Game of Thrones fans are still asking questions and coming up with theories about the mysterious conclusion to the Battle of Winterfell last weekend.
Warning! Spoilers for Game of Thrones lie ahead!
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Last Sunday, fans watched as the Army of the Dead descended on Winterfell. With 100,000 undead soldiers, it was not long before they overtook the castle, and as predicted humanity’s only hope was to go after the Night King and thereby put down the entire force. However, the details of this encounter are still puzzling to some, who wonder why Bran chose the godswood and the Wierwood tree as the place to lure the Night King.
Ahead of the battle, Bran explained that the Night King would target him above others since he is now the Three-Eyed Raven. What’s more, the Night King can track him where ever he goes thanks to the mark he left on Bran’s arm when they met in a vision. Therefore, Bran encouraged the forces of mankind to use him as bait, luring the Night King to Winterfell’s Wierwood tree for their final showdown.
Now, some fans are wondering whether Bran had a secondary motive in mind: protecting the tree itself. Over the years, we have seen that the mysterious white and red trees are at the center of northern religion and certain magic, especially that practiced by Bran and the Children of the Forest.
In fact, in Season 6 Bran saw a vision of the Night King’s creation, which took place at a Wierwood tree. It was surrounded by stones in the same spiral pattern the Night King often creates out of his victims’ remains, so it may be that his powers are tied to the trees in the same way that Bran’s are.
Bran has spent a great deal of time at the godswood since returning to Winterfell, ensuring that a lot of important conversations take place there. Fans have noted that he gave Arya the Valyrian steel dagger there, which she later used to kill the Night King. That is also where Arya “snuck up on” Jon in the same way that she snuck up on the Night King.
Fan theorists have come up with countless ways that Wierwood magic and Bran’s abilities could play into the story going forward. In fact, die-hard book readers speculate that the Wierwood trees form a kind of magical Internet, and that the Night King may still exist in some form within them. They believe that the eerie red trees will have to be destroyed to ensure that he cannot rise again.
Others point to the strange mark left on Bran’s arm, fearing that he has been tainted by the Night King. In the past, we have seen the icy monarch turn a human baby into a White Walker with a single touch, so it stands to reason that his grasp on Bran — and more recently on Arya — will come back to haunt humanity.
Then again, with three episodes left the show could turn its attention entirely on the war against Cersei, leaving fan theorists a bit disappointed. Whatever the case, the early death of the Night King has completely shaken up predictions for Season 8.
Game of Thrones airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
