Monday, May 23, 2016

In the gut-wrenching finale of The Door I'm left to believe that Brandon Stark is probably A Game of Thrones biggest villain.

Spoiler Alert: We need to talk about last night's episode of Game of Thrones, so please don't read on if you are unprepared.

I think I just watched the best episode of Game of Thrones I've ever seen, and I know I said that about another episode this season already. However, in surpassing the books, the story has really accelerated, and there wasn't a second of wasted time in "The Door" that seemed extraneous or unnecessary. One huge reveal we got from the show was that the Children of the Forest actually created the White Walkers. I suppose the "Why?" was answered pretty well by one of the Children that participated in the ritual (someone that's obviously immortal) in that they were at war and were being killed by the Andal invaders (who had no respect for their ways and destroyed their trees). So the White Walkers were a kind of nuclear option designed to destroy the human race. It's a fascinating reveal, but it does make me wonder how they lost power over the White Walkers. I've never seen a twist quite like this in any fantasy series. It does remind me of the plot of the movie Prometheus in that the Engineers obviously created the xenomorphs (aliens) to also kill off the human race. But I'm giving George R.R. Martin the stroke of genius for coming up with that (instead of Ridley Scott) because it's obvious he thought of this decades ago.

But the gut-wrenching moment of the show was finding out that Brandon Stark destroyed Hodor's mind. With the White Walkers coming for Bran, and with him struck in a trance with the Three-Eyed Raven and experiencing a vision, he warged into a young Wyllis. When it came time to "Hold the Door" to keep the ice zombies from eating Meera and Bran, Meera kept yelling that phrase and the psychic link somehow melted Wyllis' mind for decades. I just can't get over that. Yes, it's brilliant but I think I was more disturbed by that than any of the rape scenes in the show. Guys...Bran destroyed Hodor's mind. I can't think of anything more cruel than destroying a beautiful mind. And Bran did it by forcing a young Wyllis to live the moment of his death at the hands of the White Walkers decades before it happened.

So is Brandon Stark now the biggest villain of the show? Is this child of the Starks responsible for everything that's happened in the show? The Three-Eyed Raven warned that in the pages of history the ink is already dried. But it's obvious that this isn't the case and that the past, the present, and the future are happening at the same time when it comes to Brandon Stark's power. In fact, did Bran try to use his power on Aerys (the Mad King) and drive him mad by linking his brain to the future? If so then he's been responsible for countless deaths through time. But there is one question that burns in my mind about all of this: why is the Night's King wanting to kill Bran (who is now the Three-Eyed Raven)? Is it because he feels that Bran could somehow stop him?

It's a given that the White Walkers are murdering biological weapons unleashed upon the human race for one purpose: to destroy them and use the male babies to create more White Walkers. However, the fervor by which the Night's King went after a singular individual, going so far as to dispatch many of the White Walkers and his whole army of the undead seems a bit peculiar. Why is Bran such a threat? Is it because Bran has the ability to change time? Or does he fear Bran's ability to track him and his army wherever he goes? Or maybe he just fears Bran because he knows Bran will succeed him and become the new Night's King. Yeah, I'm going with that.


7 comments:

  1. Yup, it sucks my friend dumped his cable and I have to wait until the season ends so I can binge watch the season. Oh well, it will give me something to do this summer...

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  2. Last night's GoT episode was a gut wrenching story on so many levels and the showrunners crushed it. It has got to be tough to put 1000 page book into 10 episodes so they have to be choosy. The scene in the first episode with Lyanna felt like a crutch to introduce TV viewers to a major book character. While that was true it also was misdirection to book readers as we were so focused on Lyanna that we didn't see the Wylis reveal coming. So good.

    The thing that GRRM does that amazes me is showing how life is filled with gray. Characters morph from the seeming unredeemable to Jaime Lannister due to point of view. Bran has morphed from an rambunctious kid to a young man with power well beyond his maturity. As Meera trudged Bran through the snow it reminded me of the comment a couple of episodes back when the Child of the Forest said that Bran would need her. Now Meera is all he has left and possibly the only one that can help him keep his humanity.

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  3. Probably the Night's King is Bran in the future.

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  4. Lots to speculate over. We'll have to talk when I'm in SLC on June 1?

    I'm looking at Suz's comment above and thinking - well, that is quite the paradox!

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  5. Damn -- maybe if I had more time I'd catch up on Games faster. Don't know where all my time goes...

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  6. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! :-[ The spoiler was in the Heading, didn't need to read the post. :-(

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