As Game of Thrones follows all the political squabbling occurring in Westeros and the political uprisings present in Dany's journeys throughout Essos, fans of the series know that there is just one true threat that the characters should be worried about — the descending of the White Walkers. As those terrifying creatures move further south, chaos and destruction follow in their path, but it seems like Jon Snow and the Wildlings are the only ones who are fully aware of the looming threat. However, according to previews of future episodes, another Stark family member will soon be encountering the White Walkers: Bran. And while it's unclear if the Night's King will kill Bran (would Thrones do that?!), his potential meeting with them has danger written all over it.
In the previews for Season 6, Episode 5, titled "The Door," Bran is seen having another one of his warg-flashbacks in unfamiliar territory. In the past, Bran's flashbacks have taken him to Winterfell during his father's youth, as well as the battle at the Tower of Joy. In the latter flashback, Bran attempted to speak to his father, who seemed to hear a whisper, and while Bran's ability to affect the past is still questionable, it seems that it's going to come into play again soon. In the preview for Episode 5, he is seen standing in front of a sea of wights — and standing right next to the Night's King, who touches him.
The details of the scene aren't yet clear; all that can be discerned is that Bran is definitely warging, as he is standing up, and it is appears as though the Wights and White Walkers can see him. When the scene cuts back to Bran in the tree, Meera is shaking him in hopes of waking him up, but is having no success. What could be happening that is preventing Bran from waking up? Perhaps — although hopefully not — the fatal touch of a White Walker.
An important detail to pay attention to in the flashback is that for the first time since arriving at the tree, it seems that Bran is traveling to another place or time without the guidance of the Three-Eyed Raven. Bran is alone amongst an ocean of wights, without fully understanding the rules or implications of witnessing the past. The Three-Eyed Raven has pulled Bran out of the past on multiple occasions now, even though it seems that the Stark child was far from finished learning his family's history. Perhaps there comes a price with staying in the past too long, a price that Bran will soon learn all too well.
As if all of that wasn't risky enough, there's the fact that in one of the trailers for Season 6, a White Walker appears to reach out and grab Bran's arm. The traditional rules of death hardly seem to apply to wights and the White Walkers, but are we to now understand that the rules of space and time are also flexible when it comes to this mysterious, wintery force? Surely nothing good can come of this. The other possibility here is that Bran is warging into another person and is receiving a first-person experience to truly learn how dangerous the White Walkers are, which could be fascinating to see.
The White Walkers have been a presence in Game of Thrones since the beginning of the series, an ever-looming threat that gets lost beneath the squabbling of politicians and schemers. These days, the White Walkers seem to be showing up more and more often, and the threat is becoming increasingly real. If Bran is to help in the coming war against the creatures, he'll need to understand how powerful they truly are so that the Three-Eyed Raven can train him to become even more powerful — and that's exactly what seems to be happening. This encounter could signify many things, but the one thing that is certain is that Bran will not be the same after encountering the Night's King.
Image: Helen Sloan/HBO, Giphy (2)
