Is Bran Stark the Night King? The Game of Thrones theory explained – and why it’s (almost definitely) not true

It's the most popular, talked-about theory heading into the final season, but could Bran Stark really be Game of Thrones' ultimate villain?

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Game of Thrones is a show which breeds fan theories like no other in history.

From the ones that turned out to be true (R+L=J) to the absurd fever dreams (Varys is actually a mermaid), fans have been diving deep into George RR Martin’s world and presenting their fantasies to hungry audiences ever since the first book was published back in 1996.

We’ve now finally embarked on the final season, and there’s one relatively new theory that keeps gaining steam: the idea that Bran Stark is the Night King. The little kid Jaime Lannister pushed out of a window because he caught Lannister fondling with his sister… is the Night King.

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“The things we do for love” (Photo: HBO)

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It sounds wild, but a LOT of people genuinely believe it. Fans on Reddit and other social media sites have put together some very convincing arguments.

But before we delve into the theory itself, first we need to understand how time works in the Game of Thrones universe.

Time travel in Game of Thrones

This is important, because the Bran is the Night King theory (let’s call it B=NK) came about after Bran warged into Hodor (then just a stable boy named Wylis) for the famous hold the door scene in season five. Warging is a rare ability that lets a person transport their spirit into the body of another living being – usually an animal – allowing them to travel around and see through its eyes, and this scene is also the most notable instance of time travel in the show.

It isn’t possible to go back and change the past in the Game of Thrones universe – the Three-Eyed Raven tells Bran as much.

But didn’t Bran change the past by warging into Hodor’s past self? Actually no, even if it may seem that way. There was no scenario where Bran did not possess Hodor. This was pre-determined to happen.

Bran warged into Wylis in season 5, creating Hodor and fulfilling a causal time loop
Bran warged into Wylis in season 5, creating Hodor and fulfilling a causal time loop (Photo: HBO)

It’s called a causal time loop. What this means is one event (X) causes another (Y), which itself is the cause of X. It goes around in a loop.

So Bran was always going to warg into Wylis while under attack from the White Walkers, Wylis was pre-destined to become Hodor and see his future in Bran’s forced vision, meaning he was able to fulfil his destiny and sacrifice himself for Bran when the time came. Does that kinda make sense? Don’t worry, my head hurts too.

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Arguments for Bran as the Night King

So, the theory goes that Bran tries to use his powers to go back in time and stop the great war against the undead.

If you remember, the Night King was created when the Children of the Forest plunged a dragonstone blade into the heart of a man, in order to create a monster to use in their war with the First Men.

The Children of the Forest created the Night King thousands of years ago
The Children of the Forest created the Night King thousands of years ago (Photo: HBO)

B=NK believers suggest Bran warged into this very man to try and stop the Night King from ever being created, but failed and got trapped inside his body. As the Tree-Eyed Raven warned, it is possible to get trapped in the past if you remain there too long.

They say this is why the Night King was able to touch and mark Bran back in season six, when normally Bran can’t interact with others in his visions – because they are one person.

People point out the similarities in their face shapes (the Night King was actually recast, and now undoubtedly looks more like Bran, whether coincidentally or not), and in how they dress.

The Night King was able to touch and mark Bran in a vision (Photo: HBO)

B=NK is also a possible reason for why the Night King let Jon Snow live during the battle at Hardhome – and indeed hasn’t killed him since. He recognises Jon as his brother, and can’t bring himself to kill him.

Some fans argue Bran actually went back in time to attempt to stop the Night King’s army a number of times, creating a series of causal time loops.

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The theory goes that he put voices into King Aerys II’s head telling him to “burn them all” – meaning the White Walkers – but the voices drove him mad and led him to try and burn down King’s Landing.

It also suggests Bran took over the body of Bran the Builder, who was responsible for building the Wall.

Why Bran probably isn’t the Night King

The biggest hole in the theory is how Bran could possibly be in his own body and the Night King’s at the same time.

When Bran wargs, his spirit enters the body of a raven, a wolf, Hodor – whatever he is warging into – leaving his own body empty until he returns to it.

Bran leaves his own body behind when he wargs
Bran leaves his own body behind when he wargs (Photo: HBO)

But Bran and the Night King are very much conscious at the same time. Game of Thrones would need to introduce a whole new level of confusion and bizarre logic to explain that, and it just doesn’t feel likely.

Another big hole is that we have seen no evidence that Bran can actually go back in time and affect the past in any deliberate manner. What happened with Hodor was a pre-determined causal loop, and Bran had no conscious idea of what he was doing. He can’t – as far as we know – just jump into people’s past bodies and mess with the world when he feels like it.

Point three: if Bran did indeed warg into the man who became the Night King, why did he then decide, after being turned, that killing all men alive was a good idea after all? Perhaps he saw how terrible humans can be during his thousands of years watching them tear each other apart (relatable, tbh), but still this feels like a stretch.

The Night King's army is marching south, headed for Winterfell and King's Landing
The Night King’s army is marching south, headed for Winterfell and King’s Landing (Photo: HBO)

The final key argument against Bran being Game of Thrones‘ big bad is a pretty simple one. The Night King is a show-only character, he doesn’t exist in the books (at least not yet). Bran being the Night King would be a gigantic step away from the source material. Like, so big it changes the entire story.

The show has veered away from the books before – for example, in the books Catelyn Stark comes back as the vengeful and undead Lady Stoneheart – but never in such a meaningful, game-changing way.

So what’s the truth?

Bran being the Night King feels unsatisfying, and would mean the introduction of so much headache-inducing theory around time travel that it would likely anger and confuse a lot of fans.

On balance, the theory is probably very well-argued nonsense, but there’s only one way to find out for sure.

This article was first published ahead of Game of Thrones season 8

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