- [Announcer] This episode of Nerdist News is sponsored by
Mortal Kombat 11.
Was Bran completely worthless for the battle of Winterfell?
Game of Thrones' latest episode, The Long Night,
was the culmination of eight seasons of storytelling
with the battle between the living and the dead.
And despite the huge scope and the sheer
number of characters,
the episode, for the most part, managed to spend time
with each one and give them all a moment to shine.
Except, seemingly, for one.
Of course, before we get into things,
this episode is going to go deep into episode 70 of
Game of Thrones, The Long Night.
So, if you don't wanna get spoiled,
take Bran's lead.
- I'm going to go now.
- Go where?
So, you probably know where we are going with this.
Most characters managed to survive insurmountable odds
while holding their own, except for one:
Bran Stark, aka the Three-eyed Raven.
For someone who has inherited a seemingly important,
magical role, and who has longtime beef with the Night King,
Bran seemed content to stick to the sidelines
and watch Netflix for most of the battle.
And the Interwebs seems torn on whether Bran was
underutilized or clutch to winning the battle.
For a full breakdown on both, head on over to nerdist.com.
But, for the too long/didn't read, let's start with
how he supposedly dropped the ball.
First of all, Bran's big move was to warg into
a bunch of ravens and take to the skies around Winterfell.
The Night King had been noticeably absent from the battle,
and Bran's ravens discovered just where the Night King was.
This is good tactics,
so what did Bran do with this knowledge?
Tell the forces of the living?
No.
They sort of just fly around for a while.
Yes, he got a bird's-eye view of the battle,
but that information didn't help anyone in any way.
We guess it's cool that he can warg into a bunch
of animals now instead of just one,
but we can think of at least one way for him to show
that his powers have grown.
Maybe try your hand at warging into a dragon
and murdering a bunch of wights instead of
warging into a conspiracy of ravens.
Which, seriously, that's what a bunch of ravens is called.
(bell chiming)
Of course, maybe this weird choice by Bran wasn't
as bad as it seemed.
More on that later.
The second issue with Bran and his actions, or inactions,
during the battle is squarely on us,
the audience expectations.
Bran's entire story arc has led him to this moment.
Over the past few seasons,
fans have watched Bran on his quest that eventually
led to him becoming the Three-Eyed Raven.
- I don't know what that means.
- [Announcer] Part of this journey included
uncovering the past to give us clarity on the future.
Jon Snow's true parentage, how Hodor became Hodor,
and how the White Walkers came to be.
However, his relationship with the Night King has
always been shrouded in mystery.
So, when Bran says, "I'm going to go now,"
audiences weren't wrong in expecting something big from him.
If this was supposed to be a battle between
the Night King and the Three-Eyed Raven,
what they got was disappointing.
But, just because Bran didn't appear to be the
MVP during the episode,
it doesn't mean he wasn't secretly the mastermind
behind the scenes and the key to victory.
It all comes down to his memorable words to Theon Greyjoy.
"Everything you did brought you where you are now,
where you belong."
This gives us some serious similar vibes
to how Doctor Strange saw over 14,000,605
possible outcomes in Avengers: Infinity War,
and then went and gave the Time Stone to Thanos
to try to ensure a win.
Sure, it might have seemed like the absolute wrong decision
at the time to all of us who can't see the future.
(whispering)
Spoilers for Endgame: but it worked out for the Avengers.
(speaking at regular volume)
What we saw Bran do in this episode was not all we got
from him but, rather, what we saw in the episode was
the culmination of previous actions
made by Bran and, possibly, the whole
line of Three-Eyed Ravens before him.
The whole reason he was positioned in the godswood
of Winterfell was to draw the Night King out
into a vulnerable position.
And guess what?
Not only was this successful,
but it was his idea.
- We need to lure him into the open
before his army destroys us all.
I'll wait for him in the godswood.
- Great job, Bran!
As for him peacing out and joyriding with his
conspiracy of ravens during the battle,
while this might be a little thin,
we would argue that it might have been a little
bit of psychological warfare against the Night King,
basically taunting him.
- I'm going to go now.
- And, as we saw, shortly after Bran launched the ravens,
the Night King makes his move,
forcing his troops over the trenches
and continuing the siege instead of just waiting around
outside the fire moat.
Bran could have seen that it was this push
that made the Night King cocky and left himself
vulnerable to Arya's stabtastic ways.
There are also plenty of clues that show that
Bran has been using his skills to learn from the past
to affect the present while subtly tipping the scales
for the best possible of the futures he can see.
In season seven, episode four, he gives the Valyrian
steel dagger that was meant to end his life,
way back in season one, to Arya.
We see Arya put it to good use,
sparring against Brienne.
And then later, she puts it to good use
against Littlefinger.
But the biggest death, yeah, the Night King!
You think that (bleep) was just a coincidence?
Nah.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
He's pulling the strings without anyone even realizing
that that's what he's doing.
He doesn't need to have a huge heroic moment
in the present because he's already done
all the work he's needed to in the past.
Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate
the irony that the blade meant to kill Bran,
ended up killing the person
who wanted to kill Bran the most?
Of course, we do have one additional question.
Why did he want to keep Jaime Lannister alive?
We didn't see Jaime turn the tide of the battle,
with his biggest contribution being,
um, staying alive.
Is there still a bigger purpose for Jaime
that only Bran can see?
(clearing throat)
Cersei.
But what do you Free Folk think?
Was Bran Stark secretly a genius,
or was he bumbling his way through
the Battle of Winterfell?
What plans does Cersei have to take out
Daenerys' two remaining dragons?
And did Bran really just peace out to watch
HBO's other quality Sunday night programming,
like Barry?
Let's discuss!
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(electronic music)