This may be an unpopular opinion, but I have had just about enough out of the cast and crew of Game of Thrones. First, Sophie Turner reveals she’s been carrying around a “huge spoiler” in her wallet. Then, the Thrones showrunners drop a playlist in which the series’ ending is “one hundred percent hidden.” And just today, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau went on Ellen — and dropped a huge spoiler about how the show will end to a gleeful Ellen DeGeneres.
To be fair, Coster-Waldau was put in a tricky spot for someone contractually obligated not to reveal the plot of a TV show. He was asked to summarize GoT in 30 seconds, and presumably knew that any answer he gave would be scrutinized to death. It’s particularly interesting, then, that he spent the full 30 seconds talking about Bran Stark. Before I dive any deeper into what that means, here’s a transcript of what he said:
“There’s a boy who lost his way in life, he needs help and this guy, Jaime Lannister, helps him, he pushes him out a window, he falls to the ground, he realizes ‘I have to do something with life,’ he becomes the Three-Eyed Raven — this magical creature who can foresee the future, look back — and helps save the world, all because of Jaime Lannister, this great guy.”
Let’s break this all down. Given that Jaime pushed Bran out a window and cost him the use of his legs in Season 1, the two characters aren’t exactly on great terms. Since the incident, they haven’t encountered one another again, but Jaime was last seen riding north — a fact that Bran, as the Three-Eyed Raven, is unlikely to miss. So, given that the actor playing Jaime is awfully pre-occupied with what Bran is up to this season, I’d say it’s likely these characters are headed for a reunion. And if it’s like most GoT reunions, it won’t be pretty.
Next, the idea that Jaime somehow helps Bran to his fate can likely be dismissed as a joke, but the comment that Bran “helps save the world” bears further digging. This could be a hint toward the ever-popular theory that Bran is the Night King, having traveled back in time to try and stop him from marching on Westeros. The theory goes that Bran warges into the Night King’s mind and gets stuck, fulfilling the prophecy that he will never walk again, but he will fly (through time, that is.) Of course, having Bran be the Night King wouldn’t necessarily mean he saves the world — unless Jaime Lannister’s version of “saving the world” just means “never letting Daenerys sit on the Iron Throne.”
Another popular theory floating around, this time in the form of a YouTube comment, suggests that Bran “saves the world” by looking into the future, seeing how and why they lose the battle to the Night King, then telling them in the present so they can correct their mistakes. We know that this battle is unusual especially due to the Stark sisters’ involvement: Sansa Stark dons armor for the first time, and Maisie Williams confirmed that Arya too will play a pivotal role. So, perhaps Bran’s vision shows them leaving the sisters out of battle as usual, and losing because of it — and that’s why they’re finally allowed to fight.
Between all the fan theories and legitimate spoilers out there, Game of Thrones fans who want to be surprised should probably just stay off the internet altogether. For the rest of us, we’ll be poring over Reddit religiously until this Sunday, April 14, at 9 P.M.
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