HBO Where is Bran in the teaser?
If you watched the Game of Thrones Season 8 teaser that just premiered, you might be wondering — like many other people — why Bran was not in the trailer. We saw Sansa, Arya, and Jon. And we had that shocking moment of seeing all three of their statues in the crypts of Winterfell. But where is Bran?
Fans have a lot of theories about this, some of them disturbing. But his absence certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed.
While it appears that Jon, Arya, and Sansa will all be honored in the Winterfell crypts, Bran is not there. One theory is that this symbolizes Bran’s status as the Three-Eyed Raven. He’s no longer really a Stark. He left that world behind in order to become something greater that transcends familial labels. He’s no longer considered a Stark and thus will not be in the crypts, even one day when he does die.
Another theory is that Bran traveled back in time, and thus is not present to be honored in the crypts with a statue like Jon, Arya, and Sansa. This theory is based on the idea that Bran traveled back in time (as we’ve seen him do before) but this time he gets “stuck.” Perhaps he travels physically and not just in his mind. Either way, he becomes Bran the Builder. As Bran the Builder, in the past, he creates the statues honoring Sansa, Arya, and Jon, and buries them in a place in the crypts that will be inaccessible until just the right time. This is why the statues are there before the three have died. It’s not symbolic — the statues really are there, according to this theory.
Another theory is that Bran becomes the Night King. This theory assumes that the current Night King dies in battle and Bran, for some reason, takes on his mantle and becomes a new Night King. When he does this, he is no longer considered part of the Stark family. He won’t be honored with them. In fact, the “winter” that is seen approaching Jon, Sansa, and Arya in the crypts might actually be Bran in Night King form.
Another twist on this theory is that Bran goes back in time, but instead of being stuck as Bran the Builder, he becomes the man that the Children of the Forest were shown transforming into the Night King.
Which theory do you believe? Or do you think there’s a different reason that Bran was so obviously missing from the teaser?
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