THE NIGHT’S KING
“Some say he was a Bolton,” Old Nan would always end. “Some say a Magnar out of Skagos, some say Umber, Flint, or Norrey. Some would have you think he was a Woodfoot, from them who ruled Bear Island before the ironmen came. He never was. He was a Stark, the brother of the man who brought him down.”
The Night’s King is the legendary Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch who lived during the Age of Heroes. Allegedly his name is Brandon. He was a fearless warrior named the thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Later, he fell in love with a woman “with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars” (an Other). He chased her and loved her though “her skin was cold as ice”, and when he gave his seed to her he gave his soul as well. He brought her back to the Nightfort and after the unholy union, he declared himself king and her, his queen, and ruled the Nightfort as his own castle for thirteen years. It was not until his own brother, the King of Winter, and Joramun, the King-Beyond-the Wall, joined forces that the Night’s King was brought down and the Night’s Watch freed from his influence (perhaps via blood magic). It is not know how he was defeated but the rumor has it that Joramun blew the Horn of Winter to wake the giants from Earth. After his fall, when it was discovered that he had been making sacrifices to the Others, all records of him were destroyed and his very name was forbidden and forgotten.
There are several contradictions in this story. The Wall, to our knowledge, keeps the White Walkers away via the magic woven into it at the time it was built. This is after all the sole purpose of the Wall. Night’s King found his bride on the North side of the Wall and brought her back with him to the Nightfort, which is a castle on the South side of the Wall. How can this be? We know from Bran chapter in ADWD that this is not possible. And if the White Walkers can go through, under, around or over the Wall then this defies the purpose of the Wall. But here we are; the Night’s King ruled with his female Other for 13 years from the wrong side of the Wall. Then, he gave her his seed, which should mean he impregnated her yet he also performed the sacrifice to the Others (in a similar way to Craster). Why? I always assumed the Others needed Craster’s boys precisely because they were not able to reproduce as they do not have female Others in their ranks for an unknown reason (something I desperately want to know more about). So, if the Night’s King managed to successfully impregnate an existing female Other then wouldn’t this be the best and fastest way of expanding the race? Then we have Joramun who blew the Horn of Joramun to wake the giants and defeat the Night’s King, the same Horn that has the ability to destroy the Wall. So, if this is the purpose of the Horn why is the Wall still standing after it was blown? And the story seems to depict the Night’s King as the sole enemy here. What happened to his Queen after his fall? Why wasn’t there any of her fellow Others there to aid her and her husband in their time of misfortune? Surely they would win with no Azor Ahai (and what happened to him afterwards?!) around to drive them into the Lands of Always Winter, a task (performed not so long ago) at which he failed, clearly. What we do no for sure is he was created by the children of the forest as a protector, but as we know it went tearably wrong, or did it.
BRAN THE BUILDER
“I have been many things, Bran. Now I am as you see me, and now you will understand why I could not come to you … except in dreams. I have watched you for a long time, watched you with a thousand eyes and one. I saw your birth, and that of your lord father before you. I saw your first step, heard your first word, and was part of your first dream. I was watching when you fell. And now you are come to me at last, Brandon Stark, though the hour is late.” (ADWD)
“Maybe one of other Brandons loved that story. Sometimes Nan would talk to him as if he were HER Brandon, the baby she had nursed all those years ago, and sometimes she confused him with his uncle Brandon, who was killed by the Mad King before Bran was even born. She had lived so long; Mother had told him once that all the Brandon Starks had become one person in her head.” (AGOT)
(Meera) “Who sent you? Who is this three-eyed crow?”
(Coldhands) “A friend. Dreamer, wizard, call him what you will. The last greenseer.” …
“A monster,” Bran said.
The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist. “Your monster, Brandon Stark.”
“Yours,” the raven echoed from his shoulder.
……………………………………………….
(Meera) “Who is he? What is he? What do we do now?”
“We go with the ranger.” Jojen said. “We have come this far to turn back now, Meera. We would never make it back to the Wall alive. We go with Bran’s Monster, or we die.” (ADWD)
The last passage ambiguously implies that both the Three-Eyed Raven and Coldhands are Bran’s monsters. However, the Bran “held” responsible is, in my opinion, a Brandon Stark and not necessarily our Bran Stark. The first quote unmistakably reflects the importance Brandon Stark (the most common name for the Kings of Winter) holds in the eyes of the Three-Eyed Raven who waited for a long time for him to be born. Why else would he observe Ned Stark’s birth unless he expected Eddard to be the Brandon he so eagerly awaited? Furthermore, eight years is not a long time in the life of one Brynden Rivers, just as someone dying a long time ago in the life of one Leaf means the person died a very, very long time ago. Following this analogy one can conclude that both Coldhands (Bran’s monster), and his employer, the Three-Eyed Raven, (Bran’s monster), know off, have been expecting and need a Brandon Stark for a specific task. Who tasked them with this quest?
Bloodraven, acting upon his visions, has most likely tasked Coldhands but what if this is not the entire story? Mother had told him once that all the Brandon Starks had become one person in her head. What if every Brandon Stark, starting with Bran the Builder, bears a potential to carry an “ice” gene within him that started and is attributed to Bran the Builder just like every x Targaryen is capable of giving the birth to a dragon. Think of some form of nonliteral reincarnation. Think of magic woven into Stark blood. There is a reason why Bran the Builder Stark was held in such a high regard. He stood out from the crowd. He had to in order to proclaim himself a King (of Winter) who will come to found the most important House in the North (and for this saga). He was the alpha and omega hence the title Builder, which indicates he held the status of a deity at the time because he was the one who understands and can manipulate the nature and laws of physics. Builders and architect were often understood as above average, the ones others should worship for their “extraordinary” skills. But what if this was not all of it, what if there is more to this story, something else that secured his position among the First Men? One theory talked about the possible time travel, which occurred as a consequence that comes out of Bran’s potential to merge and see through the Weirwood. Fans argue against this theory but the text confirms it, although not in the sense this theory argues. The following few sentence will give you my take on it. So far in the story, we have three different characters that have encountered present Bran Stark in both the past and the future: Ned, Theon and Jon (via his dream). All of these characters have heard Bran, as a whisper near a weirwood, which means Bran’s whisper has already happened in the past and as such it is inherent to the past and is the integral part of that past although Bran experienced it in the future. Therefore, whatever happened happened, meaning whatever Bran does in the future he cannot change the past because it has already happened. With this being said, there is a strong possibility that Bloodraven has already been influenced by the future Bran but in the past. The difference is Bloodraven has the experience of Bran whereas Bran does not have the experience of Bloodraven in this context, yet. Therefore, this is not a classic example of time travel; it is just an indicator of possibly existing loop that is making sure things happen the way they are suppose to – one character is influencing another who is being influenced by the first. Kind of like the chicken and egg problem. Could this be then the reason why Bloodraven, a prominent Targaryen supporter, chose the Old Gods over the Faith of Seven? Is this why he vanished into thin air from the Night’s Watch and gave his body for the ultimate sacrifice according to the oldest religion in Westeros – of one merging with the weirwood tree – thus mirroring Rhaegar’s similar commitment regarding The Prince That Was Promised prophecy as I argued in the case of Bran the Builder earlier in the text? This would then explain nicely why Bloodraven is Bran’s monster. As for Coldhands, also a member of the NW and a ranger, well, we do not have much to go on except that he is a form of an undead, neither a White Walker nor a Wight, who is being influenced by the rules of the Wall and magic being used by the Children.
“The Wall. The Wall is more than just ice and stone, he said. There are spells woven into it…old ones, and strong. He cannot pass beyond the Wall.”
How he came to existence? I think it is safe to say he was “made” that way by the White Walkers yet he seems to be a separate entity. For a long time I firmly believed he was either the Night’s King or Bran the Builder, which could’ve end up being one and the same person (not that I am arguing this) due to the lack of information and the fact that all records of the Night’s King have been erased. From the show we know Night’s King, a former man of the NW, lives in the Lands of Always Winter in the form of an Other. We know this thanks to HBO that confirmed his identity by mistake (or they purposely identified him as the Night’s King). We know he is no longer in his human form and we know that he turns Craster’s sons into White Walkers by a simple touch of his hand. Coldhands wore no gloves, his hands were black and hard as rock, his eyes were not blue and he was snubbed by the show. If we are to trust the show, Coldhands cannot be the Night’s King but he can be someone who gained his second life as a gift from someone named Bran. Bran’s monster.
I propose that Bran the Builder was a demigod. Think of Gilgamesh, or his ancestor Utnapishtim, who gained immortality for being faithful to both the Gods and his human form. Like Bran the Builder, Gilgamesh is known for his building abilities and influence over the ancient city Uruk that flourished under his reign. Don’t get me wrong, I am not comparing instead I am merely trying to provide the context for understanding where I am coming from. Being a demigod, Bran the Builder would easily gain the dominance over his fellow men, which he did, as far as we know. Being a demigod, he would “have to have” one human parent and one God parent. I propose Bran the Builder is born from this union – a human mother and a father, the Great Other. As such Bran the Builder, a superhuman, was blessed with attributes of both, the Others and the First Men. As an Other he would have the ability to withstand colder wheatear, live considerably longer (if not forever), manipulate magic (to build and create not only objects, artifacts but also buildings, raise the dead, turn humans into Others and so on) and perhaps even take the form of an Other. As First Man he would have the ability to greenseer, warg and have premonition like dreams and live in the form of a human. Think of this as a metaphor rather than an actual God impregnating a woman and keep in mind that GRRM wanted to give dragon attributes to the Targaryens rather than the animals, which in the end he chose to do after all. So what if GRRM devised Starks following the same logic but as a unique personification of winter instead, with White Walkers as their magical form rather than dragons, dire wolves or any other creature inherent to Westeros? Think of the Children that might’ve had something to do with this. Think of Bran the Builder as a tool, a means towards the end. A beginning; it had to start somewhere. Why not with the Starks instead of a commonplace as we are inclined to believe? Considering this is A Song of Ice and Fire it is hardly a stretch. The line of Starks thus spirals out of this union but to what end?
As we have seen in the last season (if we are to believe the show), the White Walkers are not killing Craster’s sons. No. They are turning them into White Walkers. 13th Lord of Commander performs the ritual with 13 members of his council. And for it to work, the children must be of Stark lineage… Craster is the son a wildling woman and the brother of the Night Watch. I place my bet his father was a Stark. I have no proof since not much is known about Craster’s past but something about his name and generally the context that surrounds him tells me I am right. And besides, if the Others could turn just about anyone then they wouldn’t be needing specific human beings, they could just turn any member of the Night’s Watch or any Wildling as they have quite few of them at their disposal. Therefore, the White Walkers are evolved humans, Stark descendants. The line: “they are coming, the sons” indicates Craster wives (and thus Craster himself) knew the boys are not being killed in the sacrifice. On the other hand, the Others knew when a new boy was born. So something was at play here but how this custom came to be (was it oral agreement, can Others communicate, was it just one of those things that are given and so on) is something I do not know. Whatever it was, the pact between Craster and the Others was made and Craster followed through.
SIDE NOTE: just like not every human can be turned into a White Walker, not just about any White Walker can turn a human. It has to be the King. We know he is a king because he wore a crown on his head. Does this mean we have met Bran the Builder up-close and person? I know HBO named him the Night’s King but I also know they took the info down several hours after it got published. All of this, together with the fact show is not really a canon, gives room for speculation. And call me crazy, the White Walker responsible for fetching the baby has showed compassion for it during their journey through the north, from what little we have seen.
“Some say he was a Bolton,” Old Nan would always end. “Some say a Magnar out of Skagos, some say Umber, Flint, or Norrey. Some would have you think he was a Woodfoot, from them who ruled Bear Island before the ironmen came. He never was. He was a Stark, the brother of the man who brought him down.”
The Night’s King is the legendary Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch who lived during the Age of Heroes. Allegedly his name is Brandon. He was a fearless warrior named the thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Later, he fell in love with a woman “with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars” (an Other). He chased her and loved her though “her skin was cold as ice”, and when he gave his seed to her he gave his soul as well. He brought her back to the Nightfort and after the unholy union, he declared himself king and her, his queen, and ruled the Nightfort as his own castle for thirteen years. It was not until his own brother, the King of Winter, and Joramun, the King-Beyond-the Wall, joined forces that the Night’s King was brought down and the Night’s Watch freed from his influence (perhaps via blood magic). It is not know how he was defeated but the rumor has it that Joramun blew the Horn of Winter to wake the giants from Earth. After his fall, when it was discovered that he had been making sacrifices to the Others, all records of him were destroyed and his very name was forbidden and forgotten.
There are several contradictions in this story. The Wall, to our knowledge, keeps the White Walkers away via the magic woven into it at the time it was built. This is after all the sole purpose of the Wall. Night’s King found his bride on the North side of the Wall and brought her back with him to the Nightfort, which is a castle on the South side of the Wall. How can this be? We know from Bran chapter in ADWD that this is not possible. And if the White Walkers can go through, under, around or over the Wall then this defies the purpose of the Wall. But here we are; the Night’s King ruled with his female Other for 13 years from the wrong side of the Wall. Then, he gave her his seed, which should mean he impregnated her yet he also performed the sacrifice to the Others (in a similar way to Craster). Why? I always assumed the Others needed Craster’s boys precisely because they were not able to reproduce as they do not have female Others in their ranks for an unknown reason (something I desperately want to know more about). So, if the Night’s King managed to successfully impregnate an existing female Other then wouldn’t this be the best and fastest way of expanding the race? Then we have Joramun who blew the Horn of Joramun to wake the giants and defeat the Night’s King, the same Horn that has the ability to destroy the Wall. So, if this is the purpose of the Horn why is the Wall still standing after it was blown? And the story seems to depict the Night’s King as the sole enemy here. What happened to his Queen after his fall? Why wasn’t there any of her fellow Others there to aid her and her husband in their time of misfortune? Surely they would win with no Azor Ahai (and what happened to him afterwards?!) around to drive them into the Lands of Always Winter, a task (performed not so long ago) at which he failed, clearly. What we do no for sure is he was created by the children of the forest as a protector, but as we know it went tearably wrong, or did it.
BRAN THE BUILDER
“I have been many things, Bran. Now I am as you see me, and now you will understand why I could not come to you … except in dreams. I have watched you for a long time, watched you with a thousand eyes and one. I saw your birth, and that of your lord father before you. I saw your first step, heard your first word, and was part of your first dream. I was watching when you fell. And now you are come to me at last, Brandon Stark, though the hour is late.” (ADWD)
“Maybe one of other Brandons loved that story. Sometimes Nan would talk to him as if he were HER Brandon, the baby she had nursed all those years ago, and sometimes she confused him with his uncle Brandon, who was killed by the Mad King before Bran was even born. She had lived so long; Mother had told him once that all the Brandon Starks had become one person in her head.” (AGOT)
(Meera) “Who sent you? Who is this three-eyed crow?”
(Coldhands) “A friend. Dreamer, wizard, call him what you will. The last greenseer.” …
“A monster,” Bran said.
The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist. “Your monster, Brandon Stark.”
“Yours,” the raven echoed from his shoulder.
……………………………………………….
(Meera) “Who is he? What is he? What do we do now?”
“We go with the ranger.” Jojen said. “We have come this far to turn back now, Meera. We would never make it back to the Wall alive. We go with Bran’s Monster, or we die.” (ADWD)
The last passage ambiguously implies that both the Three-Eyed Raven and Coldhands are Bran’s monsters. However, the Bran “held” responsible is, in my opinion, a Brandon Stark and not necessarily our Bran Stark. The first quote unmistakably reflects the importance Brandon Stark (the most common name for the Kings of Winter) holds in the eyes of the Three-Eyed Raven who waited for a long time for him to be born. Why else would he observe Ned Stark’s birth unless he expected Eddard to be the Brandon he so eagerly awaited? Furthermore, eight years is not a long time in the life of one Brynden Rivers, just as someone dying a long time ago in the life of one Leaf means the person died a very, very long time ago. Following this analogy one can conclude that both Coldhands (Bran’s monster), and his employer, the Three-Eyed Raven, (Bran’s monster), know off, have been expecting and need a Brandon Stark for a specific task. Who tasked them with this quest?
Bloodraven, acting upon his visions, has most likely tasked Coldhands but what if this is not the entire story? Mother had told him once that all the Brandon Starks had become one person in her head. What if every Brandon Stark, starting with Bran the Builder, bears a potential to carry an “ice” gene within him that started and is attributed to Bran the Builder just like every x Targaryen is capable of giving the birth to a dragon. Think of some form of nonliteral reincarnation. Think of magic woven into Stark blood. There is a reason why Bran the Builder Stark was held in such a high regard. He stood out from the crowd. He had to in order to proclaim himself a King (of Winter) who will come to found the most important House in the North (and for this saga). He was the alpha and omega hence the title Builder, which indicates he held the status of a deity at the time because he was the one who understands and can manipulate the nature and laws of physics. Builders and architect were often understood as above average, the ones others should worship for their “extraordinary” skills. But what if this was not all of it, what if there is more to this story, something else that secured his position among the First Men? One theory talked about the possible time travel, which occurred as a consequence that comes out of Bran’s potential to merge and see through the Weirwood. Fans argue against this theory but the text confirms it, although not in the sense this theory argues. The following few sentence will give you my take on it. So far in the story, we have three different characters that have encountered present Bran Stark in both the past and the future: Ned, Theon and Jon (via his dream). All of these characters have heard Bran, as a whisper near a weirwood, which means Bran’s whisper has already happened in the past and as such it is inherent to the past and is the integral part of that past although Bran experienced it in the future. Therefore, whatever happened happened, meaning whatever Bran does in the future he cannot change the past because it has already happened. With this being said, there is a strong possibility that Bloodraven has already been influenced by the future Bran but in the past. The difference is Bloodraven has the experience of Bran whereas Bran does not have the experience of Bloodraven in this context, yet. Therefore, this is not a classic example of time travel; it is just an indicator of possibly existing loop that is making sure things happen the way they are suppose to – one character is influencing another who is being influenced by the first. Kind of like the chicken and egg problem. Could this be then the reason why Bloodraven, a prominent Targaryen supporter, chose the Old Gods over the Faith of Seven? Is this why he vanished into thin air from the Night’s Watch and gave his body for the ultimate sacrifice according to the oldest religion in Westeros – of one merging with the weirwood tree – thus mirroring Rhaegar’s similar commitment regarding The Prince That Was Promised prophecy as I argued in the case of Bran the Builder earlier in the text? This would then explain nicely why Bloodraven is Bran’s monster. As for Coldhands, also a member of the NW and a ranger, well, we do not have much to go on except that he is a form of an undead, neither a White Walker nor a Wight, who is being influenced by the rules of the Wall and magic being used by the Children.
“The Wall. The Wall is more than just ice and stone, he said. There are spells woven into it…old ones, and strong. He cannot pass beyond the Wall.”
How he came to existence? I think it is safe to say he was “made” that way by the White Walkers yet he seems to be a separate entity. For a long time I firmly believed he was either the Night’s King or Bran the Builder, which could’ve end up being one and the same person (not that I am arguing this) due to the lack of information and the fact that all records of the Night’s King have been erased. From the show we know Night’s King, a former man of the NW, lives in the Lands of Always Winter in the form of an Other. We know this thanks to HBO that confirmed his identity by mistake (or they purposely identified him as the Night’s King). We know he is no longer in his human form and we know that he turns Craster’s sons into White Walkers by a simple touch of his hand. Coldhands wore no gloves, his hands were black and hard as rock, his eyes were not blue and he was snubbed by the show. If we are to trust the show, Coldhands cannot be the Night’s King but he can be someone who gained his second life as a gift from someone named Bran. Bran’s monster.
I propose that Bran the Builder was a demigod. Think of Gilgamesh, or his ancestor Utnapishtim, who gained immortality for being faithful to both the Gods and his human form. Like Bran the Builder, Gilgamesh is known for his building abilities and influence over the ancient city Uruk that flourished under his reign. Don’t get me wrong, I am not comparing instead I am merely trying to provide the context for understanding where I am coming from. Being a demigod, Bran the Builder would easily gain the dominance over his fellow men, which he did, as far as we know. Being a demigod, he would “have to have” one human parent and one God parent. I propose Bran the Builder is born from this union – a human mother and a father, the Great Other. As such Bran the Builder, a superhuman, was blessed with attributes of both, the Others and the First Men. As an Other he would have the ability to withstand colder wheatear, live considerably longer (if not forever), manipulate magic (to build and create not only objects, artifacts but also buildings, raise the dead, turn humans into Others and so on) and perhaps even take the form of an Other. As First Man he would have the ability to greenseer, warg and have premonition like dreams and live in the form of a human. Think of this as a metaphor rather than an actual God impregnating a woman and keep in mind that GRRM wanted to give dragon attributes to the Targaryens rather than the animals, which in the end he chose to do after all. So what if GRRM devised Starks following the same logic but as a unique personification of winter instead, with White Walkers as their magical form rather than dragons, dire wolves or any other creature inherent to Westeros? Think of the Children that might’ve had something to do with this. Think of Bran the Builder as a tool, a means towards the end. A beginning; it had to start somewhere. Why not with the Starks instead of a commonplace as we are inclined to believe? Considering this is A Song of Ice and Fire it is hardly a stretch. The line of Starks thus spirals out of this union but to what end?
As we have seen in the last season (if we are to believe the show), the White Walkers are not killing Craster’s sons. No. They are turning them into White Walkers. 13th Lord of Commander performs the ritual with 13 members of his council. And for it to work, the children must be of Stark lineage… Craster is the son a wildling woman and the brother of the Night Watch. I place my bet his father was a Stark. I have no proof since not much is known about Craster’s past but something about his name and generally the context that surrounds him tells me I am right. And besides, if the Others could turn just about anyone then they wouldn’t be needing specific human beings, they could just turn any member of the Night’s Watch or any Wildling as they have quite few of them at their disposal. Therefore, the White Walkers are evolved humans, Stark descendants. The line: “they are coming, the sons” indicates Craster wives (and thus Craster himself) knew the boys are not being killed in the sacrifice. On the other hand, the Others knew when a new boy was born. So something was at play here but how this custom came to be (was it oral agreement, can Others communicate, was it just one of those things that are given and so on) is something I do not know. Whatever it was, the pact between Craster and the Others was made and Craster followed through.
SIDE NOTE: just like not every human can be turned into a White Walker, not just about any White Walker can turn a human. It has to be the King. We know he is a king because he wore a crown on his head. Does this mean we have met Bran the Builder up-close and person? I know HBO named him the Night’s King but I also know they took the info down several hours after it got published. All of this, together with the fact show is not really a canon, gives room for speculation. And call me crazy, the White Walker responsible for fetching the baby has showed compassion for it during their journey through the north, from what little we have seen.
I realy think you hit it on the head with your theory it's amazing so far please post more.
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