Bran Stark

Bran Stark is the fourth child and second son of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Stark. He is a bubbly boy with a zealous sense of adventure. However, his character changes when he gets involved in an accident that cripples him. With his hopes of becoming a fine knight shattered, Bran sees a vision from an ancient being called the Three-Eyed Crow; this leads him on a journey beyond the Wall.

Bran Stark Personal Details

• Full Name: Brandon Stark.
• Year of Birth: 290 AC at Winterfell.
• Allegiance: House Stark.
• Title: Prince of Winterfell.
• Parents: Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Tully.
• Siblings: Jon Snow, Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Rickon Stark.
• Aliases: Bran the Broken, Brandon, The Winged Wolf.
• Culture: Northmen.
• Religion: Old Gods of the Forest.
• Hair Color: Red.
• Eye Color: Blue.
• Abilities: Warging, Greensight.

Appearance and Personality

Bran takes after the Tullys in looks. He has thick red hair and deep blue eyes. Everyone at Winterfell loves him because of his empathy and smartness. As a highly spirited and agile boy, Bran has a fascination for tall structures and scales the walls at Winterfell. His act scared his mother so much that she employed the help of Maester Luwin, who created a clay dummy of a boy and threw it from a tower window to show what happens if someone falls from a tower. 

Bran agreed to refrain from climbing the walls, but after he broke his promise, he felt guilty and told his father, Lord Eddard Stark. Lord Ned brought Theon Greyjoy to Winterfell after the Grejoy’s Rebellion fell. Though Robb grew close to Theon, Bran never became friends with him. However, he loved his bastard half-brother Jon Snow.

Bran Stark wears a silvery wolfs-head brooch and polished jet, which he loves as it makes him look lordly. He also has grey breeches and a white doublet with vair-trimmed collars. Bran wears a silver-buttoned dark-greyish woolen surcoat with fur-lined gloves and boots when he rides a horse.

Biography

Bran was born in 290 AC at Winterfell. From a young age, he enjoyed scaling the walls of Winterfell and loved exploring the castle. He got named after his father’s brother, Brandon. Though he loved climbing, his act greatly worried his mother, who tried using Old Nan and Maester Luwin to discourage him. Though he continued indulging in his hobby, Bran also liked stories. He loved tales about mystery knights and scary stories about The Children of the Forest, the Others, and the Long Night.

Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones

When Gared, a deserter of the Night’s Watch, gets arrested, Bran follows his father, who delivers justice to the prisoner. On returning from the execution, the group sees a dead direwolf and realizes it has given birth to pups. Though Ned orders the pups to get killed, Bran and his brothers plead for their lives to get spared. He and his siblings take the pups as pets, and Bran names his Summer. 

With Lord Jon Arryn’s death, King Robert Baratheon travels to Winterfell and asks Lord Eddard Stark to become the Hand of the King. Under Ser Rodrik Cassel’s supervision, Bran spars with Prince Tommen Baratheon and wins. When Ned accepts the proposal, Bran gets thrilled as Ned agrees to take him and his sisters to King’s Landing. However, before traveling, Bran climbs the towers of Winterfell and finds Ser Jaime Lannister and his sister Queen Cersei Lannister having sex. To cover their tracks, Jaime pushes Bran, and though he survives, he slips into a coma.

While in a coma, an assassin tries to kill Bran with a Valyrian Steel dagger but gets stopped by Summer. Catelyn leaves her son and travels to King’s Landing to learn about the weapon. Meanwhile, Bran gets many visions, including a three-eyed crow telling him he can teach him to fly. Bran wakes up but remains confined to his chambers. 

When Tyrion Lannister stops at Winterfell, he designs a special saddle Bran can use to ride a horse. Overjoyed, Bran tries to test the saddle with his brother, but a group of wildlings attack and hold him for ransom. They get killed, and one of them, Osha, gets captured. When Ned gets arrested, Robb rides out to battle, leaving Bran as the acting Lord of Winterfell. He later dreams of his father in the crypts of Winterfell and learns of his execution.

A Clash of Kings

After Lord Ned Stark’s death, Robb becomes the new King in the North. Bran becomes his heir and the Prince of Winterfell. Catelyn’s new wards, Big and Small Walder, arrive at Winterfell, and the Harvest Feast gets held. At the event, Bran befriends Meera Reed and Jojen Reed. He begins entering Summer’s body, and when Jojen realizes it, he tells him that beyond the Wall is where he will meet the Three-Eyed Crow.

Theon Greyjoy betrays Robb and captures Winterfell. Although Bran and his brother hide in the crypts, Theon makes a show of allegedly killing them. He later gets betrayed by Reek, originally Ramsay Bolton. Ramsay then orders the sack of Winterfell. After the destruction of the castle, Bran and his companions emerge. He travels beyond the Wall with Hodor, Meera, Jojen, and Summer, while Osha heads towards White Harbor with Rickon and Shaggydog.

A Storm of Swords

Bran and his companions avoid the main roads while traveling north as Ramsay’s men search for them. When the weather gets colder, they find shelter in a cave where they meet a Liddle who advises them to avoid the Kingsroad as the War of the Five Kings rages in Westeros. Bran and his friends head for Night Fort. En route, they stop at Queenscrown, where Bran enters Summer’s body and saves his brother Jon from wildlings. Summer gets injured, and Meera treats him. 

The group reaches Night Fort, where they meet Samwell Tarly and Gilly. Bran makes Sam promise to keep his whereabouts secret. After following a magic door, the group meets Coldhands. Meanwhile, Robb and Catelyn get killed by the Freys and Boltons, and the Iron Throne makes Roose Bolton Warden of the North.

A Dance with Dragons

Bran and his companions travel through the Haunted Forest with Coldhands. On reaching the cave of the Three-Eyed Crow, they get ambushed by wights. Bran enters Hodor’s mind to fight off the wights, and on entering the cave, they meet Leaf, one of the Children of the Forest.

The creature leads them deep into the cave, where they meet the last greenseer, who introduces himself as Brynden. The Three-Eyed Crow gives Bran a weirwood paste that awakens his greensight. Bran begins seeing through the weirwood trees and sees his father in the past through the Heart Tree at Winterfell. He also gets other visions of the past.

Appearance in Adaptation 

In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Isaac Hempstead-Wright portrayed Bran Stark. He appeared in seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and starred in 41 episodes. After falling from a high tower and entering a coma, Bran has a vision of the Three-Eyed Raven. He travels beyond the Wall, where he meets the Children of the Forest and the mysterious being he saw in his dreams. While Bran gets a vision of the past, The Night King sees him and leads an army of White Walkers to his location. While in a trance, Meera rescues him, but Hodor gets killed. 

On returning to Winterfell, Bran becomes the new Three-Eyed Raven and uses his gift to glance into the past. He then sees his late aunt Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen getting married and realizes Jon Snow is Aegon, the heir to the Iron Throne. Though Jon learns of his parents, he refuses to become King and follows Daenerys Targaryen, and when Dany destroys King’s Landing, he kills her and gets exiled. Bran becomes King of the Seven Kingdoms. King Bran permits the independence of the North and appoints Tyrion as the Hand of the King.

Bran Stark: The Lovely Boy

Bran Stark is one of the most likable characters in A Song of Ice and Fire. He was a kind boy who loved exploring, and though his dreams got shattered by the fall from the tower, he never gave up and journeyed beyond the Wall to regain his legs. However, he learned that fate had a different plan for him and embraced his abilities of greensight.

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