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A rumor started circulating that Bran might be wearing a “necklace” (sigil) that looks exactly like the Night King’s armor? Some Game of Thrones viewers got really excited and started sharing the photo, believing there was a big clue that had been right under their noses all along.
Unfortunately, this clue is actually a hoax.
Here’s one of the images that started the rumor.
Image circulating internet.
But if you go back and look at other screenshots of Bran taken at the same time, you can see that he’s not wearing that sigil at all.
In fact, here’s that exact photo of Bran. See? No sigil or emblem. It looks like it was photoshopped into the picture.
HBO
The Night King, however, is wearing the sigil on his armor.
HBO
The photo was likely photoshopped to try to lend credence to one fan theory that Bran secretly is the Night King because of some form of time travel. We know that when he had a vision of the past, he once warged through a young Hodor into present-day Hodor, thus connecting the past and the present.
The “Bran is Night King” theory revolves around the idea that Bran somehow got stuck in the past and became the Night King. One theory is that he warged into the man that the Children of the Forest turned into the Night King, in an attempt to stop what happened, and failed — but got stuck in the body because it was pierced with dragonglass. Perhaps he tried to warg through that person to get at today’s Night King, like he did with Hodor? Others think he became Bran the Builder, who was eventually turned. Others think that maybe he tried to warg into the Night King after he was turned and got stuck there, his consciousness slowly being warped by the magic that turned the Night King.
Whether or not you believe this theory that Bran is the Night King, it’s likely the reason why someone photoshopped the Night King’s sigil onto Bran.
It’s interesting to note that the Night King’s White Walkers also wear a sigil on their chest, although slightly different. Here are some examples:
HBO
No one is quite sure what this sigil means, although there are plenty of theories. One is that the outline of the Night King’s sigil looks suspiciously like the skull of a crow or raven. When you look at the skully from the right angle, as if the Night King were wearing it as a necklace, then the shape actually is quite similar.
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If this really is the basis of the Night King’s sigil, it would likely mean that the Night King and the original Three-Eyed Raven are somehow connected. If you believe Bran is the Night King, then perhaps that is the reason for the sigil. Or, perhaps the Night King and the Three-Eyed Raven serve the same faith, whom the Children of the Forest also serve.
It’s interesting to note that when the Children of the Forest created the first White Walker/Night King, he was tied to a tree via tree limbs and roots. This scene is reminiscent, in some ways, to how the older Three-Eyed Raven looked while attached to his tree.
Do you believe there’s a connection between Bran and the Night King? Let us know in the comments below.