Bran Stark
| House / Order | House Stark |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Northmen |
| Status | Alive (as of A Dance with Dragons) |
| Origin | The North; beyond The Wall |
| Born | 290 AC, Winterfell |
| Died | |
| Weapon | |
| Fate | Learning the ways of the greenseers from the last greenseer in a cave beyond the Wall |
| Portrayed by | Isaac Hempstead Wright |
Brandon Stark, called Bran, is the second son of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully and a viewpoint character of A Song of Ice and Fire. A spirited boy who dreams of becoming a knight, he is crippled early in the story and instead discovers within himself a far stranger destiny tied to the old magic of Westeros.
Bran's journey takes him from the broken towers of Winterfell to a cave beyond The Wall, where he begins to master the powers of warging and greensight that mark him as a greenseer.
Background
Bran grew up at Winterfell as a fearless climber, scaling the castle's walls and towers despite his mother's warnings. He longed to be a knight of the Kingsguard. He was given a direwolf pup he named Summer. His fall comes in the very first chapters of the saga.
Biography
A Game of Thrones
Climbing a tower, Bran witnesses Cersei and Jaime in their incest. To protect the secret, Jaime pushes him from the window. Bran survives but loses the use of his legs and all memory of the fall. A subsequent assassination attempt on the comatose boy is foiled by his direwolf and his mother. As Bran heals, he begins to have vivid wolf dreams and is carried about by the simple stableboy Hodor. With Robb marching to war, Bran is left as the nominal Stark in Winterfell, aided by Maester Luwin and the wildling woman Osha.
A Clash of Kings
Bran's prophetic green dreams intensify. When Theon Greyjoy seizes Winterfell, Bran and his younger brother Rickon hide in the castle crypts and are presumed dead after Theon passes off two murdered miller's boys as their corpses. They emerge after the castle burns and flee north with Osha, Hodor, and the Reed siblings, Jojen and Meera Reed.
A Storm of Swords and A Dance with Dragons
Guided by Jojen's own green dreams and visions of a "three-eyed crow," Bran journeys beyond The Wall, parting from Rickon and Osha along the way. He learns to slip his skin into Summer and even, troublingly, into Hodor. Beyond the Wall the group is found by the mysterious Coldhands, who leads them to a cave where the Children of the Forest and the last greenseer, a man fused with a weirwood throne, await. There Bran begins his training, learning to see through the eyes of weirwoods across time and space, watching even the distant past of Winterfell.
Character
Bran's arc is a slow surrender of one dream, knighthood, for a deeper and more frightening calling. Resentful at first of his broken body, he gradually embraces the powers within him, though he fears losing himself in Summer or in Hodor. He is curious, brave, and increasingly aware that he is becoming something no longer wholly human.
Relationships
Bran is devoted to his direwolf Summer, through whose body he runs and hunts. His loyal companions on the road north, Hodor, Jojen, and Meera Reed, become his surrogate family. His bond with the greenseer guides his transformation. He loves his lost siblings and home deeply.
Quotes
Can a man still be brave if he's afraid? / That is the only time a man can be brave. (Bran and Eddard Stark)
The things I do for love. (Jaime Lannister, as he pushes Bran)
In the television series
In HBO's Game of Thrones, Bran was portrayed by Isaac Hempstead Wright. The series carries him well beyond the novels: he becomes the Three-Eyed Raven, returns to Winterfell, lures and helps defeat the Night King, and is ultimately chosen as King of the Six Kingdoms under the name "Bran the Broken." None of these events have occurred in the books, where Bran is still learning the greenseer's arts in the cave beyond the Wall.