This Theory That Bran Is The Night King On 'Game Of Thrones' Is Mind Boggling

After many years spent offscreen and in hiding, Bran Stark is back and up to big things on Game of Thrones. He spent Season 6 cultivating his powers with the Three Eyed Raven, but it wasn't all Karate Kid all the time inside the Three Eyed Raven's training tree. Bran's visions led him to stumble upon a few major secrets, but also some dangerous situations. In one vision, he spied upon the Night King and his horde, but the Night King surprised Bran by reaching out and grabbing his arm. That seemed to form some kind of connection between them that fans took notice of, which spawned the theory that Bran is the Night King on Game of Thrones. But wait – how would that even work?

As presented by Reddit user turm0il26, it would involve a tricky bit of time travel and the use of Bran's warging abilities. Having already witnessed the creation of the Night King by the Children of the Forest, the theory states that Bran would return to that moment with the intention of stopping it. To do so, he would warg into the human man who becomes the Night King. Except Bran wouldn't actually be able to stop the ceremony, nor would he be able to free his mind from the body of the man. Bran would get caught in the past and inadvertently become the Night King.

The theory isn't total nonsense. Bran can visit the past and have an effect on the events there. It was his visions and warging that led young Wylis to become Hodor, so it stands to reason that Bran's meddling in the old days could cause major changes in the present. It's also undeniable that the Night King has a link with Bran that allowed him to see and touch Bran while in a vision. This could be because they share the same consciousness.

But what purpose would it really serve for Bran to spend a thousand or more years chilling inside the Night King's head? The Night King's goal appears to be building an army to take over Westeros, and Bran has never been presented as power-hungry. If Bran's mind is lurking somewhere inside the Night King, then any recognizable trace of him appears to be gone. It would just be another heaping helping of tragedy if Bran was consumed by his new icy identity and turned into a monster. Game of Thrones loves tragedy, but it usually has more of a point.

There isn't a ton of evidence to support the idea that Bran is the Night King, but there is something connecting the two characters together. Bran has been marked by the Night King, and that means from now on their fates are intertwined. Wherever Bran's story ends up, the Night King is most definitely a part of it.