Bran Stark

Character overview

The youngest point of view character in the novels, Bran is in the very first chapter and was set up by Martin as the main protagonist of the series. Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone noted in 2014 that the moment in A Game of Thrones in which Jaime Lannister pushes Bran to his likely death "grabs you by the throat". Martin commented in the interview:

I've had a million people tell me that was the moment that hooked them, where they said, "Well, this is just not the same story I read a million times before." Bran is the first viewpoint character. In the back of their heads, people are thinking Bran is the hero of the story. He's young King Arthur. We're going to follow this young boy—and then, boom: You don't expect something like that to happen to him. So that was successful [laughs].

In 2000, Martin called Bran the hardest character to write:

Number one, he is the youngest of the major viewpoint characters, and kids are difficult to write about. I think the younger they are, the more difficult. Also, he is the character most deeply involved in magic, and the handling of magic and sorcery and the whole supernatural aspect of the books is something I'm trying to be very careful with. So I have to watch that fairly sharply. All of which makes Bran's chapters tricky to write.

Booklist cited Bran as a notable character in 1999, and the Publishers Weekly review of A Game of Thrones noted, "It is fascinating to watch Martin's characters mature and grow, particularly Stark's children, who stand at the center of the book."

Noting Bran's absence in 2005's A Feast for Crows, James Poniewozik of Time wrote in his review of A Dance with Dragons (2011):

Some favorite characters were MIA for eleven long years. ADWD brings them back—bastard warrior Jon Snow, exiled dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen, fugitive dwarf Tyrion Lannister and crippled, mystical Bran Stark, among others—and almost from the get-go that gives it a narrative edge over its companion book. Each, in his or her own way, is dealing with a question of power.

Description

Bran is seven years old at the beginning of A Game of Thrones (1996). He is the fourth child and second son of Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark of Winterfell, Hand of the King, and his wife Lady Catelyn, and has five siblings: an older brother Robb, two older sisters Sansa and Arya, a younger brother Rickon, and an older illegitimate half-brother Jon Snow. Bran is constantly accompanied by his direwolf Summer, the intellectually disabled stableboy Hodor (who carries him around after his crippling), and the Reed siblings Meera and Jojen.

Martin describes Bran as favoring his mother in appearance, having the thick auburn hair and deep blue eyes of the Tullys. According to Martin, Bran is strong willed, but a sweet and thoughtful boy, well-loved by everyone at Winterfell. Before his fall he enjoyed climbing and exploring the walls and ramparts of the castle. He grew up wanting to be a knight for the Kingsguard, but those dreams were quickly brought to an end when Bran had to face the fact that he will never walk again. He is also dutiful and tough-minded.

With his dreams of being a knight dashed by the crippling attempt on his life in A Game of Thrones, duty forces Bran to overcome his new limitations and embrace his new abilities. Although he doesn't realize his newfound powers at first, he grows to discover what he can accomplish. His gradual acceptance of his seemingly-prophetic visions (called the "greensight") and his ability to psychically inhabit his direwolf Summer (which marks him as a type of skinchanger known as a warg) show his growing maturity and his worth beyond the loss of his legs. He also manages to enter Hodor's mind, and later skinchanges into crows and even weirwood trees under the mentorship of the Three-Eyed Crow.

Storylines

A Game of Thrones

At the beginning of A Game of Thrones (1996), Bran accidentally witnesses Queen Cersei Lannister and her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister, having sex during King Robert Baratheon's visit to Winterfell, the seat of House Stark. Jaime pushes him out of the castle tower window he had climbed to hide the sibling incest, but he survives and falls into a coma. Although some characters speculate that Jaime and Cersei pushed Bran, no public accusations were made against the Crown. While Bran lies comatose, a fire is ignited at a nearby tower as a diversion, and an attempt on his life is carried out. Lady Catelyn Stark, his mother, who has remained with Bran while his eldest brother, Robb, takes care of the fire, is able to delay the assassin long enough for Bran's direwolf, Summer, to kill him. Senseless, Bran dreams of his plunge from the tower, accompanied by a three-eyed raven that offers to teach him to fly. Guided by the raven, Bran awakens, but the fall has left him paralyzed, unable even to feel his legs. Thereafter, he relies on the giant simpleton Hodor to get around and on a harness designed by Tyrion Lannister, who is disabled by dwarfism, to ride a horse. When Robb rides south in reaction to the arrest of his father, Hand of the King Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, by the Lannisters in King's Landing in the wake of Robert's death, Bran becomes the acting lord of Winterfell.

A Clash of Kings

In 1998's A Clash of Kings, Robb is named King in the North, and Bran, as Robb's heir, rules Winterfell in his brother's absence. When Theon Greyjoy betrays the Starks and captures Winterfell, Bran and Rickon escape, aided by the wildling Osha. To hide his failure, Theon has two other children murdered and proclaims them to be Bran and Rickon. Having been hiding in the crypts of Winterfell, Bran and his companions emerge to find the castle in ruins, having been sacked by Ramsay Snow and a small garrison from House Bolton. They come upon a mortally wounded Maester Luwin, who advises their traveling party to split. Osha takes Rickon in the direction of White Harbor, while Bran, Hodor, Meera Reed, and Jojen Reed set off north to seek the three-eyed raven of Bran's dreams. Meanwhile, Bran has slowly accepted the veracity of his dreams and his ability to psychically inhabit Summer, which makes him a type of skin-changer known as a warg.

A Storm of Swords

Bran, Hodor, Meera, and Jojen travel north to the Wall in search of the three-eyed raven in A Storm of Swords (2000).

A Dance with Dragons

In A Dance with Dragons (2011), Bran, Hodor, Meera, and Jojen are joined by the mysterious Coldhands, and a Child of the Forest named Leaf takes them to the three-eyed raven (actually a human telepath), who in turn offers to train Bran in retrocognition and clairvoyance.

TV adaptation

Bran Stark is played by Isaac Hempstead Wright in the television adaptation of the books. Like the other children in the books, Bran is aged up for television. He begins the series as a 10-year-old boy—3 years older than his book counterpart—and is 17 by the end.

Storylines

Brandon "Bran" Stark is the second son and fourth child of Lord of Winterfell Eddard "Ned" Stark and Lady Catelyn Stark (née Tully). He was named after his deceased paternal uncle, Brandon.

Bran receives one of a litter of recovered direwolves found by the Stark children and names him Summer. During King Robert Baratheon's visit to Winterfell with his entourage, Bran accidentally interrupts Queen Cersei Lannister having sex with her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister, who shoves him out of the window of the tower Bran is observing them in, leaving him comatose. While he is unconscious and recovering from his injuries, Summer kills an assassin sent to murder Bran. When he wakes, Bran cannot recall the events before his fall and finds that he is paralyzed from his waist down, forcing him to be carried everywhere by the stable boy, Hodor. Gradually, he discovers that he has gained the ability to assume Summer's consciousness, making him a warg or a skinchanger. After his older brother, Robb, is crowned King in the North, Bran becomes Robb's heir and the lord of Winterfell.

After Theon Greyjoy captures Winterfell, Osha helps Bran and his younger brother, Rickon, go into hiding. To cement his claim to Winterfell, Theon has two orphan boys killed and their bodies burned, and passes their charred corpses off as Bran and Rickon. After Theon's men betray him and Winterfell is sacked, Bran, Rickon, Hodor, Osha, and their direwolves head north to find his elder brother, the bastard Jon Snow, for safety.

Bran and his group encounter Jojen Reed and his sister, Meera, two siblings who aid them in their quest. Jojen shares Bran's "greensight" and tutors him in his prophetic visions. After coming close to the Wall, Osha departs with Rickon for Last Hearth (to keep him safe) while Bran insists on following his visions beyond the Wall. Bran and his group encounter Sam and Gilly, who try to persuade Bran not to venture beyond the Wall, but Bran claims it is his destiny and leaves through the gate with Hodor and the Reeds.

During their travels beyond the Wall, Bran and his group stumble across Craster's Keep, where they are captured and held by Night's Watch mutineers led by Karl Tanner. Night's Watchmen led by Jon eventually converge on Craster's Keep, but Locke, an agent of Roose Bolton pretending to be a new Watch recruit, finds Bran first and takes him hostage. Bran wargs into Hodor and snaps Locke's neck. The group then continues without telling Jon, who Jojen claims would stop them. Bran eventually reaches the Heart Tree but is set upon by wights outside the entrance. Jojen is killed in the attack, but the Children of the Forest lead Bran and his company safely into a magical cave to meet the Three-Eyed Raven. The Three-Eyed Raven declares that Bran will not walk again but will fly instead.