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[ADWD SPOILERS] Bran 3


Xray the Enforcer

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I must say, I'm pretty disappointed to hear that this is the last Bran chapter of A Dance with Dragons! What a bleak way to end it.

I also think that it's a little unfair of them to make Bran meld with the tree at such a young age. Bloodraven lived a full life before going to the cave, and Bran should be allowed the same courtesy.

Also, I think Bran needs to contribute to the plot and story more before we're done with him. So far, his story has been the most disconnected by far. Martin needs to justify why we've been following this character who hasn't contributed to the story of the books at all - except for being the one who saw Jaime and Cersei fucking and getting pushed out the window. So, even if Bran is going to be in the cave for the rest of his life, I think we'll still get some Bran chapters.

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What is the point of the greenseer if he can interact with nothing? No one knows he there so he can't tell anyone about anything.

That remains to be seen, there are hints that Bran's abilities are very special indeed. Also, Greenseers can do and know far more than just look through weirwoods. Check out our Citadel's entry on Children of the Forest/Greenseer lore from the first 4 books:

http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Concordance/Section/1.2./

A thousand eyes, knowledge is a great weapon. A hundred skins. Seeing the truth beneath the World. Greenseers have power over the land as well it seems.

Can someone explain to me how bran is a greenseeer if he has blue eyes?

I don't know what eye colour Bran has, but Bloodraven does indeed say that. Maybe Bran is more than a Greenseer?

Lotun,

I feel the exact opposite as you do. I think the Bran chapters fit perfectly with what Martin has set up for Bran, and fit neatly within his overall narrative structure, isolated as his storyline has been sofar. Wonderful stuff.

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Hey can I ask you guys to be careful what you post, I keep reading the same spoiler over and over again, not a true spoiler, but nonetheless it's bothered me.. and I can't exactly explain my meaning without propagating it further.

This is the "Still Reading" forum. I just read this chapter and I can't wait for the next one.

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I don't think Bran will ever (be allowed to) leave the caves (by the COTF), but I hope the Reeds do get away, if for no other reason than to reach the wall, speak to Jon and ideally make it home.

Not so sure Bran will remain there forever. My first thought was that it's Jojen who will remain, and that he knows this very well and has known since the start of their journey north. Meera suspects it but doesn't know for certain, just that something's wrong and Jojen doesn't talk to her about it. Just a thought. Bran-as-Hodor still has a part to play on the outside IMO.

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Don't trust Bryden or the Greenseers one bit, just a gut feeling.

If this is Bran's fate - to be the new Bryden, what a horrible fate, what a lonely fate.

You will see everyone you have ever loved and are going to love and you will not be able to talk to them, touch them, laugh with them, hold them. Not a nice fate.

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Bran is a boy cripple, who will never feel the warmth of a women. Now all of a sudden he is forced to be a greenseer at the age of ten. Bloodraven has fought in battles, led his own company of archers, kiled his own half-brother, lost an eye, been the hand of the king, had his own mistress/lover. Not to mention he was also a LC before he was absorbed by a weirwood tree. Now tell me if it is unfair that Bran has to be a greenseer at such a young age. I believe Jon Snow said the same of Donal Noye, who forged Robert's hammer and fought in a war. He notes how unfair it is that some of these men already led a full life before joining the watch. See Jeor Mormont and Maester Aemon.

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I really enjoyed this chapter. I also think Bran the Broken will never leave the cave, but if The Reeds, Hodor and Summer can get south of The Wall he can have a major impact on the story, especially if he wargs into Hordor.

I think Bran can talk when he is in Hodor's skin, but hasn't let on to anyone yet.

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I finished this chapter and immediately had to come here and see what people's opinions were. Specifically, if anyone knows who was in the last flashback was with the execution?

I agree with everyone else who's saying that Bran's fate is one of the bleakest, most dismal of all the characters we've seen. Personally, I'm still clinging to a shred of hope that he'll escape the bondage that the CotF have put him under, and maybe rise to an even more powerful being than Brynden could ever hope to be. I have no idea how that will happen, I just hope it does, because I don't want him to just hang out and slowly decay until the end of the series.

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A truly horrible chapter in my opinion. As much as I have loved the rest of the book, the Bran chapters seem to be going from bad to worse, so much that I wonder if I'm still reading aSoIaF or some other book. They seem so out of place. Is this the series I have loved so much, with its human drama, political intrigue, and mysterious and unexplainable magic in the fringes of the world?

I don't understand complaints like this. Just about every other chapter is political intrigue and inter-human drama with mysterious/unexplainable magic on the fringes of the world. From back in book 2, it's been obvious that Bran has been destined for a story arc with little to none of the politic that everyone else is a part of, and instead is there to show us some of the old powers of the north. I personally thought his chapters in Dance were a refreshing change of pace from the turmoil across the Sea and south of the Wall. It's not like we're inundated with these supernatural events, he only has three chapters with one of them being a bit light on the supernatural. I'd also argue that there is a lot of human drama in this chapter, with Jojen/Meera being obviously conflicted on what their role is now that Bran is at the 3EC.

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The distinction between Others and wights has me confused. Throughout the first four books I thought wights were just another name for Others - similar to how Martin gives more than one name to lots of characters. Sometimes people refer to Loras as Ser Loras, other times the Knight of Flowers, etc.

Same killed something with his dagger, and everyone said he killed an Other, but what was different that "Other" and all the Wights we have seen?

Others are just that - other beings. They are icy non-humans that carry blades of ice and wear strange armor. They are very good fighters and seem to hate the living. An Other killed Ranger Royce in the Prologue of AGOT. Sam killed an Other with his dragonglass blade, which seems to be thier only weakness.

Wights, on the other hand, are walking dead. They seem to be controlled by Others. They are dead people or animals and they have blue eyes. They are not affected by dragonglass, but they can be killed by fire. Most of what we've seen has been wights. The Others have only come around two maybe three times.

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I thought something was interesting about something Brynden said. He said 1 in 1000 men are skinchangers. If that's true, then why are Jon, Arya, and Bran all skinchangers? Seems to me the chances of that are extrodinarily small.

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That was more fun that I expected it would be 8 years ago.

I think this passes the sniff test on being an ass-pull because we've always known the trees have had some significance. Being able to see through them has long been speculated. I would prefer Bran finding out Jon's origin this way, and telling Jon himself so Jon knows its true over "and the Howland Reed showed up" any day of the week.

And I don't think Bran can actually change the past. Bran himself has heard the leaves rustling when he's near the weirwoods, and I'm everyone else has too.

I have a feeling that Jon Connington might be another avenue for us to learn about R+L=J (given who he is and who he served/saved).

But, I thought that Bran might learn Jon's parentage too. I'm still hoping!

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I thought Others were undead with evil ice swords, and were a more powerful, intelligent bunch than wights; kind of a leader class. From a practical, fighting standpoint, the distinction is pretty negligible aside from the weaponry, so I suppose the terms would get interchanged. IIRC there's some small brouhahah made over Samwell killing not just a wight but an Other. I'd love to be corrected in this if it's a misconception on my part...

Back to Bran, though - perhaps the COTF/the 3EC became interested in Bran because they knew he wouldn't be able to physically leave their domain on his own power since their numbers are dwindling, and it wouldn't be likely they'd find a talented volunteer like Brynden again (assuming Brynden was a volunteer). As for Jojen, his greendreams seem to convey information to him metaphorically, so maybe he's only now beginning to piece together the true meaning of his dreams about his own fate.

Like I said above, Sam definitely killed an Other with dragonglass, which is seemingly their only weakness. Others actually are very graceful and good fighters as shown in the prologue of AGOT. Wights on the other hand seem to be rather stiff and slow and somewhat unthinking, yet relentless; pretty much zombies.

Sam tries to kill a wight with his dragonglass later, but it just breaks. That's when Coldhands comes and saves him and Gilly. So, you can see the distinction; dragonglass kills Others but not wights; fire kills wights (not sure what fire does to Others).

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Like I said above, Sam definitely killed an Other with dragonglass, which is seemingly their only weakness. Others actually are very graceful and good fighters as shown in the prologue of AGOT. Wights on the other hand seem to be rather stiff and slow and somewhat unthinking, yet relentless; pretty much zombies.

Sam tries to kill a wight with his dragonglass later, but it just breaks. That's when Coldhands comes and saves him and Gilly. So, you can see the distinction; dragonglass kills Others but not wights; fire kills wights (not sure what fire does to Others).

So... the wight-Other connection may actually be pretty tenuous, or maybe something more on the order of Targaryens and dragons. Because the fact that animals can become wights says to me that the wights are more a natural -- or unnatural, YMMV -- part of the order of things north of the Wall. The glowing blue eyes both have, and the fact that the Others led armies of wights back in the way back days lends one to believe they share an ancestry of a sort, but that may not actually be the case. The legends handed down about them and the chroniclers Sam reads could be GRRM's favorite red herring unreliable narrators. Melisandre has red eyes, so do the majority of CoTF greenseers (seems like a contradiction in terms but oh well), but no one would say they're connected, right? Or maybe they are. :devil:

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He said 1 in 1000 men are skinchangers. If that's true, then why are Jon, Arya, and Bran all skinchangers? Seems to me the chances of that are extrodinarily small.

The Starks are of the Blood of the First Men, and they are special. This is indicated right from the start with the direwolves. It is indeed very unusual that there so many wargs/skinchangers one family.

Also interesting that Brynden says that only 1 in a thousand skinchangers could become a Greenseer.

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This chapter made me a bit afraid that Bran will be some kind of evil by the end. Most notably when Jojen said "he should not be the one who is afraid." Now, I understand maybe Jojen is just bitter that he will die soon but this - and Jojen's whole attitude this chapter - made me feel that Jojen thinks he's done something horrible by bringing Bran to the 3-eyed crow. That he's released a great evil upon the world.

I hope I'm wrong.

Also how sad was it when Bran couldn't hold Meera when she was crying?? :crying:

I finished this chapter and immediately had to come here and see what people's opinions were. Specifically, if anyone knows who was in the last flashback was with the execution?

White haired woman makes me think it's the Targaryen queen who came to the North and gave the second gift (Queen's tower was named for her). Why there's an execution or who the Starks are here I haven't a clue (do we know who was Lord of Winterfell at this time)?

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