‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 Episode 4 Theory: Bran’s Comment About the Past Was a Huge Clue

There was a telling moment in Season 8 Episode 4 of Game of Thrones that was a lot quieter but held deeper meaning that fans might have missed. It’s sparking a lot of theories about Bran and his future on the show. This post has major spoilers for Season 8 Episode 3.

First, Tyrion tries to convince Bran that he will be Lord of Winterfell. Bran says he’s not interested and, in fact, doesn’t want much of anything anymore. Later in the episode, Varys tells Tyrion that Dany wants the throne too much and a better ruler is one who does not want the throne. Varys is using this argument to propose Jon Snow as the better ruler. But it also could be some pretty heavy foreshadowing, considering that Bran specifically said he didn’t want anything just a few scenes earlier.

Could Bran be the ultimate person to sit on the Iron Throne?

But this isn’t the big clue I was talking about. That came next in Tyrion’s conversation with Bran. Tyrion said he was envious of Bran. But Bran said not to be. “Mostly I live in the past,” he said to Tyrion.

It seems like an offhand comment, but it could indicate a big problem for Bran if the showrunners are familiar with Bran’s creation. Remember when he first became the Three-Eyed Raven? It was right after the previous Three-Eyed Raven showed Bran the past at the Tower of Joy and with Hodor. Bran got entranced with what was happening in those past scenes.

The Three-Eyed Raven found Bran’s fascination with the past concerning. He told him that if he stays in the past too long, he’ll drown in it. “It’s beautiful beneath the sea, but if you stay too long, you’ll drown,” the Three-Eyed Raven warns.

Bran says that he wasn’t drowning, he was home.

But was he really?

Back when that scene first aired, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays Bran. At the time, Wright said about those visions: “I like to view it a little bit like Inception, when Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) falls into limbo and never wants to come out. I think that’s what could happen to Bran. He’ll be trapped in his mind forever if he’s not careful.”

We also know, from when Bran saw the Tower of Joy scenes, that he can somewhat influence the past. He called out to his father-in-the-past and young Ned turned at the sound. Three-Eyed Raven insisted that the “ink is dry” and the past can’t be changed. But we seemed to witness something different. And of course the Hodor loop also indicates that Bran can influence the past.

So I’ve got to wonder about Bran’s innocent statement to Tyrion where he says he spends most of his time in the past. Is that where he was warging to during the battle? Is he warging back and becoming Bran the Builder, for example? Or is something more sinister happening, perhaps involving the Night King and the Great Other that the Lord of Light is always at war with? Is he influencing the past or is the past influencing him? I think Bran is slowly drowning and there will be consequences to pay,

There’s more to that innocent statement than meets the eye.

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