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The Bran Theory That Isaac Hempstead Wright Is Rooting for in GAME OF THRONES

Readers of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series will never admit it, but the best thing about Game of Thrones passing the books in 2017 was how it put everyone in the same uncharted waters. Viewers didn’t know where the story was going without the novels as a guide, and that resulted in season seven being the best yet for fan theories.  Unquestionably, the most talked about one was the idea Bran is also the Night King. However there’s one person who hopes that explosive possibility doesn’t turn out to be true, and his opinion carries more weight than most, since actor Isaac Hempstead Wright plays Bran Stark. But that doesn’t mean he’s rooting against every theory about who else his character might be, because he has another popular theory in his mind’s third eye.

We talked to Hempstead Wright ahead of the release of season seven on Blu-ray and DVD this week, and while many fans love the theory that Bran is also the leader of the White Walkers, he thinks that idea “seems a bit fanciful” for the show. He said he doesn’t remember all the details of the theory, which proposes Bran got trapped in the Night King’s consciousness after repeatedly going back in time and failing to stop the army of the dead, but that’s exactly what Hempstead Wright dislikes about it. It’s a complicated theory with multiple layers requiring numerous twists of the timeline, and the payoff would literally be monstrous.

“It just doesn’t feel like Game of Thrones,” he said, “It feels a little bit too Hollywood.”

But that isn’t stopping him from being on board with another theory embraced by fans, because there’s one that says Bran–who finally becomes the Three-Eyed Raven in season seven–was also the old Three-Eyed Raven we saw played by Max Von Sydow. Even though that would also involve some time-travel chicanery, Hempstead Wright sees some major differences between the two possibilities.

“It seems a little bit more plausible [than the Night King theory] and it doesn’t have so many insane ramifications for the story line,” he said. “That would be quite a neat little thing that would sum up that whole circular arc.”

Bran also being the old Three-Eyed Raven would make sense for a story where we learned the ramifications of his time-hopping visions were responsible for young Wylis becoming Hodor. “We’ve already see Bran mess with time and create one paradox, so it would be quite nice to give his entire story a paradox, he said, “That would justify how he can meddle with time, because he exists in a closed loop, a sort of non-linear existence.”

Bran being the Three-Eyed Raven in the tree who was training young Bran would be similar to “hold the door,” but on a much grander scale, whereas the Night King theory would be a major bombshell dropped into the show’s final six episodes without many–or really any–concrete clues given beforehand.

Unless George R.R. Martin finishes the final two books in A Song of Ice and Fire before Game of Throne‘s final season (ha!), we don’t know where the story is going. So no matter which theories either fans or Isaac Hempstead Wright hope turn out to be true, it’s possible Bran might actually be the old Three-Eyed Raven. Or the Night King. Or both.

What do you think? Do you believe in either of these theories? Do you agree with Isaac Hempstead Wright? Is there another one you like? Don’t make us theorize about your ideas, share them in the comments below.

Images: HBO

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