Bran the Villain? Rethinking the Game of Thrones Ending

Game of Thrones Season 8 ended in April 2019. Since then, for the past seven years, various theories have been circulating among fans about the ending of the world's most popular TV series. There are two main reasons for this.

First, the stupid writing of these two great writers called D&D—who could not properly match the best of Game of Thrones. Second, the whole wizard of the story, George R.R. Martin, has not been able to finish writing his next book for the past 15 years.

For this reason, many enthusiastic audiences like us have been trying to solve various issues in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire by coming up with various GoT fan theories ourselves.

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One of the specific topics on which fan theories are most prevalent is—the White Walkers are not the real villains as shown in the series, but Bran the Broken is the real villain.

The fan theory I will discuss today will provide a new perspective to prove that the Three-Eyed Raven is not the villain, but rather Bran. And it will shed light on the fact that the White Walkers are not actually the villains of the story, but the real victims of the world of Game of Thrones.

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George R.R. Martin did not specifically mention how the Others were born in his original book. But in season six, the series makers have presented a very clear history about the birth of the White Walkers.

When the First Men arrived in Westeros hundreds of thousands of years ago, they came into conflict with the Children of the Forest, the original inhabitants of the region. The reason is obvious—the human group has started a war to occupy the place where they have gone.

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To fight against humans, the Children of the Forest captured one of them, tied him to a Weirwood tree, and inserted an enchanted dragon glass into his chest, giving birth to these undead creatures called White Walkers—who initially fought against humans on behalf of the Children of the Forest.

But after a while, they broke free from the control of the Children of the Forest and declared a rebellion against all living beings. As a result, at one point, the Children of the Forest, who had created the White Walkers to fight against, allied with the very humans they had created, and fought the first Long Night against the White Walkers, led by the legendary Azor Ahai.

The humans won the war. On the condition that the Weirwood trees were not cut down, they built houses and started living in Westeros. A huge Wall was built to separate the North and the South.

Thousands of years after this incident, in the first episode of Game of Thrones Season One, we see that the White Walkers have started to arrive again.

What I have said so far, we have seen in the main series and read a little in the books. But if we don't believe that—isn't the one-sided story we've been told about the White Walkers' history and actions simply true?

The White Walkers are portrayed as a monstrous, powerful army—who only want destruction. But according to some fans, the history of this world, like the rest of the world, is written by the victorious humans—who have unfairly written the White Walkers into history as one-sided villains.

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Let's look at them from a different perspective. The White Walkers are not mindless monsters—we've seen that more than once in the original series. They accept offerings from male children, turning them into White Walkers.

In the series, we've seen Craster, the villain who lives beyond the Wall, marry off his daughters one by one. He even marries off his daughters when they have daughters. On the other hand, if someone has a son, he leaves them on the ice for the White Walkers.

But if we think about it a little differently, Craster would have killed the Night King's sons if he hadn't recruited them. The White Walkers are simply giving the children a new life.

As dark and twisted as it may sound, the White Walkers have never directly attacked anyone throughout the series—unless the Night Watch or the Wildlings attack them first.

Even if you notice, the Night King only kills when his own existence is threatened. For example, when Bran travels back in time as the Three-Eyed Raven and brings his shadow to the White Walkers' world.

And this is where the real story begins.

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We know that Bran is a total time traveler. The Three-Eyed Raven tells him that he can go back in time but not intervene. But we know that Bran can intervene—just like he did with Hodor.

That is, Bran can go back in time at any time, and change events.

So the question is—where did this great power come from for a young boy? Why in such a big universe could only Bran be the Three-Eyed Raven?

And why did the original Three-Eyed Raven (the old man) want Bran to take his place?

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According to many fans, the Three-Eyed Raven or previous versions of him actually create their own future forms through time travel, and intervene in the history of the world in such a way that a predetermined event happens.

For example—the arrival of the White Walkers, Bran becoming the Three-Eyed Raven, the extinction of magic with the death of the Night King.

Three-Eyed Raven wanted all magic to end, so that only he could see the future and no one else could.

That's why they used the White Walkers to create fear, spread false interpretations of the Azor Ahai Prophecy, and manipulate people by rewriting their own history.

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The White Walkers keep coming back because they really want to survive. They're not evil, but when the most powerful time traveler in the world plots against them, they have no choice.

Whether this theory is true or not, it certainly gives the world of Game of Thrones a new perspective. And most importantly—the distinction between villain and victim isn't always so clear.

What do you think? Is Three-Eyed Raven really a hero or a villain in disguise? Let us know in the comments.

All Image Source IMDb