We were all so focused on The Mad Queen in Game of Thrones season 8 that we might have forgotten about a certain Three-Eyed Raven up North. That’s right, according to this (compelling) fan theory, Bran is the villain of the piece and pretty much framed Dany burning down King’s Landing to help maintain the status quo. Confused? Read on and we’ll see what one of the weirdest Game of Thrones theories is all about as things begin to heat up before Sunday’s finale.
So, here’s the ‘Bran is evil’ theory in a nutshell: Redditor ratcliffeb outlines the idea that Bran warged into Drogon just before Daenerys was going to burn the Red Keep (and Cersei) to the ground. By taking over and roasting the citizens of King’s Landing, he helped turn Dany into the Mad Queen in people’s eyes.
The fact also remains that the Three-Eyed Raven has previously been instrumental in several key events in Westerosi history. Bran himself caused Hodor to turn into, well, Hodor, and gifted Arya the dagger that killed the Night King. In effect, the Three-Eyed Raven is making history play out exactly as it should.
You could make the argument that this outright turns Bran into the show’s ultimate villain, though he probably wouldn’t see it that way. After all, he’s just making sure everything that is fated to pass goes off without a hitch.
But that in itself would fit perfectly into Game of Thrones and its exploration of morally grey characters. The Three-Eyed Raven might be doing this for the greater good. Is he a villain because of it? Possibly – but no one in Westeros has ever kept their hands clean when it comes to keeping the peace.
It’d be an interesting ending, that’s for sure, and could leave things open to interpretation about who was right and who was wrong for years to come. I’m a Bran the Burner truther now. Bring on Sunday.
