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Bran Stark's journey to Brandon Stark?

markg171

By markg171,
in General (ASoIaF)

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markg171 Council Member

markg171

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So here's every instance of Bran being referred to as Brandon Stark, with the bolded being when Bran himself refers to himself as Brandon Stark



AGOT


· “I don’t want Brandon to die,” Tommen said timorously. He was a sweet boy. Not like his brother, but then Jaime and Tyrion were somewhat less than peas in a pod themselves.


“Lord Eddard had a brother named Brandon as well,” Jaime mused. “One of the hostages murdered by Targaryen. It seems to be an unlucky name.”


· Bran flared. “I’m Brandon Stark of Winterfell, and you better let go of my horse, or I’ll see you all dead.”


· He wondered which of them had sent the footpad to silence the Stark boy, and whether they had truly conspired at the death of Lord Arryn. If the old Hand had been murdered, it was deftly and subtly done. Men of his age died of sudden illness all the time. In contrast, sending some oaf with a stolen knife after Brandon Stark struck him as unbelievably clumsy. And wasn’t that peculiar, come to think on it...


· But that night, when they feasted in the Great Hall, Robb was not with them. He took his meal in the solar instead, with Lord Rickard and the Greatjon and the other lords bannermen, to make the final plans for the long march to come. It was left to Bran to fill his place at the head of the table, and act the host to Lord Karstark’s sons and honored friends. They were already at their places when Hodor carried Bran into the hall on his back, and knelt beside the high seat. Two of the serving men helped lift him from his basket. Bran could feel the eyes of every stranger in the hall. It had grown quiet. “My lords,” Hallis Mollen announced, “Brandon Stark, of Winterfell.”


“I welcome you to our fires,” Bran said stiffly, “and offer you meat and mead in honor of our friendship.”


· And at the end, near last, came the names Sansa had been dreading. Lady Catelyn Stark. Robb Stark. Brandon Stark, Rickon Stark, Arya Stark. Sansa stifled a gasp. Arya. They wanted Arya to present herself and swear an oath... it must mean her sister had fled on the galley, she must be safe at Winterfell by now...


· 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 father’s father but another Rickard, he took the Neck away from the Marsh King and married his daughter. Theon Stark’s the real thin one with the long hair and the skinny beard. They called him the ‘Hungry Wolf,’ because he was always at war. That’s 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 father’s ships in grief. There’s Rodrik Stark, who won Bear Island in a wrestling match and gave it to the Mormonts. And that’s 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, he’s Cregan Stark. He fought with Prince Aemon once, and the Dragonknight said he’d never faced a finer swordsman.” They were almost at the end now, and Bran felt a sadness creeping over him. “And there’s 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 father’s brother. They’re not supposed to have statues, that’s only for the lords and the kings, but my father loved them so much he had them done.”



ACOK


· Bran groped for words. Was he supposed to swear something back to them? Their oath was not one he had been taught. “May your winters be short and your summers bountiful,” he said. That was usually a good thing to say. “Rise. I’m Brandon Stark.”


· Osha carried her long oaken spear in one hand and the torch in the other. A naked sword hung down her back, one of the last to bear Mikken’s mark. He had forged it for Lord Eddard’s tomb, to keep his ghost at rest. But with Mikken slain and the ironmen guarding the armory, good steel had been hard to resist, even if it meant grave-robbing. Meera had claimed Lord Rickard’s blade, though she complained that it was too heavy. Brandon took his namesake’s, the sword made for the uncle he had never known. He knew he would not be much use in a fight, but even so the blade felt good in his hand.



ASOS


· Lickspittle. If truth be told, Jaime had come to rue heaving Brandon Stark out that window. Cersei had given him no end of grief afterward, when the boy refused to die. “He was seven, Jaime,” she’d berated him. “Even if he understood what he saw, we should have been able to frighten him into silence.”


· “Bran,” he said sullenly. Bran the Broken. “Brandon Stark.” The cripple boy. “The Prince of Winterfell.” Of Winterfell burned and tumbled, its people scattered and slain. The glass gardens were smashed, and hot water gushed from the cracked walls to steam beneath the sun. How can you be the prince of someplace you might never see again?


· It grew very quiet in the castle kitchen then. Bran could hear the soft crackle of the flames, the wind stirring the leaves in the night, the creak of the skinny weirwood reaching for the moon. Beyond the gates the monsters live, and the giants and the ghouls, he remembered Old Nan saying, but they cannot pass so long as the Wall stands strong. So go to sleep, my little Brandon, my baby boy. You needn’t fear. There are no monsters here.


· The question was another knife, twisting in his guts. “Are you sure you want to know?” asked Tyrion. “Joffrey would have been a worse king than Aerys ever was. He stole his father’s dagger and gave it to a footpad to slit the throat of Brandon Stark, did you know that?”



AFFC



None



ADWD


· Bran found himself remembering the tales Old Nan had told him when he was a babe. Beyond the Wall the monsters live, the giants and the ghouls, the stalking shadows and the dead that walk, she would say, tucking him in beneath his scratchy woolen blanket, but they cannot pass so long as the Wall stands strong and the men of the Night’s Watch are true. So go to sleep, my little Brandon, my baby boy, and dream sweet dreams. There are no monsters here. The ranger wore the black of the Night’s Watch, but what if he was not a man at all? What if he was some monster, taking them to the other monsters to be devoured?


· The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist. “Your monster, Brandon Stark.”


· “A … crow?” The pale lord’s voice was dry. His lips moved slowly, as if they had forgotten how toform words. “Once, aye. Black of garb and black of blood.” The clothes he wore were rotten and faded, spotted with moss and eaten through with worms, but once they had been black. “I have been many things, Bran. Now I am as you see me, and now you will understand why I could not come to you … except in dreams. I have watched you for a long time, watched you with a thousand eyes and one. I saw your birth, and that of your lord father before you. I saw your first step, heard your first word, was part of your first dream. I was watching when you fell. And now you are come to me at last, Brandon Stark, though the hour is late.”


· What was he now? Only Bran the broken boy, Brandon of House Stark, prince of a lost kingdom, lord of a burned castle, heir to ruins. He had thought the three-eyed crow would be a sorcerer, a wise old wizard who could fix his legs, but that was some stupid child’s dream, he realized now. I am too old for such fancies, he told himself. A thousand eyes, a hundred skins, wisdom deep as the roots of ancient trees. That was as good as being a knight. Almost as good, anyway.


· “Father.” Bran’s voice was a whisper in the wind, a rustle in the leaves. “Father, it’s me. It’s Bran. Brandon.”


· “No,” said Bran, “no, don’t,” but they could not hear him, no more than his father had. The woman grabbed the captive by the hair, hooked the sickle round his throat, and slashed. And through the mist of centuries the broken boy could only watch as the man’s feet drummed against the earth … but as his life flowed out of him in a red tide, Brandon Stark could taste the blood.



Total count of Bran referring to himself as Brandon Stark:



AGOT - 2x


ACOK - 2x


ASOS - 1x


AFFC - 0x


ADWD - 3x



So ADWD has Bran referring to himself as Brandon over Bran the most out of any of the books. 2 of those 3 times, are even him thinking of himself as a Brandon, rather than a Bran. Furthermore, Bran's last POV ends with him thinking of himself as Brandon Stark rather than Bran Stark.



I guess what I'm trying to get it, this could be GRRM's clue that Bran is growing up (by losing the "boy" name Bran). Furthermore, most Brandon's we hear of are people of note and have epithets to set them apart based on their deeds. This could be a clue that in becoming a Brandon over Bran, that Bran, and more importantly GRRM, is preparing to set Bran apart and start creating his "story". Most fans have felt Bran's story has been meandering around as we waited for him to find the three eyed crow, and now that he finally has, Bran is now suddenly a Brandon in the books. So I think his real "story" is finally starting, both for the books and for the later legends, so that Bran can become Brandon Stark the _________.



Maybe it's nothing or just a coincidence but just something I thought I'd put out and see what people think.


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markg171 Council Member

markg171

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Interesting similarities between Brandon stark having to swear fealty to aerys and bran having to swear fealty to cersei(aerys 2.0) and him watching the captive get his throat slit not being able to intervene just like Brandon stark not being able to intervene as he watched his father die

Hadn't even thought of this similarity. And interestingly, it's Bran's last part in Dance. And Brandon's last moment was watching someone die.

Good catch.

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James Arryn Council Member

James Arryn

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Of all the Starks, I am most certain Bran is on his way to becoming a legendary figure. I suppose Robb already is in a way, but probably slightly ephemeral, whereas Bran might become something approximating the Age of Heroes Starks.

It's a shame I find it so boring lately.

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markg171 Council Member

markg171

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Of all the Starks, I am most certain Bran is on his way to becoming a legendary figure. I suppose Robb already is in a way, but probably slightly ephemeral, whereas Bran might become something approximating the Age of Heroes Starks.

It's a shame I find it so boring lately.

Which is why as a Brandon, he needs to set himself apart.

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Eiko Dragonhorn Landed Knight

Eiko Dragonhorn

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· The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist. “Your monster, Brandon Stark.”

· “No,” said Bran, “no, don’t,” but they could not hear him, no more than his father had. The woman grabbed the captive by the hair, hooked the sickle round his throat, and slashed. And through the mist of centuries the broken boy could only watch as the man’s feet drummed against the earth … but as his life flowed out of him in a red tide, Brandon Stark could taste the blood.

I'm not sure either of these are referring to the Bran we know.

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markg171 Council Member

markg171

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I'm not sure either of these are referring to the Bran we know.

The first is Coldhands saying that he's a monster, but he's a monster who's there to serve Bran. The second is Bran experiencing visions through the weirwood, and as the dead man's blood flows into the weirwood, Bran says he can taste it.

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Eiko Dragonhorn Landed Knight

Eiko Dragonhorn

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The first is Coldhands saying that he's a monster, but he's a monster who's there to serve Bran. The second is Bran experiencing visions through the weirwood, and as the dead man's blood flows into the weirwood, Bran says he can taste it.

Or:

The first is Coldhands introducing himself as Brandon Stark.

The second is another Brandon Stark being sacrificed in front of a weirwood and tasting his own blood.

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Luddagain Noble

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Brandon is the Summer king. This has been SO bloody obvious from Book 1 that I am amazed at all the other theories. He is the "green man" the reincarnation of Summer, the reborn "god", Balder, Jesus Christ, Osiris, Mithras, Horus, Adonis. He is the reborn god of SUMMER. He is the corn god. He is the essential opposite to Winter.



BUT



Both Summer and Winter are essential to balance in life. Bran the Builder presided over Winterfell, Perhaps Bran must preside over "Summer rise"



The Green man is a good guy people. He is a pagan god that the UK Christians included in their religion and many churches have his likeness. Guess what. He is drawn as a man with a tree growing out of him!!! The green man BEFORE Bran was Garth Greenhand!!!!!


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