The "Winged Wolf" A Bran Stark Re-read Project - Part II ASOS & ADWD

[DarkSister1001]

This sounds great. I'm behind as well and although I'm all caught up with the reading I'm not caught up with the essays. I'm moving the re-read schedule by two weeks, should give us time to discuss everything.

THANK YOU! I'm in the same boat and want to take the time to digest everything.

[BearQueen87]

There is a theory that the Others are in fact First Men Skinchangers who succeeded where Varamyr failed (and that in turn makes me wonder what exactly the Singers have in mind concerning Bran skinchanging Hodor. A greenseener has seen Bran while in Hodor's skin, and wargs can sense each others presence, as Bran did while Varamyr was in One Eye, so they do know. So why stay silent?)

Interesting theory. I'll have to read more about that.

This has been a fantastic re-read discussion you've been running BearQueen.

Ah, full credit to MOIAF. She's our brave leader :)

Admitting that my following speculation is just that, speculation and somewhat thin, i have a hypothesis: from under the heart tree and within the crypts, and possibly connected to that supposedly bottomless black pool near it.

Ok, admittedly this has nothing to do with your hypothesis at the moment, more like something I'm throwing out there. I've been thinking about the bottomless black pool lately and what it could mean. I've also been re-reading some Neil Gaimen for fun (next to George, he's my favorite author). I just finished a re-read of his more recent work 'The Ocean at the end of the lane" in which an incarnation of the triple goddess lives in a small English countryside next to a big lake that is really the whole ocean--a primordial ocean that assists in rebirth and making the narrator whole again when some very dark magic more or less tries to eat his heart.

Now, obviously, I'm not saying that GRRM is going to rip of Gaimen or vice versa, but I think there are some thematic things there are quite intriguing. We'll get to Bran's visions in a few months but it's interesting, for the moment, that we never see anyone drown in the lake--only rise from it, baptismal font style. The imagery is highly evocative of rebirth but also of the triple goddess herself as a pregnant woman. There is something about this pool that is highly primordial (a black lake with no bottom...I'm sure that's 100% natural and not magical at all). Pre-world book I more or less dismissed the idea of a Drowned God existing in universe and just chalked it up to the Krakens having a water based religion that stems from the fact that they live on an island and do a lot of sailing. But now, post-world book, we have learned that the Greyjoys of the Iron Islands aren't the only ones with some mythos about Old Ones, Deep Ones. In fact, they kinda seem to be rather alarmingly everywhere! So tying this back to the pool in the godswood, I think there might be something in that pool, resting on the bottom which does exist only further down than we could ever hope to swim. The reason why this Old One doesn't get mentioned in the Stark religion or thoughts is perhaps because they simply don't know. They came and took up the Old Gods and the COTF never really told them about the thing living in the pool (maybe they don't even have any legends about it, they just know the pool is mystical somehow)

I'll take this a little farther and make an admittedly strange comparison the wolves' fur colors. The older the Stark sibling, the more connected to westerosi thoughts about honor they are, and the lighter the fur color of their direwolf. The direwolves of the older siblings are now dead or possibly heading towards death (what Ghost's name ultimately means is fun to think about) , and in turn we are witnessing a general collapse of sophisticated human civilization. The wolves with the darkest colors are the ones whose destinies are most intertwined with House Stark's future: Summer has a silver grey fur much like Winterfell's stone, Nymeria has a smokey grey fur, and Shaggydog's is deep black. The darker the fur, the more affected the warg's personality and story is with sadness, anger and despair. Jojen describes Rickon and his direwolf very famously as being "full of fear and rage." While Arya and Bran's status as wargs are tempered with training, an older age at which they required their direwolf, or separation, Rickon has likely has given himself completely over to the wolf.

Fascinating.

Thus, the death and rebirth of House Stark that we are witnessing is "the chopping of the tree and the regrowing from the roots." We can imagine that the younger children are closer "to the roots" of House Stark and its primordial magic. With the older siblings' death or disconnection from their direwolves, Arya and Bran in particular are returning their family "to its roots", to a way of life that is much more savage and primordial. Rickon in turn, might very well be from where the future Kings of Winter will descend (I cannot guess with any certainty what GRRM has in mind concerning Bran and children, but I think there is a reason that it is to wolf, tree, and stone that he is wed, not a human woman, and grafted creatures are usually by definition infertile in this respect)

Going back to the pool for a second as a sort of primordial magic....the only children we've ever seen play or be near the pool itself if Bran, Arya, and Rickon. Now, I'm sure Robb and Sansa played there as well, but GRRM took pains, IIRC, to never show anyone other than those three playing near the heart of WF--the tree and the pool.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Going back to the pool for a second as a sort of primordial magic....the only children we've ever seen play or be near the pool itself if Bran, Arya, and Rickon. Now, I'm sure Robb and Sansa played there as well, but GRRM took pains, IIRC, to never show anyone other than those three playing near the heart of WF--the tree and the pool.

I never noticed that!: that GRRM went out of his way to only show Bran, Arya and Rickon (or relatives who look like them) near the pool and the heart tree.

Honestly, I'm at a loss for what exactly could be done there: A connection to the black river below the CotF's cave? Some sort of primordial force like the Drowned God? so any theory you can construct is an improvement on my tentative thoughts.

As well as a possible connection to the DG, for me the image of the pool brings to mind the Holy Grail, and it would be something GRRM would do to take a holy image and infuse with an eerie and even demonic aura.

[DarkSister1001]

So this is a really fantastic re-read project, and I while the essay I am about to post might have been more appropriate during the ACOK threads, it is applicable to Bran's arc at any stage. Here linked is an essay on a idea that I think deserves a place in these threads generally and that I hope plays a role in its discussions as it finished ASOS and moves into the ADWD chapters. It's central thesis that Bran is an incarnation of the Fisher King, a family of legends that include King Arthur and Bran the Blessed (Here is my complete resource of meta on the topic of the Starks as to-be mythological figures generally)

The Stark in Winterfell: Bran and the Fisher King

Fantastic and VERY enlightening. TBH, I had not heard of the Fisher King before so I've taken some time to learn though I don't think there's anything I could add. Only questions that are for another thread. lol Thank you!

[DarkSister1001]

Bran, Gorne's Way, and the "Ice Eyes"

Finally able to read this and all of the links within; very interesting, nice job! I always thought that there was a connection between the 3EC Cave, Gorne's Way and WF Crypts.

It is very likely that the cave Bran is currently living in is a part of this system, and that in turn, it connects to Gorne’s Way. GRRM has told us this story for a reason, and that reason is interwoven toto Bran’s character arc and status as an heir to the Builder.

Absolutely, GRRM is extremely detailed and very little of what he tells us is just filler.

Also, consider the Leaf’s statement that even she does not know where they call go: That is a very suspicious one. In fact, but it can also be read as a deliberate attempt to keep Bran, for the time being, from possibly stumbling upon Gorne’s Way. They have lived there for a “thousand thousand of your man-years”: if anyone knows where Gorne’s Way is, the Singers do.

Yeah I call BS on Leaf. How could they possibly live there that long and not know? That's LOADS of time and I imagine they rarely leave the cave these days. It would seem necessary for them to keep Bran where they want him. He's a curious boy. As BR points out, "the hour is late" so there's no time for Bran to go exploring. This also makes me suspect that they knew Bran was skinchanging into Hodor to go exploring.

Another important aspect of this is that the castle is taken back from foreigners to the North, and nonbelievers, which in our Bran's case would be the followers of R'hllor who are among the army. Also significant is that the castle was lost because of his predecessor's weakness. If GRRM wanted to confirm blood sacrifice to the Old Gods, Bran's weirwood visions could have sufficed, or he could have just have had Ser Bartimus allude to it in another manner. Instead, GRRM chose to specifically describe a historical event in which Old Gods sent down a savior-king named Brandon from the north during a harsh winter and take as compensation grisly sacrifice. That cannot be accidental.

Given that Bran is increasingly in the thrall of the Old Gods and their designs on him (as described in my essay above but also here), I believe that Bran, by the time he uses Gorne's way to return to Winterfell, could be capable of ordering or allowing such an atrocity to occur. Since Winterfell was built to withstand such a siege, and food will be scarce, and it will be up to he and Arya to fight the Wights with the ravens and wolves that they have power over because of the lack of enough fire or arrows, who would want the extra mouths to feed?

I think I'm missing something here. Is the sacrifice the atrocity of which you describe?

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

I think I'm missing something here. Is the sacrifice the atrocity of which you describe?

Yes. There was a massacre/sacrifice that happened at the Wolf's Den.

I can't be sure of how exactly it will go down, it might just end up being a very lopsided fight in the godswood, but either way when Bran emerges with those of his party still alive, (the Mountain Clans and Manderly have both confirmed he left Winterfell alive, I think Lady Dustin has decided to turn against Bolton per that component of the GNC theory) it will be bloody in the walls of Winterfell.

[DarkSister1001]

Yes. There was a massacre/sacrifice that happened at the Wolf's Den.

I can't be sure of how exactly it will go down, it might just end up being a very lopsided fight in the godswood, but either way when Bran emerges with those of his party still alive, (the Mountain Clans and Manderly have both confirmed he left Winterfell alive, I think Lady Dustin has decided to turn against Bolton per that component of the GNC theory) it will be bloody in the walls of Winterfell.

Gotcha. Thanks!

[Illuminated by Fire]

A Storm of Swords: Bran III

By night all cloaks are black, Your Grace.

Summary

The group reaches the Gift, the land up until fifty leagues south of the Wall, which was given to the Night's Watch in the past. They approach a village with a tower on a island in a lake surrounding it, called Queenscrown. The village is empty, and when Jojen senses a storm approaching they decide to seek shelter in the tower, after Bran recalls a secret causeway across the water.

In the tower they discuss their future approach. Jojen proposes to search the abandoned castles of the Night's Watch for a way through the wall and insists to stay away from Castle Black to remain hidden. The discussions gets interrupted when Jojen spots a man in the village and soon sees other, armed men coming into the village. In the meanwhile the storm gets worse, Hodor gets scared and begins shouting. Afraid of getting found, the group tries to calm him without success, until Bran skinchanges in Hodor by accident for a moment, before being pushed out. This leads to Hodor stopping to shout. The chapter ends with Bran warging Summer, approaching the men in the village.

Analysis

Background Information

Before going into the character related part of the chapter there is quite a bit of new background information revealed here by Bran. He first explains that all of the land up until fifty leagues behind the Wall is called the Gift and belongs to the Night's Watch. The first twenty-five leagues were given to them by Bran the Builder and the other twenty-five leagues were given to them much later by queen Alysanne, also called 'Good Queen Alysanne', which happened after Aegon's conquest. But the land is abandoned at the time Bran and the others come there, which Bran explains with wildling raids because of the current state of the Watch. This reflects the decay the Watch suffers during the times the story is set in and compares it unfavorably to the older times. This is a similar to the decline of magic and the death of the dragons. Since these things are reverting themselves it could mean a similar thing for the Watch.

The other piece of information are the ghost castles of the Night's Watch. We learn (or are reminded) here that there are nineteen forts, of which at most seventeen were manned at one time. The gates of the abandoned castles are sealed with stone and ice, which means that they give no way through. This gives a similar impression to the abandoned Gift, since the Night's Watch does not have the men to keep them running, but also poses a practical problem since the group cannot go to Castle Black for fear of betrayal, which also reflects on the fact that a significant part of the Night's Watch is not there voluntarily, but is there for some sort of crime and not necessarily trustworthy.

The Reach of Skinchanging

A significant part of this chapter is of course that Bran skinchanges into Hodor for the first time:

“Be quiet!” Bran said in a shrill scared voice, reaching up uselessly for Hodor's leg as he crashed past, reaching, reaching.

Hodor staggered, and closed his mouth. He shook his head slowly from side to side, sank back to the floor, and sat crosslegged. When the thunder boomed, he scarcely seemed to hear it. The four of them sat in the dark tower, scarce daring to breathe.

“Bran, what did you do?” Meera whispered.

“Nothing.” Bran shook his head. “I don't know.” But he did. I reached for him, the way I reach for Summer. He had been Hodor for half a heartbeat. It scared him.

The first thing to note is the situation during which Bran does this. The storm is at its peak, Hodor is scared and shouts while armed men are in the village near the tower. Everyone panics and tries to silence Hodor and while being in this desperate situation Bran does accidentally skinchange into Hodor for just a moment, before being pushed out. Bran doing this here is more a reflex than anything else, something born out of the moment. It is also important that Bran is scared by this happening. It is not something he wanted to do, but it surprised him as well.

This is the first time we get introduced to the concept of skinchanging humans instead of animals, before Jojen mentioned that greenseers 'could wear the skins of any beast that flies or swims or crawls'. Now we see that this also includes humans, which brings more implications with it, as already discussed a bit here and which will come up in future chapters as well. As such, I will not go into them here. But the theme that Bran's magical powers emerge in situations of urgency or gravity continues here. In this case it is a situation which is immediately dangerous. In the case of him controlling his skinchanging abilities it was them hiding in the crypts for days. This is not only limited to Bran, the hatching of Daenerys' dragons was also a very emotionally charged situation, with her child and husband dying and the confrontation with Mirri Maaz Duur, so it seems to be a general trend when faced with those situations.

A Dangerous Situations

In this chapter we have the first time that the group is in a concrete dangerous situation after leaving Winterfell. At first they see one man entering the village and they retreat into the tower. They shortly discuss making a fire, but Jojen insists that this is too dangerous in case that the man notices the smoke and chooses to tell someone. This reflects the basic roles Bran, Jojen and Meera have in those discussions. Bran proposes to make a fire, Jojen refuses and Meera tries to argue for the idea. Jojen has the last word and they do not make a fire. In general, Bran makes 'daring' proposals, like wanting to use the Kingsroad, and Jojen and Meera often take contrary points in their discussions. The latter point could have roots in the underlying conflict between Jojen and Meera because of his greendreams, but is also caused by their different personalities. In the end, the group acts according to Jojen's decision, which is also something these discussions have in common.

A while after they see the single person entering the village, Jojen notices more people:

Jojen turned back to the darkness, and they all heard him suck in his breath. “What is it?” Meera asked.

“Men in the village.”

“The man we saw before?”

“Other men. Armed. I saw an axe, and spears as well.”

Jojen had never sounded so much like the boy he was. “I saw them when the lightning flashed, moving under the trees.”

This is the first time we see Jojen scared. He was not even scared by the direwolves attacking himself and Meera, but here he is. Most likely because it is a situation that threatens the whole group and does not necessarily mean his death, even if it turns out to be a disaster. This display of emotion serves to remind the reader that, Hodor not included, they are all children that undertake a journey that could very well kill them all or could lead to them getting captured, which is not pleasant given that the Boltons or the Ironmen would be likely candidates for this. Even Jojen's stoicism has limits, and this is clearly one of them.

The situation gets worse then the storm gets worse and Hodor begins shouting. The reactions on this are quite interesting:

“NO!” Bran shouted back. “NO HODORING!”

It did no good. “”HOOOODOR!” moaned Hodor. Meera tried to catch him and calm him, but he was too strong. He flung her aside with no more than a shrug. “HOOOOOODOOOOOOOR!” the stableboy screamed as lightning filled the sky again, and even Jojen was shouting now, shouting at Bran and Meera to shut him up.

Bran shouts himself, Meera wants to calm him and Jojen shouts at them both to shut Hodor up, not at Hodor directly. That shows their difference in approaches to the situation and quite a bit of their personalities. Bran knows Hodor for a long time, sine he was raised at Winterfell, and reacts due to the urgency of the situation with shouting at him. Meera is more empathetic and tries to calm them down. But Jojen does not have the direct connection to Hodor or is perhaps too used to giving orders (just a speculation here). In any case, since this is a situation where they react instinctively, which reveals much about their respective characters.

Stray Observations:

• 
  

  When they eat the duck, Hodor eats wing and leg, Jojen the thigh while Meera and Bran share the breast. It could be nothing or an allusion to Bran's developing feelings for Meera.

  
  
  
• 
  

  When Bran tells a story while eating, he tells about Brandon the Shipwright, who sailed beyond the Sunset Sea. Maybe some kind of foreshadowing.

  
  
  
• 
  

  They again encounter a tower, which has been noted to be a symbol for Bran. It is not broken this time, but the theme remains.

  
  
  

This is a shorter analysis, but I found it difficult to write much about this chapter. Much of it is either a setup for the next Bran and Jon chapter and much of it has been adressed already in earlier chapters. But as a starting point after a break that may not be that bad.

[MoIaF]

A Storm of Swords: Bran III

By night all cloaks are black, Your Grace.

Summary

The group reaches the Gift, the land up until fifty leagues south of the Wall, which was given to the Night's Watch in the past. They approach a village with a tower on a island in a lake surrounding it, called Queenscrown. The village is empty, and when Jojen senses a storm approaching they decide to seek shelter in the tower, after Bran recalls a secret causeway across the water.

In the tower they discuss their future approach. Jojen proposes to search the abandoned castles of the Night's Watch for a way through the wall and insists to stay away from Castle Black to remain hidden. The discussions gets interrupted when Jojen spots a man in the village and soon sees other, armed men coming into the village. In the meanwhile the storm gets worse, Hodor gets scared and begins shouting. Afraid of getting found, the group tries to calm him without success, until Bran skinchanges in Hodor by accident for a moment, before being pushed out. This leads to Hodor stopping to shout. The chapter ends with Bran warging Summer, approaching the men in the village.

Analysis

Background Information

Before going into the character related part of the chapter there is quite a bit of new background information revealed here by Bran. He first explains that all of the land up until fifty leagues behind the Wall is called the Gift and belongs to the Night's Watch. The first twenty-five leagues were given to them by Bran the Builder and the other twenty-five leagues were given to them much later by queen Alysanne, also called 'Good Queen Alysanne', which happened after Aegon's conquest. But the land is abandoned at the time Bran and the others come there, which Bran explains with wildling raids because of the current state of the Watch. This reflects the decay the Watch suffers during the times the story is set in and compares it unfavorably to the older times. This is a similar to the decline of magic and the death of the dragons. Since these things are reverting themselves it could mean a similar thing for the Watch.

The other piece of information are the ghost castles of the Night's Watch. We learn (or are reminded) here that there are nineteen forts, of which at most seventeen were manned at one time. The gates of the abandoned castles are sealed with stone and ice, which means that they give no way through. This gives a similar impression to the abandoned Gift, since the Night's Watch does not have the men to keep them running, but also poses a practical problem since the group cannot go to Castle Black for fear of betrayal, which also reflects on the fact that a significant part of the Night's Watch is not there voluntarily, but is there for some sort of crime and not necessarily trustworthy.

The Reach of Skinchanging

A significant part of this chapter is of course that Bran skinchanges into Hodor for the first time:

“Be quiet!” Bran said in a shrill scared voice, reaching up uselessly for Hodor's leg as he crashed past, reaching, reaching.

Hodor staggered, and closed his mouth. He shook his head slowly from side to side, sank back to the floor, and sat crosslegged. When the thunder boomed, he scarcely seemed to hear it. The four of them sat in the dark tower, scarce daring to breathe.

“Bran, what did you do?” Meera whispered.

“Nothing.” Bran shook his head. “I don't know.” But he did. I reached for him, the way I reach for Summer. He had been Hodor for half a heartbeat. It scared him.

The first thing to note is the situation during which Bran does this. The storm is at its peak, Hodor is scared and shouts while armed men are in the village near the tower. Everyone panics and tries to silence Hodor and while being in this desperate situation Bran does accidentally skinchange into Hodor for just a moment, before being pushed out. Bran doing this here is more a reflex than anything else, something born out of the moment. It is also important that Bran is scared by this happening. It is not something he wanted to do, but it surprised him as well.

This is the first time we get introduced to the concept of skinchanging humans instead of animals, before Jojen mentioned that greenseers 'could wear the skins of any beast that flies or swims or crawls'. Now we see that this also includes humans, which brings more implications with it, as already discussed a bit here and which will come up in future chapters as well. As such, I will not go into them here. But the theme that Bran's magical powers emerge in situations of urgency or gravity continues here. In this case it is a situation which is immediately dangerous. In the case of him controlling his skinchanging abilities it was them hiding in the crypts for days. This is not only limited to Bran, the hatching of Daenerys' dragons was also a very emotionally charged situation, with her child and husband dying and the confrontation with Mirri Maaz Duur, so it seems to be a general trend when faced with those situations.

A Dangerous Situations

In this chapter we have the first time that the group is in a concrete dangerous situation after leaving Winterfell. At first they see one man entering the village and they retreat into the tower. They shortly discuss making a fire, but Jojen insists that this is too dangerous in case that the man notices the smoke and chooses to tell someone. This reflects the basic roles Bran, Jojen and Meera have in those discussions. Bran proposes to make a fire, Jojen refuses and Meera tries to argue for the idea. Jojen has the last word and they do not make a fire. In general, Bran makes 'daring' proposals, like wanting to use the Kingsroad, and Jojen and Meera often take contrary points in their discussions. The latter point could have roots in the underlying conflict between Jojen and Meera because of his greendreams, but is also caused by their different personalities. In the end, the group acts according to Jojen's decision, which is also something these discussions have in common.

A while after they see the single person entering the village, Jojen notices more people:

Jojen turned back to the darkness, and they all heard him suck in his breath. “What is it?” Meera asked.

“Men in the village.”

“The man we saw before?”

“Other men. Armed. I saw an axe, and spears as well.”

Jojen had never sounded so much like the boy he was. “I saw them when the lightning flashed, moving under the trees.”

This is the first time we see Jojen scared. He was not even scared by the direwolves attacking himself and Meera, but here he is. Most likely because it is a situation that threatens the whole group and does not necessarily mean his death, even if it turns out to be a disaster. This display of emotion serves to remind the reader that, Hodor not included, they are all children that undertake a journey that could very well kill them all or could lead to them getting captured, which is not pleasant given that the Boltons or the Ironmen would be likely candidates for this. Even Jojen's stoicism has limits, and this is clearly one of them.

The situation gets worse then the storm gets worse and Hodor begins shouting. The reactions on this are quite interesting:

“NO!” Bran shouted back. “NO HODORING!”

It did no good. “”HOOOODOR!” moaned Hodor. Meera tried to catch him and calm him, but he was too strong. He flung her aside with no more than a shrug. “HOOOOOODOOOOOOOR!” the stableboy screamed as lightning filled the sky again, and even Jojen was shouting now, shouting at Bran and Meera to shut him up.

Bran shouts himself, Meera wants to calm him and Jojen shouts at them both to shut Hodor up, not at Hodor directly. That shows their difference in approaches to the situation and quite a bit of their personalities. Bran knows Hodor for a long time, sine he was raised at Winterfell, and reacts due to the urgency of the situation with shouting at him. Meera is more empathetic and tries to calm them down. But Jojen does not have the direct connection to Hodor or is perhaps too used to giving orders (just a speculation here). In any case, since this is a situation where they react instinctively, which reveals much about their respective characters.

Stray Observations:

• When they eat the duck, Hodor eats wing and leg, Jojen the thigh while Meera and Bran share the breast. It could be nothing or an allusion to Bran's developing feelings for Meera.

• When Bran tells a story while eating, he tells about Brandon the Shipwright, who sailed beyond the Sunset Sea. Maybe some kind of foreshadowing.

They again encounter a tower, which has been noted to be a symbol for Bran. It is not broken this time, but the theme remains.

This is a shorter analysis, but I found it difficult to write much about this chapter. Much of it is either a setup for the next Bran and Jon chapter and much of it has been adressed already in earlier chapters. But as a starting point after a break that may not be that bad.

Thanks IBF for an excellent analysis. :thumbsup:

I'll comment on it later.

[DarkSister1001]

A Storm of Swords: Bran III

By night all cloaks are black, Your Grace.

Short, sweet and to the point, nicely done.

The first twenty-five leagues were given to them by Bran the Builder and the other twenty-five leagues were given to them much later by queen Alysanne, also called 'Good Queen Alysanne', which happened after Aegon's conquest.

I find it interesting that Bran, Jon and Sam all mention her visit in within just a few chapters of each other. Could be nothing more than Jon & Bran being in the same area at the same time, but Sam's mentioning of it makes me wonder if there's more to it.

This is the first time we get introduced to the concept of skinchanging humans instead of animals, before Jojen mentioned that greenseers 'could wear the skins of any beast that flies or swims or crawls'. Now we see that this also includes humans, which brings more implications with it, as already discussed a bit here and which will come up in future chapters as well. As such, I will not go into them here.

Good thinking! This will be a huge topic coming up in the Varamyr Prologue and Bran's ADwD chapters.

But the theme that Bran's magical powers emerge in situations of urgency or gravity continues here. In this case it is a situation which is immediately dangerous. In the case of him controlling his skinchanging abilities it was them hiding in the crypts for days. This is not only limited to Bran, the hatching of Daenerys' dragons was also a very emotionally charged situation, with her child and husband dying and the confrontation with Mirri Maaz Duur, so it seems to be a general trend when faced with those situations.

Good point. “I don't know.” But he did. I reached for him, the way I reach for Summer. - Did he mean to? Or was is just a knee jerk reaction?

• They again encounter a tower, which has been noted to be a symbol for Bran. It is not broken this time, but the theme remains.

Not broken but abandoned without a caretaker and neglected, like Bran. It is interesting that Bran is Robb's heir and will shortly be the KitN (without knowing it) and this Tower was named for a Queen and decorated in her honor.

This is a shorter analysis, but I found it difficult to write much about this chapter. Much of it is either a setup for the next Bran and Jon chapter and much of it has been adressed already in earlier chapters. But as a starting point after a break that may not be that bad.

I agree. Nice way to re-wet our appetites.

The only other thing I'd like to add is a description Bran gives of the lake. "When the wind blew, ripples moved across the surface of the lake, chasing one another like boys at play". I think this is a good reminder that despite their current status, being on an adventure, Bran still yearns for the way things were. Before.

[BearQueen87]

A Storm of Swords: Bran III

By night all cloaks are black, Your Grace.

Very nice job Illuminated by Fire! I agree it's a shorter chapter, another chapter of Bran moving to his eventual destination, but I do think it was smart of GRRM to stretch this out a bit. You can't just have Bran appear at the Wall, sadly.

Background Information

Before going into the character related part of the chapter there is quite a bit of new background information revealed here by Bran. He first explains that all of the land up until fifty leagues behind the Wall is called the Gift and belongs to the Night's Watch.

AKA: "here's a bunch of stuff that will matter much more in later books, but I can't tell you that now so...here!"

Apart from letting the readers in on some history for future plot lines, I just want to point out that GRRM went to a lot of pains to show that not all Targ monarch are big bad vile tyrants. There is a tendency to see all the Targs (current Mother of Dragons as well) as all mad and bad, but Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne were definitely good people.

Yes, you have mad and bad Targs, but you also have mad and bad Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, Greyjoys...ect.

It is also important that Bran is scared by this happening. It is not something he wanted to do, but it surprised him as well.

Emotions make us do crazy things. While this doesn't excuse later skinchanges of Hodor, this first one is done innocently and without malicious intent. I would be worried about Bran if he came out of this moment and liked being inside Hodor and wanted to experiment, not scared like he is.

In the end, the group acts according to Jojen's decision, which is also something these discussions have in common.

And I think that bothers Bran. Yes, Jojen has the greendreams, but Bran is the Warg. Yes, Jojen is older but Bran is a Prince of Winterfell and even if Robb had not been declared the King in the North, the Reed's would still owe the Starks loyalty and fealty.

I also think Bran's relationship with Meera is becoming more and more "the better" for Bran between the two Reeds. Jojen and Bran are first and foremost mentor/mentee. Any fondness and actual friendship falls behind that other relationship. There is nothing like that with Meera and Bran, though. They can just be friends.

Sidenote, but pre-fall, I often wonder if Ned ever intended to wed Bran to the Reeds. If Jojen was heir, then Meera could marry and move away from the Reed hold.

This is the first time we see Jojen scared. He was not even scared by the direwolves attacking himself and Meera, but here he is. Most likely because it is a situation that threatens the whole group and does not necessarily mean his death, even if it turns out to be a disaster. This display of emotion serves to remind the reader that, Hodor not included, they are all children that undertake a journey that could very well kill them all or could lead to them getting captured, which is not pleasant given that the Boltons or the Ironmen would be likely candidates for this. Even Jojen's stoicism has limits, and this is clearly one of them.

I also wonder if Jojen is scared because it's the first time in a long time he hasn't "seen" (via dream) what is coming and that alarmed him. What else has he potentially not seen?

Jojen the thigh while Meera and Bran share the breast. It could be nothing or an allusion to Bran's developing feelings for Meera.

Oh well spotted. Yes, I think it's a hint at Bran and his sexual awakening that will probably happen more in Winds.

When Bran tells a story while eating, he tells about Brandon the Shipwright, who sailed beyond the Sunset Sea. Maybe some kind of foreshadowing.

Maybe Bran won't sail but maybe he'll be able to see beyond the Sunset Sea. (also, "beyond the Sunset Sea" screams "metaphor for DEATH" to me. I wonder if GRRM intended it as such)

This is a shorter analysis, but I found it difficult to write much about this chapter. Much of it is either a setup for the next Bran and Jon chapter and much of it has been adressed already in earlier chapters. But as a starting point after a break that may not be that bad.

:) no worries. As it stands right now, the analysis for the next Bran chapter is 13 pages long in my word document......

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

I also think Bran's relationship with Meera is becoming more and more "the better" for Bran between the two Reeds. Jojen and Bran are first and foremost mentor/mentee. Any fondness and actual friendship falls behind that other relationship. There is nothing like that with Meera and Bran, though. They can just be friends.

Sidenote, but pre-fall, I often wonder if Ned ever intended to wed Bran to the Reeds. If Jojen was heir, then Meera could marry and move away from the Reed hold.

I also wonder if Jojen is scared because it's the first time in a long time he hasn't "seen" (via dream) what is coming and that alarmed him. What else has he potentially not seen?

Oh well spotted. Yes, I think it's a hint at Bran and his sexual awakening that will probably happen more in Winds.

As someone who loves what Bran and Meera's relationship could be in the future, as adults, I approve of this, but I have so many conditions before I feel comfortable with it featuring in any way in canon. Especially given how much older Meera is and the fact she's acted as older sister/mother until now. (I have a headcanon/hypothesis that Meera is asexual; GRRM almost never describes her in a sexual way, which is unusual despite it being through Bran's POV, and she never discusses romance. At all).

GRRM may have been dropping a hint however about Bran and Meera having some kind of relationship in the future in TWOIAF: One of Cregan Stark's children (a generation with many similarities to the current one), Brandon, inherited from his two older brothers and had a bastard son by Wylla Fenn, a crannogwoman. Wylla is a name shared by one of the women suspected to be Jon Snow's mother (but of course, R+L=J).

Even if Bran and Meera's child, son or daughter, were to be a bastard, the Neck seem like a place so far outside the cultural mainstream of Westeros and even the North that they could potentially inherit Howland's place as ruler of the Neck.

Given that is a story, and not the real world, GRRM could still use his authority as an author to give Bran the ability to have children. In real life, some of those paralyzed below the waist are able to have children even though that's fairly rare.

"beyond the Sunset Sea" screams "metaphor for DEATH" to me.

We are so on the same page with that.

[BearQueen87]

As someone who loves what Bran and Meera's relationship could be in the future, as adults, I approve of this, but I have so many conditions before I feel comfortable with it featuring in any way in canon. Especially given how much older Meera is and the fact she's acted as older sister/mother until now. (I have a headcanon/hypothesis that Meera is asexual; GRRM almost never describes her in a sexual way, which is unusual despite it being through Bran's POV, and she never discusses romance. At all).

I think it would largely depend on Meera's reactions to Bran's "lessons" as he and BR continue to work together. For example, if Jojen dies (which seems likely, and not to jump too far ahead here...) how would Meera feel? Would she blame Bran for taking them this far north? Or would she accept that Jojen knew his fate and chose it anyway? And if Bran's path with the 3EC gets progressively darker (for whatever reason) could she stomach that?

Part of me thinks that if Bran really is playing out the LH story again, he has to be completely alone by the time he goes all Fenrir and takes over BR's spot as the Last Greenseer.

We are so on the same page with that.

The more I think about it, the more I think it's what GRRM wanted.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

I think it would largely depend on Meera's reactions to Bran's "lessons" as he and BR continue to work together. For example, if Jojen dies (which seems likely, and not to jump too far ahead here...) how would Meera feel? Would she blame Bran for taking them this far north? Or would she accept that Jojen knew his fate and chose it anyway? And if Bran's path with the 3EC gets progressively darker (for whatever reason) could she stomach that?

I agree, and since I'm a believer that Jojen was the sacrifice to create a stormsinging spell that created the unnatural blizzard around Winterfell to give Bran time to return as a savior, (yet again, GRRM plays with and subverts our previously positive notions of destiny, but like you say let's not jump too far ahead), how could she reconcile with that with any feelings for Bran in the future? Blaming Bran for everything that's happened seems like exactly what she's doing as of his last ADWD chapter.

Given the state of affairs in canon, it seems very unlikely to happen at all, and less likely to be something positive and happy in the end. As affirmative a believer I am in Bran's destiny as a king and the Rebuilder, I'm certainly not the only one in this thread.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

I've been absent from the re-read for the past few months due to work and other stuff and I just want to thank everyone for such amazing and in-depth comments and analyses. I really loved every bit of it.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

A Storm of Swords: Bran III

By night all cloaks are black, Your Grace.

Summary

The group reaches the Gift, the land up until fifty leagues south of the Wall, which was given to the Night's Watch in the past. They approach a village with a tower on a island in a lake surrounding it, called Queenscrown. The village is empty, and when Jojen senses a storm approaching they decide to seek shelter in the tower, after Bran recalls a secret causeway across the water.

In the tower they discuss their future approach. Jojen proposes to search the abandoned castles of the Night's Watch for a way through the wall and insists to stay away from Castle Black to remain hidden. The discussions gets interrupted when Jojen spots a man in the village and soon sees other, armed men coming into the village. In the meanwhile the storm gets worse, Hodor gets scared and begins shouting. Afraid of getting found, the group tries to calm him without success, until Bran skinchanges in Hodor by accident for a moment, before being pushed out. This leads to Hodor stopping to shout. The chapter ends with Bran warging Summer, approaching the men in the village.

Analysis

Background Information

Before going into the character related part of the chapter there is quite a bit of new background information revealed here by Bran. He first explains that all of the land up until fifty leagues behind the Wall is called the Gift and belongs to the Night's Watch. The first twenty-five leagues were given to them by Bran the Builder and the other twenty-five leagues were given to them much later by queen Alysanne, also called 'Good Queen Alysanne', which happened after Aegon's conquest. But the land is abandoned at the time Bran and the others come there, which Bran explains with wildling raids because of the current state of the Watch. This reflects the decay the Watch suffers during the times the story is set in and compares it unfavorably to the older times. This is a similar to the decline of magic and the death of the dragons. Since these things are reverting themselves it could mean a similar thing for the Watch.

The other piece of information are the ghost castles of the Night's Watch. We learn (or are reminded) here that there are nineteen forts, of which at most seventeen were manned at one time. The gates of the abandoned castles are sealed with stone and ice, which means that they give no way through. This gives a similar impression to the abandoned Gift, since the Night's Watch does not have the men to keep them running, but also poses a practical problem since the group cannot go to Castle Black for fear of betrayal, which also reflects on the fact that a significant part of the Night's Watch is not there voluntarily, but is there for some sort of crime and not necessarily trustworthy.

The Reach of Skinchanging

A significant part of this chapter is of course that Bran skinchanges into Hodor for the first time:

“Be quiet!” Bran said in a shrill scared voice, reaching up uselessly for Hodor's leg as he crashed past, reaching, reaching.

Hodor staggered, and closed his mouth. He shook his head slowly from side to side, sank back to the floor, and sat crosslegged. When the thunder boomed, he scarcely seemed to hear it. The four of them sat in the dark tower, scarce daring to breathe.

“Bran, what did you do?” Meera whispered.

“Nothing.” Bran shook his head. “I don't know.” But he did. I reached for him, the way I reach for Summer. He had been Hodor for half a heartbeat. It scared him.

The first thing to note is the situation during which Bran does this. The storm is at its peak, Hodor is scared and shouts while armed men are in the village near the tower. Everyone panics and tries to silence Hodor and while being in this desperate situation Bran does accidentally skinchange into Hodor for just a moment, before being pushed out. Bran doing this here is more a reflex than anything else, something born out of the moment. It is also important that Bran is scared by this happening. It is not something he wanted to do, but it surprised him as well.

This is the first time we get introduced to the concept of skinchanging humans instead of animals, before Jojen mentioned that greenseers 'could wear the skins of any beast that flies or swims or crawls'. Now we see that this also includes humans, which brings more implications with it, as already discussed a bit here and which will come up in future chapters as well. As such, I will not go into them here. But the theme that Bran's magical powers emerge in situations of urgency or gravity continues here. In this case it is a situation which is immediately dangerous. In the case of him controlling his skinchanging abilities it was them hiding in the crypts for days. This is not only limited to Bran, the hatching of Daenerys' dragons was also a very emotionally charged situation, with her child and husband dying and the confrontation with Mirri Maaz Duur, so it seems to be a general trend when faced with those situations.

A Dangerous Situations

In this chapter we have the first time that the group is in a concrete dangerous situation after leaving Winterfell. At first they see one man entering the village and they retreat into the tower. They shortly discuss making a fire, but Jojen insists that this is too dangerous in case that the man notices the smoke and chooses to tell someone. This reflects the basic roles Bran, Jojen and Meera have in those discussions. Bran proposes to make a fire, Jojen refuses and Meera tries to argue for the idea. Jojen has the last word and they do not make a fire. In general, Bran makes 'daring' proposals, like wanting to use the Kingsroad, and Jojen and Meera often take contrary points in their discussions. The latter point could have roots in the underlying conflict between Jojen and Meera because of his greendreams, but is also caused by their different personalities. In the end, the group acts according to Jojen's decision, which is also something these discussions have in common.

A while after they see the single person entering the village, Jojen notices more people:

Jojen turned back to the darkness, and they all heard him suck in his breath. “What is it?” Meera asked.

“Men in the village.”

“The man we saw before?”

“Other men. Armed. I saw an axe, and spears as well.”

Jojen had never sounded so much like the boy he was. “I saw them when the lightning flashed, moving under the trees.”

This is the first time we see Jojen scared. He was not even scared by the direwolves attacking himself and Meera, but here he is. Most likely because it is a situation that threatens the whole group and does not necessarily mean his death, even if it turns out to be a disaster. This display of emotion serves to remind the reader that, Hodor not included, they are all children that undertake a journey that could very well kill them all or could lead to them getting captured, which is not pleasant given that the Boltons or the Ironmen would be likely candidates for this. Even Jojen's stoicism has limits, and this is clearly one of them.

The situation gets worse then the storm gets worse and Hodor begins shouting. The reactions on this are quite interesting:

“NO!” Bran shouted back. “NO HODORING!”

It did no good. “”HOOOODOR!” moaned Hodor. Meera tried to catch him and calm him, but he was too strong. He flung her aside with no more than a shrug. “HOOOOOODOOOOOOOR!” the stableboy screamed as lightning filled the sky again, and even Jojen was shouting now, shouting at Bran and Meera to shut him up.

Bran shouts himself, Meera wants to calm him and Jojen shouts at them both to shut Hodor up, not at Hodor directly. That shows their difference in approaches to the situation and quite a bit of their personalities. Bran knows Hodor for a long time, sine he was raised at Winterfell, and reacts due to the urgency of the situation with shouting at him. Meera is more empathetic and tries to calm them down. But Jojen does not have the direct connection to Hodor or is perhaps too used to giving orders (just a speculation here). In any case, since this is a situation where they react instinctively, which reveals much about their respective characters.

Stray Observations:

• When they eat the duck, Hodor eats wing and leg, Jojen the thigh while Meera and Bran share the breast. It could be nothing or an allusion to Bran's developing feelings for Meera.

• When Bran tells a story while eating, he tells about Brandon the Shipwright, who sailed beyond the Sunset Sea. Maybe some kind of foreshadowing.

They again encounter a tower, which has been noted to be a symbol for Bran. It is not broken this time, but the theme remains.

This is a shorter analysis, but I found it difficult to write much about this chapter. Much of it is either a setup for the next Bran and Jon chapter and much of it has been adressed already in earlier chapters. But as a starting point after a break that may not be that bad.

Thank you for the analysis IBF!

The parallel of magic and the watch you pointed outis very interesting. My personal prediction is that the watch will be the main military force by the end of the story after all the political bickering and I think that fits in very well with the idea you threw out there.

Painful human emotions definitely have some sort of connection to magic. I wonder whether that emotion has a connection to the painful emotions of the person sacrificed as well, in other words, does the emotional charge of a sacrificed person also play a role in a ritual?

I also agree this seems more like a transitional chapter to setup things for future ones, so not much to talk about.

Other observations

Jojen's quote that "by night all coats are black" is a recurring quote in the story and I think it hints that during the long night everyone will be forced into the situation NW members are always in, or it could also hint at the importance of the Night's watch during that period.

This quote "He was the Prince of Winterfell, Eddard's Stark's son, almost a man grown and a warg too", shows us the aspects of Bran's life which he takes pride in. Bran mentioning that he is warg shows that he is proud of his gift.

Also I'll be posting the Sam analysis tomorrow April 9th, sorry for any inconvenience.

[DarkSister1001]

Jojen's quote that "by night all coats are black" is a recurring quote in the story and I think it hints that during the long night everyone will be forced into the situation NW members are always in, or it could also hint at the importance of the Night's watch during that period.

Thanks for reminding me that others had said it. When I read it I thought, "I don't remember this line coming from Jojen".

This quote "He was the Prince of Winterfell, Eddard's Stark's son, almost a man grown and a warg too", shows us the aspects of Bran's life which he takes pride in. Bran mentioning that he is warg shows that he is proud of his gift.

I like to believe he put them in order of importance. First and foremost he's a Prince of WF. Being a warg is the last. It gives me hope that whatever may happen in the future his gift comes after his duty.

Also I'll be posting the Sam analysis tomorrow April 9th, sorry for any inconvenience.

Bring it! :)

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

Coldhands, Wights and Ravens

Only when he grasped the offered hand did he realize that the rider wore no glove. His hand was black and cold, with fingers hard as stone.

Chapter Summary

This chapter is almost the opposite of Bran’s previous chapters. Whiles Bran is trying to get North of the Wall this chapter focuses on Sam and Gilly trying to get South of the Wall. The chapter starts with Sam searching for Whitetree, since it would be the best marker for him to know where he is going. He finds a weirwood tree and hopes that it is the one at Whitetree but he doubts it since the one at Whitetree wasn’t weeping blood however this one is weeping blood.

After finding a place to stay for the night, in a long hall abandoned by wildings, Sam and Gilly encounter Paul in the form of a wight. Sam tells Gilly to run away as he tries to bide time for her by distracting Paul. Paul then chokes Sam against the wall, even causing him to bleed. After sometime of wrestling on the ground Sam stretched to get a burning chink of wood and smashed it in Paul’s mouth, causing his head to burst into flame.

After taking care of Paul Sam runs out to check on Gilly and finds out that she is surrounded by several of wights. After Sam says that this whole situation “isn’t fair” the Ravens in the weirwood tree Gilly was up against attack all the wights and warn Sam to go. Sam encounters Coldhands, who offers them a ride out of the area.

Analysis

This isn’t a Bran chapter, so I will be doing my best to avoid fluff and focus only on the details relevant Bran and his arc. So this analysis may seem a bit shorter than usual.

Wights

We will see later down the line that Bran will encounter wights, so I thought this was a good opportunity to explore them and hopefully we can draw similarities and differences in ASOS, ADWD and other stories in the future.

Description

Paul’s hands were coal, his face was milk, his eyes shone a bitter blue. Hoarfrost whitened his beard, and on one shoulder hunched a raven, pecking at his cheek, eating the dead white flesh.

The description here is similar to the Whitewalkers we saw in the first chapter of A Game of thrones. The milky skin and blue eyes are the main features that stand out. The only difference between the two is that the wights are dead and the whitewalkers are actual living beings. We also notice that after Sam kills the wight, his blue eyes disappear, which probably means it is related to ice magic of some kind.

So looking at both this chapter and the first we can see that, the blue eyes appear as soon as the wight is raised from the dead and disappears once it is killed. So the blue eye probably represents the lifeforce the wight is living off of at the moment.

Weakness?

In a later chapter we will see Leaf (A child of the forest) claim that Wights dislike fire. This chapter supports that, since the hot burning wood was the only thing that could kill Small Paul. The chapter also shows us that dragonglass is completely useless against them.

Weirwood and Ravens

He heard the dark red leaves of the weirwood rustling, whispering to one another in a tongue he did not know.

We’ve seen something similar to this before, when Bran was in Winterfell. It was at a time when he was at the weirwood tree in Winterfell with Osha and he heard something similar. Osha told him that rustling meant that the old gods were speaking or something along that line. We will also see a similar comment by Bloodraven where he told Bran that, whiles warging a tree if a greenseer speaks, the outer world will only hear it as wind/rustling of leaves. So at this moment I believe a greenseer was at work here.

It would also explain why all the ravens suddenly attacked the wights after that moment.

Coldhands

The chapter also introduces us to Coldhands, an important character in Bran’s story. With hindsight, we know that later on we will find out that he is working with Bloodraven. Also his timing right after the Ravens attack the wights, hints at a connection between the greenseer that might be orchestrating things at this time. Not much about him now, but we will definitely learn more about him in future chapters.

Sam and Gilly & Bran, Meera and Jojen

This isn’t really relevant but I found it interesting that both their arcs have some sort of parallel. Bran is going North and Sam is going South, and also Coldhands plays a role in both of them getting to there respective journeys. There is also a sense of adventure in both of their arcs at this point, involving travelling, looking for food, protecting themselves etc. I wonder whether we are meant to compare and contrast both their journeys.

Conclusion

This chapter is action packed and was a very interesting read but it also serves as transitional chapter for the meeting between Sam and Bran. It also gives us clues on the mystery of Coldhands.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Alright, since we are about to talk about Varamyr, and thus the big you-know-what that features in ADWD:

That's right, it's time to talk about Hodor.

It's time to talk about skinchanging Hodor.

Stay tuned.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Bran, Skinchanging Hodor and the Deconstruction of Destiny of ASOIAF

This essay was written as a response to tagged commentary on my post about Bran that said:

Before I start, I want to make it clear I’m not writing this response from a place of anger. Nor do I think that the commentator believes that Bran is a bad person.

“because warging into Hodor is so unethical and it freaks me out”

This is just a springboard for a conversation that I’ve wanted to have for a while now, and this seems like a good prompt to start it. So let’s have that conversation.

It’s good that skinchanging Hodor freaks you out. That is the author’s intention.

The point that I’m going to reach before this essay is over that if you weren’t freaked out a lot sooner, you should have been. We all as readers should have been. Specifically, freaked out by the way Bran is guided on his journey by forces who are implacable and show a remarkable lack of concern about the suffering that it inflicts on him and his friends, and the fact that the reader expects to vicariously live out wish-fulfillment through that journey. The fundamental critique that GRRM has written is not of Bran’s morality but the reader’s; and in particular the type of reader that has reacted to each step in Bran’s magical growth with “wow cool! This warging stuff is awesome”, and then whoops, got the reality check in ADWD that when you break a child’s body and will and then give him inconceivable magical power as a consolation prize, he will be totally out his depth. The inevitable result is that the child does things with that power that we as adults find horrifying, and rightly so. The primary moral failing here is the hypocrisy of the reader’s expectations about Bran’s “destiny” and the very structure of the Hero’s Journey.

“No one must ever know.”

Bran knows that what he is doing is wrong. Where this conversation often stumbles and starts to go into pointless (and pedantic) circles, is that those criticizing Bran do not really stop to question the kind of “wrong” at hand, and the difference between what we as adults mean by “wrong” and what Bran, as a 10 year-old child, understands that word to be. It is as stated in the narrative, an “abomination”: a violation of human rights and bodily autonomy, a concept enshrined in our cultures and education. Moral reasoning of this kind, called postconventional by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, comes about in late adolescence, the last of a series of stages of cognitive and emotional development:

Kohlberg’s ideas are not without dispute of course in terms of the exact ages as to which these levels exist and how they develop in a child, but no child psychologist would ever propose that a 10 year-old could ever be able to think at the post-conventional level.

He proposed a sequence of six stages, depicting a progression of judgments. Stages 1 and 2, grouped into a “pre- conventional” level, were primarily based on obedience, punishment avoidance, and in- strumental need and exchange. Stages 3 and 4, grouped into a “conventional” level, were based on role obligations, stereotypical conceptions of good persons, and respect for the rules and authority legitimated in the social system. Stages 5 and 6, grouped into a “post-conventional” level, were based on contractual agreements, established procedural arrangements for adjudicating conflicts, mutual respect, and differentiated concepts of justice and rights. Kohlberg proposed that mutual respect and concepts of justice and rights as part of an autonomous system of thought do not come about until, at the earliest, late adolescence and usually not until adulthood. (Child and Adolescent Development: An Advanced Course; 2008)

Bran is developmentally, biologically incapable of understanding the concepts of human rights and autonomy without the guidance of a caring adult who would also compel him to stop by force of authority, let alone coming up with these moral concepts on his own. This is reflected in the way that he talks about skinchanging Hodor:

“No one wants to hurt you, Hodor, he said silently, to the child-man whose flesh he’d taken. I just want to be strong again for a while. I’ll give it back, the way I always do.”-Bran, ADWD

Other times, when he was tired of being a wolf, Bran slipped into Hodor’s skin instead. The gentle giant would whimper when he felt him, and thrash his shaggy head from side to side, but not as violently as he had the first time, back at Queenscrown. He knows it’s me, the boy liked to tell himself. He’s used to me by now. Even so, he never felt comfortable inside Hodor’s skin. The big stableboy never understood what was happening, and Bran could taste the fear at the back of his mouth.-Bran, ADWD

Bran thinks that he is simply taking something that does not belong to him and hurting another person in the process, i.e. that he is being selfish, because that is the limit of what his mind can conceive of, and naturally for a child at this age he justifies the ends with the means. His friend should “share” his body and strength because he needs it, and believes that “giving it back”, as though it were like any material object, somehow makes amends. Bran is not a morally grey character as a result because he, as a 10 year-old child, is not capable of making the same morally grey choice that an adult can. He is only being egocentric in the way that almost all children at that age are, and it is partly from that egocentricity that he makes the decision to skinchange Hodor.

“Fly or Die"

The decision to skinchange Hodor was slowly built up in the narrative. Bran does not come into the power to take another living creature’s bodily autonomy by accident, or even willingly. Rather it the consequence of the very process that we, the reader, with all our experience with heroic stories of the magic king are trained to cheer on. The process by which a child is trained and forced to take on a dangerous level of power is ultimately the cause, and it is this narrative form that GRRM deconstructs. Bran skinchanges Hodor because that is the conclusion a child would draw from the lesson that those around him have drilled into him: power will heal him, so “fly or die.”

Bran is dragged, kicking and hollering, into the destiny that the Old Gods have chosen for him, and every step of the journey, beginning with his fall from the tower, is basically a bait-and-switch. Bran is promised, or is allowed to believe for a time, that the next step will make him “strong” and give him his pride back, only to discover that he has learn more.

The reader is trained, however, to cheer this on based on prior experience with hero stories. The tension between the hero’s “refusal of the call” on the one hand, and the necessity of learning these abilities, and the unavoidable eventuality of his “destiny” on the other is the conflict of the narrative that we entirely expect. Because of this, we dismiss the fears of the likes of Maester Luwin, who says that the “wolflings have grown into dangerous beasts,” and has them locked into the godswood. As Bran feels increasingly depressed and powerless because of his paralysis and separation from his family, we come to sympathize with his fantasies and hope for their eventual reality:

“If I was a wolf, I could find Arya and Sansa. I’d smell where they were and go save them, and when Robb went to battle I’d fight beside him like Grey Wind. I’d tear out the Kingslayer’s throat with my teeth, rip, and then the war would be over and everyone would come back to Winterfell.”-Bran, ACOK.

Magical power is made more alluring to Bran with the same methods as it is made alluring to us, building on prior expectation. In Bran’s case, it is the songs and stories of knights such as Symeon Star-Eyes and the mystical Children of the Forest:

So long as there was magic, anything could happen. Ghosts could walk, trees could talk, and broken boys could grow up to be knights.

Maester Luwin and his skepticism is part of the “stone chain” that Jojen saw in his greendream that was holding Bran back from “flying.”

From his first bonding to Summer, Bran was being handed a dangerous amount of power for anyone to possess, let along a 7 year-old boy. Varamyr Sixskins, while also a child, used his warging to murder his own brother, and then later to deny his mentor Haggon his second life. Comparing Bran’s development as a skinchanger to Varamyr makes clear the difference between them in regard to how they generally treat their fellow human beings, and the kind of person Bran will likely be as an adult.

After Varamyr is to taken to Haggon, the elder man teaches him with gruffness but not without kindness how to survive in the forest and takes care of the boy. Haggon does this for no other reason than for the sake of sharing his knowledge and passing it onto the next generation:

Haggon taught me much and more. He taught me how to hunt and fish, how to butcher a carcass and bone a fish, how to find my way through the woods. And he taught me the way of the warg and the secrets of the skinchanger, though my gift was stronger than his own.

Haggon also teaches Varamyr a set of clear moral laws that are sacrosanct:

Abomination. That had always been Haggon’s favorite word. Abomination, abomination, abomination. To eat of human meat was abomination, to mate as wolf with wolf was abomination, and to seize the body of another man was the worst abomination of all. Haggon was weak, afraid of his own power. He died weeping and alone when I ripped his second life from him. Varamyr had devoured his heart himself. He taught me much and more, and the last thing I learned from him was the taste of human flesh.

And Varamyr ignores every single one, and even betrays his mentor by denying him his second life. From the beginning, Varamyr seeks out power where Bran has it forced upon him by circumstances:

When I am grown I will be the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Lump had promised himself.

He uses his power to force villages pay tribute, raping women and killing the brothers that come to avenge them.

He also justifies his actions with a level moral reasoning that is quite beyond anything Bran could as a 10 year-old boy, when he even shows remorse at all, which Varamyr never does in the case of his brother’s murder:

That was as a wolf, though. He had never eaten the meat of men with human teeth. He would not grudge his pack their feast, however. The wolves were as famished as he was, gaunt and cold and hungry, and the prey … two men and a woman, a babe in arms, fleeing from defeat to death. They would have perished soon in any case, from exposure or starvation. This way was better, quicker. A mercy.

In his final moments, he faces the moral judgement of the Old Gods, and tries to blame them for what he has done, when it was by his own will that he came to be as powerful in adulthood as he ultimately was:

Varamyr could see the weirwood’s red eyes staring down at him from the white trunk. The gods are weighing me. A shiver went through him. He had done bad things, terrible things. “That was the beast, not me,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “That was the gift you gave me.”

Varamyr has every way of knowing that the things he had done and were doing were wrong, and in that way had everything that Bran lacks from the time of his departure from Winterfell. Bloodraven teaches him none of the sacred laws that Haggon espoused or even mentions that eating the flesh of man while in an animal’s skin is wrong, and neither Jojen or Meera seem to be aware of them or mention them (and are barely into any kind of adulthood themselves). Quite the opposite, everyone around him encourages to explore his magical gifts as much as possible and says nothing of limits. There is even the possibility that the Singers know he is skinchanging Hodor, and have decided to just allow it to happen. While inside Summer’s skin, Bran senses that a warg is within One Eye when he fights him. Wouldn’t the greenseers and Bloodraven also sense that Bran while he is in Hodor’s body? He passes by greenseers as while skinchanging Hodor:

One was full of singers, enthroned like Brynden in nests of weirwood roots that wove under and through and around their bodies. Most of them looked dead to him, but as he crossed in front of them their eyes would open and follow the light of his torch, and one of them opened and closed a wrinkled mouth as if he were trying to speak.

Was the Singer trying to speak to him? And to say what? Morever, couldn’t the Singer simply tell Bloodraven what Bran was doing? This brings up some disturbing possibilities, one of which is that both Bloodraven and the Singers know what Bran is doing, and have decided to let him do it. For what purpose exactly, I can barely fathom. It might be this is simply another way for them to have Bran stretch the limits of his magical abilities, which they themselves don’t yet fully understand. Perhaps they intend to eventually tell Bran to stop after they feel it’s gone far enough. If that means that Bran will live his adult life in guilt over what he has done to his friend and servant, then so be it.

Whatever the case, Bran is not just a boy acting in a context where there is no moral limit over what he should use his magic for; there’s not even the suggestion that there are limits at all. His essentially kind and thoughtful nature, in addition to his youth, makes him the perfect instrument for the design that the Old Gods and his ancestor, Brandon the Builder, have made him the centerpiece of. His young mind cannot conceive of moral limits on its own, and unlike someone like Varamyr, who developed grand personal ambitions and was willing to commit atrocity to fulfill them, Bran only every uses the powers handed to him, whether by a mentor or by circumstance. Just as important as his natural giftedness is that Bran is malleable and fairly easy to control. He will continue on his path more or less until something or someone compels him to stop, and they need only to say the word to make him do so. Bran has always obeyed his teachers, snark or bitterness aside. Even as of ADWD, Bran can be compelled to do exactly what he said he would never do because of his natural gentleness:

Bran wept like a little girl when the bright blood came rushing out. He had never felt more like a cripple than he did then, watching helplessly as Meera Reed and Coldhands butchered the brave beast who had carried them so far. He told himself he would not eat, that it was better to go hungry than to feast upon a friend, but in the end he’d eaten twice, once in his own skin and once in Summer’s.- Bran, ADWD

Summer is the first living creature whose body he is taught that he can and should take at will for his own purposes. Jojen teaches him to have mastery of his warging ability, and to consciously direct what he does while inside Summer’s skin, telling him, “When you join, it is not enough to run and hunt and howl in Summer’s skin.” Bran thinks bitterly about this, saying, “At Winterfell he wanted me to dream my wolf dreams, and now that I know how he’s always calling me back.” To have the strong body of a wolf is not enough; he must have the power of the warg, and Jojen promises that more wonders are possible if he goes to the Three-Eyed Crow: “You could be more than me, Bran. You are the winged wolf, and there is no saying how far and high you might fly… if you had someone to teach you.” Bran’s ultimate decision to go search for the Three-Eyed Crow is driven by a search to have pride and meaning in is life, and power, first lordly and now magical as well, is what is offered:

If they stayed here, hidden down beneath Tumbledown Tower, no one would find them. He would stay alive. And crippled.

Bran realized he was crying. Stupid baby, he thought at himself. No matter where he went, to Karhold or White Harbor or Greywater Watch, he’d be a cripple when he got there. He balled his hands into fists. “I want to fly,” he told them. “Please. Take me to the crow.”- Bran, ASOS

And realistically, staying in Tumbledown Tower is not an option either, given the coming invasion; the Three-Eyed Crow certainly would have something to say about it. Even in the Cave, he dreams of what he has tried to use his powers to do since the beginning: reunite with his family,

He wished Robb were with them now. I’d tell him I could fly, but he wouldn’t believe, so I’d have to show him. I bet that he could learn to fly too, him and Arya and Sansa, even baby Rickon and Jon Snow. We could all be ravens and live in Maester Luwin’s rookery. That was just another silly dream, though.-Bran, ADWD

That he skinchanges Hodor is not a departure from this structure, where power is promised as a solace in a bait-and-switch manner, but the conclusion that most children in this situation would make, and especially one who is so young that they are developmentally incapable of understanding the concept of individual rights and bodily autonomy. And it begins from instances of necessity, first where Bran uses it stop Hodor from drawing the attention of the wildlings while in the Broken Tower, and then to fight the wrights. Then it evolves to using Hodor’s body to explore the caves or when he is “tired of being a wolf” (note that the novelty of the magic has to some extent worn off. He finds it progressively less fulfilling for its own sake). Bran is not any less of a good person, or any more morally compromised than he was in ACOK/ASOS. He is missing what every child would need but what he lacks in the situation in the Cave: a loving adult to guide him. Maester Luwin had to remind Bran that the Walders were not his to send away and that it would be wrong to do so, and to teach him the courtesies and acts of charity a lord needs to make. Bloodraven is a wise teacher, but he does not appear to deeply care about Bran or his friends beyond that they fulfill their roles. Notice his lack of comment about Jojen’s decline and seemingly looming death. Bloodraven was always a man who justified the means with the ends, first as Hand and now as mentor. Jojen’s, Meera’s, and Hodor’s lives have always been expendable if that’s what it takes for Bran to become the Rebuilder.

Bran’s narrative deconstructs all our positive notions about “destiny” as it exists in heroic myth by showing the cruelty that is inherit in forcing a young person, and a young child at that, to take on powers and roles that they do not want for the sake conflict and narrative. To do so is to put them in a position to make choices that they cannot appreciate the full consequences of.

Conclusion

Bran’s actions in ADWD act more as a subversion of the outcome the reader had been anticipating rather than an indictment of his moral judgment, in much the same way that the Purple Wedding was not meant to be an occasion to celebrate Joffrey’s death. When Bran asks the Three-Eyed Crow if his powers can “fix” his legs, this is directly parallel to the reader’s expectation that magical abilities will somehow serve as a consolation prize for suffering, being separated from his family and his disability, and the chapters that follow shatter those illusions, whether by direct answer or by ghastly demonstration of seeing that illusion pushed to its greatest extent. Only reunion with his family will ever give him any degree of happiness. Magic is the means, not the end to that ultimate goal, just as wolfish strength and cunning is to Arya or playing “the game” is to Sansa. And whereas Bran is young boy incapable of understanding the full meaning of what he is doing, the reader is an adult with every reason to see that structure of the hero’s myth is an inherently cruel one. Bran has violated Hodor’s human rights, but that it is not the equivalent, or even upon the same moral spectrum, as the crimes against humanity we see adults make in ASOIAF: Tywin’s atrocities in the Riverlands, Cersei sending victims to Qyburn’s experiments, Robert Baratheon physically and sexually abusing his wife; Jaime attempting to murder a child to protect a relationship that he knew was dangerous from the beginning. Bran stumbles from the pedestal of the “sweet boy…easy to love”, not in spite of what we love about his story or its promised wish fulfillment, but because of it.

(Special thanks to Celiatully for helping me with the major edits that made this piece what it is!)

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Of course, I realize that the participators in this re-read project have been much more aware and sensitive to suffering and danger inherit in Bran's training ; this is a commentary mostly on the fandom-at-large's discussion of Bran's arc.