Game Of Thrones Finale: How Each Major Character Ending Was Setup (& Why They Work)

1. Bran The Broken

Bran Stark becoming King of Westeros is the kind of thing that could feel like a swerve, especially given how it built up Jon or Daenerys as potential rulers, but as discussed their arcs were often likely to lead them away from the Iron Throne someway, somehow. So why Bran?

It's not simply a case of pulling out a name that people didn't expect or who might make a good ruler. Granted, the setup here simply IS a bit weaker, because the show hasn't handled Bran's Three-Eyed Raven turn all that well. As they've turned away from fantasy elements of the series, so too have his powers been left underexplained. The crucial point, though, is that he is Westeros' memory, and as someone who knows how every ruler has gone wrong in the past, can hopefully avoid those mistakes in the future.

He's said numerous times that he doesn''t 'want', which is similarly important: in an episode that really highlights the corrupting influence of the Iron Throne, Bran is the only person in the Seven (or Six) Kingdoms who won't be changed by wielding power. But in some ways, this goes further back than just this. Bran is the first main character we meet in Game of Thrones: after the White Walkers cold open, it's Bran practising archery. It's the same in the books too, where he's the very first point-of-view character.

As a would-be ruler who has been crippled, he not only fits with George R.R. Martin's love of 'cipples, bastards, and broken things', but is surrounded by Fisher King imagery (itself taken from the tale of Brân the Blessed, with Bran meaning Crow or Raven in Welsh). The series has pulled from lots of different bits of history and legend, and this Arthurian tale is quite fitting for the young boy who always wanted to be a Knight. Like the Fisher King, he's wounded in the legs, he can't have children, and he's the last person to rule. Will it be prosperous? Maybe not - the Fisher King wasn't - but that itself could lend to the bittersweetness of the ending. But he's perhaps the best chance Westeros has at having a good ruler. Thousands of years ago, Bran the Builder founded House Stark and built Winterfell and the Wall. Generations later, Bran the Breaker made a pact with the King Beyond the Wall and defeated the Night's King. Maybe Bran the Broken really can be the man to change Westeros for good.

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