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[Spoiler]Do you all hate Bran?


ShadowRaven

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Bran is embarking on a journey into a higher state of consciousness. I, personally, find this a lot more exciting than being the Stark in Winterfell, especially since there are plenty of other likely Starks to carry that torch.

With regards to the Reeds (not) on Game of Thrones, the fact of the matter is that Bran and company are going to have a bloody long walk ahead of them, coming up - and plenty of opportunities to meet a couple of swamp (or possibly forest) kids on the way. Consider that Littlefinger has apparently grown wings, if the speed of his travel back and forth across Westeros this season can be believed.

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Queen Cersei I, but Martin is making excellent fun of these cliches. Remember Bran poking his forehead with his finger to open his third eye. And isn´t Jojen the perfect anti - Joda, and Meera keeping the group down to earth as Osha did before? Hodor?

Hodor, Hodor, Hodor, - Hodor!

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I liked Bran a lot in the beginning, but as the story progressed, his chapters started getting less interesting for me. I still like him, but I just don't look forward to his POV's as much as for other characters. His entire journey is starting to get too much on the fantasy side.

What I like so much about this series is that even though it's fantasy, the mystical element is more of an undertone and not in your face. You know it;s there, but it isn't made that obvious, or used minimally.Or even if it is used, there's still so much more to the character.

With Bran's chapters though, all of that is gone and it's all about his magical journey.

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@Lady Lilac: I agree that the mystical element is most notable in the Bran chapters, but I don´t think Bran is on a magical journey into fantasy land. I think he´s exploring the borders of life and death, fathom the depth of eternity, finding the universe in himself and himself in the universe. I know that´s very remote for many people, but it´s not fantasy. These are real questions, though metaphysical and hard to answer in a work of literature.

And I think Martin will come up with some interesting solutions to Bran´s situation, that we don´t expect.

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Personally, I don't hate the kid at all, though at times his chapters have felt like a bit of a chore. This is not because of a deep personal dislike I have of Bran, but because for some reason, his chapters seem to indulge in great surplus all of the annoying fantasy cliches that GRRM so brilliantly avoids elsewhere. Bran's "mystical connection" with nature/ trees; him traveling through the frozen wastes to discover a mysterious presence that will mystically reveal his path in life; Jojen Reed's ridiculous charaterization as the wise child prophet/ seer who speaks like a bloody fortune cookie; and phrases like "green dreams" "opening your third eye" "children of the forest" all contribute to a rather cheesy atmosphere that feels both cliched and, at times, (dare I say it?) vaguely ridiculous. This has become a greater problem as of late, with the introduction of Bryndyn the mystical tree man, and the looming possiblity of Bran learning to open his "third eye." (Whatever the fuck that actually means. :uhoh: ) And don't even get me started on the children of the forest. They are super long lived! They are wise and supperior beings! They are quasi elphin forms! I feel as though I've read this all before, somewhere else, in other novels of this type. I've rarely gotten this feeling elsehwer in GRRM's universe; here I feel it constantly. Of course, these are just opinions. I'm sure that for many, Bran's POV chapters make riveting reading. Alas, I personally cannot agree with this. As for the lack of hard core Bran fans, I do see one issue with his characterization (rather than just his storyline) that might account for this. In the past, GRRM has admitted that it was difficult to write from Bran, a then seven year olds, perspective. IMO, this sort of came through to me with his characterization in the first book, and continues to do so. In a book full of complex, multifaceted characters, Bran has always come off (to me) as somewhat one note. Less than complex, less than compelling, less, at times, than fully believable. However, no doubht many will disagree with me on this; and love Bran and see him as fascinating. However, I do think it is an undeniable fact that Bran has in general inspired less fanfare and less of a following amongst readers as characters like Danerys, Jon Snow, Arya, or Sansa. In my opinion, this is why.

:agree: This. Also, for some reason, the Reeds haven't won my heart like they have for a lot of readers. Meera's cool, I guess, but the Reeds are bascially like the two annoying unicorns from Charlie the Unicorn. "Bran, let's go to Candy Mountain!" Seriously, the whole north of the wall plan was so badly though out. I love Jon and Sam's north of the Wall chapters but when Bran went through the talking door, I was like "Are you kidding? Bran? North? Fuck."

Another reason why Bran's chapters feel like more effort than the other chapters is that he's such a tragic character. That's not a bad thing in terms of storytelling, not at all, but he really is tragic, which can be pretty depressing.

(Also, as the podcasters of ice and fire are always pointing out, he spends the first three books whining like a little bitch. When you get over your sympathy towards the trauma and tragedy surrounding him, he really does whine. :leaving: )

But there is that one chapter when they're trying to get to the cave and the wights come at them, fuck, that was exciting. Almost redeems all the whiny crap. And the Wierwood dreams are cool when they're relevant and revealing to the rest of the story, his chapters will definitely improve if he spends them watching all the good stuff.

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I'm sure Ned says quite explicitely that Bran won't have children, I don't know if you want to take that as fact but I have.

I don't want him to be KotN as Rickon is much more to my liking, its a personally preference tho, I don't really like fantasy elements like magic. I was bored to death by Lord of the Rings. Power politics is what I like.

I thought his chapters were alright, they were needed to bring the pace down after an eventful scene. But I do dislike Bran. I just couldn't understand why he (Robb's heir) was travelling North of the wall abandoning the north just because some kid dreamed about it. I was screaming at the book "wtf are you doing? get to the Umbers or the Mormonts!". His storyline lost me right at the beggining but I must say his DoD chapters I enjoyed. He was no longer travelling and was giving us usefull info.

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For some people the Cercei chapters is what they are waiting for, or the Jaime, or the Daenarys, or the Theon...You get my point. Am I the only one who looks forward to the Bran chapters? Why do so many people not mind it that the Reeds won't be casted, or neglect the fact that he is in FACT the true King of the North since Robb died. People use these excuses: - He's becoming a tree - He's not planning on coming back - He's cripple, won't be able to have children He is barely ten years old in the books, how come people are already deciding what he is and is not going to do? GRRM hasn't mentioned that Bran is invertile, nor has he stated Bran will stay north of the wall, so why is it that so many people wish for him to be out of the picture? I get that there are probably more Sansa likers than Bran. But why don't these fans realise that Sansa's claim comes after Bran's. He's been wronged so much in life, do we have to neglect his rights as well?

What? You're saying that there are more Sansa fans than Bran's? :huh:

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Bran chapters are my favourite to read, I was quite disappointed that there were only a handful of them in Dance. Leaving the Reed's out was the biggest negative of the TV series for me, if Osha takes over the role of Jojen then surely Rickon will have to go north as well which means Davos won't be sent to get from Skagos in the future.

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I was always looking forward to Bran's chapters, and nearly cried when I find out he had only three (?) in Dance.

I have my hopes up for the Reed(s) to appear next season.

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Bran chapters are my favourite to read, I was quite disappointed that there were only a handful of them in Dance. Leaving the Reed's out was the biggest negative of the TV series for me, if Osha takes over the role of Jojen then surely Rickon will have to go north as well which means Davos won't be sent to get from Skagos in the future.

Nope. Bran will likely go North with Osha to the Wall. Then she will go away with Rickon and he will go North with Hodor and Coldhands.

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Nope. Bran will likely go North with Osha to the Wall. Then she will go away with Rickon and he will go North with Hodor and Coldhands.

Can't believe I didn't think of that! If that's what happens it won't be too bad, still think it would have been better to put the Reed's in though.

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I love Bran. And the Reeds. And Hodor. Bran's chapters are the ones with the great stories within stories. Bran's chapters are the ones with Old Nan's tales and the mythology of the North and Westeros. Fascinating!

Also, leaving out the Reeds is a great disappointment. However, TV is not the books. :( Even if it is HBO.

On my first read through in AGOT, I (brace yourselves) hated Sansa. I grew to like her later.

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Hi all breaking my forum cherry, I’ve been a lurker for awhile but do the majority of my reading at work so not much time to post!

I wanted to contribute because I fell that Bran is a widely liked character, certainly on this forum I see a lot of sentiment about hoping he doesn’t become a tree, or isolated from everyone he’s ever known stuck in a cave etc.

I personally loved reading Bran’s POV, the gradual development with his powers and then escaping Theon were really interesting although I admit the pace was sometimes dragged out and I spent a lot of time waiting for him to finally get somewhere ( almost as bad as waiting for Arya to finally get somewhere instead of constantly travelling and being delayed.)

Now that he is developing his powers and we are seeing more of the CoTF Brans chapters will be our POV into learning more about the CotF and what lurks behind the wall, something I can’t wait for!

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