Following up their tantalizing first look at Bran Stark in season 6, Entertainment Weekly spoke to a nearly 6-ft tall Isaac Hempstead Wright about his absence from season 5 and what we can expect from Bran’s storyline this April. Potential spoilers below. Proceed at your own discretion.
The 16-year old actor addressed Bran’s omission from last season, recalling the meeting in which showrunners, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff told him his character wouldn’t appear in season 5.
“When I first heard the news Dan and David wanted to have a chat with me, I was like, ‘Oh no!’,” he says. “Usually that’s to tell you [your character is] dead. So comparatively, missing a season was like, ‘phew!’”
The showrunners decided to omit Bran from season 5 in order to fast-forward through Bran’s psychic-Weirwood-tutelage under Bloodraven, comparing Bran’s learning curve to Luke Skywalker’s largely off-screen mastery of the Force.
“And they’re exactly right,” Hempstead-Wright says, “I would have just been sitting in a cave going, ‘Oh, I can nearly do it now.’ “
Presumably, this means we can expect a fully (or nearly fully) trained Bran Stark in season 6 which interviewer, James Hibberd, describes as Bran’s “biggest and most crucial season yet.”
“Previously Bran’s seen tiny glimpses of future or past but never has he been very much in control in the situation,” Hempstead Wright says. “Now we’re given looks into very important events in the past, present and future of this world and Bran is beginning to piece them together like a detective, almost as if he’s watching the show. Equally, he’s now discovering how crucial he could be in the Great War. It’s quite Inception-y.”
Hodor?
He talks about Bran seeing the future.
I can see Bran, and his knowledge, being the “framework” for much of the end-game. Although the Children and Bloodraven may not have the motives we THINK they have.
And, I’m still on the fence on him being one of the 3-heads of the dragon, via warg power…
Maybe I am being a little far fetched here…but, am I crazy for having a split second thought that maybe the events of Jon being betrayed and “killed” at the Wall was a glimpse into the future by Bran? I honestly hope that is not the case, but, how is that not possible?
Such a great interview. We knew Bran would get a glimpse of the past (the previous Stark generation as kids in Winterfell, and the Tower of Joy), but the fact that he will also have visions of the future and of what’s currently happening in other places is pretty amazing! Not something I expected; though I did hope.
My bet, based on the actor’s comments and Bran’s line in the teaser (“They have no idea what’s going to happen”), is that Bran will see a vision of the future in which the White Walkers breach the Wall. Hopefully there will also be glimpses of the fates of some the characters we have grown to love.
Jumping to the (potential) future in the Season 2 finale with Daenerys in the snowy (or ashy?) throne room of the Red Keep was thrilling. Hopefully we get more of that thanks to Bran.
I wonder if Bran will be able to see his own future. This would be very interesting.
stop
teasing
me
Booong
For some reason I always figured he’d see what was happening in the present, so that doesn’t surprise me, but him having visions of the future is definitely a surprise to me. I’m getting more and more excited about his storyline, and I was already really looking forward to it.
Will his storyline be accompanied by super-loud braying BRASS INSTRUMENTS?
Or, they could have Bran’s legs get fixed, and re-cast him with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, where he like, dances, too.
I really want to watch the new season pretty bad, all these little bits and pieces that are oozing out are making me more excited. I’m telling you once that trailer hits my excitement will reach its peak. Season 6 is my most anticipated event television/movie/video game wise, out of anything that involves entertainment. Can’t bloody wait for that trailer.
I’m glad he had that mole removed. That popped up out of nowhere. Didn’t look right.
Lauren,
Because it was from Jon Snow’s POV.
Lauren,
I actually thought that too! I hope we’re right.
SEW EGGS EYE TING!
Wondra,
Oh, I know. I’m being a little mystical with my thoughts here and playing a game of “What If’s.” The 30 second teaser they released with Bran saying “You have no idea what’s about to happen” and Jon Snow shutting his eyes as Bran wargs gave me that ‘what if’ mentality.
“It’s quite Inception-y.”
Here’s hoping there won’t be any deafening Christopher Nolan whooshing percussion sounds. I like to be able to actually hear the dialogue.
Lauren,
Guess you didn’t read DWD?
No comments on the new complete picture?
He’s leaning on his horse as he does on everything else, because he can’t use his legs… so this shot probably isn’t part of a vision scene.
I’m very, very happy that his plot will finally be interesting!
Luka Nieto,
Wow! Well that’s definitely not a mule.
where is the horse from?
The “inceptiony” thing he’s referring to….could it be that he can place what he’s seen into other peoples minds e.g. show jon snow what happend at the Tower of Joy
mike,
It has to be from the children of the forest, right? I mean, it’s not like there’s any other obvious option. Maybe a lost wildling or Night’s Watch horse.
Bill Carson,
The actors that portray Bran and the Three-eyed raven were spotted at the Tower of Joy setting in Almería. Kit Harington wasn’t. So probably not.
Luka Nieto,
You’re right. It actually does look like his usual leaning pose.
Hmmm. Befuddled. Where is he?! Haunted Forest? And where would one get a horse this far north?
Bloodraven specifically told Bran he would never walk again. So why even speculate about him being on a horse? To me, it’s either him strapped into a saddle like he was when younger, or Bran warged into some other person but the camera showing us his face so viewers can follow the idea. (like how they did with Whoopi Goldberg/Demi Moore’s character in the love scene in “Ghost”, or showing Norma instead of Norman on “Bates Motel” when he was with Bradley at the end.)
Luka Nieto,
Eh, I don’t know, depending on how they opt to film his visions (if the visions are going to comprise so much of his plot this year, they may have opted to not have their disabled character walking around all the time).
I’m still trying to decide whether the trees in the background have snow or not. They kind of look white, but that could also be an effect of the light.
It’s hard to tell, but the stems do not seem to have any snow on them (they usually have in the Haunted Forest), so maybe it is the reflection of the light. Or a less snowy environment, but I doubt, they will make it that far south. In S6 that is.
Aryamad,
It’s a horse with mule ears! 😉
Glad to see the bigger picture, thought we had to wait until the trailers/season 6.
Sean C.,
It’s snow. The horse has snow on it too.
What else is in the magazine? It says there’s more Thrones coverage.
Jack Bauer 24,
Yeah, didn’t it come out today? Hopefully someone who has acquired this issue will see the benefits of sharing.
You can’t even buy it online. I mean, you can, but it is noted that the “Digital issue will be available on December 31 at 00:00 EST”. So not for a few days. If we learn anything, it will be from someone who has a printed issue.
Luka Nieto,
it looks like a nights watch horse to me…
mike,
They don’t even have to explain it, in my opinion. But if they wanted, they could easily do so —it could be a horse from the Great Ranging that escaped after the Battle at the Fist of the First Men; or just a wildling horse. Not that I expect this to be addressed: when the options are so plainly obvious, and the answer isn’t particularly interesting, why bother explaining it? Idiots who don’t know what “plot hole” means will consider it a plot hole, but who cares.
Batbran nananananananana-nananananana Batbraaaaaaaan! POW! BAM! BATBRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!
This would make it way too easy in my eyes. The Jon-Snow part that is.. Bran using that skill in other instances would be alright, but simply going: “Hey Jon! Bran here! I’m north of the Wall, I’ve trained with this old dude and I’m apparently a strong telepath and yes, this is all just in your head, but have I got some news for you! I know who your mother is! AND YOU’RE MY NEPHEW!!! AUNTY LYANNA IS YOUR MOMMY!” Jon: “Wait, pops and aunty had.. what?!” Bran: “AND RAGER TARGAREN IS YOUR DADDY! YOU’RE A PRINCE JON! LIKE ME! AND THEON IS A PRINCE TOO AND.. and.. and..” Bloodraven enters the scene: “To be brief, Rhaegar and your aunt married and you were born in Dorne. Ned took you to Winterfell and in order to keep you safe from King Bob, he called you his bastard. So.. technically… uhm.. you’re the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.” Jon: “Who are you?! Wait, I’m what?”
What I’m most interested about is if Bran will sign in Sansa about the threat. And that’s why she’s in Winterfell with Jon, Littlefinger and Ramsey.
Yes, Bran is is definitely going out of that cave.
Luka Nieto,
Yes, they need to explain, we had no explanation about where they got all those skins, for example.
I assumed it was a cold sore?
Luka Nieto,
Good find, Luka!
Selina,
It could be as a part of some flashback. If not really intrigued by where is he. His storyline seems to be most exciting.
Lauren,
It’s a POV chapter in the book so unlikely.
Oh, yes. That time Bran looked like a 16 year old and wore wildling clothes back at Winterfell.
Chickenduck,
It was a heartfeld gift from the Legend of Gin Alley.
Remember when he smacked Bran in the face back at Craster’s. He was bleeding from his underlip afterwards.
Luka Nieto,
I mean Isaac and Max von Sydow were supposed to be at Tower of Joy. You know visiting some other event. from the past, but maybe not. It was just a thought. Maybe they’ll travel somewhere in the present time, but in the White Walkers territory . Risky move.
Geralt of Rivia,
Oh, that makes more sense. I misunderstood, then. Still, I don’t think it has to be a vision. He could just be… riding around the cave. Or maybe he has to go out for something in particular. Who knows.
Luka Nieto,
It’s not a vision, doesn’t make sense. Now, why he out of the cave is a mystery.
I received my copy of EW today and after staring and staring at the Bran picture, I’m pretty sure that that is snow on the trees. There are even small flakes of snow on Bran’s cloak and what appears to be the horse’s fur (though that could also be Bran’s clothing/furs). I can’t see Bran’s legs, but I wouldn’t expect he’d be strapped in to the horse the way he was in WF because I don’t think they lugged his special saddle all the way North. To me, the leaning looks like a kid that doesn’t have his legs under him and therefore can’t sit up straight on a horse. It also looks like his left hand is on the horse’s neck for support.
So, could you please share with us what other GoT scoops are there in this EW issue, if any? Any more interviews? Pictures? Anything?
I flipped through the magazine cover to cover (very slowly) and there’s absolutely nothing else about GoT in the issue.
BunBunStark,
:-O
BunBunStark,
Oh well. That’s a pity 🙁
I hope there’s more online-only stuff this week, though.
BunBunStark,
Well that’s disappointing. They made it quite clear on their website that there’d be more GoT in the print copy. Bastards!
Thanks anyway, BunBun!
Can anyone tell me how Bran see’s in the past? I understand the present bc he can use his wolf or warg into other animals… but how is he seeing into the past and future? What means is he using? Im reading the books but haven’t gotten past book two… is it mentioned in the books? Or did I miss something in the series? Thanks…
Ser Oromis Locke,
And to let her know LF set up her dad
One of the key elements of Inception was the insertion/distortion of memories into the target without their knowledge but with the intent that the target will make a future decision based on those inserted/distorted memories.
My prediction: While Mel is working out the physical hocus-pocus for Jon 2.0, Bran/BR will be wandering around and tinkering with his mind. I bet that will occupy a few episodes.
Although BR may be a good mentor for Bran, certain loaded agendas related to BR, CotF and the Others may also surface as Bran wanders around the weirnet. I think Bran will somehow leave/escape the cave under duress. Where oh where are you, Meera? Hodor, start Hodoring! 🙂
omg I went out looking for it & just got back. The first store didn’t even sell magazines anymore. The 2nd didn’t have it. All they had was a “collector’s edition” of nothing but Star Wars for 14 fucking bucks. They must be releasing the additional information online only?
IceSpider,
The green seers accumulate knowledge and see what others have seen before them. The trees are also old and so exist out of time and so they have access to the past and perhaps the future.
IceSpider,
Warging and the sight are two different powers, and Bran has both of them. The books and the show have shown them repeatedly, and Jojen differentiated between the two powers early in season three, just after meeting Bran (the books go into more detail, of course.) Remember those prophetic dreams Bran has in Winterfell in the first and second books? Some of them were also described (though not shown) in the show, particularly Ned’s death and Winterfell being “swallowed by the sea” (that is, being invaded by Greyjoys). There’s also the vision Bran has in season four when he touches the weirwood, of course —it showed images from the past and the future. The sight allows him to see events from the past, elsewhere in the present and the future too. Warging is another thing entirely: it’s about sharing a mind with another being, and taking control too.
We have seen many wargs in the show, such as Orell, the Thenn warg, and of course Bran. Meanwhile, people such as Jojen only have the sight, but they are not wargs. Bran has both powers.
Great full-sized pic. Maybe Bran sees Benjen! Jk. I hope he’s on his way to the far North…I want to see more of that.
Wouldn’t that be amazing? Bran as a human envoy to parley with the White Walkers deep in the Lands of Always Winter. I don’t think it’s happening, at least not this early, but… yeah, it would be spectacular.
Is that horse wearing chain mail?
Rygritte,
Nope.
Disclaimer: I still love the show and am very much looking forward to Season 6 but I gotta say…
As both are main characters being Starks, I wish D&D had applied the same reasoning to Sansa. They went through several contrivances to put her in another storyline for ‘revenge’, then does nothing about said ‘revenge’, gets brutalized, and escapes. Really just as riveting television as Bran sitting in a cave as a newbie, IMO.
OTOH, it was a mistake to cut Bran. He had two seasons of travelogue, gets somewhere interesting, then skips a season. That’s poor pacing.
Lauren,
Definitely possible, though I’m not entirely sure how I’d feel about that. Then again, there’s a reason I don’t work in television, so they could probably make it pretty compelling.
I kind of feel like his death is a necessity, however, and that Bran could somehow influence the events following his death.
In the 1st book, Bran was the first POV character after the prologue; I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the last one in the final book. His ability to see the past and future makes him a useful narrator.
Zombies That Were Promised,
Nope,it would have been more boring to watch him in the cave doing fuckwhat,even Martin knew this which is why he only wrote 3 chapters for him in ADWD and this is the same book that featured Quentyn Martell who is the definition of useless so that says something .
Luka Nieto,
I think the reason that so many are questioning the appearance of the horse is that Hodor just literally carried Bran a thousand miles on his back. And now they conveniently find a horse. If getting a horse is so easy now that they’re in the middle of nowhere, why didn’t they do that two or three seasons ago? Yes, it can be easily explained, but we’ll want to see that explanation in the series.
Because they’ve been avoiding roads and people all this time. Now they have arrived to a safe haven. Unless you expect Bran and all the rest to just die slowly, the children of the forest must have access to food and shelter… Why couldn’t they have transportation, too?
In the book, sure. There’s always plenty of time to discuss provisions and everything else. That’s what narration is for. In the show, though? Not at all. Do you expect them to explain in detail where each character gets their food from, too? They’ve never bothered with that kind of thing, and they shouldn’t —unless hunger or glutony happens to be relevant to the character and the story. No one watching asks those questions, because it doesn’t pertain to the story. Not even book readers ask, unless what’s being shown in the show is something that hasn’t been in the books at all, or at least not yet.
BTW, Bran hasn’t traveled on Hodor’s back since season two.
Ginevra,
Except if you watched the series back,you would have noticed that they found a carriage or whatever you call it to carry him around season 3 or so .
Luka Nieto,
Imagine if they adapted those riveting chapters where Bowen Marsh explains and complains to Jon countless times about the food provisions like we didn’t understand the first time and also Martin being Martin describing in detail ALL of the types of food that they had,boy it’s sure a shame those chapters were cut from the show,i demand them back damn it !
BunBunStark,
Weird. Your edition is the one with Benedict Cumberbatch on the cover, right?
Hodors Bastard,
More clues to ‘assisted living’. Still on board with the Bran/BR reveal to Jon about who he is. Undecided about this “leaving the cave” business. Would be an interesting parallel to see both Bran and Arya rebel against their tutors. They are Starks of Winterfell, after all.
Way to go Khal Oz and the Dothraki D!
Stirring things,
Bloodraven is the man and does well with kids…
if you’ve read dunk and egg give the homie some respect.
That would be quite a cool parallel. 🙂
Regarding the Dothraki…Khal Ozwild led quite a charge at the end of the melee! A battle of the substitute khals! Even the Redwyne Skinheads made me proud with their thrashing of Orell’s Eagles! Beric and the BwB are disappointing though as the season is coming to a close. Although, it looks like the Wildlings are gearing up for another run.
Even GRRM is getting into the NFL-Westeros silliness: “But it was against the New England Patriots, the Horror Out of Boston, the Blue-and-White Walkers from Beyond the Wall, led by Evil Little Bill himself.” 🙂
Bran doesn’t get his warg on every time the wind blows anymore. He can control it now. He could easily warg a crow, find a horse & warg it back to the cave.
Hah! BR has about as many hidden agendas and motives as he has eyes. Bran better beware as he traverses the mindscape of the weirnet!
Lauren,
Oh Lauren, that’s certainly a
possibility! I’ve never thought
of that theory. Good one.
Yes.
After looking through the magazine again, the only other GoT related item was some bizarre “Fanuary” article that included a picture of 2 fans dressed as Jon and Daenerys at their GoT-themed wedding.
I think we were duped by EW. I feel sorry for the person upthread who said they went out in search of the magazine.
BunBunStark,
Thanks for the reply. So sad.
I think “inception-y” refers to Bran’s role change from “insignificant game player” to kind of “game planner/ driver” through planting ideas even to apparently evil players and revealing unknown facts for the sake of the “greater good” even if it will cause individual’s pain.
BunBunStark,
And they wonder why the print media is dying,they deserve it when they pull out bullshit like this .
*In Liam Neeson’s voice* Release the Trailer!
Not sure if serious? Either way, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a mole but a scab from when he was slapped around while a ‘guest’ of the mutineers at Craster’s Keep.
i think what his gonna be piecing together like a detective is Jons past and future impotance
I was wondering how resurrections could possibly affect one’s reproductive capability.
Simon,
Thanks… I get the trees ability to see the past… not sure of how they can see the future. But thanks so much for the reply.
I have only seen the shows once and a lot of information has been lost to just sheer cramming (I watched all five seasons in a few weeks). I am trying to read the books and maybe haven’t learned the difference between the sight and warning.. thanks so much for clarifying. Appreciate it!
Simon,
Thanks for the info
I think he can only see through the “Weirwood Network.”
The three-eyed crow teaches Bran how to enter into ravens. He learns that all of the ravens around the three-eyed crow have children who have passed away and remain in the skins of these animals. He also learns to use weirwoods to look into the past. The three-eyed crow tells Bran that he was once a lord called Brynden.
The children feed Bran a bowl of weirwood paste to awaken his green seeing gifts. Bran sees his father, Eddard, through Winterfell’s heart tree, and learns that he can view the past, present and future through the weirwoods. The last greenseer tells Bran that he is haunted by his own ghosts, a brother that he loved, a brother that he hated, and a woman that he desired,[1] but knows from experience that you cannot change the past. When he gets tired, he sends Bran away. Hodor carries Bran to his bed.
In his sleep, Bran sees the following visions through Winterfell’s heart tree:
His young father praying with a bowed head “…let them grow up close as brothers, with only love between them, and let my lady wife find it in her heart to forgive.”;[2]
A girl and a younger boy play fighting with branches;[3]
A pregnant woman coming out of the black pool praying for a son to avenge her;
A slender girl on her toes kissing a knight as tall as Hodor;[4]
A pale, dark-eyed youth cutting three branches from the weirwood and shaping them into arrows;
Other lords of Winterfell: tall, hard, stern men in fur and chain mail;
A bearded man forcing a captive down on his knees, and a white-haired woman killing the captive with a bronze sickle.
http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/A_Dance_with_Dragons-Chapter_34
Luka Nieto,
Thanks for replying and clarifying. I kinda watched the entire season in like 3 weeks so a lot of information probably wasn’t retained (cramming is never recommended). And I haven’t read enough of the books for me to distinguish between the warging and the sight abilities.
What IHW says about Bran seeing events in past, present and future, and piecing them together, maybe one of his visions will be about the WW origin, where they come from and why they are heading south. Through Bran we might get their back story.
hexonx,
Thanks so much for the detailed response. That was very kind of you. That helped along with everyone else’s input…
Wylie,
Ahhhhhhhh. Right, yes that’s ringing bells now.
Visions of the future could be anything, but after 4 seasons we finally got the line “you will never walk again but you will fly”. Im willing to bet we may finally get Bran “staring into the heart of winter”, which occured in his very 2nd chapter. That was the future he saw and terrified him. Or it could just be something new for the show, or from future books. Either way, im stoked.
Wrong. Bloodraven
Hodors Bastard,
What is that quote from?? I should like to read that in context. Lol, Grrm. Queue all the wankers telling him to shut up and get to work.
Aye, the weekend of upsets! Glad to see the grayscale of Ser Cam Connington take a shot of penicillin for once. The BwB has slipped as of late, but always a force to take seriously. My mighty wildlings also faltered this week, but you speak the truth- a Wildling run is imminent.
I wish they didn’t cut Bran the whole season 5. The “Bran doesn’t do anything” is not true. For example, they could have use him to introduce Cersei’s flashback. It would being better than having a flashback literally coming from nowhere. Or having like ten seconds of “promise Ned stuff”, to keep people interested and guesing about it.
IceSpider,
I’m not sure the author has this completely explained either in a Stephen Hawkings kinda way. What I was trying to suggest is that the trees and life spirit of the world exists in a space like geological time. Slow for us but not for the rocks etc. while we are waiting for time to pass it has already past for the old gods who are more like conscious nature. In essence by taping into this consciousness bran is seeing possible futures that may occur. I’ll stop there before I confuse myself. I don’t think Martin will go into it too much because he’ll dig himself a hole he can’t escape from – more David Lynch and terminator than inception
The thought of Rickon ruling anything scares me more than Ramsay. Well, almost. Not quite, actually. But I do think Rickon is a bit on the mad side. Perhaps that’s just the way that GRRM writes young kids who are throwing temper tantrums, but I always had the feeling that Rickon had fallen mad. As Aerys and Robin and Ramsay have proven, mad men shouldn’t be given power.
Ugh – who cares where the horse comes from. I cant believe people “need” an explanation for that .
Bran has had visions of the past and the future. In season 4 (which I am watching right now), he touched the weirwood tree and saw Visions, which included some that he was not there for, such as Ned in the prison cell in KL (past vision), and some future visions as well.
This ability does not surprise me. But I am excited to hear we will get a lot of it 🙂 yaya!!!!!!!!!!!!
I need a trailer asap
Thanks! Many of these visions are likely significant people or events, right? 2. Jon Snow? 3. Lyanna and Ned? 4. Old Nan? Who is the pregnant woman wanting to be avenged?
I went to the ASOIF link, and it seems that they have the same thoughts I did, except they thought Lyanna and Benjen, and they thought Old Nan is kissing Dunk! Is Dunk Hodor’s grandfather?
From GRRM’s notablog site (Dec 27) after his green crannogmen won over the BwB….in between posts about giant robots, Hugo nominations and premieres at his cinema. :/
Book and filming spoilers need to be covered. This is a post for everyone, not just book-readers.
Perhaps we will learn a bit more Winterfell coital history in S6/TWoW…
Sue, L7R posted something about GRRM having a cameo in S6. Can you verify that? It says they checked the info through their sources, but google translate could be wrong about something here.
http://lossietereinos.com/george-r-r-martin-notificara-antes-de-fin-de-ano-que-va-a-aparecer-en-la-6a-temporada-de-juego-de-tronos/
Gravemaster,
The 28th of Decemeber in Spain is the “Día de los Santos Inocentes” (Holy Innocents’ Day), our April Fools Day. So… Inocente! —You got fooled 😛
The frog thing is true and intriguing, though. Martin used the frog avatar to tease casting news before, and he hasn’t used it for years… until last week.
Nice seeing HBO is allowing some much deserved and needed exposure for Isaac. Several possibilities come to mind; Bran vision, Seer dream, or warging into someone.
Hopefully EW will publish a new photo with every edition from now until the new season begins.
Talkin about these roles:
-A large boy, with an actor who is 10-12 but playing 7 or 8. He’s described as “a clever boy” who seems too large for his age. He’s big and tall but not fat. “Characterful squat features” are a plus for this part. it’s specified that this is a one-time appearance. (Hodor)
-12 year old boy, with brown hair and blue eyes. He needs to use a Northern accent. He has scenes where he has to spar with a wooden sword.
The length of the role isn’t specified. (young Robert, because he is bigger than Ned)
-7 year old boy with dark brown hair, a narrow face and green eyes. He also has a Northern accent. He also spars with the wooden sword, so it’s safe to assume it’s the same scene. This role is similarly open-ended, the description only stating that the character is being ‘introduced.’ (young Ned) Sebastian Croft plays young Ned who has green eyes
It’s obv that Bran will see them.
Gendry brought the horse.
Ginevra,
Rickon is not the great hero of the story, I’m almost certain.
Luka Nieto,
I still suspect that is a vision or viewing, with Bran seeing things through the eyes of someone on horseback. I wonder if they are going to start the Coldhands stuff: perhaps Bran will “possess” a wight and try to learn things about the Walkers that way.
Alternatively, perhaps Hodor’s Bastard has the right of it and Bran is going to uncover ancient information about what happened during the last White Walker war. Who knows: he might see things through the eyes of Azor Ahai himself!
Really, anything is possible here. However, seeing things through the eyes of a horseman in the past would be very much in keeping with an “Inceptiony” plotline for Bran. Still, it makes me wonder: what will his story be? Is he going to be trying to win people over in some capacity?
Laura,
Meera and Hodor are not going after Rickon.
Oh, I quite like that thought!
Wimsey,
In my opinion, Bran will leave the cave to fulfill a mission given by his mentor, who in turn can not leave. I am increasingly certain that it is not a vision. If it were, he would not be in those ugly skins, lying on the horse.
Wimsey,
Why does it have to be a vision? Or seeing through someones eyes? And if he is seeing through someones eyes, why do we see Bran on a horseback
I zoomed in on the photo that Luka posted and it certainly looks like light snow flakes on Bran’s left sleeve and the horse, plus a couple further up on the horse’s mane and left ear and against a dark plain bit of Bran’s outfit. Unfortunately Imgur is not playing nicely and says I have to wait 39 minutes before I can post the pictures, so I’ll try it again then. Also, although it does look like chain mail from a distance, zoomed in the stuff Bran is apparently sitting on seems more like some kind of knitted material – possibly wool – but with very large stitches, giving the ‘chain’ effect.
See you in 40 mins or so.. 🙂
Right time’s up here’s the zoomed versions 🙂
Luka Nieto,
I wasn’t being critical of the presence of a horse north of the wall. I was wondering if anyone could come up with an interesting explanation. I don’t think anyone’s going to figure it out though.
There’s loads of north of the wall book material the tv show has skipped that they could give to Bran and company in Season 6.
It never occurred to me that this was vision, I looked at the picture and saw bran north of the wall on a horse. Now that I have the vision idea from others on the forum I still don’t think that’s what it is.
Who knows, it could be a vision, it could be that he’s south of the wall for real, the tv show has done stranger things. Those trees look like they have leaves on them.
I wonder what he’s looking at. I wonder when the next book will come out.
The horse could have belonged to a Ranger from the Night’s Watch who was killed, or it could have been a Wildling’s horse. The Wildlings didn’t have many horses, but it isn’t like they had 0. It could even be one of the horses which belonged to one of the Rangers killed at the Fist. Sure, we saw a ton of horses dead in that spiral design, but did they get hold of and kill each and every one?
Maybe it’s Benjen’s horse. 😉
Benjen’s horse arrived back at Castle Black. It was how they knew he was missing.
Luka Nieto,
Oh shit, that’s right. Duh.
I’m glad I put a winky face. 🙂
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
i think the wildlings would slaughter the horse lickity split. I think the best explanation is that it’s an escapee from the nights watch.
Thanks Lulu’s Mum for your efforts to blow this up for us to see. And your patience for waiting! 🙂
JCDavis,
You’re welcome 😀 Hopefully we’ll have some more to play with soon and some stuff for Abyss (our resident gif master) to do their thing with too.
Do you think we’ll see Euron in the trailer or we’ll have to wait until the season?
Simon,
Ok… I will have to read that a few times to grasp… 😉
Selina,
Agree.
Bran won’t
Simon,
I concur as well -as the body language seems to point to Bran physically moving and not dreaming. Its too normal as a dream would be more fantastical.
FreeParking,
Yes, I believe we will be seeing Euron in the trailers, since he’s one of the biggest parts of season 6, well new additions.
sorry was trying to figure out how to do the spoiler block
Selina,
Why wouldn’t he be shown in those skins? There is no reason why they cannot show Bran as we are used to seeing him. Moreover, how can Bran ride? You need working legs for that, and we are told in both media that his legs are not going to be healed. We have been told that he will have 1000 eyes, however: this could just be how they are showing it.
Besides, if Bran is on a mission from his mentor, then that should mean the Weirnet.
Deesensfan,
Er, why wouldn’t we see Bran on Horseback? The rules for what can be done in visions and seeings are much less restrictive than they are otherwise. Indeed, doesn’t this stand on its head? Bran himself cannot ride a horse without a special saddle. Thus, seeing Bran on a horse is pretty strong evidence that this is not really hapening. However, Bran the Seer can see through the eyes of someone riding a horse. So, what is very improbable physically (Bran riding a horse) is very plausible metaphysically.
(This could also be some sort of dream, akin to the one Bran had prior to meeting Jojen, in which Bran was walking. There probably are other explanations for this that we could find if we put our minds to it.)
The other thing to keep in mind is that Bran will have an hour or less on screen. He is going to boing his “Inceptiony” trip through the past, present and future. He probably will be the conduit through which we see things like Jon’s origin. How does this provide time for a plotline with Bran moving about physically on some separate “quest” plotline? The major characters get one solid plotline a year in which to tell their storyline: so unless the Inceptiony thing is a lie, then there will not be time for Bran to galavanting about on his own!
hexonx,
FreeParking,
Yes and no: remember that the narratives of individual protagonists parallel each other for story, but not for time. We have indication in the books that at least one protagonist’s narrative is well ahead of Bran’s:
. Moreover, we have good evidence that a third protagonist’s narrative is a bit ahead of that second protagonist’s narrative:
That might have implications for what happens to a certain persona-non-gratis at the Wall whom we last saw looking just a little peakish….. 😀
IceSpider,
Though Brans dream in season one has him practicing archery when the 3 eyed Raven appears and that is normal until that point.
Also I just noticed a nice connection there between Bran who still needs to learn how to use the bow and Blood Raven who is a master archer.
Wimsey,
Wimsey,
That makes sense. I tend that way as well. But I also like to explore all possibilities, I don’t like making anything a finality. We know that there is a way for Bran to ride a horse, so it’s not completely out of the question.
Deesensfan,
Completely out of the question? No, it is not. But it does raise the questions of how Bran gets the means to ride a horse. It also raises the question of how they can find time to have the Inceptiony plotline (which necessarily requires Bran to have multiple “tree god” scenes) and a quest plotline.
The nice thing about explaining this as part if the Inceptiony explanation is that it does not raise any questions: we now know that plotline is happening and Bran could be doing anything (horseback riding, flying, swimming, photosynthesizing) because his physical limitations are removed if it is an out-of-body experience. It is just ab Occam’s Razor argument: stick with simple before going complex!
Wimsey,
Agreed for sure
He has had a special saddle before so he could have one again
I know you are going to respond with where did he get the saddle made. I guess me personally I wouldn’t nit pick that detail.
Anyway we shall see if he ever leaves the cave in real life or not. But you make a good point about limited screen time!!
He could leave on his quest in his final scene of the season.
Deesensfan,
I believe he’d be involved in the scenes of the visions isn’t? So, I think we’ll have few but important scenes involving these visions.
Why would Bran go on a quest physically when he probably can learn so much more metaphysically? More to the point, why do they waste one of the few people who can discover things metaphysically on a physical quest for which he is one of the least qualified people?
The books and show both have spent a lot of time working Bran up to Tree God. Having not simply hung this gun, but having made a big production of it, it’s got to be fired. And for Bran, that means apotheosis. We do have to keep in mind that this is a story, not a history: and thus it is really important that one of the protagonists be working the Weirnet; we cannot have some incidental character like BR sending reports or something like that!
That would make the most sense. I expect that we will see both Bran and BR in the same sort of way we saw Dumbledore and Harry in the Pensieve scenes in Harry Potter. As Luka stresses, the audience has to see one of the main characters at those places: and Hempstead Wright’s comparison to Inception also makes sense in that light.
While everybody’s busy questioning where Bran might get a horse from, I’m more interested in whether we’re going to be seeing Meera Reed / Ellie Kendrick this season.
Have I missed any updates on that front?
I know Hodor / Kristian Nairn will be appearing, but have we heard anything about Ellie?
Meera must surely be appearing in Season 6, even if only briefly. But how will she feature in the story?
I think that we’ve read that she will not be appearing. There is no need for her to be there “only briefly”: if she is going to be included, then it should be for something of substance; otherwise, there is no need to show her. In for the penny, in for the pound: but if only a penny, then not at all.
Wimsey,
I think she will appear, or they would have simply killed her in Season 4. If Max Von Sydow will have a limited screen time, I think Bran is interacting with other characters. Also, if he is really going out of the cave, I think they need someone to accompany him, alongside Hodor.
Wimsey,
Well, indeed. That’s why I’m wondering why we’ve heard so little about her return. I would expect her to have some obvious role in Bran’s storyline. She surely can’t just be sat around twiddling her thumbs with only Hodor for company while Bran does his training. I do wonder how they’re going to fit in much more than a couple of short scenes involving Meera though, unless she’ll be present during most of Bran’s scenes with Bloodraven.
Selina,
Well, that’s the question really. If Max von Sydow / Bloodraven is only going to get a small amount of screen time then how much is Meera likely to get? Like you say, if they weren’t going to use her then they’d have just killed her off like they did Jojen. So I’d be disappointed if she just ends up being an afterthought in Bran’s story this season. Maybe the Children of the Forest will teach her a few magic tricks while Bran’s doing his thing.
I couldn’t recall whether we’d heard anything here, or not, but I just did a search both for “Ellie Kendrick” and “Meera Reed” on this site, and nothing came up regarding her and Season 6 one way, or the other. I don’t know about other sites.
Selina,
She might return in Season 7.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
I expect that Meera’s roles in Bran’s storyline and plotlines are largely done. Bran probably is going to spend most of the rest of the series at one with a tree, after all. Meera almost cannot be present for the Bloodraven scenes, as she is not a seer: she cannot be in the past or future or in present scenes far away.
They also cannot waste valuable screen time just satisfying the curiousity of a few fans! Meera is not a protagonist and thus does not create any story on her own. The show has to focus on the story (whatever that is in Winter: at this point, I would bet on something concerning the compromises needed to win over people that do not want to be won-over) and the plot points that propel the main characters tp generate that story.
Stirring things,
Warging into a fallen dragon turned White Flyer and tunring on the Nights King..!???
WINNER!! WINNER!! WINNER!!