Bran is Leveling Up to Send A Dream of Spring (ASOIAF Theory)

[@thisguy8106]

It usually gets overlooked, but when Bran falls and is in a coma, apparently Hodor starts acting weird enough that it's remarked upon.. Which is saying something when someone that can only say "Hodor" begins to act weird enough that it gets pointed out. I think that's the very first hint at Bran fooling around with the past bc it isn't coma Bran that's messing with Hodor's head..

[@bundibird3213]

"Well, there's a kid strapped to a time-travelling tree---" lmao I love your various different turns of phrase

[@thisguy8106]

Bran's Falling/Flying dream chapter is one of my favorites in the entire story, and I've always wanted to know what the "terrible knowledge" was that the 3rd eye of the Raven was full of. In fact, there's so much of that chapter that's crazy on re reads, including how far into the future Bran is actually seeing when he sees the Zombie Mountain and Jon at the Wall..etc.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I have a video about that chapter and my take on that terrible knowledge actually haha It's called "the house of the undying and heart of winter visions explained" published august 23 if you wanna look back on the channel and check it out. That chapter is half the video the second half is the link to Dany's undying vision

[@thisguy8106]

​@@michaeltalksaboutstuffohh that's awesome! That's something I'm def going to watch, thank you! The only reason I made the comment, well 2 reasons really, was one- everyone was mentioning that this ADWD chapter is their fav Bran chapter so I wanted to mention what my favorite Bran chapter was, but I also wanted to mention that Bran was able to see the future *before* he had been married to the trees.. But you may explain all of that in that video. I'm going to save it to my Playlist for after this one.

[@thisguy8106]

I've watched so many of your videos, most in bingewatching sessions, it always suprises me when I realize that there are still ones I haven't watched.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

in terms of Bran seeing the future before being wed I think he might be only able to see what future Bran shows him. I also think when Bloodraven mentions that some things have not yet been shown to him (or some wording close to that) he is not shown certain things because he is only shown what future Bran wants to send him.

[@thisguy8106]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff that's a great point... I didn't think of that.

[@eric2500]

I have heard a lovely theory about how the three heads are Jon (Ice) Dany (Fire) and Bran (Earth, the balance restorer), Company of the Cat, I think. The old ways are likely to be preserved in some ways, this will be another long holding TRUCE. Bran won't die by the end of the books, he will be set up to rule as this composite entity for a LONG time. Duneishly. Maybe centuries later he'll end his control and it will fall to no one and everyone - again, Duneishly.

[@eric2500]

Oh BTW I think one of Bran's sisters, likely Sansa but maybe Arya, will have at least one child with the WOLF BLOOD that will continue the line of Bran's heirs. Also, Duneishly!

[@got_glintsp963]

@@eric2500 maybe Arya is pregnant with Gendry’s child…wolf’s blood and kind’s blood. 😁

[@jclaburn]

The issue of Free Will in ASOIAF is different than in our universe. Namely, ASOIAF is a a deterministic universe all controlled by George RR Martin. But from his perspective, the story is most interesting if he views his own characters as having free will and making their own decisions. He has talked about this in terms of Catelyn, who was supposed to stay in Winterfell under George Martin’s plan, but George decided that Cat the character with free will wouldn’t do that so she went to King’s Landing to see Ned as an act of character free will separate from Martin’s plan. This is the free will issue Martin is struggling with and exploring: He has a story he wants to tell with many key twists and a basic arc and ending but he is trying to give his own characters as he sees them free will to make decisions within his own story which keeps complicating the story but also making it more interesting for George. The series is a meta narrative that explores the challenges of being a writer and related issues such as being a parent and crafting narratives for yourself to explain your own life and decisions to yourself,

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I really like the idea Bran is going to at some point be trying to make these characters do what he wants and they just won't and he has to keep struggling to get them in place, mirroring GRRM's struggles haha. That would be very good

[@jclaburn]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff I have 20 great ASOIAF theories, literally, if you are looking for a partner for one video. I founded and run the Q@ora space A Theory of Ice and Fire (same as here) and I have created some theories like Arthur Dayne is Lancelot and Rhaegar and Dany’s father; Aria will go to King’s Landing and steal Arriane Martel’s face; Theon is a greenseer and it’s why he hears Bran talk to him through the tree, and it’s Theon who will go into a tree eventually to stay instead of Bran; Jaqen is the real Aegon VI who got switched for Young Griff at Illyrio’s Manse at age 9 (Arya’s when the story starts); the series will end with the wedding of Jon to Sansa or Jaqen to Arya mirroring Aragorn’s wedding to Arwen and Henry Tudor to Elizabeth York.

[@chasjetty8729]

This is along the lines of the idea that all the universe start to finish down to an atoms spin was all predetermined, aka ‘gods plan’. Any given interaction between matter has a predictable outcome and equal opposite reaction so on. Then life came and each organisms free choices rewrite the entire outcome of reality. Predetermined universe with free will making changes.

[@dragonslayerthegod9284]

@@jclaburnI’m honestly not seeing the parallel with Aragon & Arwen other than 2 fantasy worlds. And personally, I think while Jaqen and Sansa may play important roles to certain story lines, neither of them plays that big a role to the end of the series.

[@jclaburn]

@@dragonslayerthegod9284 The parallel is that one of the central themes for J.R.R. Tolkien in Middle Earth was three great marriages of elven women to human men, while with the song of ice and fire, we have the marriage of Stark women to Targaryen men. At least we have this one great secret marriage of Lyanna Stark to Rhaegar Targaryen. If we get two more, then the marriages of fire and ice exactly mirror the marries of men to elven maidens. Those two could be Jon Snow (secretly Aemon Targaryen) to Sansa Stark and Jaqen H'ghar (secretly Aegon VI Targaryen) to Arya Stark. We even have some name similarity too with Arwen to Arya and Aragorn to Aegon. Certainly, the story starts with five main characters who live (Bran, Arya, Jonm, Tyrion, Dany) and two more who die (Ned and Catelyn), but I would argue that Sansa certainly takes over for Catelyn & Ned in becoming a sixth main character in the story. She has a lot of chapters and her own separate storyline, like Arya and Dany. It would be incredible for Sansa not to be a main character who centrally affects the main storylines given that she gets her own separate storyline like Arya, Dany, Jon, Bran, and Tyrion. She's not a viewpoint character say on King's Landing or Stannis or Doran Martell. She is a character with her own symbolism and themes and arc. She starts like Ariel in the little mermaid who loses everything chasing after a prince, then she starts learning and becoming more and more precocious and independent like Little Belle in Beauty and the Beast as she ages from eleven at the start to thirteen. She's also the classic princess protagonist in the story who is locked up in a tower in at least three places (the Tower of the Hand, Littlefinger's tower on the Fingers, and Lady Arryn's tower in the Eyrie) like Rapunzel. Perhaps crucially, of all the characters, she takes after George Martin's own wife Paris with red hair and great a love of romantic stories. Jaqen H'ghar is the mystery character who is less important in that he is not a viewpoint character and an enigma. But he's also been set up as the biggest surprise, twist character in the story: He has lots of parallels with Odysseus, the first fantasy hero of western storytelling, who became a faceless man and faked a different identity on every island and when he got back to Ithica before he could unseat the suitors. Odysseus literally called himself "no one" in Greek like Jaqen calls himself "no one." Jaqen recruits Arya to become a faceless woman, but this is like Odysseus reuniting with his son Telemachus and teaching him to take on a secret identity and be like him in the Odysseus so that they can both get their birthright back. In this case Arya wants Winterfell back and Jaqen wants King's Landing back if he really is the long lost Aegon VI. Jaqen not only offers Arya three lives, he suggests choices to her, and what choices they are: King Joffrey, Lord Tywin, and Queen Mother Cersei. It's almost as though Jaqen has his own list of people to kill, just like Arya, and they are the people responsible for killing Elia Martel and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen who are now sitting in King's Landing where the Targaryens should be ruling! And Jaqen is the mystery character also born amidst salt and smoke like Daenerys first and Jon Snow last. Jaqen is reborn when Arya saves his life in a burning barn and then collapses into tears. In fact, everything involving Jaqen is fire imagery in the story. This is more even than Dany who starts with water imagery in a bath in her first chapter and who keeps taking baths and tubs throughout the story and taking cities on bays and rivers. Dany is water and fire imagery. Jon Snow is snow and ice imagery. The one character who is consistently fire imagery throughout the story when he is described, besides Stannis Baratheon, is Jaqen H'ghar--suggesting that he secretly is a Targaryen.

[@jacobsquare4812]

It makes sense that the trees would be sending a "dream" to Viserys to have a son, to kick off the Dance. How else to destroy all those dragons?

[@danieldirocco8282]

I still don't understand why (future)Bran would go back in time to make sure events that have already occurred still happen. I can't really imagine a future scene in the books where Bran realizes what he has to do and says "ok, I have to be Bran the Builder by noon, incept a couple of Dragondreams at 2, hire old Nan at 2:30, pretend to be R'hllor until 3:45, find time to create of bunch of prophecies..." and then realizes, "oh wait! all that stuff already happened, nice work, me, I guess I can clock off early for the day". Free will is still an issue. Just because the new system (one we will never see in the books) will be free from deterministic control of the old system, doesn't change that everything we read still took place under that system. The only one left with free will would be Bran himself. Time travel plots are a sword without a hilt, there's really no safe way to grasp it without things either making no sense or becoming 100% deterministic. I actually think you have a pretty good chance on being right about all of this, a lot of this is foreshadowed in the text, but man, I just feel like it would profoundly cheapen the story and lore it ends up being this weird time loop where every legend, half remembered prophecy, mad Targaryen, every cool dream that's important for some character's arc was actually just King Bran playing Crusader Kings on his Weirwood PC while all the characters and lore we loved were just puppets on his strings and cogs in a machine, even if Bran is rigging that machine to self destruct. Not to be too negative, I do love your theories on the Wall and the Old Ways, time travel plots just never sit right with me.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I do agree it is all messy and there is more to figure out. I think a lot of it will come down to rules GRRM hasn't set for us yet. We also need to know the nature of the timeline he is messing with. (assuming these clues of time travel are actually what they appear) The rules will likely be revealed as Bran learns more. Also I think the wall stuff could work well without the time stuff. So this isn't like a pillar of the overall theory, but the time stuff does seem to be in the text. So I felt the need to address it and try solve it when covering where things will go. I am not sure how I feel about it either but with the Hodor hold the door stuff and the dream from Jon in Clash seeing a 3-eyed Bran as a tree it seems GRRM is putting it in. I do agree with the general point to that it could very much be a big mess of a plot and GRRM needs to get a lot right.

[@BDnevernind]

This comment really nails or for me. I think the time traveling potentially is built into the story based on all the clues in this video/theory, which I've been coming back to over the months. But I think it's extremely unlikely that Bran will use the power to change major events in his own past. The one we (think we) know most about is Hodor, which is to change an event in Bran's present/future. And honestly I already don't get how this is going to explain why Hodor behaves as he does in Bran's own past. Is it going to turn out that the big stable boy was a chatty intellectual the whole way to the caves except whoops? I suppose it's possible that Hodor was such a side character even when he could talk that erasing his ability to talk has no major impact on the timeline. But this is obviously not true of changing things for other character. Causing the birth of Jon Snow who Bran grew up with and thinks of often would be far more radical and far less of a precise tactic. Did Jojen tell Bran about his dad and Bran's aunt and Rhaegar meeting so that he could recreate the events or intervene in them with precision? It makes no sense. And maybe he dabbles in altering the past but he quickly learns that's a big mess. But I think pretty much however GRRM were to do it, if he makes Bran the author of the past this way, I am going to be beyond disappointed. It's cheap and actually has the opposite effect implied in the conclusion here. I think (hope) the Free Will stuff is pure tinfoil. Sorry to join this so late but after months or pondering this I am only more confident that this theory is wrong, however awesome and however instightful it certainly is to some extent. There's no way George is going to have Bran intervening that much in the past. At least I hope.

[@stevenhetzel6483]

This narrative is just reminding me more and more of Eren and the Attack Titan. Spoiler: Eren has been weaving the actions of himself and others in the past through his abilities in the future. Also a funny coincidence that the ice wall might be made of Wierwoods with men staked to them. .. When the walls of AoT's cities are made of men who are metaphorically staked to Titans. In the moment, Bran and Eren care deeply for those around them, their family, their friends... Whereas future Eren, and possibly future Bran simply see all of them, friends and family alike, as tools and puppets to maneuver the timeline into his desire. Just a lot of AoT mirroring going on with these theories, and seeing a a japanese developer FromSoftware basically headhunting GRRM to write a story for them kinda makes me believe they all adore him, and the genius writers of AoT knew more about GoT than we imagined.

[@CoolTheoryGuy]

It worked in aot that was the same as this, eren knew the only way out is this exact sequence of events and he SPOILER ALERT Kills his mother in the past, makes his father kill those children. And the people who are saying this ending is disappointing baffle me. this is the story that was set up from the beginning, just because you watched a hundred theory vids doesn’t change this fact. I think this is the problem George is facing no matter how he ends his story a loud minority will be disappointed because they wanted something so unexpected that no theory channel had come up with before and that is just not possible.

[@CoolTheoryGuy]

@@stevenhetzel6483yep isayama has admitted he was influenced by game of thrones while writing AOT

[@connorhinsley6991]

It would be interesting if Bran's prophecies were just him revealing the future at that point in time, so instances where they do not come to true are evidence of Bran's meddling changing the future. It would also track that Bran planted the prophecies, because it means that a prophecy in ASOIAF is just whatever is needed at that moment for events to play out to Bran's satisfaction. It's less so divine guidance, and leaning more towards the Bene Gesserit in Dune.

[@joshcoughx]

I found your training montage song: Five Magics by Megadeth. Starts off like this "Bestow upon me knowledge, Wizard - all knowing all wise!"

[@eric2500]

The moon cycle imagery is like dark poetry in that chapter!

[@humbertotargaryen4823]

Ghost of High Heart is the daughter of Bloodraven and Leaf. She looks exactly like Bloodraven but in a Children of the Forest version, pale skin, white hair and red eyes.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I like that a lot... Now I am wanting more dunk and egg to get more clues to that time haha

[@Zulmofo]

I just imagine bran eating the wierwood paste while the south park montage theme plays That's called a montage (Montage) Even Rocky had a montage (Montage)

[@jasmineolivine]

new channel name : Michael Tangents seriously love the content, your channel is very underrated, you should have at least 100k!

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Once I finish this big giant series on all this magic end game stuff we will have so much time for tangents

[@jasmineolivine]

Looking forward to it🤩@@michaeltalksaboutstuff

[@KarlKarsnark]

Timey-wimey is the slipperiest of slippery slopes. If Bran can "control" anything then there is no Free Will, but if there is Free Will, then they can't be controlled. You can't be "kinda Free". You either are, or you are not. Even a "benevolent timelord dictator", is still a dictator. Bran isn't so "pure" as to refuse near infinite power simply for the "greater good". How could he? He's just a kid. Not even Frodo could let go of the One Ring, in the end. It was only Gollum's greed that saved the world. There's also no way to calculate all the possible outcomes of making even very slight changes (Butterfly Effect), and if there are not side-effects, then there are no consequences for failure. If he does "just the right thing", at "just the right time", with so little experience and while so young, that seems a little too convenient from a story telling perspective. He then becomes Leplace's Demon, which may then lead to him becoming Roko's Basilisk, as it were. He might be well intentioned, but so is the road to Hell. "Absolute Power corrupts absolutely." GRRM will have to very precisely define what the limits of timey-wimey will be, or Bran can "just do" anything at "any time". If it "fails", he can just go back 30 sec. earlier and try again, and again, and again..... We shall see. Cheers!

[@stevenkunkle3857]

You can think you're free while being a slave, you can think you're a slave while you're free. Shades of grey, everywhere shades of grey.

[@laurawilliams7782]

I feel like one of the main themes of this story is the various interpretations of prophecies and events by different people. Everyone has a different idea of what the comet means, how magic works, ect. Nothing is ever clear at the time, only in hindsight. I think having Bran as a person for whom sending dreams/prophecies works perfectly all the time goes against that. I feel he has to do something in the past, but I don't think he's going to be responsible for every important dream in the series. He's going to get it wrong sometimes, and then what does he do? I don't think he can keep going back to the same event over and over until he finally gets the result he wants. Multiple dreamers with varying goals and beliefs seems more in tune. Sometimes it's Bran, sometimes it's other greenseers or glass candle users or dragon dreamers.. It's a muddle and no one ever has the 'correct' idea about anything. Prophecy isn't a positive thing in the series, and for me, anything that makes it effectively used breaks that.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I do agree he will struggle with this and there will have to be limits and things he messes up that have negative consequences. I also agree there is glass candle dreams for some dreams and very possibly another greenseer or the weirwood itself able to send their will out who might be against Bran and want the system to live. I think by the end we will see which dreams are his and which he messes up and very likely when he sends the final dream he will not know if its going to work as it happens and he and/or the world trees die and have to wait for rebirth. I do think though if handled the right way with the right rules and struggles and consequences it could work. The idea that all prophecy was coming from a kid trying to gaslight everyone into doing what is needed for rebirthing the trees that he is strapped to could fit into it not exactly being positive. At least following prophecy isn't going to lead to positive results for the individual. It certainly wasn't positive for most of the characters chasing it and that wouldn't change IMO if Bran is the source of a lot of it.

[@brandonkeogh9208]

Could that fit with how people have claimed that the names of the stark direwolves have links to the outcomes of the stark children. With Bran's being summer. He does all this to reset the wheel, dying at the conclusion of his dream of spring, but at the very end, seeing that it doesn't work and things go into summer (death and control through king's being established or entrenched further/ people finding out about it and fighting back further (reminds me of watchmen and Rorschachs journal at the end) or a nihilistic view that human nature is entombed with the want of power). So so so very thankful for your videos though bro. Truly. Your time to gain insight and the humourous and down to earth nature in which you deliver it brings light to my daily human struggle 😅​@@michaeltalksaboutstuff

[@jenny_of_oldstones3523]

Hey I just want to say what a nice non toxic you tube page. There's like 3 others I visit who are great too. It's nice to talk differing options & having my mind changed.

[@michaelalan6459]

The epilog of A Dream of Spring will be a Bloodraven POV where Bran manipulates him into coming into the cave and sitting down in the roots.

[@leomesser415]

No way this vid pops up right as I have a 40 minute care ride shoutout Michael talks about stuff

[@eziowayne]

Sacrifice to the Weirwood algorithm :) great video by the way!

[@greenmountainpokemon2112]

Absolutely loving the deep theories, and explanations... its easy to follow, and easy to digest!! Great job, great content 👏

[@zb3701]

I'm unclear on this. The Weirwood Trees have their own consciousness and motivations, goals which differ from those of the Children of the Forest's or are they uniformly aligned? Side note: there are remaining male Children of the Forest still out there, or perhaps more accurately, somewhere down in there, as the case may be?

[@The2012Aceman]

34:00 The famed GRRM LOTR connection. Who would choose to destroy the One Ring when you could MASTER IT?!

[@Druzica18]

I was LITERALLY singing 'Eye of the Tiger' from the moment you mentioned the words 'training montage' and when you actually mentioned the song, I lost my shit laughing.

[@jenny_of_oldstones3523]

Oh how Hilarious I quoted your own theory to you 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Well it's a good and interesting theory!!!! 🌛🌜 So theres a theory going around that Old Nan is "Leaf"... Had pretty good arguments.

[@J_Mock92]

I love your content! Your theories are so fun, and even when you seem like you're going off on a bit of a tangent, the line of thinking is still sound and your reasoning just makes sense lol. I always get so excited when I see a new video from you!

[@btaybreadtastic]

I always took "Brandon Stark could taste the blood" as a double meaning. A:BRAN in the Weirwood can taste the blood and B: The dude getting sacrificed name is Brandon Stark

[@ziggystardust457]

Why does Bran allow his own disablement then? Like if he can change everything, why lose the ability to walk/being one of the greatest climbers ever?

[@j3fr0uk]

Tyrions words to Bran in the show about the greatest story actually has weight to it now...

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Yeah I will likely give this it's own video one day, but that part I think comes from GRRM. Problem is out of context looks very silly. It needs to be delivered right, but a thing I have talked about is how this old system unites through fear and specifically fear of the others to keep people in line. I think in the building of a new way they will need a new thing to bind the people together besides "fear of the others" and the thing they will use is stories and shared past and shared human experience as told through stories. I think that is kinda the idea GRRM told D and D and the Tyrion line is what we got.

[@danielbyrd127]

I think Jon is the prince that was promised. Promised to be kept a secret

[@reddest-x]

2:01 it actually is a training montage, complete with music. The text even says he's listening to Whispers in the Dark by Skillet!

[@reddest-x]

Or Mumford and Sons 🤔

[@taco4242]

Bran 3 ADWD is easily my favorite Bran chapter.

[@SethPlato01]

So, basically its kinda the plot of Attack on titan.... Bran Yeager

[@VelverosaVelaryon]

Another banger 🎉

[@edwardmartin5860]

Transformation is key throughout George's story. Chaos is not a ladder but a split causing transformation. Bran just went through his & Jon is in middle of his.Same thing 4 tha trees George shows this through ancient stories.Like Bloodstone/Garth & Amethyst/NQ. Original Trinity is Bloodstone Amethyst and there child.Once you notice this parallels all through tha story.Trinity is important I love your theories. I have a different take but you have got me on another rabbit hole.Thnx my man. 💯

[@organic723]

When you hear "time traveling Bran" and realize you have lots of other stuff you could be doing.

[@mttasadi4034]

I have seen your videos about Elden Ring and its connection to ASOIAF. In that story, I believe the main character is General Radhan. Here, I believe the hero is not Jon Snow, it's actually Bran. Also, I totally agree with you on the cycle of rebirth. I think for Westeros to become a natural world, all Targaryens need to be gone, including Jon Snow. The sacrifice necessary to eliminate the trees is going to be bitter (I am not sure if it's gonna be Daenerys or someone else, but I am sure it requires blood) and the aftermath is going to be sweet for the rest of the world.

[@jayteeblues]

Hmmm interesting. Wonder why all the targs need to be gone? Just thinking about it.

[@mttasadi4034]

@@jayteeblues I think just like Elves that had to fade so that humans can take control in The Lord of The Rings, the only way to end the story is to end magic in that world. There are other sources like fire magic, blood magic and glamour, but I think the story is going that way.

[@jayteeblues]

@@mttasadi4034Ok. Except that the Targs aren’t the only users of blood magic or fire magic. The disproportionate use of cold magic is certainly out of control and a balancer needs to come into play. I can see the wall needing to go down and a Targ with their fire and blood magic being central to that balance (ie Dany sacrificing). I guess I hate to see their line end after the last 200 years. lol. I have a sentimental attachment to them staying alive and being more protectors now. Like how Starks have protector symbology and history. Just musing. Thanks!

[@mttasadi4034]

@@jayteeblues You might be the Prince that was Promised😀 I just hope we see something positive from GRRM.

[@GoblinTalk]

1. Arya gets the courage to leave Harrenhal because the Weirwood speaks to her as Ned 2. Brienne it prompted to take out Oathkeeper because of a Weirwood at that abandoned castle by the sea which saves her life fighting the Brave Companions 3. Theon gets the courage to help (f)Arya escape Winterfell because the tree calls him Theon Probably are other examples I missed but there is direct communication with people

[@MosHighChadro]

If Bran was a "time traveler" he never would have climbed that tower. "The things we do for love".

[@minnumseerrund]

what is this 'too much' Football Manager you mention?

[@edgarseis]

So Bran would be a remixing fo God Emperor of Dune :) Nice!

[@sleepy9013]

Seems like Bran's drawing a lot of imagery from odin.

[@elisebrodeur-jacobs5215]

10:05 I can see the GoHH being half Child of the Forest and half human

[@admireinspire]

Every time he talks people look up so idk i feel some communication is definitely getting through. In the enders game series the pigs become father trees and the pigs beat the trees with sticks as the trees alter their inner holes and hollows to make a kind of language. First of all why are talking trees such a repeated theme in fantasy but also why do I like it so much?😂

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Do you have any theories on Quaithe?

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

No strong opinons yet, a few theories I kinda like on the surface but haven't done a deep look into it

[@MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD]

15:00 I think that a lot of your struggles are resolved by accepting that Hodor just has "beast level" intelligence.

[@TSMoran]

At least in the show, the only people who die are given the choice to stop fighting and they continue. Freewill is having that choice and still continuing to fight. By the end everyone who would continue fighting is dead, and those alive simply don't want to fight anymore.

[@terrantheblack6587]

The daemon dreams at harrenhal on HoTD reinforces this theory. Btw, in TWOIAF they speak of wild dragons being in Westeros before the Targaryens. What if the weirwoods is the product of dead/decaying wild dragons?

[@rufuswalling5519]

Maybe Howland Reed can understand the speaking of the leaves and becomes Brans agent

[@gouenne]

I like the idea that Bran will launch a 'great destruction'. This would respond to what a previous Bran (already himself probably) has done, be a great builder. And what is there to destroy? A vicious pact with the weirwood, that protects humankind but also makes it live in constant fear of the others and be dependant on the weirwood and their magic. Bran, a quasi God, hence possesses the power to build and destroy, to create and annihilate. Those are powers that seem contradictory. But they are not, as recognized in many religions and cultures: nothing new can emerge without wiping something out. The most famous of humain Gods with such powers of creation and destruction is hindu god Shiva that I believe inspired GRRM in writing Bran. This creator/destructor attribute is not the only one they share: Shiva is often represented with a 3rd eye (symbol for higher consciousness), a moon in his hair (a symbole of time keeping) and as a 'omniscient yogi living an ascetic life' (wikipedia)... I am sure there are plenty of other similarities but those make a case that Bran is inspired by and destined to become a Shiva like god. PS: reading wikipedia, I see that another ambivalence of Shiva is that he is oftentimes a yogi but also represented as a domestic 'father', husband to Parvati and father and Bran the builder is also the creator of the Stark dinasty. Does that also mean that the Stark family will end together with the wider destruction that Bran will cause? Many Stark children are dead or will not have children (John Arya bran). It only leaves Sansa. If this theory is true she won't have any children.

[@Oliver-zy8sq]

Jaime has a dream of his dead mother talking to him when he rested his head on a weirwood trunk.

[@eric2500]

Bloodraven says altering the past can't be done. At least he can't. Bran MIGHT be able to at some point -- more magic ambient in the world after the dragons hatch, you know.

[@eric2500]

So are you proposing that ALL the dreams are coming Bran/ Bloodraven/ The Singers/ The Trees? Even the significant dreams of the Targs? Like Aegon's prophecy? *No way that that is always true* - for instance the House of the Undying dreams/ vision/ Dany experiences she sees even before she meets the warlocks happen in part because she is clearly tripping ovaries....perhaps also true after she eats the berries as she wanders down the creek looking for the Skahaza..... (river going through Mereen!).

[@klaudiabiela3234]

If Bran caused Rhaegar to try having third child he basically caused the situation when Ned's older brother was killed, because of which Ned married Cat. Without all that Bran would not exist so in that case he would basically create himself.

[@danielmejorado6098]

Maybe the Bran and Hodor situation is because Bran was young and naive. And as Bran got older, he started testing his powers more and overstepped, forcing people to do things. Those people figured out it was the weirwoods forcing them and/or their loved ones to do these things and so they started cutting down the weirwoods. As Bran became older, wiser, and more experienced, he realized it was better to cajole people into doing what he wants than forcing them. Pure speculation on my part.

[@ryanabcdef12345]

there has to be some limitation to the time travel piece. Why wouldn't bran just go through time preventing the oldways from happening but still allowing himself and his family to be born and put in the positions they need to be. I'd like to believe that the farther back into the past some is the more difficult it is to influence. Also can other greenseers use this power? Personally I think it would be cool if this was a bran specific ability like other aspects of his character. That way we can preserve some continuity and not have the looming threat of "greenseers are always changing the past"

[@robertrub5503]

What if Bran is the Green Man!!!! Dun dun duuuuuuuuhhhhhhh

[@The2012Aceman]

I can't believe Bran is going to rip off Eren...

[@CoolTheoryGuy]

Twas probably eren who ripped off bran tbf

[@NatureRPh]

The past is already written, the ink is dry.

[@gabrielsalesmartins]

We are never getting the Dream of Spring, we'll maybe have Winds of Winter, but Dream of Spring won't ever come out

[@tylersage4750]

The idea that Bran will destroy the weirwoods and create a new order by grafting a new tree is alwo supported by the lore of elden ring. Theres the idea that the crucible/great tree was supplanted by Queen Merika with the Erdtree.

[@openwide000]

It's crazy how similar your theories are with attack on Titan. Have you ever thought of that? Also what are your thoughts on bran being the person telling the mad king to "burn them all"?

[@joemondello]

So it’s the Sirens of Titan plot

[@JoeyB7615]

I may be way off base but i feel bran is becoming the villain not the hero

[@theintrnationlst]

Good vid, interesting ideas. But I think there's a possibility GRRM is not setting up Bran to be a good King, but to be an adversary like Leto the Second in Dune. After all, he has Bran breaking all the ethical rules of warging, and while Bloodraven is teaching him all about the powers he will have, he's not really instilling in him any great wisdom, the way Merlin did with Arthur.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Yea I do still go back and forth a bit on if Bran will be evil. I lean at the moment that he will be good overall but fully acknowledge he may end up being not so great. Also we will probably get lessons of good things he does and things he messes up. There is a weird thing too I keep thinking about. How he is at least at times being shielded from the dark things he must do to take this power. He is tricked into eating people by coldhands and then with Jojen paste assuming that is a thing. So if eating people is needed and normally the people taking this power would be doing it intentionally seeking power Bran is kinda being carried there unwilling. This might be a plan specifically so he will reject the power once he learns how dark it is to sustain. He doesn't know he is breaking like every one of the main warging rules because he wasn't taught them. He doesn't seem to know he is as dark as he is yet and that seems to be kept from him on some level. I do wonder if that is in some way the way Bloodraven is guarding or guiding Bran. Getting him in control of this power without seeking it in all the dark ways intentionally... saving his innocence on some level or another at least, but Idk for sure how it will go

[@theintrnationlst]

Good points, but I don't think GRRM would think of it in terms of Bran being "good" or "evil." He might purposely do evil things but for a greater good, or good things but tainted with sinister motivations, rather than just making mistakes. Bloodraven himself is an ethically fluid character.@@michaeltalksaboutstuff

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

@@theintrnationlst Agreed, I think GRRM understands people operate under their incentives. I will probably cover exactly what we are talking about on its own at some point. The way I see the incentives at the moment is Bloodraven is either doing what he thinks the trees want cuz he is fully bought into the power he gets from it and following his visions, or he is doing what he thinks will lead to Bran destroying the system because he is too old and weak by the time he realized he needed out and the system needed to go. He may also not want to be trapped like the old greenseers now that his powers and his time in control are fading. Bran in either case is being set up to seemingly have this power and want out. So he will end the system for his own selfish reasons of being scared of being trapped like those undying forever. Which will also get the end result needed for the cycle of the world. So Bran having been set up as this innocent scared boy strapped in without knowing what he is getting into might be perfect incentive for him to act in a self interested way but get the end result needed. We might be left to wonder if it was Bran the whole time or the trees themselves just wishing for their own cycle of rebirth. Bran was either a puppet on some level himself or he was acting selfishly to do what he wanted but that was also what was best. Would seem to fit for me with the way GRRM likes to make us debate this stuff and the morally grey selfishness of human nature he seems to show.

[@MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD]

I don't know why people have a problem with breaking warging rules. He doesn't know those rules and he doesn't break them maliciously.

[@theintrnationlst]

@@MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD So, they aren't arbitrary rules just for shits and giggles. They are to reinforce ethical behavior. Like a person should not force themselves on another person as a matter of ethics whether there's a rule in place or not. You shouldn't eat other people, you really shouldn't need a rule to know that. You can't really say "I'm going to mind-rape you, but don't worry, I'm not doing it out of malice." The point is that Bran has this amazing power that can easily be abused and he's not being given the guidelines (rules) to use it ethically. Which leaves him in a place to do great harm to others or to the world without meaning to or being malicious.

[@komputerkaput1757]

Essentially.

[@shadedusk7831]

So basically, the whole story that we're seeing is a "corrected" version which uber god Bran from the "bad ending" version set up to create a "good ending" timeline? .. what? Bran out here playing the game (of thrones) on new game + trying to get an alternate ending lol Edit : Also, what if this isn't the first iteration of him doing this? What if this is like attempt number 54, load save states, try this rng, hope it works lol

[@UwU_for_Christ]

I feel like too much here is being put on to "time travelling Bran" - it's like you're turning him into some kind of God lmao

[@MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD]

If Bran is already hooked up to the trees, then why would he have to set his own table to get hooked up to the trees? He clearly already had everything he needed or he wouldn't have been able to do tree communication.

[@BillyBasd]

The wierwood net is a hive mind Bran will soon join. Like Blood raven before him, when Bran joins with the tree fully it's a complete giving. Once those roots are in Bran, there is no more distinct Bran as there is no distinct Bloodraven. The experiences of all the children and greenseers merge together into one being like his story A song for Lya The hive mind did it.

[@lmm8960]

Dragons could be used to destroy the old magic. Right?

[@FezzieWigs]

I think Bran is going to find out that his meddling is the problem and he needed to have died when he was pushed from the tower.

[@bloodangel19]

Is thie Jamie's alt acount?

[@FezzieWigs]

Nope. I really want Bran to thoroughly eff it all up, then figure out he is the problem and have to go back to the point where he was pushed and actually die. This would theoretically change everything.

[@avatarname0008]

The Donnie darko ending? Idk man sounds kinda lame for this story

[@FezzieWigs]

@@avatarname0008 k... because George can dig his way out of this shitshow...

[@avatarname0008]

@@FezzieWigs if all else fails you could blow the world up and go 2001 with a floating baby in space

[@martinkrog5943]

This is so dope ! Nuf said

[@kiri101]

Isn't Hodor the important example (and self-moral lesson) that Bran is capable of projecting his will in to the past? Both that he can affect the past and also that he can forcefully affect people - the trauma of realising this violence is what reinforces the value of free will to Bran before he needs that lesson to shape how he changes the world/has changed the world/is changing the world. With his inhabiting Hodor he is privy to the cost of this violence as both the victim and user (both of which are harmed) and is uniquely able to reconcile these things - he is the living Dialectic. I wonder to what degree GRRM is influenced by an experience of Westernised Zen Buddism from his formative years, a la Alan Watts.

[@peterdunlop7691]

Will Bran become a man like Isildur, or a halfling like Frodo? Will he destroy the “ring”, or seek to control it?

[@jenny_of_oldstones3523]

Im cool with that, I just dont want him to turn into a turnip, no personality who is sinister, who was now not Bran & the WW net but "the three eyed raven" who doesnt exist in the books. Bloodraven was the "3 Eyed Crow" but its not a weird non existent character....

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Agreed. I think the show saying he is the "3-eyed raven now" or however they put it was just their way of avoiding he either always had been the crow in his visions the whole time, or the crow was the weirwood mind he is melded with fully which they also didn't explain. In whatever case the way the show did it needed more explanation they didn't want to go into. I think being in Bran's head will on some level make a lot more sense of it.

[@jenny_of_oldstones3523]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff I mean I'm sure Bran will be changed. This is a story about children taking on way too much responsibility on their shoulders. Of course he'll not be the "sweet summer boy" we loved. He'll have been through hell. But he will still have human emotions, able to show kindness & be grateful to Meera, etc. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see his family, yes changed, maybe even "broken" in ways if not physically, emotionally. Jon in his revenant state, Arya probably a loving sister... But also a cold blooded killer. Possibly (I think the one who gives Cat the gift after telling her about them in WF. ) I kinda think Arya"s revenge trope will change tradgectoty. She'll go home.... Through the river lands , meet a wolf not go separate ways & head home to help with the war... Maybe both.

[@nicolesteege5487]

Kinda seems like the paste could be a guest right thing

[@nicolesteege5487]

On yeah I think the paste is the original guest right the guest right to the gods. And human have taken a more basic version. Buuut that kinda makes you wonder rn. With the corruption so the others need a guest right of blood??!

[@Jonjzi]

What if instead of "The Isle of Faces" it was actually called "The Isle of Feces" and it was a big pile of poop? That would sure be a big twist, wouldn't it?

[@void.sawyer]

Warging the world tree

[@zachwebster7048]

if this ends up being true, George was lying about not liking God Emperor of Dune

[@Caulmare]

So in other words. From beginning to end all the books will just be a giant dream in the end... 👍that would make for an awesome ending. Nothing is real. Bran is just in a comma after his fall having a killer dream... then it all begins again with a real story and a ton of books on a different timeline..

[@YinYoo2011]

Thank you

[@Wright9806]

Don't forget the like button folks

[@kat1722]

i think brans being able to warg hodor in the past was a bit of a fluke / circular storytelling, if hodor had grown up as a normal man he likely would have gone to war in roberts rebellion- likely to have died, but if he survived we would have gone onto the iron island rebellion and again if he had survived onto the war of 5 kings, in a way him being made 'simple' he survived all that to then serve bran. i also think hodor has nonhuman lineage, whether from nana-leaf or some other mixed blood wondering the north- maybe this is where the warg and powerful bloodlines ect come from. prehaps its the nonhuman genetics that let bran and hodor mindmeld

[@tmen1476]

Damn, so Bran and Eren Yeager gave the same fate

[@porcus123]

I am starting to think george got upset that atack on titan did it before him. That what you get when you take 30 years to write your books

[@VeteranVandal]

Wait... Why would Old Nan call the Children of the Forest the singers, what? That's NOT the most forward characteristic of the children, UNLESS she's one. Why would a HUMAN call a child of the forest a singer when the fact that they are small, they look like kids and speak in a way we can't understand are all aspects that are a lot more obvious? If she says singers it's because that's how they call THEMSELVES. This would follow GRRM pattern of a hint within a fast sequence of stuff, just so people feel dumb later.

[@gerardjagroo]

If even half of your theories were true it would indicate that Bran is an amnesiac god. In GRRRM's AWOIAF, the founder of the Great Empire of the Dawn is called the God on Earth. Is that what Bran is like?! And more importantly how will an All-Seeing god affect the story. Wouldn't it weaken the story when Martin only cares to writing about is _"The human heart in conflict with itself"_

[@theEpicxY]

Whose to say there aren't multiple competing interests through magical forces. Isn't it stated that there are no weirwoods in the south? So what if when the red comment arrived and the dragons were born magic entered the world again.

[@eric2500]

There lies the error in this thinking - that Bran is aligned with the element of Ice. No my friend, he is Earth - his wolf is SUMMER - he will bring the seasons into balance again. But he won't be fighting his Ice element, he'll be channeling his Earth element. Ice in excess (Jon) will clash with/ cancel out/ merge with Fire in excess (Dany) and Earth (Bran) will be the force that restarts everything after the destruction. We know George loves that Frost poem. Read it again. The poet prefers fire, and maybe GRRM does too, see how a super attractive woman is the Fire - Dany, Mel or both! But it is still destrucion.

[@kendallbabbitt1532]

Have my babies

[@kirstyangel1452]

So, there is New Moon... Full Moon... Waxing/Waning Crescent Moon Phases... But where are the 1st Quarter/Last Quarter Half Moon and the Waxing/Waning Gibbos Moon Phases...? Is something preventing these phases from appearing... Strange?

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I also wondered about this and didn't notice any reason. Looking for maybe some theme connection between the scene that happens after and the moon phase. My current best guess is he just had those desciptions he thought sounded coolest for moon phases so he went between them. If there is a pattern behind it I haven't found it yet but wouldn't be surprised.

[@kirstyangel1452]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff The New Moon (black hole).. Crescent Moon and the Full Moon are the most Mystical/Powerful and used in Magic/Rituals going back to Ancient Times, so it would seem at the very least that there are full blown Magic Rituals going on during these moments and Bran seems to only BE AWAKE during these "Moon Phase Magic Rituals" and sleeping/dreaming for the rest of the time. In my opinion, it's Witches that are doing the Rituals (Drawing down the Moon) & possibly get their Prophetic Powers from COF in the Trees. "The Blackwoods" to me, are an "Ancient Bloodline of Witches"...

[@DD-ok2pt]

Hodor could either be a cautionary tale of how too many shenanigans can break a person OR how little Bran/3Eyed Raven actually cares about mankind... like not at all. Still not seeing Bran as the Good Guy Hero. I see this entire story through the eyes of Syrio Ferrell (aka SEE FOR REAL). Blood Raven/3 Eyed Raven's cave is NOT a Good place it is littered with human bones; "The BROKEN BOY, sat upon a weirwood throne, listening to whispers in the dark as raven walked up and down his arms." This is NOT a good place this is NOT how you make a hero. "You will never walk again, but you will fly." I've always thought he would become "The Stallion that Mounts the World." I absolutely agree that Bran/BloodRaven/3EyedRaven/Bran the Builder is setting up for the return of his reincarnated self; There must always be a Stark in Winterfell so that a Bran could be born. 23:22 I agree. A melennia or more of micro manipulations to get to this point. It was the mother of all chess games. But to play you must have an equal competitor. At this very moment is where “Bran” got played by the Night King… who isn’t “dead” BTW. What is dead may never die!!! If Bran has been micro managing for milennia so has the Night King. In brief here is what I think happened. The Children accidentally made the Night King immortal because of his kinSblood. So for the past whatever years Bran the Builder who made a pact with the Children of the Forest has been living consecutive 2nd lives in the bodies of Green Seer children who are lined up in the cave like the kings in the crypts of Winterfell. Remember that the only part Bran the builder built of Winterfell was the crypts and the old keep. He somehow calculated how many levels were necessary and buried the kings to keep something INSIDE. The lowest levels are now caved in. Here I think Bran the Builder entombed his half brother that was immortal, for hundreds of years. Until he escaped via the tunnels and came out in Hardhome. The explosion that flattened the town. The men on the wall could see the flames and said it looked like the SUN/SON rising. This meant that Bran the Builder had hundreds of years to slander the Night King unopposed. I believe the whole Azor Ahai is a lie, made up so that people will behave certain way when confronted with the Night King. The HBO series admittedly ended badly but there were still some juicy bits I believe will make it in the next books. The fact that young Bran and Bran the Builder are lame and that Jon and the Night King are both “non dead” makes be think the Young Bran and Jon are the reincarnation of the originals. The paintings in the cave showed that something spectacular was to happen at the eclipse. I think that is when Bran the Builder and the Night King can become fully reborn in their “new bodies”. In the show, Jon says to Bran “You’re a man now” and Bran replies “No Yet” so the transition is not complete. In a simplistic manner the 3 Eyed Raven rules the living and the Night King rules the dead. The 3 eyed raven can skin change into the living and the Night King can skin change into the dead. The 3 eyed raven can see EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE!!! So how does one HIDE from him? You can’t. BUT you can make sure that he doesn’t want look for you. The night king outplayed the 3 Eyed Raven. He made sure that Arya was trained by the dead his allies to kill him. He also made sure to protect Jon and made sure that it was NOT Jon to “kill” him. At one point Jon was playing peek a boo with the dead dragon, it wouldn’t let him pass. The problem with the non dead is that their eyes turn bright BLUE. In that episode there was one character whose blue eyes were pointed out several times. In fact he was almost attacked because his mates saw his blue eyes. Then there was this weird camera shot with the boy nailed to the wall opening his eyes and they were the same color blue as the character in the foreground: Tormund Giantsbane. I think that the Night king skin changed into the a Tormund and no one noticed because his eyes were already bright blue. Also, the Night King shattered into a million pieces right below the Winterfell weirwood. I think he now becomes a virus in the network. Like I said I think he outplayed the 3 Eyed Raven and the Children. So the real battle has not taken place. The Night King has to merge with Jon. Looking thru Syrio’s eyes it is obvious who is the “good guy” and who is the real villain. For all intents and purposes Bran is cruel. He is cruel to Hodor and Myra and he eats Jojen. He is also cruel to Sansa bring up her wedding night when she was graped. He nudges Sam to tell Jon “his origin story” that leads directly to Jon killing Dany. He puts the worst people on his small council not caring about the small folk. THIS IS NOT A HERO Where as Jon brings opposing people together . Fights with honor looks out for the downtrodden and bullied. Sounds like a hero to me. Gives up power for the greater good . Now if Bran and Jon are the reincarnation of the originals that means Bran is not the here Jon is.

[@chad63]

i just hope grrm doesnt go to the multiverse shit shenanigans

[@bartoszmichalik7149]

I strongly disagree, that concept od Bran moving through time and interacting consciously with past figures makes the story better. It makes it worse; Human way of understanding time is linear and creating time paradoxes in a story is like making a logical loophole. It's not a good way imao to setup events, to explain themselves (he did that, because he needed himself to do that, because [... goes on]). Even if modern physics suggest, that time, in fact, may not be linear, it's still a crappy way of story telling. Same thing goes for unavoidable prophecies if you ask me; I'm fine with "he tried to avoid something so hard, that he accidentally created it", but i'm not ok with "you just cannot escape destiny". Again, destiny written in stone makes for crappy stories.

[@jayteeblues]

I hope this isn’t it. All of the time play stuff gets boring and is just a story of manipulation. There’s no free will involved. No sense of chance or serendipity or destiny. It’s all just manipulation from a not so interesting character. Its absolute power corrupts absolutely even if it’s to save the natural cycle. I guess Jon and Dany are just pawns --that makes me a bit sad. But I LOVE your theories!

[@NotAGeorge]

😶

[@_doncheykong1593]

Bran ain’t gearing up for anything, cuz WoW ain’t coming out lol 😂

[@davidjuby7392]

I do not think we will see the Winds of Winter. I think the series killed a lot on interest in the books in both the public and George too. D and D really did kill Game of thrones.

[@leomesser415]

You realize George’s publisher would never let him bail that book is a top 3 most anticipated book of all time they will release it eventually no matter what

[@davidjuby7392]

only time will tell, I would rather he complete it because I want to read it but I have my doubts . George can be stubborn.@@leomesser415

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Lmao it definately didn't kill interest

[@davidjuby7392]

not with the hard core fans and like I said I want it to come out but regardless of what you believe it has reduced interest.@@Hero_Of_Old

[@JacobSBierman]

Brand time travel stuff sounds almost like a copy and paste of attack on titans Eren yager haha

[@0bskureference]

Meh