'Game of Thrones' Theory Argues Bran is the Lord of Light [SPOILERS]
By Hannah Wigandt
This story includes spoilers for 'Game of Thrones' Season 8, Episode 3, "The Long Night," and Season 8, Episode 4, The Last of the Starks."
Season 8 of Game of Thrones has really outdone itself in showing audiences all the ways that Bran Stark can be weird, mysterious, and sometimes creepy. Being the all-knowing Three-Eyed Raven, who balances on the line between the past and present, you’d think he’d be more forthcoming with all the knowledge he seems to possess. But fans are still trying to figure out what Bran’s fate will be and what part he’ll play in the series' final two episodes.
One Game of Thrones fan, Redditor DontMicrowaveCats, thinks that Bran could be the Lord of Light, an enigmatic figure whose followers in Westeros believe he has a destiny planned for everyone. The theory, as reported by NME, explains that Bran gave Arya Stark the dagger that would eventually kill the Night King because he knew it would happen. “So, like the Lord of Light, everything Bran has done recently also ultimately leads to Arya defeating the Night King,” the user claims.
The Redditor goes on to theorize that Bran went back in time in order to manipulate the past so that the outcome of the Battle of Winterfell would end up with Arya killing the Night King, which is why the Night King was going after him. The idea posed by the fan—which claims that the Night King is the lord of death and ice, and the Lord of Light is the lord of fire—would explain how characters like Beric Dondarrion and Jon Snow were brought back with fire, and consequently aided Arya with taking out the undead leader.
“He put the key piece in play,” the Redditor writes. “All of the ‘magical Lord of Light moments’ that are supposedly the gods’ work are actually Bran manipulating the past, resurrecting people, and making sure Arya got the knife and made it to kill the Night King.
“The simplest explanation to all of this: The Three-Eyed Raven is the Night King’s opposite. The Night King’s opposite is the Lord of Light. Therefore, Bran [is] the Lord of Light (or at least what people think is the Lord of Light due to the signs he brings)," the user writes.
We don’t know too much about the Lord of Light beyond basic lore and what Melisandre has said. It’s entirely possible that this theory could be true. With only two episodes left of Game of Thrones, we’re just hoping for some explanation of Bran’s abilities and power.
This article also appears on Mental Floss.