That Nightbulb Moment: 'Game Of Thrones' Theory Reveals Shocking Link Between Bran Stark And Night King

Boo, hiss, Bran Stark is back! Alongside Bronn's attempts to take out Drogon, and Cersei's grip on the capital, we have seen Bran Stark become quite the unlikable little sh*t across Season 7 of Game of Thrones. Just like the rest of the surviving Starks, our little tower tumbler has been on quite a journey over the years. However, while Sansa has learned her political prowess, Arya has adopted her "faceless" lifestyle, and Jon Snow can seemingly survive anything, there is still a major question mark hanging over Bran Stark's endgame.

We have seen #IsaacHempsteadWright's character shun his moniker as Lord Stark of Winterfell in favor of wheeling around the Godswood and taunting Petyr Baelish, but there is an altogether more chilling theory on where Bran's story will eventually take him.

Return Of The King

YouTuber Game of Theories weaves an epic yarn of how little Bran Stark is actually the show's most dangerous foe and will become the infamous Night King — cue gasps. Season 7 already gave Bran that rather cold reunion with his sisters at Winterfell, but this theory suggests that this is just the start of a slippery slope to take up a new job as that abominable snowman.

The crux of the tin foil theorizing is that Bran will warg back into the past to try and prevent the Children of the Forest plunging the dragonglass shard into the First Men to create those snow-loving White Walkers. Remember Season 6's "The Door" when Bran learned about the origin of the Night King and asked the mischievous Leaf who the Children were defending themselves from? The answer was "you," which many took to mean mankind — but what if Leaf was specifically referring to Bran himself?

"But wait, Vladimir Furdik plays the Night King!" you cry. Yes, but what if Bran had used those handy warging powers to enter the body of the man who becomes the Night King? Unlike the Three-Eyed Raven (if he isn't Bran) and Jojen Reed, Bran has the double whammy of greensight AND warging. We saw the little lord put this into practice when he warged into poor Wyllis during that door-holding debacle, so what damage will he do next?

If Bran attempted to stop the Children of the Forest by warging into Furdik's unnamed man, having the dragonglass dagger plunged into his body could trap Bran inside him forever. Waiting thousands of years before he could meet his young self again, it would certainly explain how the Night King knows where to go and what to do.

Also, note that when Bran woke up from his vision of White Walker Creation 101, his position against the tree mirrored exactly that of where the Night King met his frosty fate. We have already seen the little Omen child be a stone cold SOB this season, so him leaping to become the horned popsicle that is the Night King isn't that hard to imagine.

Don't mess with the timelines.

Interestingly, the theory also takes into account several other popular Bran theories for a veritable theory sandwich. We read how Bran did indeed cause King Aerys II to turn into the Mad King thanks his whispers, then went back even further to fulfill his destiny as "Bran the Builder" and construct the Wall. However, it is when going back furthest that Bran becomes trapped as "The Artist Formally Known as the Night King."

Just as Jojen warned Bran, it is all too easy to become trapped in the past. So, locked in the body of the man who becomes the Night King, the memories of "Bran" could be slowly eaten away to see him emerge as the show's ultimate villain and try to change his fate in the present — talk about a monumental f*ck up.

Bear in mind that we also saw the Night King brand Bran with his touch instead of kill him like Max von Sydow's Three-Eyed Raven. In that good ol' time travel paradox, perhaps this is because the Night King killing Bran would actually be him killing himself — anyone seen the film Looper?

As for the whole good-guy-goes-bad-in-the-future thing, HBO is known for using such a twist in last year's spectacular Westworld, so why not use it again? Even if Bran doesn't become the blue-skinned blaggard we have come to fear, his future hardly look like sunshine and fine wine on the shores of Dorne. That being said, there are still two whole books and another season of the show to go, so who knows what is next for our creepy cripple.

(Source: Game of Theories)