Will Game of Thrones Put Bran to Good Use?
The next episode of Game of Thrones will feature Bran for the first time in a season.
The sixth season of Game of Thrones will be the one to bring the series into the home stretch. It’s also the first season to not have a solid book to pull from, giving us weird things like that whole Dorne situation. It’s the lack of source material that ultimately led to Bran being cut from the entire fifth season — his storyline caught up fully with the book.
Bran’s place in season four was an odd one. He spent the majority of the season traveling North of the Wall only to see one of his friends killed by a skeleton and then told that he has superpowers. That’s about it. It’s been an entire season since we last saw Bran, and whether or not the show will be able to bring do something compelling and original with his story is a fair question.
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Now that Bran is going to be back in the mix, he could end up being a major focus of the season. Game of Thrones has so many characters and moving pieces, so all of the various plot lines do not move at the same speed. Dany and Bran have both suffered that fate before; little focus and molasses-like movement.
In fact, Bran almost needs to actually be a major player in season six. His story hasn’t been all that interesting for a long time, and his presence wasn’t exactly missed last season. Anything that happens beyond this point will be original material, perhaps based on conversations with George R. R. Martin.
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Assuming Bran just ends up staying North for the rest of the season, it could be a bit of a disappointment. If Bran is going to get some screen time this season, it should majorly move him forward. His arc has been flat for a long time, and Game of Thrones needs to change that.