Game Of Thrones: How The Battle Of Winterfell Should Have Gone

Back with Bran now who has used his greener ability to go back to the moment he saw the Night King created. He wargs into the mind of the man tied to the tree and tries to reason with the children of the forest not to go through with the ritual.

Telling them the pain they will bring to the world. There is no pain in this world like men they answer, and plunge the dagger into his chest. The ink of the past is dry, as he was told.

In this moment Bran tries to come back but he can’t. He’s used up too much of himself to do this and he can’t release his mind from that of the man and as the ice begins to spread over his body, it’s Bran who’s trapped inside, now destined to live through entire ages as the Night King.

The implication here, and you leave this to the audience, is the reason for all of this, why he seeks out the three eyed raven, why he can see Bran in visions, is because he is him. He knows that in this moment, Bran goes back to try and prevent him, but instead becomes him.

He knows all about the future but because this is where he went back to create him, he has never seen past this moment. Killing Bran after he’s done it is the only thing that can free the future for him.

It’s a perpetual loop. Bran goes back, becomes the night king so the night king must go forward and ensure that bran goes back. It’s a cycle that they’re both bound to for eternity which makes it a tragedy and incredibly interesting. It’s not perfect but it accounts for almost everything we know about him and doesn’t just leave his origin story hanging here for us to guess.