Bran Fathers No Children

Published May 21, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hello Gene and Big D,

You guys have been my favorite since you started podcasting Game of Thrones. I look forward to all of your future casts, would you consider going back to Season 1 of GOT to podcast a rewatch from the beginning?

So I”d like to get into some theories about this last episode and some Bran character motivations. To start off, I have been seeing tons of fan criticism about Bran sending John/Aegon North toward the wall even though the Dothraki and the Ironborn are now out of the city. I offer up this theory, Bran”s main motivation and influence to have John leave are based on the idea that John, as the last Targaryen, needs to “Father no Children” and hence never again will he and his offspring, or any Targaryen, be contenders for the throne. Think about that, he knows everything after all and knows an “elected series of rulers” from now on is best for Westeros.

This theory is corroborated if you remember that Bran also can father NO children, so the succession to the throne after him will also have to be elected. This leaves the natural choice for the next elected king to be….the next Three-Eyed Raven! Whoever these powers are passed down to, should be the next king. The Three-Eyed Raven will then always have the role of the fully informed advisor for the realm with the real decision-making power falling to the small counsel, made up of a fully represented contingent of nobles from across the realm. It is my opinion that even though Bran is named the King, it is really Tyrion and the small counsel who will be the rulers of the 6 kingdoms. In this type of society, only the nobles are educated so it seems to make sense for representatives of nobles from all the kingdoms be the decision makers for their own people in each kingdom.

What do you guys think? I look forward to your next podcast, as I look forward to all of them, keep up the great work,

Debbie from Virginia.

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