Looking North: What did Bran see?

[Back door hodor]

"Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like a blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him. And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks."

 

So what does everyone think? Did Bran see the army of the dead?the Night King? An ice dragon?

Personally I think it could be one of two things. Really I think it most likely is a metaphor, Bran looking to the North symbolizes him looking to the future, accepting his fate and that his road ahead will be very difficult, and different than the life he once imagined. He accepts this and decides to be brave, even though he is afraid, he decides to fly. So to add a little tinfoil to option one, I think the little bit about seeing Jon growing cold and hard could be Bran looking into the ACTUAL future, not a metaphoric one. 

What I hope he saw is some giant Lovecraftian Cuthulu squid monster thing, but probably not unfortunately.

This is the first topic I've made btw, thanks for reading and very interested to hear what others think of this passage.

[Platypus Rex]

27 minutes ago, Back door hodor said:

What I hope he saw is some giant Lovecraftian Cuthulu squid monster thing, but probably not unfortunately.

We think alike.  Anything but a Lovecraftian monstrosity would be a slight disappointment.

One thought I have had, is that whatever he saw was sent to him by forces intending to manipulate and control him -- sent by the same dark forces he hopes to counter.

[Back door hodor]

21 minutes ago, Platypus Rex said:

We think alike.  Anything but a Lovecraftian monstrosity would be a slight disappointment.

One thought I have had, is that whatever he saw was sent to him by forces intending to manipulate and control him -- sent by the same dark forces he hopes to counter.

Thanks for for replying. I definitely think this is a possibility. I have read theories/discussion on this board about whether or not  Brynden Rivers is the 3 eyed crow from Brans  coma vision and Dreams or not and I definitely think there could be something there.

[Euron III Greyjoy]

1 hour ago, Back door hodor said:

What I hope he saw is some giant Lovecraftian Cuthulu squid monster thing, but probably not unfortunately.

Its funny you say that, I'm currently listening to H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon on audiobook.

I honestly wouldn't completely disregard that theory. We've already have many Lovecraft easter eggs in ASOIAF:

• The Deep Ones
• The Old Ones
• "Dagon" Greyjoy
• The Church of Starry Wisdom

[Clegane'sPup]

1 hour ago, Back door hodor said:

Did Bran see the army of the dead?the Night King? An ice dragon?

According to martin this is what Bran saw while Bran was in his comma dream.

Quote

A Game of Thrones - Bran III        He lifted his eyes and saw clear across the narrow sea, to the Free Cities and the green Dothraki sea and beyond, to Vaes Dothrak under its mountain, to the fabled lands of the Jade Sea, to Asshai by the Shadow, where dragons stirred beneath the sunrise.

oye, dat was one long sentence martin wrote.

Quote

A Game of Thrones - Bran III     Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him.

I assume that this is a glimpse into the future --- story on the forum is it predicts Jon Snow, LC of the NW;s death in book five.

Quote

A Game of Thrones - Bran III     And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived.           North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks.

There you have it. That is what martin wrote that Bran saw while Bran was in a comatose state.

Quote

A Game of Thrones - Bran III     Now you know, the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. Now you know why you must live.

Bran wakes from his comma. Then later someone tries to kill Bran again.

[Three-Fingered Pete]

3 hours ago, Back door hodor said:

"Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like a blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him. And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks."

 

So what does everyone think? Did Bran see the army of the dead?the Night King? An ice dragon?

 

Bran saw how long it was going to take GRRM to take writing the series and he was afraid that it would never get finished. Those were tears of pity for us readers.

[Platypus Rex]

2 hours ago, King Aegon I Targaryen said:

Its funny you say that, I'm currently listening to H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon on audiobook.

I honestly wouldn't completely disregard that theory. We've already have many Lovecraft easter eggs in ASOIAF:

• The Deep Ones
• The Old Ones
• "Dagon" Greyjoy
• The Church of Starry Wisdom

Leng; Carcosa (via Chambers via Bierce); Ib; K'dath in the Grey Waste (= Kadath in the Cold Waste); Sarnath; "What's dead may never die" (reminiscent of HPL's unexplainable couplet); a kraken-like "Drowned God" (Cthulhu); The Yellow Emperor (= the King in Yellow, associated with Carcosa by Chambers); N'Ghai (= N'Kai, via Clark Ashton Smith); The Black Goat of Qohor (= The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young).  

[Hugorfonics]

Sees himself

[zandru]

3 hours ago, Clegane'sPup said:

oye, dat was one long sentence martin wrote.

(snort) I've seen Roger Zelazny sentences that were a full page long - or so.

[Back door hodor]

2 hours ago, Three-Fingered Pete said:

 

Bran saw how long it was going to take GRRM to take writing the series and he was afraid that it would never get finished. Those were tears of pity for us readers.

/Thread

Haha good one.

[Back door hodor]

4 hours ago, King Aegon I Targaryen said:

Its funny you say that, I'm currently listening to H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon on audiobook.

I honestly wouldn't completely disregard that theory. We've already have many Lovecraft easter eggs in ASOIAF:

• The Deep Ones
• The Old Ones
• "Dagon" Greyjoy
• The Church of Starry Wisdom

Yea I mean theses little tidbits and a few others from the world book(just saw that Platypus Rex posted a few more below your reply)are what make me hope.

Thanks for replying.

[Marcelowww]

He saw The Great Other.

[Megorova]

I think that Bran saw there himself, his future, in which he is binded by the Weirwood, same as Bloodraven, with tree growing thru his body. That's also the meaning of Jojen's greendream, in which he saw winged wolf binded to earth with stone chains, and three-eyed crow trying to free him -> winged wolf is Bran, stone chains is weirwood tree growing thru Bran's body, out of that seed paste, that he ate in his last chapter in ADWD, and the three-eyed crow is Shiera Seastar. GRRM gave clue to 3EC's identity in AGOT, in that same chapter ->

"The crow opened its beak and cawed at him, a shrill scream of fear, and the grey mists shuddered and swirled around him and ripped away like a veil, and he saw that the crow was really a woman, a serving woman with long black hair, and he knew her from somewhere, from Winterfell, yes, that was it, he remembered her now, and then he realized that he was in Winterfell, in a bed high in some chilly tower room, and the black-haired woman dropped a basin of water to shatter on the floor and ran down the steps, shouting, "He's awake, he's awake, he's awake.""

[Gramse]

I got inspired by this and created another topic regarding Blue Crystal and the Wall. Not only Bran describes The Wall as blue crystal. Jon also describes it that way. And there are other things also looking or being made of blue crystal.
 

 

[Clegane'sPup]

19 hours ago, Three-Fingered Pete said:

Bran saw how long it was going to take GRRM to take writing the series and he was afraid that it would never get finished. Those were tears of pity for us readers.

Har har har!

Whatever it means Bran looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks.

That was book one where the oft quoted winter is coming spiel originated.

[Vaith]

16 hours ago, Marcelowww said:

He saw The Great Other.

I think this is the most likely option for supernatural beings. Though I am a fan of eldritch stuff in ASOIAF, they mostly seem to be associated with the sea/coast (squishers, Patchface's stuff under the sea, the oily stone of Oldtown/Pyke) than the far north, that seems to so far be associated with the Ice & Fire stuff.

I took it to be, seeing past some realm the Others were "banished" to over 8000 years, whether a supernatural realm, or simply somewhere like the north pole of Planetos that was their domain. But again, some other realm seems likely with the whole "curtain" phrasing, or indeed the Great Other itself.

[Lost Melnibonean]

On 1/27/2019 at 5:11 PM, Back door hodor said:

"Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like a blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him. And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks."

 

So what does everyone think? Did Bran see the army of the dead?the Night King? An ice dragon?

Personally I think it could be one of two things. Really I think it most likely is a metaphor, Bran looking to the North symbolizes him looking to the future, accepting his fate and that his road ahead will be very difficult, and different than the life he once imagined. He accepts this and decides to be brave, even though he is afraid, he decides to fly. So to add a little tinfoil to option one, I think the little bit about seeing Jon growing cold and hard could be Bran looking into the ACTUAL future, not a metaphoric one. 

What I hope he saw is some giant Lovecraftian Cuthulu squid monster thing, but probably not unfortunately.

This is the first topic I've made btw, thanks for reading and very interested to hear what others think of this passage.

I think your head is correct, and your heart is wrong. 

[Back door hodor]

1 hour ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

I think your head is correct, and your heart is wrong. 

Haha yea I mean deep down I know this myself, just haven't seen this topic recently and wanted to see if others thought it could be significant.

Great thread btw, just read it, though I feel like i might have read parts of it before, idk.

Thanks for reading and replying!

[Back door hodor]

On 1/27/2019 at 6:37 PM, Clegane'sPup said:

According to martin this is what Bran saw while Bran was in his comma dream.

oye, dat was one long sentence martin wrote.

I assume that this is a glimpse into the future --- story on the forum is it predicts Jon Snow, LC of the NW;s death in book five.

There you have it. That is what martin wrote that Bran saw while Bran was in a comatose state.

Bran wakes from his comma. Then later someone tries to kill Bran again.

Yea....but what do YOU THINK he saw, feel free to speculate wildly, no judgement the purpose of this thread is not to argue, I am genuinely interested what others think in this case.

[GloubieBoulga]

Quote

He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks.

The sentence makes me think to the dragonfire burning and melting the eyes of the burnt people. I doubt Bran will go out of his cave/grave and meet with a dragon, but he could be inside a weirwood when a dragon burns it. A dragon burning the heart of winter, like Drogon once burnt the blue heart of the Undyings.