that's a lie isn't it. People want something that's familiar and comfortable so that they're really reading about themselves, a more exciting mirror of themselves to glance into, an experience that they can identify with, which means the "aliens" we usually get in stories are a sham, to cater to people's actual tastes: self interest. Readers want to be able to connect with the story or else the audience loses interest quick. Hence Bran stopped being most people's favorite. He got too weird for the average reader to follow with fully piqued interest. It's similar to how we've got New York and New Mexico and New Guinea and New Jersey, because people came to an alien land and they didn't like it as much as they thought they were going to, so they reverted away from doing something original and instead named the place for where they came from and started to recreate the town they'd just emigrated from so they could have what they'd really craved all along: something that reminded them of themselves but with more opportunity for them than the old world offered. "New" Jersey just means "my" Jersey. Bran got too weird for the real average reader to really connect with anymore, even if they were "trying." We're just not wired to succeed very often at connecting with the alien. Which is why StarTrek is so popular. Because Why? They provided us with a cosmos of self-love! All the aliens look like us, only uglier by leaps and bounds, which proves without saying it out loud that we're the best. So by going out into the galaxy Kirk and British-Talking "French" Captain Guy only confirmed what we already assumed due to our arrogance: homo-sapiens is where it's at, baby! That's why StarTrek is so popular----it's fake science fiction that just fellates our egos instead of grappling with the challenges. What challenges? We've got a universal translator! We have unlimited resources! Space isn't spacey for us because we've already conquered it with warp engines. It's all effortless. Dominion War being like the one exception. The Founders species was a good try at reintroducing the truly alien to a galaxy full of "aliens". And remember how Species 8472 started off awesomely but then the next time we saw them they'd put on "human face?" I found that as offensive as sci-fi black face since it was used to degrade them into ordinary StarTrek aliens who were no longer alien.

Anyway, Bran's weird. That's the point of Bran. And people who want Bran to jump ship and come back to Normal Town are missing the point. They're not embracing the storyline. They're still fighting it, as if not even one human life should ever be given over to the alien. Hopefully, victory won't come through Bran escaping what's in store for him. A Stark is defined by his/her followthrough. Brandon is good name. I trust Bran will live up to his namesake and not shy away from the road he's given himself to, since a truly awesome pot of gold likely awaits at the end of the undergound rainbow in the dark the children are offering him. Such a rare opportunity. It's absofreakishly worth pursuing. But average readers don't want to see Bran claimed by Strangeness even though that's clearly what's been posted on every mile marker of his journey. They want to see yet another victory for the familiar here, even though that would take a wonderful plot and fizzle it completely.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

I like Bran quite a bit. Remember he is just a child and he has been given a lot of responsibility. He is a greenseer. He even knew his father died. (so did Rickon btw, that just dawned on me, is he a greenseer too)?

Sorry, I digress. His parents are dead, his brother is dead, Winterfell was destroyed. He's paralyzed. I'm going to say being a bit whiny would be normal for anyone facing these extraordinary losses.

Then, he discovers he has to go on a quest and let everyone think he's dead. I think George is dragging out his story line waiting for the rest of the books to catch up, but I really believe Bran's story is going to take a turn for the awesome.

[The Mountain That Flies]

Bran's powers, at least at a basic level, are pretty easily identified by most readers before they are by Bran himself. We have a leg up, having read a few fantasy stories before, but the fact we read him wondering what's going isn't tantalizing, like it is when Dany talks about getting Westeros. Nor is terribly witty or unexpected, as Tyrion and Theon were in their journeys. Where Bran winds up is very interesting from a plot point of view, but even now, the main upcoming question for him is if he'll figure out something we already have (Jojen paste). He's got to be slower than most of us because he's a child of reasonably normal intelligence, and that can be frustrating, which is why a lot of people speak lesser of his POV.

[DireWolfSpirit]

I dont "hate" any characters in these wonderful books.

But I do admit i'm one of the readers who find Brans arc discomforting.

The Jojen companion was annoying to me, and Meera and Osha's earlier rivalry or tension, if you will,

was something I didnt like, being a fan of Osha, it made me annoyed with Meera.

Then there was Brans single minded trudging on and deciding against revealing himself to Jon when they were in near vicinity. I cant picture a real person in such dillema, deciding against seeking out the comfort of

seeing an immediate family member under such circumstance.

Coupling these situations with the later stages of Brans arc where he is metamorphising currently .

The tree/cave, weirwood/seer/demigod thing, is well,

just creepy for me at this stage of overall story.

I'm holding out hope, with open mind, that I will apreciate something in Bran's future story though.

I have decent faith in this author to interest me.

Just never been a believer in visions, fortune telling type stories,

too much of a sceptic to go down that rabbit hole.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Cause he doesn't have sex or kill people with a sword.

He talks about his feelings and history and shit, which I guess is too "literary" for some people.

[The Dragons Hand]

I honestly don't get it either, people say it's because his chapters are boring. Poppycock I say, his chapters are the most riveting pieces of literature ever made. Everything in ASoIaF is filler passing the time until the next Bran chapter. Reading Bran's chapters is without a doubt the single greatest experience of my entire life. Every second of it makes me feel like I am literally in heaven, like I'm on the finest drugs ever concocted by man, it is pure bliss, I cried for months on end after I read his chapters because I knew that I had already experienced the greatest thing possible, and everything else would just fall woefully short in comparison. I honestly think that if every world leader read a Bran chapter, there would be world peace, who would even contemplate harming another human being, or any life form for that matter, after reading a Bran chapter?

Can I get a irony reading on this? A non-ironic one, preferably.

Bran is the Luke Skywalker of ASOIAF . Likable but boring .Everybody liked Han Solo even though he shot first .

Do you still shoot first when you are the only person that shot?

You mean the character who has stayed in one general area and didn't get jack done for the last two books (this is coming from a Daenerys fan)? :P

I think the big appeal of Bran's story for me is that it is that it's very unique in that we have a disabled main character. That opens up a whole new realm of storytelling possibilities and it's been very interesting to see the mystical side of the world through his eyes.

It's more like one book, with the beginning of ASoS having some travelling and the end of ADWD being, you know, gate-crashed by Drogon.

I liked Bran's chapters well enough in every book but ACoK. My issue is that beyond coping with his crippling, which he does get angry about from time-to-time anyways *Which is reasonably, but I digress* He stays much the same. Dany, Jaime, Jon, Stoneheart, Theon, they all change. *Okay, Stoneheart not so much, but she gets her spot because of our shared hatred of Frey's.*

[The Dragons Hand]

I don't dislike him, but I don't think I'll ever grow terribly fond of him.

Alright, one down, three to go. *Making Sam and Brienne interesting and squashing the notion that Arya is insane because honestly I have similar levels of bloodlust and my family is still alive.*