By Last we saw Bran, he was still warging through the past as The Night King and his army of wights were attacking the Weirwood Tree and killed the Three Eyed Raven. Hodor Held The Door, as he was destined to do his entire life, and helped Meera and Bran escape, sacrificing himself to do so. Meera is dragging the sled with a warging Bran through the forest as they are being chased by wights. All the while, Bran is having many visions of the past and future alike. Before we break those down, here they are again:
And here they are in Slow Motion. That version can help in catching moments that only take a few frames, making them harder to tell apart, especially the ones that deal with the yet unknown.
The Dawn Age
Each and every vision starts with this time lapse of the North in Winter, most likely taking us back to before the First Men even stepped foot in Westeros.
The Children Of he Forest Create The White Walkers
They then cut to Leaf, a Children of the Forest, in a vision we had already witnessed where she creates the Night King as a weapon to fight against the First Men.
The Mad King
For the first time ever in the HBO series, we get to see The Mad King Aerys Targaryen, sitting on the Iron Throne.
Hearing him to “Burn Them All” as the visions also include White Walkers and Wights attacking the Nights Watch at both Hardhome and The Fist of the First Men can lead to believe that the alleged madman may have had visions of these himself. While we know he was referring to Kings Landing as it was being sacked by Tywin Lannister’s forces at the end of Robert’s Rebellion, it could be linking the voices in his head with these visions of White Walkers and Wights, which we know can be killed by fire. The message is clear that they must be burned.
The White Walkers Add Craster’s Sons
The last son of Crasters, killed by the Nights Watch Mutineers in season 3 was given “to the Gods” by his wives/daughters, as all his previous sons had. The end of the episode “Oathkeeper” showed that scene of a White Walker riding in the Land of Always Winter to bring the baby to the Night King.
The baby was left in a shrine of ice which looked very much like the one where the Night King was created by the Children of the Forest thousands of years prior.
The Night King turned the boy into a White Walker at the touch of his finger, revealing to us how White Walkers are created from men. That scene may have been confusing when it first aired in 2014, especially for the readers of the books, but now, with the recent reveals this season, it all starts to make sense.
Battle Of The Fist Of The First Men
Bran also has visions of the White Walkers and the Wights approaching the Fist of the First Men, where the Nights Watch was stationed throughout most of season 2. The march was the last shot of that season as a trembling Samwell Tarly laid there, witnessing in horror the Army of the Dead heading to attack his Brothers of the Nights Watch.
An important battle in “A Clash For Kings”, the second book pertaining to the second season, the show did not showcase it. It served as the cliffhanger finale of season 2, and season 3 began after the battle had ended. Reasons for that could be either budget at the time, or the next big battle between the Watch and the Walkers….
The Battle Of Hardhome
Bran has visions of the massacre that occurred at Hardhome. Many Wildlings and Brothers of the Nights Watch fell at the hands of an attacking army of wights led by the Night King and the White Walkers. A battle that has yet to occur in such details in the books, Bran witnesses the wights breaching the walls and attacking the remaining humans there.
Other shots include a White Walker fighting Jon Snow. It’s safe to assume he also witnessed Jon killing the Walker with his Valyrian Steel sword Longclaw.
The Night King observing his army of Wights wrecking havoc in the Wildling camp.
Jon and Edd witnessing more wights attacking them
The Night king taunting Jon Snow and the survivors on the boat fleeing the scene.
The Night King adding more wights to his army by resurrecting all the wildlings that fell during the battle.
The Pyromancers Of Kings Landing
We see Pyromancers in Kings Landing, one of which is probably a younger Wisdom Hallyne who made Wildfire for Tyrion Lannister in Season 2. They are preparing Wildfire on the orders of King Aerys Targaryen.
Wildfire was key to the Targaryen Power after the last Dragon died more than two centuries before the events of the series. Aerys was also known for being obsessed with it, using it to kill Lord Rickard Stark, Ned’s Father, while his eldest son Brandon strangled to death as witnessed the horror.
Kings Landing Under Wildfire
The pyromancers are seen pouring the Wildfire in Pots, and having these pots ready to be flung at enemies, or setup as traps throughout the city. King Aerys had many of these pots scattered throughout Kings Landing, ready to have it all burned down as a last resort. A move he was ready to go with once the Lannisters entered the city and started sacking it for the Rebellion led by Robert Baratheon.
Tunnels in Kings Landing are seen burning of Wildfire. While this event may have occurred during the Sack of Kings Landing, it was not enough to burn the entire city down. It could also be a vision of the future, since Bran is seeing some. Dragonfire mixed with whichever pots of Wildfire are still scattered throughout the Capital could lead to such disaster.
Jaime Lannister Kills The Mad King
We finally see how Jaime Lannister earned his moniker of “Kingslayer”. As the ad King is yelling to “Burn them all”, his Kingsguard draws his sword, ready to break his oath as a Kingsguard…
Jaime had described in season 3 why he killed the Mad King in great detail. How he loathes the fact that he gets reviled for what he views as his most courageous act, saving the city from the madness of Aerys and his plan to burn it all down.
He had even mentioned how Aerys believed Wildfire would kill him, and have him reborn as a Dragon. Jaime “slit his throat to make sure that didn’t happen”. Here, we see him make sure Aerys is dead once and for all.
That debated shot from the second trailer is now confirmed to be Jaime stabbing the Mad King in a vision/flashback, and NOT the High Sparrow.
Jaime Lannister Sits On The Iron Throne
An iconic moment, Jaime sits on the Iron Throne, while the Mad Kings’ corpse lies next to it. The rest of that iconic scene might (hopefully) be shown in full in another vision, where Ned Stark enters the Throne room and orders Jaime to step out of the seat, creating tensions between the Starks and Lannisters for years to come after…
“Promise Me Ned”
Bran experiences his father’s battle at the Tower of Joy once gain, getting a glimpse of his younger father Ned asking for his sister Lyanna’s whereabouts to Ser Arthur Dayne. All before the battle was to begin.
This mysterious shot will definitely be revealed in a later episode, and represents another event from the past Bran has yet to see. The bloodied hand matches Ned’s armor, and the hand on the left looks feminine enough to be the one of his sister Lyanna, in a “Bed of Blood”. The Bed of Blood will reveal the biggest secret of the entire series: Lyanna died during childbirth and the baby born of her and Rhaegar Targaryen is Jon Snow, the Prince that was promised, the Song of Ice (Stark) and Fire (Targaryen)…
The Starks’ Tragedies: Bran’s Fall
The Starks have suffered tremendously since the series began, and Bran is reminded of it. His crippling fall from the Tower is seen again along with other tragedies to hit other members of his family.
The Red Wedding
Bran also sees his brother Robb die at the hands of his treacherous banneran Roose Bolton at the Twins during the infamous Red Wedding.
His mother Catelyn died as well, her throat slit by Black Walder Frey, the Twins’ Lord’s son. Although she has remained dead in the show, Lady Catelyn returns for vengeance in the books, thanks to the Brotherhood without Banners as Lady Stoneheart. That storyline was completely omitted from the HBO show (So far anyway…..
Ned Stark’s Execution
The first shocking death of the entire story, Ned’s execution set up the future events of the series in motion, and warned us that this was no ordinary story; that shocking moments such as this one were to occur plenty more times. There is a speculative theory here, akin to the Mad King being “Mad” because the voices in his head were Bran’s:
In his very last moments before getting executed, Ned is looking at the statue of Baelor for his daughter Arya he had seen there earlier. The look on his face, could potentially be him hearing Bran communicating with him, the same way he had at the Tower of Joy and had realized he can interact with the visions. Ned’s Last Words have also been a mystery for quite some time now…
Dragons Reborn
Daenerys’ fire ritual when cremating her late husband Khal Drogo led to the rebirth of dragons. The dragons are grown now, and are definitely playing an important role in the Wars to Come.
A vision Bran had a few seasons ago, he sees a large Drogon flying over what would be over the Narrow Sea, heading for Westeros for Daenerys to conquer.
That vision, of the imminent future was also seen in Season 3: Drogon flying over Kings Landing. With Daenerys confirming at the end of this very same episode that she’s taking the Khalasars, her Unsullied and the Second Sons with her to Westeros, one can expect Havoc in Kings Landing soon enough. Even more so when combining this vision with Daenerys’ very own when she visits the House of the Undying in Season 2.
