Bran Truly Was The Best Possible Choice To Rule

[Cron]

For many years, near-endless debates have been had about (1) who would be the best ruler (in theory, out of all possible candidates), and (2) who would be the actual ruler (or "winner") in the end.

Turns out both questions have the same answer, I think:  Bran Stark.

Incredibly wise and knowledgeable, consummate good (I can't recall ever seeing or reading even the faintest hint of darkness or badness in him; he was always clearly one of the most "pure good" characters in the story), and since he doesn't "want" anymore, he is, presumably, incapable of being corrupted.

Also, he's very young (which means there's a great chance he can rule for a long time and they won't have to worry about replacing him for an equally long time; indeed, as I recall, the 3 Eyed Ravens live incredibly long lives, right?  As I recall, Bran's predecessor was well over 100 years old), and the people who named Bran king seem to think it's good that he can't have children. 

Add all of that up, and no other candidate is even remotely close to being as well qualified as Bran.

And as an added bonus, they are set up perfectly for a sequel one day, with a very young actor/character as one of the centerpieces (along with Arya, Gendry, and Ser Podrick).

Bottom line:  If I lived in Westeros, there is no character we have seen that I would rather have as king or queen than Bran, and I'm glad that was the judgment of the characters who actually made the decision, too. 

[CrypticWeirwood]

Ser Podrick: the Legs of the King!

[The One Who Kneels]

45 minutes ago, Cron said:

For many years, near-endless debates have been had about (1) who would be the best ruler (in theory, out of all possible candidates), and (2) who would be the actual ruler (or "winner") in the end.

Turns out both questions have the same answer, I think:  Bran Stark.

Incredibly wise and knowledgeable, consummate good (I can't recall ever seeing or reading even the faintest hint of darkness or badness in him; he was always clearly one of the most "pure good" characters in the story), and since he doesn't "want" anymore, he is, presumably, incapable of being corrupted.

Also, he's very young (which means there's a great chance he can rule for a long time and they won't have to worry about replacing him for an equally long time; indeed, as I recall, the 3 Eyed Ravens live incredibly long lives, right?  As I recall, Bran's predecessor was well over 100 years old), and the people who named Bran king seem to think it's good that he can't have children. 

Add all of that up, and no other candidate is even remotely close to being as well qualified as Bran.

And as an added bonus, they are set up perfectly for a sequel one day, with a very young actor/character as one of the centerpieces (along with Arya, Gendry, and Ser Podrick).

Bottom line:  If I lived in Westeros, there is no character we have seen that I would rather have as king or queen than Bran, and I'm glad that was the judgment of the characters who actually made the decision, too. 

Because being a good king is all about having the right qualifications to govern and not about charisma and leadership right? 

I'm sure the emotionless weirdo foreigner in a wheelchair will inspire a great deal of love and loyalty from lords and smallfolk alike. 

[Cron]

34 minutes ago, CrypticWeirwood said:

Ser Podrick: the Legs of the King!

Good one!

And of course, I think Pod's a perfect choice for the role he ended up in.

[darmody]

What could possibly go wrong trusting an omniscient being of suspect humanity and entirely unknown motives who can take over people's minds at will?

[GeorgeIAF]

Jon was the best choice. 

[Raksha 2014]

I think that Bronn will become smug and think that he would make a better king than a crippled weird boy...Hopefully Bran will see Bronn's attempted coup coming and have him thrown out the Moon Door in the Eyrie. 

[Bran the Shipper]

1 hour ago, Cron said:

Incredibly wise and knowledgeable, consummate good (I can't recall ever seeing or reading even the faintest hint of darkness or badness in him; he was always clearly one of the most "pure good" characters in the story), and since he doesn't "want" anymore, he is, presumably, incapable of being corrupted.

Bran is not a pure good character, he uses others as tools despite the trauma it causes them.  Before he became the Three Eyed Raven he did this to Hodor.  Using his body so that he could walk around despite knowing that it terrified Hodor whenever he did this. 

Then he uses his power as the 3ER to manipulate events so that he becomes king.  If he truly didn't want to become king he would not have journeyed south with Sansa, but he did knowing full well what awaited him.  Why tell Jon about his parentage if all that comes of it is that it drives a rift between Jon and Dany and eventually results in Jon killing her.  Knowing that this would tear Jon apart inside.  But it leads to Bran becoming king so he forced the truth out. 

It just seems awfully convenient that everyone that has hurt Bran ends up dead, but his family and friends all have a relatively happy ending. 

Also Bran must have grabbed some major power to not only allow Sam to become a maester but to then name him Grand Maester.  The position of Grand Maester is supposed to be selected by the citadel and I doubt the would choose a disgraced thief as their representative.

[SansaJonRule]

1 hour ago, The One Who Kneels said:

Because being a good king is all about having the right qualifications to govern and not about charisma and leadership right? 

I'm sure the emotionless weirdo foreigner in a wheelchair will inspire a great deal of love and loyalty from lords and smallfolk alike. 

The small folk will be happy if there is peace and their bellies are full. Since when does charisma make a good ruler? Hitler was very charismatic. And he doesn't need to be charismatic to be a good leader. Ultimately, he needs to make good decisions that will make life for the Westerosi people the best it can be.

[Greenmonsterff]

Except he’s a terrible choice for king. He’s not even Bran anymore. He’s the 3 eyed raven. Is he even a human? I thought he was a magical creature who would merge with a tree one day. I would rather have had Edmure. 

[SansaJonRule]

He knows the entire history of Westeros. He knows every mistake that was made and the repercussions of them. That makes him uniquely qualified not to repeat them. Plus, he doesn't want power, and his lack of emotion means he will not make emotional decisions. The problem with all our world's governments is they are run by humans and humans are subject to corruption. Someone who doesn't "want" anymore has no basis for corruption. He may not be appealing, but that doesn't mean he won't make a good king.

[TyrionFan82]

ICAM! The rest are egomaniacs, Bran's the only true noble person. Tyrion proposed the right choice without a shadow of a doubt.

[BlackLightning]

this show sucks

[JonCon's Red Beard]

34 minutes ago, darmody said:

What could possibly go wrong trusting an omniscient being of suspect humanity and entirely unknown motives who can take over people's minds at will?

Let's add 1984 to the list of books that this show has taken inspiration from instead of ASOIAF, because this is very Orwellian to my taste.

Little Brother is Watching Us All...

[NonoNono]

Bran is not ruling. It was Bloodraven all along, he tricked everyone with prophecies and stories.

Old Nan knew. “Don’t believe him. Crows are all liars.”

Bloodraven is king and he will soon have himself his own dragon too.

Bad ending.

[BlackLightning]

Did they ever explain the nature of Bran's powers?

[420faceless]

31 minutes ago, Bran the Shipper said:

Bran is not a pure good character, he uses others as tools despite the trauma it causes them.  Before he became the Three Eyed Raven he did this to Hodor.  Using his body so that he could walk around despite knowing that it terrified Hodor whenever he did this. 

Then he uses his power as the 3ER to manipulate events so that he becomes king.  If he truly didn't want to become king he would not have journeyed south with Sansa, but he did knowing full well what awaited him.  Why tell Jon about his parentage if all that comes of it is that it drives a rift between Jon and Dany and eventually results in Jon killing her.  Knowing that this would tear Jon apart inside.  But it leads to Bran becoming king so he forced the truth out. 

It just seems awfully convenient that everyone that has hurt Bran ends up dead, but his family and friends all have a relatively happy ending. 

Also Bran must have grabbed some major power to not only allow Sam to become a maester but to then name him Grand Maester.  The position of Grand Maester is supposed to be selected by the citadel and I doubt the would choose a disgraced thief as their representative.

All he has to do is warg into Drogon if anyone messes with him, too.

Very convienient, Bran.

No, in all seriousness, he may be the most responsible to lead in light of what you said.

He no longer has these human drawbacks and seems quite happy to be a somewhat distant backseater/maybe micromanager, but that's the kind of thing you might expect out of a demi-god sort of character he is now. That would seem like the best that the people of Westeros could expect, after all the damaged human kings being dumb and getting them killed. He knows from all the worlds history and his discussion with the Children of the Forest about the mistakes other humans could make.

[tws1978]

3 minutes ago, SansaJonRule said:

The small folk will be happy if there is peace and their bellies are full. Since when does charisma make a good ruler? Hitler was very charismatic. And he doesn't need to be charismatic to be a good leader. Ultimately, he needs to make good decisions that will make life for the Westerosi people the best it can be.

The small folk may be happy, but most of the Westeros houses certainly not. Some northern outsider and his friends have all the power now. How long they will be able to tolerate it? And even if Bran is able to see the future he has to actively seek it, so it´s only a matter of time till he gets completely paranoid FF´w his life desperately seeking for a signs of people plotting against him. Because that´s the only way he can survive. He has no great army to keep the power longtime. Tyrion and the Starks used the situation when everybody else was weakened and usurped all the power, but as soon as the other houses recover they will want some power back. And real power, not place on some meaningless council where all decision are premade because how you can argue against someone who already knows the outcome.

Besides, even if Bran manages to stay on top it´s still dangerous. For example, Bran can see that 5 years for now there will be some nature catastrophy so he orders huge tax rises to make the preparations. Will people trust his lead? Even if it means many will be dying hungry now? And what if he goes fully Thanos and just decided there is too much people on Earth and some have to die for the rest to survive. 

[BlackLightning]

1 minute ago, tws1978 said:

The small folk may be happy, but most of the Westeros houses certainly not. Some northern outsider and his friends have all the power now. How long they will be able to tolerate it? And even if Bran is able to see the future he has to actively seek it, so it´s only a matter of time till he gets completely paranoid FF´w his life desperately seeking for a signs of people plotting against him. Because that´s the only way he can survive. He has no great army to keep the power longtime. Tyrion and the Starks used the situation when everybody else was weakened and usurped all the power, but as soon as the other houses recover they will want some power back. And real power, not place on some meaningless council where all decision are premade because how you can argue against someone who already knows the outcome.

Besides, even if Bran manages to stay on top it´s still dangerous. For example, Bran can see that 5 years for now there will be some nature catastrophy so he orders huge tax rises to make the preparations. Will people trust his lead? Even if it means many will be dying hungry now? And what if he goes fully Thanos and just decided there is too much people on Earth and some have to die for the rest to survive. 

Bran can't see the future. Bran can only see the past.

[of man and wolf]

48 minutes ago, Greenmonsterff said:

Except he’s a terrible choice for king. He’s not even Bran anymore. He’s the 3 eyed raven. Is he even a human? I thought he was a magical creature who would merge with a tree one day. I would rather have had Edmure. 

I think Bran was ok in that he was truly the broken wheel as it were. If anyone wanted that wheel to be broken Bran was the guy to do it.