Who tried to kill Bran?

[Ser Loras The Gay]

So, recently I've watched the last PJ video (a very good one for that matter) and he talked about the plot around Bran's attempted murder. In the books Tyrion reachs the conclusion that Joffrey was the one who sent the catspawn to kill Bran, but all the reasons he gives to support his claims are flawed. The passage he remebers:

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"He remembered a cold morning when he’d climbed down the steep exterior steps from Winterfell’s library to find Prince Joffrey jesting with the Hound about killing wolves. Send a dog to kill a wolf, he said. "

 Is wrong, the real passage is :

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The notion seemed to delight the prince. “Send a dog to kill a dog!” he exclaimed. “Winterfell is so infested with wolves, the Starks would never miss one.”

And is refered to Summer and not to Bran.

Another passage is when Joffrey screams he's familiar with valyrian steel when receiving his valyrian blade:

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“I remember.” Joffrey brought Widow’s Wail down in a savage twohanded slice, onto the book that Tyrion had given him. The heavy leather cover parted at a stroke. “Sharp! I told you, I am no stranger to Valyrian steel.”

And then Tyrion completes with:

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Tyrion was staring at his nephew with his mismatched eyes. “Perhaps a knife, sire. To match your sword. A dagger of the same fine Valyrian steel . . . with a dragonbone hilt, say?”

Then Joffrey replied:
 

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Joff gave him a sharp look. “You . . . yes, a dagger to match my sword, good.” He nodded. “A . . . a gold hilt with rubies in it. Dragonbone is too plain.”

That doesn't mean anything, he as a king must've seen thousands of daggers and the fact he said "dragonbone is too plain" doesn't necessarily means he had the other dagger on his pocket. Another thing to point out is the fact Joffrey didn't care about Bran's state. Gregor Clegane was, but Joffrey said:

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“The Stark boy is nothing to me,” Joffrey said. “I cannot abide the wailing of women.”

So he didn't have even a motive for doing so.

So, what we know? 
We know with almost certainty that wasn't Jaime and Cersei, and it wasn't Joffrey as well, so who could it be? Maybe LF to increase the tension between Lannisters and Starks? Varys to initiate his moves to make a war? Robert as a mercyful act? What you guys think about it?

[Lord Wraith]

1) Most likely it was Joffrey unless Martin is messing with us.

2) Mance is a close second, the bag of silver could be a clue.

3) I think people who think Baelish is behind this are out of their minds. The logisitics make it next to impossible.

[Yucef Menaerys]

I thinks it's Joffrey, he would be the only one fool enough to arm an assasins with a valyrian steel dagger

[Ser Walter of AShwood]

@Lord Wraith Can you explain Mance? I've missed that theory. I know he was in Winterfell when Robert visited as a Bard, but why would he have someone attempt to kill Bran?

[Ckram]

@Ser Loras The Gay

It wasn't only Tyrion. Jamie also thinks it was Joffrey, in order to "please" Robert:

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A Storm of Swords - Jaime IX

 

"There was a dagger. The scars on Lady Catelyn's hands were real enough, she showed them to me. Did you . . . ?"

"Oh, don't be absurd." Cersei closed the window. "Yes, I hoped the boy would die. So did you. Even Robert thought that would have been for the best. 'We kill our horses when they break a leg, and our dogs when they go blind, but we are too weak to give the same mercy to crippled children,' he told me. He was blind himself at the time, from drink."

Robert? Jaime had guarded the king long enough to know that Robert Baratheon said things in his cups that he would have denied angrily the next day. "Were you alone when Robert said this?"

"You don't think he said it to Ned Stark, I hope? Of course we were alone. Us and the children." Cersei removed her hairnet and draped it over a bedpost, then shook out her golden curls. "Perhaps Myrcella sent this man with the dagger, do you think so?"

It was meant as mockery, but she'd cut right to the heart of it, Jaime saw at once. "Not Myrcella. Joffrey."

Cersei frowned. "Joffrey had no love for Robb Stark, but the younger boy was nothing to him. He was only a child himself."

"A child hungry for a pat on the head from that sot you let him believe was his father." He had an uncomfortable thought. "Tyrion almost died because of this bloody dagger. If he knew the whole thing was Joffrey's work, that might be why . . ."

"I don't care why," Cersei said. "He can take his reasons down to hell with him. [...]

 

[Snowmelter]

Part of the problem with the assumption that Joff was behind the attempt is that it is quite obvious.  Martin loves misdirection. 

Littlefinger could easily have done it:  He's at KL and on the small council.  He knows Robert is going to Winterfell and that he is going to recruit Ned to be his Hand.  It would be a small thing to pay an assassin to go after Bran and it would not be stupid to arm said thug with a valyrian steel dagger, especially if it could be traced to someone else.  Littlefinger needs no motive other than to cause chaos (which he thrives on), but he is not fond of Starks and his first love married one.  He could be trying to destroy the Starks, precipitate a war to rip the 7 kingdoms apart so he can have a hand in reordering to his liking, or already have designs on Sansa before she gets to KL.  It is absolutely possible that he had spies in the North or that he had heard that the Tully traits bred true in Cat's eldest daughter. 

It's more likely though, that Littlefinger had nothing to do with it, but was quick to take advantage of the situation.

@Ser Walter of AShwood:  I can think of no reason at all that Mance would try to have Bran killed.  He has a peculiar kind of honor and I doubt he would be down with killing kids. 

 

[Ser Walter of AShwood]

@Snowmelter but how would LF get an assassin to Winterfell when he is in KL?
The trip back was delayed because of Brans fall, but only by a few weeks (I believe less then 3 weeks). Of course a raven would've been sent to KL to explain that the King will be back later and why.
However, LF would need to hire somebody that is already in (or at least near Winterfell). How will he manage to:

• Find somebody that wants to kill a boy
• Give him a Valyrian steel dagger that belong(s/ed) to a Lannister
• Pay him a bag of silver
• Stay out of it

All the while LF is in KL, because the small council is running the country (when the King is absent from court). He can't just send a raven to WF or anywhere else that is less then 2 weeks travel away from Winterfell (which is simply put: he would only be able to send a raven to somewhere in the North, where he doesn't really know anybody). Not to mention that he would need to make sure that the assassin received the dagger.

Logistically, it doesn't make any sense. And while I admit that GRRM sometimes drops the ball when it comes to travel (time & distance), these case of the 'Bran-murderer' is well thought out.

[Snowmelter]

He would have insinuated the spy into the kings party before it left KL. There were plenty of common soldiers he could have bribed that were traveling north.

 

 

[Ser Walter of AShwood]

1 minute ago, Snowmelter said:

He would have insinuated the spy into the kings party before it left KL.

 

And how would he then get the message to him to kill Bran? Or do you think he was ordered to kill any random Stark as he got the chance to do so?

[Snowmelter]

More like, kill any one of the stark children.

I don't think Littlefinger is involved, rather, he just took advantage of the situation.

The idea that he could have done it I find interesting.

 

[BRANDON GREYSTARK]

Cercei . She confessed as much .

[Ser Walter of AShwood]

16 minutes ago, BRANDON GREYSTARK said:

Cercei . She confessed as much .

??
What? Check the following post in this very thread. She categorically denies it to the one person she might have trusted with the truth if she did hire the killer.

 

[ftheking]

Definitely not Joff. I think it's hilariously obvious that he has no idea what Tyrion is confronting him about. Tyrion's reasoning is completely flawed and then Jaime comes up with a completely different, contradicting flawed reasoning fo why it's Joffrey. How could anyone assume they happen to be kind of right by accident? 

Usually if Lannisters are blamed for murders or murder attempts it's Littlefinger who is behind it, so I'm going with that.

 

[Ralphis Baratheon]

Kind of off topic but whatever happened to the dagger? It was a pretty cool weapon, seems like someone would have wanted it considering how rare VS is.

[Lord Wraith]

2 hours ago, Ser Walter of AShwood said:

@Lord Wraith Can you explain Mance? I've missed that theory. I know he was in Winterfell when Robert visited as a Bard, but why would he have someone attempt to kill Bran?

Mance tells Jon he took a bag of silver went he went to Winterfell, same as the catspaw had.

Also why kill Bran in a word chaos. He came and  could note the friction between the Starks and Lannisters. I mean Eddard even notes that he might have to deal with him in his early chapters. Mance wants to get South of the Wall and doesn't want to have to fight the entirity of the Seven Kingdoms when he does. How better to not have to fight them if he can get them to fight each other?

[Lord Wraith]

1 hour ago, Snowmelter said:

Part of the problem with the assumption that Joff was behind the attempt is that it is quite obvious.  Martin loves misdirection. 

Littlefinger could easily have done it:  He's at KL and on the small council.  He knows Robert is going to Winterfell and that he is going to recruit Ned to be his Hand.  It would be a small thing to pay an assassin to go after Bran and it would not be stupid to arm said thug with a valyrian steel dagger, especially if it could be traced to someone else.  Littlefinger needs no motive other than to cause chaos (which he thrives on), but he is not fond of Starks and his first love married one.  He could be trying to destroy the Starks, precipitate a war to rip the 7 kingdoms apart so he can have a hand in reordering to his liking, or already have designs on Sansa before she gets to KL.  It is absolutely possible that he had spies in the North or that he had heard that the Tully traits bred true in Cat's eldest daughter. 

It's more likely though, that Littlefinger had nothing to do with it, but was quick to take advantage of the situation.

@Ser Walter of AShwood:  I can think of no reason at all that Mance would try to have Bran killed.  He has a peculiar kind of honor and I doubt he would be down with killing kids. 

 

Plans on Sansa a girl he has never met.... right.

Baelish at the start of the story isn't trying to destroy the Starks but keep Stannis off the throne.

Do people really think he gave some guy gave him a bag of silver and a dagger. Go cause chaos...

 

36 minutes ago, Ralphis Baratheon said:

Kind of off topic but whatever happened to the dagger? It was a pretty cool weapon, seems like someone would have wanted it considering how rare VS is.

I think Baelish still has it.

[Ser Walter of AShwood]

11 minutes ago, Lord Wraith said:

Mance tells Jon he took a bag of silver went he went to Winterfell, same as the catspaw had.

Also why kill Bran in a word chaos. He came and  could note the friction between the Starks and Lannisters. I mean Eddard even notes that he might have to deal with him in his early chapters. Mance wants to get South of the Wall and doesn't want to have to fight the entirity of the Seven Kingdoms when he does. How better to not have to fight them if he can get them to fight each other?

Ah, like that. Ok, that could make some sense.

[Lollygag]

4 minutes ago, Lord Wraith said:

Mance tells Jon he took a bag of silver went he went to Winterfell, same as the catspaw had.

Also why kill Bran in a word chaos. He came and  could note the friction between the Starks and Lannisters. I mean Eddard even notes that he might have to deal with him in his early chapters. Mance wants to get South of the Wall and doesn't want to have to fight the entirity of the Seven Kingdoms when he does. How better to not have to fight them if he can get them to fight each other?

If GRRM says it's Joffrey, I'm inclined to believe him, but it's doesn't sit well at all. I was hoping that he couldn't reveal more than that because it would give away too much and the details would come out later which would make everything slide into place.

How about this? Mance overhears Joff talking smack about Bran and Summer, so Mance offers to kill Bran gratis, but he's only a bard and doesn't have such a weapon. Joffrey provides Mance the weapon, and Mance pays the catspaw the silver. But Mance wants the catspaw to be caught so he leads him to believe that Catelyn won't be there, and he also makes sure Summer is able to get into the room (he was kept outside) to make sure Catelyn and Bran don't die. He would be very familiar with how wargs work.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

2 hours ago, Snowmelter said:

Part of the problem with the assumption that Joff was behind the attempt is that it is quite obvious.  Martin loves misdirection. 

And we got plenty of that, everything pointed at Jaime/Cersei (just like with Jon Arryn).

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

It was Joffrey. As disappointing as it is (because the solution is kind of silly), that's the story the author has written, and that's it. Discussing it after the reveal is as pointless as it gets.

And don't waste your time on Preston Jacobs.