Bran Stark becoming king was one of the most controversial parts of Game of Thrones‘ series finale, “The Iron Throne,” but the show did miss a golden opportunity to better set it up. After years of speculation about who would claim the Iron Throne, Game of Thrones‘ ending provided a big shock when not only was said throne destroyed, but then Bran was made king. The likes of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen were much more common theories, and even in terms of outside bets, Bran hadn’t really been in consideration.
There is some logic to the idea, insofar as Bran is a character who doesn’t want power and, as the new Three-Eyed Raven, can see the past and learn from its mistakes. However, it also could have been better set up: Isaac Hempstead Wright being missing from Game of Thrones‘ cast back in season 5 certainly didn’t help, but season 8 also missed a golden opportunity to help explain why Tyrion Lannister, specifically, chose Bran in episode 2, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”
Game Of Thrones Season 8, Episode 2 Cut Away From Tyrion & Bran’s Scene
“A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms” Skipped The Stor
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is the best episode of Game of Thrones season 8 by a wide margin, although its IMDb rating is still surprisingly quite low, at 7.9/10, likely a victim of the general backlash to the final run of episodes as a whole. Written by Bryan Cogman and directed by David Nutter, it feels like a classic episode that could’ve been from the earlier seasons of the show, full of small-yet-meaningful conversations and brilliant, well-earned character moments, such as Jaime Lannister knighting Brienne of Tarth.
| Game of Thrones season 8 episodes on IMDb | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Rating (/10) |
| Episode 1, “Winterfell” | 7.6 |
| Episode 2, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” | 7.9 |
| Episode 3, “The Long Night” | 7.5 |
| Episode 4, “The Last of the Starks” | 5.5 |
| Episode 5, “The Bells” | 5.9 |
| Episode 6, “The Iron Throne” | 4.0 |
However, the episode missed one character scene that it probably should have kept, which was a conversation between Tyrion and Bran. The pair, who previously met way back in season 1 and had both been through a lot since then (to put it mildly), have a big catch-up off-screen:
Tyrion: “You’ve had a strange journey.”
Bran: “Stranger than most.”
Tyrion: “I’d like to hear about it.”
Bran: “It’s a long story.”
Tyrion: “If only we were trapped in a castle, in the middle of winter, with nowhere to go.”
The episode cuts away from them at that point, moving on to a scene with Grey Worm and Missandei, and then never revisits the conversation between Tyrion and Bran in any way. However, it’s seemingly very important, given what transpires in the series finale.
Bran Explaining His Story Could’ve Fixed Him Becoming King
Game Of Thrones’ Ending Would’ve Made More Sense With This
One of the biggest points of criticism with Bran becoming king stems from a line by Tyrion: “Who has a better story than Bran the Broken?” The answer to that, from season 8’s detractors, was “just about everybody else.” But it’s clear Tyrion has a good reason for believing Bran should be king, and the conversation they had in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” may hold the key to it, as it’s likely from that meeting that he got the idea.
If we’d been able to see their conversation, then we’d have a much clearer understanding of why Tyrion thinks Bran should be king.
If we’d been able to see their conversation, then we’d have a much clearer understanding of why Tyrion thinks Bran should be king. But even more importantly, we’d have a far greater understanding of who Bran really is now. Though his story was shown, there’s a lot left unexplained about what him being the Three-Eyed Raven really means and why he now acts the way he does, and so adding more depth to the character through this talk would’ve helped to alleviate those issues.
Of course, Bran becoming king would still be somewhat divisive, given he was a left-field choice, but there’s nothing wrong with subverting expectations if there’s logic and understanding underpinning the choice. The logic is there with Bran, which is why it’ll presumably be the same in George R.R. Martin’s books, but the understanding was missing. Game of Thrones 8 really should’ve been laying more groundwork for King Bran so it didn’t feel like such a shocking twist, and this scene could, and should, have been exactly that.
