If you’re watching closely in Game of Thrones, you know there was a huge hint at a major confrontation in season 8 episode 2. In a key moment, Bran tells nearly every major character in the show the Night King has marked him and hopes to kill him. He also points out that by killing him, he kills the memory of all mankind. “He wants to erase this world and I am its memory,” Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) says. To which Sam (John Bradley) says, “If we forget who we are and where we’ve been, we aren’t men anymore. We’re just animals.” Given the time and weight given to this moment, it will most likely occur either in episode 3 or episode 4.
The location they’ll keep Bran, so says Jon Snow, is in the walled area where the Heart Tree lies. This leads to the strategy that Bran will be kept safe here with Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen). Surely this will allow Theon to make up for all that he’s done to his friends and Winterfell itself.
This is an important moment as it adds gravity to the entire series. It’s not about any one person becoming king, or any one hero growing in power as we’ve come to see most aspire to. No, it’s about this race of people not being forgotten and preventing the Night King from smiting them off the face of the world.
It’s also worth noting this tree is magical in itself. Considering how the Night King is the last remnant of evil magic in the world and this tree has great importance as a symbol of life, it’s fitting Bran may face off against the Night King here. According to the Game of Thrones wiki, the “Heart trees are sacred in the religion of the Old Gods of the Forest, and the closest thing to a “shrine” that the religion possesses.” One might assume this tree has some kind of power against the Night King and his undead abilities. Or one might hope!
What do you think? Is Bran facing off against the Night King in a good location? Is he toast while he sits smugly in his wheelchair? Does Bran know leaf peeping is well over now that winter is here? We’ll find out soon!
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