Fix Game of Thrones — Make Bran Evil!
HBO — give us the manipulative god-king the series deserves!
There have been lots of things that people have pointed out would really improve Game of Thrones, including some things suggested by yours truly. But all of those would involve massive retcons, new writers, and potentially two whole new seasons. But there is one choice that would dramatically improve Game of Thrones’ ending, while just requiring one additional scene at that end, with Tyrion and Bran. That’s why I am urging HBO to do one little thing — make Bran evil!
Why King Bran Doesn’t Work
Of all the dumb moments in Season 8, the most frustrating is making Bran king. Bran has been totally disconnected from the main storyline the whole time, and has been almost completely useless during Season 8. The show has put a heavy focus on Bran throughout Season 8, but he hasn’t really done anything. He barely did anything during the Battle of Winterfell. He spread around the knowledge of Jon’s parentage, causing chaos among the allies. He did absolutely nothing to help Daenerys when Euron’s fleet ambushed her, or during the battle of King’s Landing. He only appeared in King’s Landing knowing he would be king, after all the carnage of Daenerys and Jon had already happened.
But a big part of the reason this doesn’t work is that it casts Bran as a good figure, and a good king. It gives Westeros a happy ending that feels undeserved, and casts Bran (and, to a lesser extent, Tyrion) in a light that is unfairly positive. A lot of things from this ending actually could really work — if Bran was revealed not as the final hero, but as the final villain.
How it would be revealed
This scene would come right before the final Small Council meeting that closes out a series. Tyrion sits alone at the fire, drinking heavily. Bran wheels past him. Tyrion asks him “What was it all about? What was it all for? The burnings, the death, everything?”
Bran replies “Do you want to know?”
Tyrion: “You’ll tell me?”
Bran: “You were kind to me, when I was still a crippled boy. So I can tell you, because you want to know. Or I can not tell you, because you do not want to know.”
Tyrion, of course, asks to hear everything, because Tyrion has to know everything, even when it destroys him. So Bran tells him.
How Bran Became A Monster
When Bran became the Three-Eyed Raven, he asked, “Am I ready?” The Three-Eyed Raven responds — “No.” That sounds like a standard-issue “worried that Bran can’t handle the power,” and it never comes back again. But what if the issue wasn’t Bran being able to handle the power? What if Bran wasn’t mature enough to be the Three-Eyed Raven?
Think about who Bran was when he became the Three-Eyed Raven. A scared, crippled boy, who has seen his father murdered, his friend Theon betray him, his friend Jojen murdered right in front of him. He has warged into wolves and Hodor to kill people. He’s not a bad person — but he’s a powerless boy who has seen the cruel realities of the world. Other Three-Eyed Ravens spent decades in the cave losing their attachment to the world. But Bran didn’t have that. So when he got the power of the Three-Eyed Raven, he saw with the power of the Three-Eyed Raven, but the emotions and anger of Brandon Stark. And that opened a door the Three-Eyed Raven was never meant to open.
It is beautiful beneath the sea. But if you stay too long, you’ll drown
- Three-Eyed Raven
The Most Powerful Mage in the World
Bran can see all of the past, and all of the present. He can’t see the future, but he can predict with great accuracy what will happen, because he knows all of the past. Bran has learned from everything Tyrion’s done, and Varys, Pycelle, Littlefinger, Olenna Tyrell, Tywin Lannister, Cersei, Sansa…every great manipulator of Game of Thrones, including those back in ancient history, Bran has learned from all of them. He’s become the greatest manipulator the world has ever seen, and he also has the ability to warg into people’s minds. Bran also heavily implies that he has gotten more subtle about the ability to warg into people’s minds, able to do so now with just the smallest nudges, without people being able to detect it.
Bran saw a way to defeat the Night King. Previous Three-Eyed Ravens had stayed hidden, to try and balance out the Night King. But Bran saw a way to lure the Night King south, where the armies of men and dragons would be able to defeat him. At the Battle of Winterfell, Bran did nothing because he wanted the armies of Daenerys and Jon to exhaust themselves and suffer terrible casualties. He knew this would cause Sansa and Daenerys to come into conflict. He also planted the seeds that Jon would be a better ruler than Daenerys, setting the stage for Daenerys’ madness and Jon’s betrayal. It’s also implied that he might have warged into Daenerys to nudge her closer to madness. He knew with Daenerys removed, and Jon wracked by guilt, the deck was clear for a compromise candidate — King Bran.
You will never walk again. But you will fly.
- Three-Eyed Raven
King Bran the Broken
Bran saw an opportunity to destroy the Night King, and seize direct control of Westeros. Previous Three-Eyed Ravens had stayed away from the daily machinery of rule. But Bran used to be the Lord of Winterfell, and has seen what happens when he is powerless — why wouldn’t he seize the opportunity to take more permanent power? He set actions in motion that would help Daenerys break the wheel, and now he rules over a new horizon. One where he will create a better world for Westeros and its people, and will rule with absolute impunity, and foreknowledge. A world that conforms to the Three-Eyed Raven’s will.
Westeros is an elective monarchy because the Three-Eyed Raven isn’t a hereditary title. At some point, Bran will die, but he will know the next Three-Eyed Raven. That person might be a noble of some house, or a complete unknown. Either way, Bran will arrange the election so the next Three-Eyed Raven wins the throne. Perhaps they will be known as the Three-Eyed Raven, perhaps not. But either way, the Three-Eyed Ravens will continue to rule Westeros until the end of time.
And then what about Jon, and Sansa and Arya? There’s no place for the Stark children in the Three-Eyed Raven’s new world. Sansa and Arya are smart enough they might eventually figure out something is wrong with Bran, and if they told Jon, he’d be honor-bound to kill Bran. They’re destabilizing influences who a true Machiavellian ruler would have quietly imprisoned. But, a tiny spark of Bran still loves his siblings. So instead he arranges events so they’re all sent far away from King’s Landing — Arya to the west, Sansa to the north, Jon to the true north. This way Bran hopes they’ll be able to survive, without ever interfering with his new paradise.
Tyrion’s reaction
Tyrion suddenly realizes he helped elect a monster. Someone who arranged the slaughter of thousands of innocents, the madness of Daenerys and the sack of King’s Landing. Bran is just as guilty as Daenerys for the murder of Tyrion’s brother, and sister, and unborn niece/nephew. Tyrion has been completely manipulated by someone he thought of as a little boy, who has grown into as powerful and great a monster as The Night King. Bran truly is Bran the Broken — a broken creature who is part human and part Three-Eyed Raven. This isn’t the stare of a stoner, or a meme — it’s the stare of a predator.
Tyrion lowers his head, prepared to be executed, or imprisoned. But Bran just smiles.
Bran sent his siblings away because he knew they would never work with him to build this new world. But Tyrion…Tyrion has been Hand to a psychopath and a madwoman, and each time he tried to do the right thing. He’s not afraid to do something dishonorable if it leads to a good outcome. He’s not afraid of death, or dishonor, or a shattered reputation. He’s the perfect man to do Bran’s dirty work.
Tyrion is given a chance to do everything he has ever wanted to do — help people, build a better world, see Westeros prosper. But he has to do it working with a monster, and no one can ever know that Bran is a monster. Tyrion thinks about this, and thinks hard. But in the end, he could have escaped with Shae to Essos, or he could have kept sailing west past Daenerys’ court. But he didn’t, because at the end of the day, Tyrion loves power, and he loves the game. And he’s just been offered a place in the biggest game of all time. So he says yes. And then we cut to the Small Council scene.
Why this ending works better
First of all, I need to acknowledge that this ending is blatantly cribbed from Bayaz and Glokta’s arcs at the end of The First Law Trilogy. Which is an amazing (finished) series that you should read if you enjoyed Game of Thrones. I like this ending a lot better than the current one for a few different reasons.
1. Subverted expectations (in a good way)
The current ending makes no sense at all — Bran as a good king hasn’t been set up in any way. However, if Bran’s a villain, then his actions from the past two seasons actually make a lot more sense. Bran didn’t seem to be very helpful, and he wasn’t, on purpose! We’ve been seeing Bran as a chilled out, stoned weird child who’s very tangential to the plot — but he’s actually been biding his time, knowing how inconsequential he looks, and waiting for his moment to strike.
We also don’t actually know that much about the Three-Eyed Raven. We know he has a lot of power, and is fundamentally opposed to The Night King — but once the Night King is gone, is the Three-Eyed Raven really good? We all assumed so — but why did we do that? What has the Three-Eyed Raven done that is kind, or compassionate? This would be a great example of flipping around the fantasy trope, and surprising viewers who made certain assumptions.
2. Highlights the themes of Game of Thrones
The first two-thirds of the series largely centered on the machinations set in play by schemers like Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger. The final third shifted focus to fantasy elements, dragons and ice zombies take center stage. This ending resolves that inherent conflict between the quiet schemes and the flashy magic by giving the throne to a character that has both. Bran is one of the best manipulators in the world, and also one of the most powerful magic users. At the end of the day, the one who wins the throne doesn’t ride a dragon, or raise the dead — it’s the one with the relatively unimpressive power of seeing the past, because Bran is able to use his power to manipulate people in a way Daenerys never could.
3. Improves Tyrion’s Arc
Tyrion has always wanted to have the power and respect of serving with a good, true ruler — and now he gets that, but he knows that it’s all a lie, and the wise benevolent ruler is actually a monster. It’s also the ultimate humbling of him, as the last manipulator finds out he’s been playing against the truly best manipulator in the world.
4. A Dark but Hopeful Ending
Daenerys broke the wheel, but in its place is a strange new government headed by a creature that sees no problem with sending thousands of people to their deaths so that a better form of rule can be installed. And with Bran’s omnipotence, and the succession of Three-Eyed Ravens ready to be elected king later down the line, it’s hard to imagine the Three-Eyed Raven ever being unseated. It looks like Westeros will be under the thrall of these creatures, forever.
However, there is still some cause for hope! And the hopes lie with the Stark children. Bran doesn’t know what’s west of Westeros — so it’s quite possible Arya will find something out there. Sansa’s reunited North could grow more powerful, and eventually become a threat to Bran’s rule. And Jon’s wildlings are heading deeper into the true north than Bran ever went, so they may come across magic even Bran doesn’t know about. So even though this is a dark and brutal ending, there’s still hope out there — and it lies with the three Stark children, and whether they will end up going up against their brother.
So HBO — make Bran evil! Give us the all-knowing, cold and ruthless god that the story demands! Give the people what they want — which in this case is a horrifying, manipulative, magical monster as king. I don’t ask for much.
Hear Us Roar,
Jefferson