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This chilling 'Game of Thrones' theory suggests the Night King is a character we already know

There's some quite compelling evidence

This chilling 'Game of Thrones' theory suggests the Night King is a character we already know
21 August 2017

There is a small pocket of Game of Thrones fans – a small one, but one that definitely exists – who want the Night King and the White Walkers to come out on top.

Never trust those people, because that is fucked up.

However, this fan theory suggests that the Night King may actually be a force for good – and that he has a very strong connection to one of the show’s longest serving characters – Bran Stark. They may even be the same person.

Could Bran actually be the show's most sinister character?

See, the theory goes that Bran warged into the man who was turned into the Night King by the Children of the Forest so that he could communicate with them, and try to convince them not to do it.

However, he is unable to, and is in the body of the dude when he transitions, creating some kind of strong eternal link between Bran and the Night King. As the old Three Eyed Raven told him, staying the in past for too long can make it impossible to truly return, and there is also a clear connection between Bran and the Night King – remember that time he touched him during one of Bran’s time travely dreamy sequences?

While the theory seems quite far-fetched at first, there a couple of bits of evidence that support it, and to be honest, make us worry a little.

First, there’s this exchange between Bran and Leaf – one of the Children of the Forest – when she is explaining to him why they created the Night King in the first place:

Leaf: We were at war. We were being slaughtered. Our sacred trees cut down. We needed to defend ourselves.

Bran: From who?

Leaf: From you.

The creation of the Night King

Now, the assumed meaning of Leaf’s “from you” is that she’s talking about humans in general, since the reason they created the Night King was as a weapon to use against men. However, they were unable to control it, and it went rogue, so to speak.

However, what if Leaf specifically mean Bran when she is saying “you”?

The other strong piece of evidence comes when you take a look at Bran and the Night King’s clothing...

That’s like… exactly the same, isn’t it? Identical. I mean, it could just be a coincidence, but then there aren’t many coincidences in Game of Thrones, it’s a show that goes into minute detail and does everything for a reason.

There’s also another branch of this theory that is perhaps more convincing, and that is that Bran actually warged into the future Night King dude wanting to be in his body when he transitioned.

Being the Three Eyed Raven, Bran obviously already knows how everything plays out, so perhaps he knows that the only thing that can unite all the warring factions of Westeros and eventually create peace is a common enemy – death.

Game of Thrones uses circular time, which means that events of the past cannot be changed – they have always happened this way. For example, Hodor was always being influenced by Bran when he goes into his “hold the door” fit, even though Bran hadn’t been born yet. Confusing, I know, but that’s how it works.

What this means is that Bran, knowing how the Night King leads to a peaceful Westeros, has to make sure he is created in the first place and gets to do his thing, before eventually being killed, probably.

The one final twist to the theory? If Bran is indeed the Night King, would that mean that Bran dies when the Night King dies? Say Jon kills the Night King, would he also be killing Bran too?

(Images: HBO)