GOT – Bran the Manipulator

Published May 20, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey guys,

Per usual, you’re awesome and I look forward to following along on your other podcasts now that Game of Thrones is over.

Anyways, I want to talk about Bran. Despite his seemingly innocent exterior, Bran is the true Mad King of this series and I’ll explain why.

Everything that happened, the things that made the characters who they were and put them “exactly where they needed to be” was known to Bran in advance. Theon’s years of torture lead him to guard Bran that day against the NK, Arya’s isolation in Essos sculpting her into Bran’s personal Night King assassin (he even gave her the knife to do it!), Sansa’s years of emotional/physical abuse that Bran watched from the sidelines (“you looked beautiful that day” as he creepily said), etc etc I could list example for hours. He made no effort to use his powers for good, only self-promotion. Bran pulled the strings and pushed the buttons to encourage all of this destruction. HE KNEW that Dany would burn King’s Landing, and to make sure of it he intentionally told Jon Snow about his Targaryen heritage to force a divide between Jon & Dany. HE KNEW that this drama would put doubt in her mind and what it would lead to. He needed King’s Landing to burn so that the throne would be empty for him.

To top it all off, he further secures his seat on the throne by EXILING the only known heir to the throne by sending Jon “Targaryen” Snow to the wall. Did it make sense to banish Jon just to keep Grey Worm happy? Absolutely not. Bran did it so there would be zero other options for the people.

All those deaths, all the destruction, everything that happened, it was all part of Bran’s master plan. He knew what the future held and allowed years of suffering, even within his own family, so that he could selfishly become King. It was all preventable, so this blood is on Bran’s hands.

Bran the Broken? More like Bran the Manipulator.

Thanks,
Matt B

Examples:
– Bran manipulated Hodor’s entire existence into being a door holder. He ruined that young boy’s life for his own survival. This shows that Bran has no problems with destroying other people’s lives for his own gain.
– Bran exploited Theon’s torture and guilt to protect him from the Night King. He even said “everything you did bring you here” or something. That path was known to Bran and avoidable, but again, he allowed a life to be ruined for his own gain.
– Dany was on the path to becoming Queen, he needed the world to turn on her so he starts gossiping about Jon’s Targaryen heritage. Bran is the one that tells Sam “now is the time to tell him” or whatever.
– Bran knew that Tyrion would end up in a position to nominate him as King, which he even admits with his “why do you think I’m here?” comment. He knew his conversations with Tyrion in Winterfell would plant that idea in Tyrion’s head.
– Bran takes advantage of Arya’s years of rigorous training to assassinate his only legitimate rival. Giving her that knife shows his understanding of the future and her role in protecting him.
– He could have told Jon that Dany was going to burn the city, but he didn’t. He needed Cersei removed first, making room for his own reign.
– He never uses his Warg powers for anybody else’s gain. He never said “hey don’t fly your dragons over there, Euron will kill them.” or anything like that.

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