[Book Spoilers All] Bran’s Growing Powers in S6 Based upon the Reread

[HexMachina]

Just now, Lady of Butterflies said:

Yes, I perfectly agree. I'm just afraid of how they will address this in the show, 

Ahh, I see  Something I am curious about with Bran on the show - are they going to address the death of Jojen, and the impact that has on the group? Obviously it would affect them, but having missed a season, there should be a big time skip in the show-verse since we last saw them. It would still be good to see them address this though.

[evita mgfs]

7 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

He is mature, but as Tijgy says, he is also slightly childish/immature at times, for example when he sends the Walders vegetables (because eww icky veggies  ) and "Hodor doesn't like love stories". Less so in the later novels of course, but there is always that childlike quality about his POV chapters (I know in interviews before GRRM has said he finds it difficult to write Bran chapters because of the age of the character. I tend to think he does a very good job capturing an 8-10yr olds' perspective of the world). And I also think there is a fine line to walk; the fact he IS a teen, and would be experiencing all the difficulties of teenage years should be a part of his story - but it should not take over the narrative and be done in the Hollywood teen movie way. Subtle line, and all about balance IMO.

Thanks  Don't be humbled though, I'm just another fan of ASOIAF who agreed to help out when asked. I don't say no to flattery though  

Yes, I agree Bran does and will continue to reach out to his siblings. From the Winds of Winter sample chapters

 

  Reveal hidden contents

It's been a while since I read it, but I seem to recall there are parts of the Mercy chapter that suggest Bran is, if not reaching out to Arya, at least aware of her/Nymeria.

I was trying to watch out for signs in the Alayne chapter but couldn't find anything.

And of course, he reaches out to Theon, both in a Dance with Dragons and Winds. I wonder if this will play into things - has Bran found it in him to forgive Theon? It seems that way in the books, with him responding to Theon's praying to the Heart Tree, and later indicating he should be given the more merciful execution. 

What I was referencing in my post thou was him trying to reach out into visions of the past, such as when he trie to speak to Ned. If he continues attempting that, and actually succeeds...well, who knows what consequences there could be? I'm not sure that is where GRRM is going with this arc, but it's an interesting possibility to think about

Yeah, I confess I've not been impressed with Bran's story on the show. I've gone on about it at length elsewhere though so I won't derail this thread! But I also picked up on a thousand eyes and two  

 

Great essay in the hidden comments!  You would like our mother thread where Bran reaches Theon - although we disagree on forgiveness.  So now we are plodding out parallels with the Catholic Mass and Sacraments.

Here's a part of my essay evidencing Bran reaching Jon - but it is not Bran's aim to change the past - but to inspire his bastard brother.

Bran may open his third eye in the Winterfell crypts as of his last POV in ACoK, but he has not yet sat his weirwood throne to learn how to see as the gods see and to know what the trees know.  Therefore, Bran returns to Jon’s wolf dream after he masters aspects of his magic so that he can inspire Jon to embrace his warg nature, to open his third eye, and not to fear death and darkness.

 

Bloodraven cautions Bran that “the past remains the past.  We can learn from it, but we cannot change it” [ADwD 458].  Then the Last Greenseer draws from his personal experiences to convince Bran that his lord father Eddard Stark cannot and does not hear him. “You cannot speak to him, try as you might.  I know.  I have my own ghosts, Bran.  A brother I loved, a brother I hated, a woman I desired.  Through the trees, I see them still, but no word of mine has ever reached them” [ADwD 458]. 

 

Bran tests for himself the perimeters of the rules of greensight imposed upon him by Bloodraven and Leaf, and Bloodraven suspects and Leaf knows that he will.  After all, Bran ignores warnings of his mother, father, and maester about climbing.  Bran challenges rules and authority, and when he knowingly decides to break rules, he may indeed garner some enlightenment, but often this is won at great cost and loss by way of dire consequences.  By far Bran’s biggest lesson is in determining whether the risks justify the means.  A boy already broken may feel he has nothing more to lose when he dares to tempt fate.

Unlike Bloodraven’s efforts to speak with his ghosts through the trees, Bran reaches Jon through Ghost and through Jon’s wolf dream, and Bran uses mental telepathy, not speech, to establish communication.

 

Bran manages to gift Jon a glimpse of his future, drawing from the shadows on Jon’s soul, hidden in the recesses of Jon’s mind. By accessing events from Jon’s “waking world”, Bran emphasizes his lessons in a dream.  For instance, Bran “inspires” – or facilitates - Jon’s first “warg” experience, employing his greenpowers to oversee a smooth transition for his bastard brother into the skin of his direwolf via the dream venue.  Martin implies that Bran’s powers are compelling and still in their infancy if readers measure acquisition of knowledge to physical growth.  Moreover, Bran communicates telepathically and empathetically with Jon via Ghost “from a future time” past the novel A Dance with Dragons. 

                                                                          

Jon’s Dream of Direwolves

“When he [Jon] closed his eyes, he dreamed of direwolves” [ACoK 515].

 

·       Since dreams are lessons, and vise-versa, Bran opts for the realm of dreams to reach his siblings, specifically his half-brother Jon Snow: “Dreams became lessons, lessons became dreams, things happened all at once or not at all” [ADwD 451].  Through Jon’s direwolf Ghost and within Jon’s wolf-dream, Bran makes his presence known.  Bran takes his older brother to school with lessons disguised as dreams and with dreams that rouse raw and instinctive emotions. 

·       The period is the “end mark” that concludes the above sentence [“When he [Jon] closed his eyes, he dreamed of direwolves”] which announces the beginning of Jon’s wolf dream, a sequence of pivotal events that continue until Jon wakes calling for Ghost. 

·       Martin sets this one sentence apart in a paragraph of its own to separate it from the paragraph that precedes it and that follows it in order to establish and sustain ambiguity in pronominal references especially in writing the dream narrative that will follow. 

·       The preceding paragraph includes the following sentence, “He [Ghost] wants to hunt, Jon thought”, which is the last time Martin identifies in printed text the name “Jon” until after the dream. Within the wolf dream narrative, Martin does not distinguish either Jon or Ghost as an antecedent for the masculine pronouns he uses.  Hence, grammatically speaking, the masculine pronouns are referents to Jon since he is the last noun clearly stated.  That simply doesn’t work for the following reason:

·       Many of Martin’s descriptors and action words are decisively canine-oriented.  By persistently not distinguishing either Jon or Ghost as an actor in the dream segments, Martin blurs the singular identities of boy and wolf, which is very likely his intention.

·       The clause “he dreamed of direwolves” showcases the alliteration of the consonant “D” which emphasizes a hard sound that Martin repeats in his frequent use of the words “darkness” and “death”.

·       Martin affirms that Jon is the dreamer, not his direwolf Ghost even though the narrative may confuse the thoughts of Ghost with Jon’s and vice versa.

·       It is Jon Snow who closes his eyes, it is Jon Snow who dreams of direwolves, but it is Martin who shifts perspectives.

The Dream Begins

 

Below, the initial wolf dream passage from ACoK describes Ghost’s instinctive connection with his pack whose scent he has lost.  Martin’s word choices are repeated when Bran’s wargs with Summer in his first POV in the novel A Storm of Swords.  It is worth considering that these feelings Bran and Summer experience at a later date on the timeline farther from Jon’s wolf dream are inspiration for Bran the greenseer when he returns to Jon’s dream, a profound way to unify the warg and wolf by evocating the shared emotions indicative to the direwolves and their wargs.

 

The matching words and their meanings are color coded for easier consideration:

 

“There were five of them [direwolf pups] when there should have been six, and they [direwolf pups]  were scattered, each [pup] apart from the others [direwolf pups].  He [Ghost/Warg] felt a deep ache of emptiness, a sense of incompleteness. The forest was vast and cold, and they [wolf pups] were so small, so lost. His [Ghost’s] brothers [wolf pups/warg siblings] were out there somewhere [in the world], and his [Ghost’s] sister, but he [Ghost] had lost their [wolf pups’] scent.  He [Ghost] sat on his haunches and lifted his [Ghost’s] head to the darkening sky, and his [Ghost’s] cry echoed through the forest, a long lonely mournful sound. As it died away, he pricked up his [Ghost’s] ears, listening for an answer, but the only sound was the sigh of blowing snow” [ACoK].

 

Compare the language and meaning in Bran’s wolf dream, which occurs after Jon’s wolf dream.

 

 

“He [Bran in Summer] had a pack as well, once.  Five they had been, and a sixth who stood aside . . . He remembered their scents, his brothers and his sisters.  They had smelled alike, had smelled of pack, but each was different too . . . The others were scattered, like leaves blown by the wild wind” [ASoS 123].

 

The similarities between the dreams are marked, as both warg Bran and warg Ghost count living siblings, noting the pup who dies; both note the scent of pack; and both see the pack mates as “scattered”.  Bran experiences his dream far from Jon’s, in the next novel, and these are emotions Bran chooses to share with wolf and warg when he returns to revisit Jon’s wolf dream.

·       The dream setting is the forest, which is unlike the “wind-carved arch of grey stone [that] marked the highest point of the Skirling Pass” [ACoK  517] where Qhorin orders his rangers to rest until “shadows began to grow again” [ACoK  763].

·       Ghost’s location among the trees brings to mind the location where Ghost digs furiously from “behind a fallen tree” at the base of the hill that the “wildlings called . . . the Fist of the First Men” [ACoK  507].

·       Ghost leads Jon to a recently dug grave where “there was no smell, no sign of graveworms”, a contrast to what Ghost sniffs near the weirwood sapling.

·       Jon unearths the obsidian tucked within “the black cloak of a Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch” [ACoK 518].

·       This signature outerwear designates a visual uniformity among the black brothers. 

·       The black cloak symbolizes the “skin”, or the outer covering that protects men.  Jon metaphorically slips his skin when he wargs Ghost in his wolf dream

·       The unclaimed black cloak also signifies Jon turning cloak to wear a wildling’s guise, but only to obey the orders of Qhorin Halfhand.  Nevertheless, Jon feigns a shift in loyalties to infiltrate the enemy where he hopes to learn their secrets.

·       The first part of Jon’s wolf dream limits the third-person point of view narration to Ghost’s perspective as perceived by the dreamer Jon Snow and inspired by the greenseer Bran.

·       Ghost telepathically and empathetically connects with his pack, those littermates with whom he at one time shared a womb.  They also share a past, and even though the pups are separated from each other by great distances, Ghost still feels his brother’ and sister’s collective presence even if he has lost their scent.

·       Only Ghost owns five littermates at this juncture on the timeline, and the sixth wolf that Ghost cannot account for is Sansa’s Lady, the direwolf who meets an early demise. 

·       Bran is at Winterfell when Lady’s corpse is returned for burial in the lichyard; therefore, if Bran inspires Jon’s wolf dream, he may also divulge this information to warg and wolf. 

·       On the other hand, Ghost’s telepathic and instinctive connection to his pack enables him to sense that one wolf from the six born in the litter is now dead.  Through meeting minds with Ghost, Jon learns of Ghost losing a sister.

·       Jon experiences Ghost’s “deep ache of emptiness, a sense of incompleteness”.  Likewise, Jon misses his siblings, which is evident on several occasions when Jon thinks of his siblings individually or collectively.  For example, when Jon climbs the Skirling Pass with the rangers, he remembers “cold nights long ago at Winterfell when he shared a bed with his brothers” [ACoK].

·       Martin’s language depicts the behaviors of Ghost, yet there is much that relates to Jon and his warg pack:  Jon’s siblings are “scattered, each apart from the others”, and Jon’s brothers “were out there somewhere”.

·       Ghost’s cry is a “long lonely mournful sound” which is similar to the mournful keening attributed to the Skirling Pass.  Perhaps this is the sound Jon hears in his wolf dream.  More likely, the wind causes the skirling, and Bran, as part of the godhood, has powers of communication related to the wind.

·       Ghost listens for an answer, one that takes a human voice that speaks after “the sigh of blowing snow” [ACoK].  Instead of a littermate’s wolf-song, another brother makes contact.

 

Who Calls Jon?

 

“Jon?

“The call came from behind him, softer than a whisper, but strong too. Can a shout be silent? He turned his head, searching for his brother, for a glimpse of a lean grey shape moving beneath the trees, but there was nothing, only...

“A weirwood”.

 

·       Martin does not enclose Jon in quotation marks, yet he distinguishes Jon with italics, which separates dialogue from a character’s inner thoughts and feelings.  Bran sends his call for Jon to the minds of both Jon and Ghost. 

·       Bran’s green magic appoints him as a telepathist who communicates directly from his mind to another’s, an extrasensory exercise Bran achieves by utilizing Ghost as the conduit and a dream as the platform to meet and to share with his brother Jon as a warg.

·       Martin selects words with care, employing singular masculine pronouns as references that have no clearly printed antecedents separating wolf from boy. Martin demonstrates that wolf and warg are truly of one mind, one spirit, instinct and intellect married by a shared past with mystical influences at work.  Together they endure both emotional and physical pain.

“The call came from behind him, softer than a whisper, but strong too. Can a shout be silent?”

 

·       Ghost responds to the call name for Jon? as if the call name is his own, which is Ghost.   Regardless of hearing “Jon”, Ghost expects to see his own grey brother, as in his grey direwolf brother, even though Ghost surely knows that any one of his pack does not speak with words, does not call out names, does not whisper secrets, and does not shout into the silence. 

·       Martin pens a brilliant moment of suspense as a transition that provokes anticipation among Ghost, the warg Jon, and the readers who literally and/or figuratively “turn” with or AS Ghost, eagerly awaiting a lean grey direwolf. 

·       Alas, for a heartbeat, Martin fools those in the moment with shared disappointment that he colors with unflattering commentary:  “nothing” and “only” are not winning words by way of an introduction to the greenseer behind the weirwood. 

 

“Can a shout be silent?”

 

·       The silent shout emphasizes Bran’s telepathy. 

·       Martin does not mention that the tree has a mouth, and through omission, the author makes clear that Bran does not need a carved mouth to speak words when he can use thoughts; therefore, Jon and Ghost hear Bran’s voice not with their ears.

The Weirwood

 

“It seemed to sprout from solid rock, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender compared to other weirwoods he had seen, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother’s face. Had his brother always had three eyes?”  [ACoK  766].

 

·       When Bran first meaningfully connects with Jon, he inhabits a weirwood sapling.

·       Jon observes the tree maturing rapidly, a visual metaphor of Bran’s accelerated “intake” of greenseeing knowledge compared to the physical growth of a weirwood from a sapling and beyond.  The expanding tree limbs that extend toward the sky are the greenseer’s arms spreading wide and shooting upward as if stretching far beyond other trees to grasp the greatest enlightenment.

·       The visibly growing weirwood Jon sees resembles the rapidly moving visions that Bran experiences through the eyes of Winterfell’s heart tree.  Bran watches trees dwindle and vanish through the “mists of centuries” [ADwD 460].

·       Bran’s learning takes place on a field of time according to a weirwood:  “a thousand human years” equal “a moment to a weirwood”’ [ADwD 458].

·       Bran’s red weirwood eyes mirror Ghost’s, “When the direwolf raised his head, his eyes glowed red and baleful, and water streamed from his jaws like slaver.  There was something fierce and terrible about him” [ACoK 516].

·       Their ferocity is symptomatic of visionaries, prophets, priests, and priestesses.  And, after experiencing visions, these mystics may have a loss of consciousness, physical weakness, intense thirst, temporary confusion, memory loss, and difficulty speaking.

·       Martin gives readers a glimpse of how a weirwood ages from the surface of Planetos, but Martin mentions very little as to the labyrinthine roots that embrace Bran in his weirwood throne.

·       The weirwood, at varying stages of growth, is and will be the symbolic representation of Bran the greenseer when he visits the dreams of his siblings through their direwolves.  Lord Brynden reaches Bran through dreams during which he wears the skin of a three-eyed crow, the bird that commands Bran to choose:  fly or die! The crow wakes Bran, kissing his forehead with a peck – a “dream” pain that Bran feels still upon waking.  The Three-Eyed Crow wants Bran to open his third eye, and an intense moment of physical discomfort in a dream may serve as a waking memory later.

·       The parallels between Bran’s first three-eyed crow dream and Jon’s wolf-dream are many, but both tree and crow impress the importance of opening the third eye.

 

Bran Answers What Jon Thinks

 

Had his [Jon’s] brother [Bran] always had three eyes?

“’Not always’, came the silent shout.  ‘Not before the crow’” [ACoK  766].

 

Martin demonstrates Bran’s telepathic powers because after Jon Snow thinks:  “Had his brother always had three eyes?”  Bran answers, “’Not always’, came the silent shout.  ‘Not before the crow’”.  For the second time, Martin refers to the silent shout pertaining to Bran’s thoughts, which Martin conveniently italicizes.

The Smell of Death and Darkness

 “He  [Ghost] sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs” [ACoK  766].

“Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark” [ACoK 766].

Ghost alerts to the smell of death when he sniffs the weirwood sapling, a scent that appears to originate with Bran and his residence either in the Winterfell crypts or in the Cave of Skulls.  Death surrounds Bran, literally and figuratively.

1.)  Beneath the snow and earth concealing the entrance to the Cave of Skulls, Bran sits his own weirwood throne, his Uncle Brandon Stark’s iron sword at hand and  his direwolf Summer nearby.  Bran’s posture is   like those dead Stark lords and Kings of Winter in Winterfell’s crypts who sit upon their own rock-carved thrones, their iron swords across their laps and stone direwolves at their feet.  The Cave of Skulls represents a symbolic crypt for Bran.  Moreover, the stone Starks frozen on their stone thrones are as crippled as Bran the broken whose useless legs take him nowhere.

2.)  Bran the “crippled boy” travels with a simple-minded giant and two crannogmen far from the Neck, a suspicious crew who are deliberately perpetuating the myth that the Prince of Winterfell is dead.  Jojen says, “So long as Bran remains dead, he is safe.  Alive, he becomes prey for those who want him dead for good and true” [ASoS 129].

3.)  Bran thinks of himself as dead because he is broken.  When Jojen dreams Bran dead , Bran thinks:  “he dreamed me dead, and I’m not.  Only he was, in a way . . .” [ASoS 129].

4.)  Bran’s teacher is a talking corpse and not the three-eyed crow from his dreams.

5.)  The interior of the cave features assorted skulls, and they rest upon the floor and line the walls.

6.)  Outside the cave the dead with black hands walk but cannot enter.

·       Ghost instinctively recoils from death, displaying very physical, canine-inspired reactions that include sniffing, cringing, bristling, and snarling.  Martin discloses that Ghost associates death with “something terrible”, from another occasion:  “When the dead came walking, Ghost knew.  He woke me, warned me” [ACoK 515]. So, Bran comforts Jon’s direwolf Ghost with “Don’t be afraid”, words to assure the unsettled Ghost.

·       Ghost smells “wolf and tree and boy” before he senses “something else, something terrible.  Death, he knew”.

·       Ghost recaptures the scent of his pack when he smells wolf. Upon recognizing the encroaching smell of death, Ghost reacts protectively:  “He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs”. 

·       Furthermore, Ghost’s signature reaction is baring his fangs because he has no voice to signal a warning, to express fear, or even to attract Jon’s attention.

·       In these words are prophesy well-hidden.  Bran hopes to assure Jon that he has nothing to fear from death and darkness when Jon encounters both at some point in the future.  Moreover, Bran insinuates that he will be there when the time comes to ease Jon’s transition to the netherworld.

·       Jojen hints at Bran’s potential for wizardry in A Storm of Swords when he says: “To me the gods gave greendreams, and to you . . . you could be more than me, Bran.  You are the winged wolf, and there is no saying how far and how high you might fly . . .  if you had someone to teach you” [ASoS 131].

·       Jon as warg shares sensory experiences with Ghost while wearing his skin. Not only may Jon share what Ghost smells, he identifies the smell as if he is a wolf himself.

·       On the other hand, Jon Snow recognizes death’s smell.  While at the Fist of the First Men, Hake says, “There’s no smell to cold”.  Jon silently disagrees, recalling his own experience with this smell: “There is, thought Jon remembering the night in the Lord Commander’s chambers.  It smells like death” [514].

 

“[You] Don’t be afraid” of WHAT? Unclear.

 

Analyzing the grammatical elements of the sentence offers little clarity. 

 

The full sentence reads “Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark”. 

 

·       The nominative case pronoun “You” is an implied “subject” of the predicate “do not be afraid”.  The implied subject “You”  may refer to either Jon or to Ghost since the pronoun’s spelling “Y – o – u”  remains the same in the plural form, nominative case. 

·       A comma joins these two short, simple sentences, and it is a weak punctuation choice for this occasion.  Although a period is the “preferred” end mark to conclude and to separate two complete thoughts linked without a coordinating conjunction or a conjunctive adverb, there are several options for revision to clarify meaning.  Quick editorial fixes are  1.) employ a coordinator:  “Don’t be afraid, and I like it in the dark”;  2.)  replace the comma with a semicolon “Don’t be afraid; I like it in the dark”; 3.) use a subordinator with an optional comma:  “Don’t be afraid because I like it in the dark”, or “Don’t be afraid, because I like it in the dark”. 

·       Each clause has its own subject and its own verb, and Martin presents each clause from a different point-of-view:  “[You] Don’t be afraid” is second person, but “I like it in the dark” is first person.

·       These grammatical inconsistencies are an exercise in determining Martin’s deliberate language choices.  In Bran’s telecommunications, Martin seemingly wants his readers to confuse Ghost with Jon and vice versa because the warg bond between boy and wolf is strong.  They think and feel as one.

·       Furthermore, these word groupings disclose that Bran perceives the fears of “both” Jon and Ghost, which makes him an empath as well as a telepathist,  and both warg and wolf share fears of the smell of death.

·       Or, Bran’s words may inform to the “general”, as in “Don’t be afraid of the smells, or of the weirwood and the boy inside it, or of anything you may see or hear as a warg in this wolf-dream”.

·       Detracting from these happy conclusions is “Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark”. Bran is a child who has had great responsibility placed upon him, and his words are childlike with childlike logic:  “Don’t be afraid of the dark because I like it in the dark”.  That is, if Martin wishes for the readers to find meaning in skewed logic.

·       Perhaps Martin unveils the mystery shrouded in ambiguity upon Jon’s waking when Jon himself considers the manner of the fear: “and what about the weirwood with his brother’s face that smelled of death and darkness?” [ACoK  768].

·       Actually, the words are as weighty as they are few.  Bran prophesizes that Jon need not fear the smell of death or the smell of the darkness in the times “to come”.

·       Bran asserts, “Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark”, words that are part of Lord Brynden’s lessons to Bran in ADwD, when the Last Greenseer lectures “Never fear the darkness” [ADwD  450].

·       In the novel A Clash of Kings, Arya’s POVs parallel Jon’s and Bran’s lessons.  Note in the following sentences how Syrio’s instruction mirrors Bloodraven’s:  “Syrio had told her [Arya] once that darkness could be her friend, and he was right” (ACoK  684). 

 

Martin has made clear Jon’s fear of darkness and death as evidenced in Jon’s dream of Winterfell’s crypts.  Even though Ghost dislikes the smell of death, Ghost has never behaved in a manner that demonstrates that he fears darkness.

“No one can see you, but you can see them”.

 

·       The above words are as potent as their forbearers:

·       These words are imperative in arguing that Bran reaches Jon Snow from a point in the future, after Bran learns to “see” and to “hear” others who cannot see him nor hear him from the heart tree – and more.

 

For example, Bran revisits his lord father through Winterfell’s heart tree, only on this occasion, Bran does not sit his weirwood throne and he does not have an eager audience curious about his visions.  Alone in his bedchamber, Bran fails again: “He [Eddard] cannot see me, Bran realized, despairing.  He wanted to reach out and touch him, but all he could do was watch and listen.  I am in the tree.  I am inside the heart tree, looking out of its red eyes, but the weirwood cannot talk, so I can’t” [ADwD 459]. 

 

What follows is a breakdown of Bran’s thoughts professing his failed attempts to reach his father.  After each segment, textual evidence is presented that proves Bran achieves all that he fails to do by the end of his last POV in ADwD.

 

“He [Eddard] cannot see me, Bran realized, despairing . . . but all he could do was watch and listen”.

 

Bran  watches unseen and unheard by his father. Bran’s frustrations and despair are replaced with a gleeful revelation of his talents to Jon,  “No one can see you, but you can see them”. 

 

In Jon’s wolf dream and in Theon’s godswood interactions, Bran moves beyond these restrictions.  Bran’s sorcery allows him ways to let those he blesses recognize him with visual, tactile, olfactory, and/or auditory cues.

 

“I am in the tree.  I am inside the heart tree, looking out of its red  eyes”,

 

Bran transforms the expression on Winterfell’s heart tree to resemble his own and endows the weirwood sapling with his likeness.  Consequently, Bran’s sorcery is so convincing that Jon, Theon, and Ghost recognize Bran’s visage in the white bark marked with red sap.

 

Theon reveals, “And for one strange moment it seemed as if it were Bran’s face carved into the pale trunk of the weirwood, staring down at him with eyes red and wise and sad.  Bran’s ghost, he thought, but that was madness” [ADwD 616].

 

“He wanted to reach out and touch him”

 

Even though Bran has no means to reach out and touch his dead father, Bran meets with success when he leans over to touch Ghost between the eyes in Jon’s wolf dream.  Furthermore, Bran touches Theon’s forehead using a red, five-fingered weirwood leaf. 

 

Both with Jon and with Theon, Bran’s greenseeing powers move beyond their limitations in his last POV in ADwD.  The symbolic gesture of touch is Bran’s attempts  to awaken Jon and Theon’s third-eyes.  He wants them to see beyond the “darkness” and look to enlightenment.

 

 

Theon reveals, “A leaf drifted down from above, brushed his brow, and landed in the pool.  It floated on the water, red,  five-fingered, like a bloody hand” [ADwD 616]. 

 

 

“but the weirwood cannot talk, so I can’t”

 

Bran communicates with Jon telepathically and empathetically, as he does with Theon in lesser degrees.  Bran speaks to Theon with rustling leaves as well as the weirwood’s mouth.

 

Theon reveals, “The night was windless, the snow drifting . . . yet the leaves of the heart tree were rustling his name, ‘Theon,’ they seemed to whisper, ‘Theon’.

“The old gods, he thought.  They know me.  They know my name.  I was Theon of House Greyjoy.  I was a ward of Eddard Stark, a friend and brother to his children” [ADwD 616].

 

 ‘. . . Bran,’ the tree murmured”.

“They know.  The gods know.  They saw what I did” [ADwD 616].

 

·       After Bran’s final POV in A Dance with Dragons, Bran secures a mental bond with Theon that evolves into a mystical, even spiritual, communion with the heart tree in Winterfell’s godswood.  With Bran wearing the guise of an ancient weirwood thousands of years old, Bran relates to the Turncloak in the present time of the novel’s action. 

·       Evidently, the rules for engaging another in the past and for engaging another in the present time are different, each with its own restrictions and limitations, for humans and for greenseers. Each sees in time through eyes uniquely his own:  Jon is trapped in the river of time, Bran has the weirwood’s eyes: “seasons pass in the flutter of a moth’s wing, and past, present, and future are one” [ADwD 458].

·       Bran gains Jon’s attention in Jon’s wolf dream, which Bran likely revisits from a point in the future. 

 

Bran Opens Jon’s Third Eye

 

“Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him”.

 

·       Because Bran influences and inspires Jon’s wolf dream, the greenseer in the tree leans over to touch Ghost between the eyes, a symbolic gesture that compels the warg to open his third eye, after which the forest setting suddenly vanishes.

 

Bran deftly executes opening Jon’s third-eye in a wolf dream, which is unlike Bran’s own painful experience when the three-eyed crow forces open Bran’s third-eye in a dream, ordering Bran again to “Fly or die!” [ACoK 260].

 

After Bran prays to the Old Gods to send him dreamless sleep, Bran receives an answer by way of a “nightmare” not a dream, and Bran thinks, “they [the Old Gods] mocked his hopes, for the nightmare they sent was worse than any wolf dream” [260].  The pitiless three-eyed crow attacks a pleading Bran with his “terrible sharp beak,” blinding both Bran’s eyes.  Then, the three-eyed crow pecks at Bran’s brow”, finally wrenching out “slimy . . . bits of bone and brain” [260].  This sorcery allows Bran to see again, through all his eyes. 

 

What materializes in the vision  is pure terror: Bran relives his crippling fall, and even more frightening than a wolf dream.  Bran sees “the golden man” who saves Bran, then pushes him, excusing his murderous act with these words: “The things I do for love” [260].

 

In actuality, Bran’s nightmare has inspiration from real events that he experienced recently in his daily life, and what Bran “hears” has such an impact on Bran that he becomes physically ill, unable to breathe, his blood roaring in is ears

 

Visiting guests Cley Cerwin and his knights are joking about Stannis making his claim to the throne based upon Joffrey’s bastardy.

 

Several key sentences bandied about by the bannermen evocate a visible reaction from Bran:

 

1.     “Queen Cersei bedded her brother” [259].

2.    “Small wonder he’s [Joffrey] faithless, with the Kingslayer for a Father” [259].

3.    “the gods hate incest.  Look how they brought down the Targaryens” [260].

 

Sadly, in three lines, Martin sums up what Bran witnesses from outside the window of the gargoyle guarded tower:  Bran’s vision, sent via the wizardry of the three-eyed crow deliberately after Cley and his knights jolt Bran’s waking memory, is evidence of incest, proof that the Queen and the Kingslayer are guilty as charged, but more importantly, the three-eyed crow imparts to Bran undeniable verification of the identity of the golden knight who causes Bran to fall.

A greenseer must learn to see and to acknowledge what is true, no matter how painful the truth may be.  Bran buries his most unpleasant memory deep in his subconscious, disguising it in darkness, choosing not to acknowledge to himself what he now knows for sure to be true. 

Even after the agony of his nightmare,  Bran is not keen on acceptance; however, Bran denies many truths about himself, something that Jojen Reed learns while educating a reluctant Bran on his powers.  Bran gets angry at Jojen’s talk of Bran as a warg in Summer, and he doesn’t understand how to open his third-eye.  Nor does he share with the Reeds, or anyone else, that the Kingslayer caused his fall.

[Lady of Butterflies]

5 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Ahh, I see  Something I am curious about with Bran on the show - are they going to address the death of Jojen, and the impact that has on the group? Obviously it would affect them, but having missed a season, there should be a big time skip in the show-verse since we last saw them. It would still be good to see them address this though.

Maybe it's just excessive worry, Bran is my favorite character.

According to an interview with Ellie Kendrick in the first scene with Meera we will see her remembering Jojen's death. I hope they show how his death affected the whole group, this is every important.

[Ser Matt Dayne]

Bran will no doubt reach out to his family in the present but I can't see him trying to actively change the past. He might try to speak to them but Bloodraven will set him straight quickly on what's possible and what isn't 

47 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

The ign article is interesting, and based on he books I would deconstruct it as:

Teenage, hubristic tendencies = his teen love for Meera, and an over-inflated ego which is pretty standard for a teen, but is exacerbated by him being, well, a DemiGod

Silly decisions = trying to alter the past/communicate with people in his visions. We see him try to speak to Ned in ADWD, and although Bloodraven says it is impossible, that doesn't mean Bran will stop trying. And there are likely good reasons not to interfere. Changing things that already happened...never going to end well.

And of course, there is a lot of pressure on him. Learning these skills can't be easy, even for a mature adult, and he is a teen (with all associated angst) with a very limited time, and a lot of people relying on him.

(great thread btw  )

I wouldn't have thought that Bran would try to mess with the past, as it would run parallel to Arya's personal feelings holding her back in her training. I don't think we need to see that again. 

Then again, if the WW are really closing in on the cave due to Bran's meddling then it's clear enough that he's in deep. Hopefully Bloodraven's role in that will be more complicated than simple disapproval of Bran's efforts.

[Meera of Tarth]

14 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

He is mature, but as Tijgy says, he is also slightly childish/immature at times, for example when he sends the Walders vegetables (because eww icky veggies  ) and "Hodor doesn't like love stories". Less so in the later novels of course, but there is always that childlike quality about his POV chapters (I know in interviews before GRRM has said he finds it difficult to write Bran chapters because of the age of the character. I tend to think he does a very good job capturing an 8-10yr olds' perspective of the world). And I also think there is a fine line to walk; the fact he IS a teen, and would be experiencing all the difficulties of teenage years should be a part of his story - but it should not take over the narrative and be done in the Hollywood teen movie way. Subtle line, and all about balance IMO.

Thanks  Don't be humbled though, I'm just another fan of ASOIAF who agreed to help out when asked. I don't say no to flattery though  

Yes, I agree Bran does and will continue to reach out to his siblings. From the Winds of Winter sample chapters

 

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It's been a while since I read it, but I seem to recall there are parts of the Mercy chapter that suggest Bran is, if not reaching out to Arya, at least aware of her/Nymeria.

I was trying to watch out for signs in the Alayne chapter but couldn't find anything.

And of course, he reaches out to Theon, both in a Dance with Dragons and Winds. I wonder if this will play into things - has Bran found it in him to forgive Theon? It seems that way in the books, with him responding to Theon's praying to the Heart Tree, and later indicating he should be given the more merciful execution. 

What I was referencing in my post thou was him trying to reach out into visions of the past, such as when he trie to speak to Ned. If he continues attempting that, and actually succeeds...well, who knows what consequences there could be? I'm not sure that is where GRRM is going with this arc, but it's an interesting possibility to think about

Yeah, I confess I've not been impressed with Bran's story on the show. I've gone on about it at length elsewhere though so I won't derail this thread! But I also picked up on a thousand eyes and two  

 

I agree that he is still a child (a teenager in the show because everybody is older there) but he is very mature for his age. But agree with your examples.

By the way, I have always thought that Bran would try to communicate with his siblings like when in his last chapter sees that girl in his vision and his first thought is that she is Arya....

I would like to know what parts of the Mercy chapter

Spoiler

Suggest that Bran is aware of Arya or Nymeria

Because I never did catch that!

[evita mgfs]

Regarding Martin’s theme of evil and Bran's susceptibility to such, everyone has potential to explore the darkness in his/her heart.  In this way, Martin pays homage to William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies .

Bran, like Ralph, is not immune to the evil innate in mankind.

For example, during the events at the Wall, Martin’s witty use of language is a nod to Golding:

The wildlings and crows gather in the Shieldhall buzzing like “wasps”.  “The wasps only buzzed louder” (ADwD 910).

When the children in LotF meet, Golding continually builds on their “buzzing” like flies.

“Quiet” in the hall is achieved by a blast from Tormund’s warhorn; likewise, the unruly children answer the sound of the shell and attend regular meetings in which they respond by quietly listening to he who holds the shell.  The shell becomes a symbol of law and order, and he who holds the conch is given the floor to speak.

Also, the scene in the Shieldhall, Martin describes the sagging platform which relates to the teetering log on which the children sit.

Jon asks who will join him just as Ralph asks the children to join him- lots agree but sneak off.

As a matter of fact, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is most criticized for the “rescue” ending of the novel.  The painted savages are poised to torture Ralph, cut off his head and leave it as a gift to appease a beast that does not exist.  Golding avoids committing to a conclusion he strongly insinuates in the rapidly declining behavior of the children.  The technique is call deus ex machina – or something like that.  In LotF, a naval officer appears magically on the beach, just in time to prevent the savages from converging on Ralph with weapons made of sticks.

  Some scholars invest in the idea that Golding allows the readers to decide for themselves whether Ralph’s head will be displayed and what’s leftover will be dinner for later – that is, if they all do not burn up in the rapidly spreading fire Jack’s savages ignited to smoke Ralph out of hiding.

BR has a “bloody blotch that crept up his neck onto his cheek” (177-78).  In William Golding’ Lord of the Flies, a child with  “mulberry birthmark” on his face is physically marked as an early victim of the marooned school boys’ irresponsible behaviors.  After building an out-of-control “signal fire” , the children manage to burn down a good portion of their island paradise.  Moreover, the child known and remembered only as the boy with the mulberry birthmark never again makes an appearance at a meeting, nor are his earthly remains ever discovered.  It’s a bad business overall – and I keep finding much and more of Golding when I do a close reading of passages.

 

 

[Wizz-The-Smith]

18 minutes ago, Meera of Tarth said:

I agree that he is still a child (a teenager in the show because everybody is older there) but he is very mature for his age. But agree with your examples.

By the way, I have always thought that Bran would try to communicate with his siblings like when in his last chapter sees that girl in his vision and his first thought is that she is Arya....

I would like to know what parts of the Mercy chapter

  Reveal hidden contents

Suggest that Bran is aware of Arya or Nymeria

Because I never did catch that!

It was right at the beginning of the chapter when she remembers a tree with a face watching her in her dream.  Also the mist in that chapter is very interesting.

[Meera of Tarth]

3 minutes ago, Wizz-The-Smith said:

 

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It was right at the beginning of the chapter when she remembers a tree with a face watching her in her dream.  Also the mist in that chapter is very interesting.

 

Thanks Wizz! I'll re-read it. 

[Wizz-The-Smith]

1 minute ago, Meera of Tarth said:

Thanks Wizz! I'll re-read it. 

No problem, I haven't got the quote available since the chapter came off GRRM's website.  Perhaps someone else could provide it?  In a spoiler tag of course.

[Meera of Tarth]

News:

Wright: I like to imagine it’s as if he’s watching the show, with the idea of seeing what’s going on all over.

[He continues]

There’s an enormous amount of hubris with his power. Bran needs the Raven to tell him to stay on the right track, master his power and then use it.

[He concludes by noting Bran is taking the Tully route and doing his duty.]

He’s followed his destiny relentlessly. He had the opportunity on his way to the Raven’s cave to give up. It’s a great metaphor for doing what you feel you have to do, no matter what.

 

http://watchersonthewall.com/lena-headey-and-the-starks-on-season-6-helen-sloan-on-her-work-on-game-of-thrones/

[Meera of Tarth]

http://www.ign.com/videos/2016/04/11/game-of-thrones-isaac-hempstead-wright-season-6-interview

[Lady of Butterflies]

6 hours ago, Meera of Tarth said:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2016/04/11/game-of-thrones-isaac-hempstead-wright-season-6-interview

Thanks!

 

New interview with Isaac (and Ellie), they talk a little about Bran's storyline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gnjdGdC_8U

[HexMachina]

You may all like This video which is e third promo for upcoming season and features Bran and WW footage. 

And most interesting is this;

http://i.imgur.com/M5JfiZu.jpg which looks suspiciously like a Weirwood in the Land of Always Winter

[The Fattest Leech]

3 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

You may all like This video which is e third promo for upcoming season and features Bran and WW footage. 

And most interesting is this;

http://i.imgur.com/M5JfiZu.jpg which looks suspiciously like a Weirwood in the Land of Always Winter

So if that is the Land of always winter, then this could be pulled from his original falling experience and we could then see some interesting knowledge???

[Meera of Tarth]

5 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

You may all like This video which is e third promo for upcoming season and features Bran and WW footage. 

And most interesting is this;

http://i.imgur.com/M5JfiZu.jpg which looks suspiciously like a Weirwood in the Land of Always Winter

How many weirwoods are waiting for Bran? That's so intriguing

[Meera of Tarth]

11 hours ago, Lady of Butterflies said:

Thanks!

 

New interview with Isaac (and Ellie), they talk a little about Bran's storyline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gnjdGdC_8U

I like when Ellie says she wants JM to be true!!

[evita mgfs]

4 hours ago, Meera of Tarth said:

I like when Ellie says she wants JM to be true!!

OK - these abbreviations are losing me.  Can't we say it?  The Star Wars Luke/Leia scenario only with Jon and Meera?  Is that what JM is referencing?

[Meera of Tarth]

29 minutes ago, evita mgfs said:

OK - these abbreviations are losing me.  Can't we say it?  The Star Wars Luke/Leia scenario only with Jon and Meera?  Is that what JM is referencing?

Yes!

[239JMFL34109]

11 hours ago, Meera of Tarth said:

How many weirwoods are waiting for Bran? That's so intriguing

I wonder if bran gets a look WAY back to why the seasons are like they are cause i think that might be key to the others/WW end game. 

[HexMachina]

19 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

So if that is the Land of always winter, then this could be pulled from his original falling experience and we could then see some interesting knowledge???

That's a good point. Combining this with footage from the other trailers, it could be here that the Nights King reaches out to grab him. This could be a bit of a reference to Bran looking into the heart of winter and being afraid. But still begs the question, what exactly is it he sees which is so terrifying?

On a semi-related note, I think the books do a good job of subtly explaining why he doesn't dwell on what he saw. He is repressing it (Quick Freud, case study!  ) much like he represses other trauma to protect himself, such as Jaime throwing him from the tower (BR helps with that).