In the last video, we began to discuss Maegor the Cruel and how it is very likely that some
sort of blood magic was done to him so as to pull him out of his coma. Over the next
couple weeks, there is a lot more to go over in regards to Maegor the Cruel, but today,
we are taking a pit stop up north at Winterfell with Bran Stark because Bran also fell into
a coma. So it begs the question: was blood magic also used on Bran so as to pull him
out of his coma? Let’s take a look. First, the background. Many of Robert and
Ned’s men went out on their last hunt at Winterfell before their planned ride south
to King’s Landing on the morrow. So Cersei and Jaime took the opportunity to get freaky
in the First Keep. Meanwhile, the hunting party had left Bran
behind with Jon and the girls and Rickon, but Rickon was only a baby. And the girls
were only girls. And Jon and his wolf were nowhere to be found. Bran had not looked for
him very hard because Jon had seemed angry with him. Jon had seemed angry with everyone
those days. So Bran went climbing and stumbled upon Jaime and Cersei. They seemed to be wrestling.
And Jaime must have been hurting Cersei because Bran heard her moaning and saying to stop
it. Stop it. Oh please. Cersei then opened her eyes and saw Bran so he slipped and caught
on to the ledge with just one hand. Jaime reached down and helped Bran back up, but
Cersei said, “What are doing?” so the simp that is Jaime Lannister thought that
Cersei wanted him to push Bran, and he did just so. He pushed Bran with loathing.
Bran fell to the ground then fell into a coma. And right away, somewhere off in the distance,
a wolf was howling. Presumably, the wolf that was howling was the wolf that would later
be named Summer. That was one of the earliest clues that, unknowingly, Bran was already
a warg. Bran was already connected to Summer. And he was lucky for that. For without Summer,
Bran may not have survived his coma. Summer could be heard howling throughout Bran’s
coma. Tyrion even joked to his siblings that he would swear that Bran’s wolf was keeping
Bran alive. And that may have been true. Maester Luwin said that they closed the window once,
to shut out the noise, and Bran seemed to weaken. When they opened it again, Bran’s
heart beat stronger. So Bran may have been drawing strength from Summer. And it’s not
far-fetched. In George R.R. Martin’s “Fire and Blood,”
it is said that Aenys, eldest son of Aegon the Conqueror, was small and sickly. Aenys
cried all the time, had spindly limbs, and small and watery eyes. Aenys was slow to grow.
King Aegon’s maesters feared that Aenys would die. But then they gave him the dragon
hatchling named Quicksilver, and Aenys began to thrive.
So basically, George R.R. Martin had Tyrion make a joke about the wolf keeping Bran alive.
Then George R.R. Martin gave us evidence that Bran’s health was tied to Summer. And on
top of that, George R.R. Martin suggested that something similar happened between Aenys
and his dragon Quicksilver. So before we continue investigating whether or not someone used
Blood Magic on Bran, shout out to Summer. Summer kept Bran alive.
And he may not have been the only one to do so. Check this out. Lady Catelyn said that
she would butcher every horse in Winterfell with her own hands if it would open Bran’s
eyes. That line is a subtle nod to blood magic. And one time, Robb Stark came to Catelyn and
said: “Mother, what are you doing?” And she was like “I am taking care of your brother.
I am taking care of Bran.” At face value, Robb and Maester Luwin and readers such as
myself think that she’s just a sad mother. But in hindsight, that line may have been
a clue that Lady Catelyn was unknowingly taking care of Bran with Blood Magic just as Summer
was. Let’s continue. When Jon visited Bran to say goodbye, Lady
Cat was by Bran’s bed. She had been there, day and night, for close on a fortnight. Lady
Catelyn had never once left Bran’s side. She had her meals brought to her there and
her chamber pots as well. They brought her a small hard bed to sleep on, but she rarely
slept. And again, to be clear, Cat did not leave Bran’s side even a single time.
She didn’t even go to the gate when Ned and the girls left for King’s Landing. She
had said her goodbyes from beside Bran. But going back to the Jon scene, Jon noticed
that Cat looked as though she had aged twenty years.
As we mentioned in the last video, Davos noted that Stannis looked as if he had aged around
10 years, which may have been a side effect of his blood magic. So it begs the question:
did Lady Catelyn actually age up 20 years since she donated some of her life fire to
Bran just as Summer was doing? Since Lady Cat and Summer teamed up to protect
Bran from the catspaw, it would be cool if Lady Cat teamed up with Summer to unknowingly
magically keep Bran alive. But there’s evidence against this idea. When Catelyn went south
and met up with Ned and later with Robb, neither of them were surprised by the way she looked.
So it appears that that line about her looking as if she had aged 20 years was just a nod
to how distraught she was over Bran’s condition at that point in time.
Nonetheless, Bran was in a coma. And there’s enough evidence to believe that Summer helped
keep Bran alive. But how did Bran come out of his coma? It’s all spelled out in Bran’s
third chapter, but he’s a quick refresher. While in the coma, a three-eyed crow reached
out to Bran and took him on a flight around Westeros and Essos - a flight through space
and time on wings unseen. He showed Bran The Land of Always Winter and told Bran that that
is why Bran must survive. Then the three-eyed-crow, who we later find out is Brynden Rivers, or
Bloodraven, pecked at Bran’s forehead in an attempt to open Bran’s third eye. That
is when Bran woke up. So it’s very different from Maegor. All
signs suggest that Tyanna of the Tower woke up Maegor through some sort of blood magic.
Whereas with Bran, he was kept alive by Summer, and woken up by Bloodraven.