(Spoilers from GoT seasons one through five and possibly six.)
While we focused on two-and-a-half Stark children in the fifth season of Game Of Thrones, there was another Stark that the season glossed over: Bran Stark. (Well, there’s also Rickon, but I was talking about the Stark that the show isn’t actively trying to forget.) GoT followed Bran as a main character throughout seasons one through four, but he’s been largely ignored since then. But much like winter, Bran is coming, and we need to get ready. And what better way than catching up through a quick, 90-second summary of the Stark that might be the most important character in season six.
In the final scene that launched a thousand DVR season tapings, Bran jumped to central importance after being pushed out of a window by Jaime Lannister back in the first episode of season one. His fall paralyzed him, and he spent the rest of the season dreaming of the three-eyed raven and trying to not be killed (which is very tough in the GoT world). His visions continue into season two, leading up to turncloak Theon Greyjoy’s snatching of Winterfell under the boy’s nose. While he and his brother Rickon eventually escape, Bran spends the next two seasons warging into animals/Hodor and searching for the raven, because what else does he have to do. This journey takes him beyond the wall with the Reed children, and he finally meets the three-eyed raven/old man-tree in the fourth season finale. His hopes of walking again are quickly dashed, but he is told that he will learn to fly, which I feel is a fair trade-off. And that’s the last we see of him.
The story of the surviving Stark boys goes a little further in the books, but for show-watchers, we’ll have had almost two years since we’ve seen either of them (and we might not recognize them anymore). Many theories have been floating around as to what Bran will do next season, but it’s clear that he’ll have more to do than dreaming and riding on Hodor’s back. From the recent teaser, we see a sizzle reel of Game Of Thrones past, a clue into the flashbacks that Bran will see with the raven. What do you think his role will be?
