Game of Thrones pulled out what may be one of the show's final twists last night, the revelation of the Night King's mission. Most viewers assumed the Night King was coming to Winterfell due to a fixation on Jon Snow after the events of Hardhome or Daenerys Targaryen now that he's gotten a taste of dragon killing. But it turns out the Night King aims to take down Bran Stark, aka the Three-Eyed Raven. However, these Game Of Thrones Bran death theories suggest perhaps Bran has a plan to save Westeros from the Night King, if not himself.
The thing viewers need to keep in mind about Bran is that he's not actually Brandon Stark anymore. The body belongs to Bran Stark, but the mind is no longer his own. He is, basically, a host. Inside his mind resides the entity known as "The Three-Eyed Raven," which holds the memory of all human history on Westeros from the dawn of time to the present.
The Night King doesn't care about Bran Stark in particular, other than his body having the mark that helps the Night King track his whereabouts. The goal is to kill the being inside Bran, thereby erasing not just the living, but the memory of their existence.
With that in mind, here are some ways Bran could die which might thwart the Night King's plans.
As Bran noted, if Jaime hadn't pushed him out of the tower window, neither of them would be the people they are today. That makes Bran's near death in Season 1 highly significant. Considering his ability to "warg through time," one theory is that rather than let the Night King take him, Bran will return to the moment that set him on this path and allow it to kill him, making someone else the Three-Eyed Raven, far away from the Night King's grasp.
Another theory, also in the vein of warging through time to escape the Night King, is that Bran will return to the moment where Hodor died and break the time loop. That would also stop Bran from becoming the Three-Eyed Raven, and deprive the Night King of his prize.
One clue that many might overlook, Bran's choice to wait in the Godswood, by the weirwood tree. That could be very important as viewers know the Night King was created while tied to one of these trees. Is Bran's plan to let his consciousness be absorbed by the tree, and therefore preserving the memories of humankind even as Bran's body dies?
Bran seems to believe his death will mean the end of humankind's history. But the death of the last Three-Eyed Raven merely triggered the transfer of memories to the next host. Bran might not have a chosen apprentice, but that doesn't mean the memories can't go out and select the next host once this body dies.
"Sam The Three-Eyed Raven" has a nice ring to it.
Or perhaps Bran is right. He will die in the Godswood, at the hand of the Night King, and the memories housed within him will disappear forever. The history and memory of human consciousness will pass out of existence, and life will be doomed to die in Westeros.
