So remember a week ago, when Game of Thrones delivered a surprisingly heartwarming episode which reunited a ton of people, including Jon Snow and Sansa Stark? Well, this Sunday's episode, aptly titled "The Door," made sure we paid for that little burst of happiness tenfold by forcing us to watch Hodor die at the claws of an army of wights in order to save Bran's life. But as heartbreaking as this was, it wasn't the only important thing to come out of this story. In fact, the entire reason Hodor's death even happened was that the Night's King somehow saw Bran during one of his visions and made short work of attacking him because ... well, that's just it. We don't know exactly why the Night's King wants Bran dead. But I'm guessing it has to do with something that the Stark boy knows ... like how to take down the Night's King and the rest of the White Walkers once and for all.
If you take the title of George R. R. Martin's novel series A Song of Ice and Fire literally, this whole show is building toward an epic battle between ice and (you guessed it) fire. What if Bran, without even realizing it, possesses the key to bringing the ice (aka the White Walkers) down for good? His ability to warg into other creatures could become a very powerful tool and possibly lead him to take control of Dany's dragons. Considering how dragonglass (along with Valyrian steel) is one of the substances we know are capable of killing White Walkers, odds are actual dragons themselves might be able to do the same. (Hence the "fire" portion of the title.)
Given that the Night's King doesn't speak (or at least, hasn't spoken thus far in the series), it's hard to say what exactly his motivations are in regards to Bran. But he acted very quickly to take Bran down once he knew where he was, which suggests that he views him as a major threat. Whether it's due to Bran's potential ability to possess dragons is hard to say, but it's definitely an interesting theory to contemplate.
At the same time, it could also have something to do with the fact that Bran's now seen how the Night's King was created. It may not be a coincidence that this vision comes not long with the attempt on his life. Perhaps there was something in that vision that could help Bran kill the Night's King which we (and even Bran himself) have yet to realize. It taught us that dragonglass isn't just what can kill White Walkers ... it was also used to make them. And if that's the case, maybe there's also a way to reverse the process — a concept I bet the Night's King wouldn't be too thrilled about, given that his army is now on the brink of war.
Either way, Bran is now officially Public Enemy No. 1 in White Walker circles, so he better get used to being on the lam. Because if he thought he wasn't safe before, that's nothing compared to now.
Images: HBO; Giphy (2)
