Is Bran the Greater-Scope Villain of GOT (Spoiler Allowed)

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Actarus
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Re: Is Bran the Greater-Scope Villain of GOT (Spoiler Allowed)

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Jonathan101 wrote: Fri May 24, 2019 3:32 pm
Actarus wrote: Fri May 24, 2019 2:02 pm
Jonathan101 wrote: Fri May 24, 2019 10:17 am Lots of people have expressed this theory on the internet already.

https://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/bran-stark ... nes-669880

https://www.scoopwhoop.com/entertainmen ... f-thrones/

https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-ra ... ath-finale

Only difference is they aren't saying that Bran actively used his magic to make everyone stupid or anything, just that he saw / deduced a bunch of possible futures and noticed that if he said certain things to certain people at the right time then it would cause a chain reaction leading to himself becoming King and though "Hey, that's pretty cool. HEY SAM! WANNE KNOW WHO JONS' REAL DADDY IS?"
The problem is that it does not work. Bran only knew that Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark were Jon's parents. Sam tied the knots when Bran told him. He said that Jon is then a Targaryen. To which Bran replied "Sand. Dornish bastards are named Sand." Then Sam told Bran that he discovered that Rhaegar and Lyanna were legally married. It is only afterward that Bran confirmed this through Winterfell's heart tree. To summarize, Bran knew that Jon was a Targaryen bastard. Telling Sam or Jon only had an importance for Jon alone, changed nothing in the line of succession and had no impact on Bran's plan if he was the kniving villain some of you think he was.

As for the throne, Bran did not say that he did not want to be King. Nobody ever implied that he could be. He was asked if he wanted to Lord of Winterfell, since he's the first in the line of succession, to which he replied "I do not want." Period. Remember that Bran as seen it all (well, almost). And like the previous 3ER said: "The past has been written. The ink is dry." Well, now Bran lives in the past, like he said so himself. And if the ink is dry, there nothing that you could want, you can only accept the events has they come. When Bran says "Why do you think I came here," I understand it as "that's how things must be, so here I am." Afterall, that's pretty much what he said to every character that apologized to him. To Jaime, he basically says: "if you haven't pushed me, I would not be the Three-Eyed Raven and you'd still be a dick." To Theon: "Everything you did brought you where you are now. Where you belong. Home." To Jon: "You always were exactly where you needed to be."

So no, Bran didn't plan anything. He knew where this was all going, and he accepted the events has they came.
Well, firstly, he could have been playing dumb around Sam when he told him, and in fact knew that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married but wanted Sam to think this was his idea; or, he might not have known that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married but merely suspected, and knew that Sam might have the answer he was looking for.
If Bran did know about the wedding, he would not have needed to go to the heart tree for confirmation. And why should he suspect that Sam knew the answer to that? He even looks surprised when Sam tells him. No, I don't buy that he knew anything at all about the wedding.
You are wrong about it not mattering to anyone but Jon- when Jon learns the truth, it leads to a chain of events where Daenarys becomes more insecure and paranoid about her position knowing that her claim to the Iron Throne, the one she had built her whole identity on, was inferior to that of the guy she had hots for who it turns out is her nephew, and others would be perfectly happy for him to take the throne over her because they know him better and trust him, and this is partially what leads to her more ruthless behaviour later on. Not telling Sam means Jon doesn't find ou,t which means that nobody finds out, which means that Daenarys might not be so paranoid as to destroy Kings' Landing and goes on to be Queen of Westeros...which means that Bran doesn't.
It does matter only if Jon is a true born son of Rhaegar, which Bran does not know before he tells Sam. In Bran's mind, Jon was still a bastard and therefore excluded from the line of succession. Telling Sam would not bring Bran closer to the throne if such was his intention. If Jon is a bastard, Daenerys would not fear him as a rival claimant. It is only after he tells Sam that he knows that Jon is true born and has a better claim to the throne. But it is not him that tells Jon, but Sam. He doesn't even tell his sisters. He does only after Jon asks him to do so.
You also seem to be just taking Bran at his word here, even though the whole argument is that he might be a villain, and if he is a villain then he's far more likely to be lying and manipulating all the time, including about merely accepting things as they come to pass.

I don't think many people take the theory seriously (mostly because most people think that D & D dropped the ball and just aren't that clever), but it's a fun little theory and to be honest, it makes more sense that you appear to think.
There is no reason to doubt his word since there is nothing in the show that leads us to the conclusion that he's lying. Of course, people have been conjecturing that Bran was/will become the Night King since the "Hodor event". So of course, those will see evil in everything Bran does. I mean, he doesn't even seem to profit from his coronation. He just let his Small Council do the best for the Realm. That does not scream "evil schemer" to me.
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Re: Is Bran the Greater-Scope Villain of GOT (Spoiler Allowed)

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In a world of gray, only one character might have been unambiguously worthy
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Re: Is Bran the Greater-Scope Villain of GOT (Spoiler Allowed)

Post by Yukaphile »

Been reading up a bit on Game of Thrones, and... yikes. While I know taste is subjective, it's beyond me how this could hit the mainstream so hard... but it really does speak to our present values as a people, doesn't it? This makes DS9 look like like a pleasant fairy land full of rainbows and sunshine in comparison. Of course, it could also explain why STD first had to try and rival it, yes? With a gritty type war situation? I mean, I could see Bryan Fuller being a fan of Game of Thrones. That Trump likes it, with its endless themes of war rape and so much gratuitously fanservice moments where women are objectified, is no shocker to me. Give it this, though. At least from my understanding, it doesn't try to paint the men guilty of this as being "traumatized" or some bullshit like that, or if it is brought up, it's called out for being pure hypocrisy. As it should be.
"A culture's teachings - and more importantly, the nature of its people - achieve definition in conflict. They find themselves, or find themselves lacking."
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