While Jon Snow and Sansa Stark are back in Winterfell figuring out how to stop the White Walkers and Arya Stark is checking people off her Kill List, Bran Stark is stuck beyond the Wall worried that the Night King is going to get him. But don't feel bad for the newly minted Three-Eyed Raven, since he may be the Seven Kingdoms' only hope. See, Bran may actually be the true hero of Game Of Thrones.
In an interview with TV Guide, actor Isaac Hempstead Wright said that his character Bran is the Night King's "archenemy," meaning it's actually him and his warging and "greensight" skills that the leader of the White Walkers fears most. But with that power comes great responsibility and even greater danger. "[Bran] is the sworn nemesis of probably the scariest person in Westeros. That's really not a safe place for Bran to be, Westeros, at all right now," Hempstead Wright said. "He should get out while he can and sit on a beach for a while. Wait for it to blow over. I'm as excited as everyone else to see how that's going to play out."
Unfortunately, Bran's beach fantasy probably isn't going to come true since winter is here and he's got a job to do. In the Season 6 finale, Bran had just made a major discovery. After accidentally making contact with the Night King, the icy baddie grabs his arm, which now gives the king the ability to know where Bran is at all times.
Not great, but Bran was able to find out some pretty important information about his bastard brother Jon Snow; namely, that Jon Snow's not his brother after all. Instead, Bran confirms what we all long suspected: Jon Snow is really a Targaryen. Bran doesn't just have the power to take down the Night King, but to blow up the family dynamics of the Seven Kingdoms.
So, with all that Bran knows, how will he manage to take down the Night King? Hempstead Wright told TV Guide:
"I think he needs to have a level head. He needs to understand that this is much bigger than him now, and he's got a responsibility way beyond just taking care of himself. He's got information that could change the entire course of the story, so he's got to make sure that he uses it wisely and delivers it to the right people."
It may take a while before we get to see the heroic side of this particular Stark since Hempstead Wright told Entertainment Weekly back in March that "it's not looking good" for Bran in Season 7. He's not sure what to do next, and, without his trusty Hodor (R.I.P.), he just has Meera to drag him around in the snow. Thanks to Season 7 photos, though, we know that Bran is getting a wheelchair this year, which hopefully means it'll be a little easier for him to get help to take on the Night King. He might even get to Westeros and have that Stark family reunion fans are pulling for.
However, with how much Bran knows, Hempstead Wright seems to be setting fans up for the possibility that he's not making it out of this season alive. "Bran has certainly understood that this is out of his control now," the actor told EW of Bran's fate. "He’s a piece on the chessboard that has to make a move, and he hasn’t got any moves."
So, yeah, Bran may be the true hero of Game Of Thrones, but we should all prepare ourselves for the possibility that he's going to be a tragic one.
Want To Know More About Bran & The Night King?
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