Game of Thrones Ending Explained, Part 2: Why Bran Stark? 

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Bran was made king because he comes with his own chair

There was nothing wrong with Bran ruling Westeros. It’s just that the writers rushed so many things that in the end, it didn’t feel fully deserving for him to rule.

According to Tyrion's story logic, Old Nan is the most suitable ruler

Jon being Frodo and Bran being Aragon is probably the most Martinesque twist in the whole finale, but it was so badly served

But Bran knew that Dany was going to go mad and kill thousands of people in Kings Landing and did nothing to stop it. Does such indifference to human life make for a good ruler?

Bran's first order as king is to establish ramps all over King's Landings.

No one : Tyrion : Bran will be King. Bran the broken! Bran: Thanks. But just Bran is cool... Tyrion: Bran the Busted up Bran: OK.. Or maybe just Bran. Tyrion: Bran the wheely wheely legs no Feely!!

Your videos on season 8 are far better than season 8.

Worm Grey: You are not allowed to speak! - Tyrion speaks for almost an hour and even decided who the next king will be.

Broke the Wheel , came with 2 more

Why did they name him "bran the broken" instead of something like "the raven king"?

Tyrion not being mentioned in the book is a cute joke, but it makes no sense. He's the last living Lannister. Kind of important to mention. Hand of the King. Kind of important to mention. Hand of the Queen. Kind of important to mention. He's connected to too much that would be documented or would have records. So either Tywin, the man running King's Landing after Joffery died, killed himself on the toilet, or Sam is a terrible writer. Btw, you guys should do the Elizabeth movies.

Bran: I am not a lord and can never be one. I can’t be king of the north either. But I can be king of the 7 kingdoms 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don't get why people think that "Bran" as king is a "utopian" ending. The real Bran died in the cave. What's sitting on the throne is a thousands-year-old demigod who very coincidentally defeated his chief rival and ended up wielding supreme power. His only lines this season has been telling people that they "did what they were supposed to." But...supposed to by *whom*? The clear implication is that it was by *him*, and that this was his intended goal all along. We don't see him "doing" much of anything to get there, but how much effort does an omniscient demigod really need to put in? He would know exactly how people would react to whatever he would say to him, so really it would only require minor course corrects. That HBO has chosen to rewind to the Three-Eyed Raven's origin story for their first spinoff show is, I think, quite telling. They've set the stage to cast a very dark pallor on the "utopian" ending that this series gave us. Chaos is a ladder, but it was the Raven - not the Mockingbird - who came out on top.

So Dorne and Iron Islands have been always fighting for their independence but nobody says a word when North declares their independence. Also a Stark King ruling the remaining 6 kingdoms Hmmm 😞 I wonder why people didn't like the ending.

“wHy dO YoU thInK i cAME aLl tHIs Way”

The scene where the lords and ladies of Westeros quickly shoot down Sam Tarley's idea for a democracy was the most inspired thing from the series finale.

Perfect analogy of our world. The real world where the plotters for power are still in charge and hide behind good intentions.

I don't get why Arya, Bran and Sansa seemed to be willing to let Jon be punished for treason when they knew what he did wasn't treason at all, they should have let everyone know that he was the true heir to the throne and by killing someone who claimed to be queen he was in fact executing a traitor.

The name of the show is Game of Thrones. It's pretty underwhelming that the person who won never played the game.

I like the idea of Bran as king if there's a nefarious reason for it. The show rushed things, I imagine GRRM won't.

Your videos make any viewing experience of any show waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better

Newsflash: John Snow also didn’t want to rule the throne.

3:06 If Bran could see into the future, then he MUST have saw Daenerys burning King's Landing and didn't tell ANYONE about it and let all the rest of the bad shit play out just to be king. Wouldn't that make him Evil? I mean for fuck's sake, there is NO ONE in King's landing to rule anymore. Their entire army/people is dead or has turned to ashes, moved up to the north with sansa in independence, dorthaki AND unsullied departed, and no army to command. What bullshit is this?

Poland-Lithuan had an elective monarchy. More often than not, this led to weak ineffectual rule, with the neighbours partitioning the country several times. Btw, RIP Grey Worm. The butterflies of Naath are deadly to outsiders.

The primary message of Game of Thrones: "The best journeys can have horrible endings."

I'm still salty about this ending... Regardless this analysis was great 👏👏👏

Thanks for point out that being ruled by a supercomputer working by an oligarchy and with access to all information of the citizens is extremely intrusive and creepy as hell.

By allowing Sansa her own kingdom, they have set a precedent for dividing the kingdom. The Iron Isles will declare independent soon. When Bran dies without an heir, there will be another election. The Holy Roman Empire became weak and divided because of this. There could also be another war for succession, or a break up of the kingdom. They have chosen instability in an effort to give a 21st Century solution to succession. A kingdom without an heir results in war and strife, like the War of the Roses, the War of Spanish Succession, and the War of Austrian Succession.

Tyrion: "And who has a better story than Bran The Broken?" LITERALLY EVERYONE! Even Hot Pie!

Bran was manipulating the future by releasing info about John's heritage at the correct time and to correct people ... He always wanted it, so he didn't accept Wardenship of north coz he wanted to be the king, Now his line "why else have I come so far " makes sense

Hmm I hadn’t considered the implications of Greyworm and the Unsullied going to Naath in order to possibly protect the peaceful, indigenous population (Misandei’s people) from the cruelty of the nearby slavers of Essos! I suppose that makes the conclusion of Greyworm’s arc at least a little bit more satisfying than it initially felt. It’s almost as if, because he was unable to have any actual children with Misandei, he’ll be the protector of her symbolic children (the future generations of Naath’s inhabitants) instead! 🙂

19:30 - okay, that's genius from GRRM! In Carl Sagan's original 1980 Cosmos science series, Sagan stressed that climate change and nuclear weapons are the greatest threats to the survival of humanity and all life on Earth.

you know what? it should have another season. that's it. they rushed everything forgetting to tell every detail

"I can never be Lord of Winterfell, I can never be Lord of anything. I'm the 3 eyed raven now." Yeah. Ok. Sure.

Let's stop putting more thought into this than the writers did.

But Rob stark and Jon snow got nothing they deserved. They were ideal characters.

I do get the message, the Game of Thrones was trying to convey and it would've been highly satisfying and rewarding had the writers executed it properly. Instead of being patient and laying out the build- up, they rushed it, that's where they went wrong. All of us imagined a patient build-up to the story, covering all the plot holes and seeing all the characters grow and go through their respective journeys and meeting their ends in way that seemed more realistic. You can imagine our disappointment when all we got was a hasty heap of an ending

"Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst, and corrupts the best. I never asked for power. Power is only given to those who are prepared to lower themselves to pick it up." - King Ragnar Lothbrok

It's kinda funny that Bran who has done absolutely nothing since becoming the Three eyed raven spends his time on the throne.. Doing nothing and letting Tyrion rule xD This is the best king lol?

I guessed it would be Bran all along solely because his character arc reminded me of Leto II from the Dune series of books. He had the same all seeing god-emperor energy.

If the moral of the story is the best person for the job is the one who doesn’t want it then that is a pretty dumb message. How would the person without any passion or motivation do the best? Bran even lets the small council do all the work while he wargs most of the day. The small council includes a cutthroat murderer and a complete failure of a hand that contributed to his previous ruler turning into dragon hitler.

I love that you included the clip of Toby Ziegler ranting about Santos not wanting to be president. Another person who didn't want ir but ended up winning and presumably being good at it.

Small correction: The Holy Roman Empire ended in 1806 and not 1866.

Fun idea, Bran really is actually the main antagonist of A Song of Ice and Fire. The raven is probably the most mentioned and widely used animal in the entirety of the show. Every message throughout was delivered by ravens. A good what if, is what if Bran has been controlling the ravens and redirecting information in order to fuel the mass conflict. The Night King never began his full mobilization march until after Bran went beyond the wall. His arrival was what started the assault. What if the walkers were created as they said, for protection, but the threat was the 3 Eyed Raven? The walkers didn't force themselves beyond the wall until after Bran was back on the other side and it was heavily fed to us that the Night King's main objective is to kill Bran. There are a lot of other things that can be used to flesh the theory out, but I've already typed way too much for a RU-vid comment lol

Well, as you say -"The show never gives us what we wanted" and that seems to be exactly what the show did in the end. Once again, I will say, after thinking about each of our Stark family characters and the direction they were set on in the end, I have begun to feel pretty good about this ending. It may not have been set up for us, but has forced us all to have to really THINK, and that's a good thing.

Why? because that Star Wars cheque was dangling and D&D got desperate and wanted to rush it.

Nice intro. Even bran rolled his eyes. I see what you did there

Tyrion: who has a better story then bran the broke? Me: well he wasn't even in s5 so clearly a lot of other people

I also have thought of Bran as a sort of "Skynet" or other (perhaps evil) AI. Glad it was included, as he is way more machine/AI/computer-like than a human now

Y’all: “you need some get up and go” Bran: ...

It is the pacing and the execution that ruined the ending. All that actually makes sense, but the lack of build up is what made it so unsatisfying. If only they had chosen a slower path and went for like two more seasons. We could've got a satisfying closure. Dany's path to madness had always been foreshadowed. But the fact that they skipped the slow and sensible transition is what made it so disappointing. I always supported this theory, though. NK plot was so rushed that it pretty much killed the mood of fans. Season 7 & 8 were mediocre because how rushed it was and things were happening just to move quickly to the end. Thus, all those plot holes. While some people were fine with season 7 because of the anticipation of the final outcome. Season 8 was just meh. My expectations after season 7 were so low that I didn't mind season 8 to some extent (kinda didn't care) because the acting, cinematography, effects and the music were great. GOT had 4 amazing seasons followed by a fairly decent season 5 and 6 (the latter being pretty good imo). Ending with two disappointing rushed seasons. I am pretty sure GRRM will write a better ending, even though the final outcome will likely be same. (I'm finally gonna start reading the books lol)

I appreciate a level headed response to this season, as opposed to the reactionary trolls we always see.

Idk. Seems like another story is missing. His whole mission w 3 eyed raven was dicovering who jon was, then he banishes him, lets Dany commit genocide, and his last words are about finding drogon. So his story was getting rid of targaryens and he was the night kings target. Hmm...

New HBO Series: Game of Thrones : West of Westeros.

The context about why Sansa is passed over is outside the context of your "least fit to rule" topic. You know Sansa would like to rule.

As once tywin told tommen ," What should a ruler be?". "Wise"

So true. The dialogue seems to reflect the values of the showrunners, not the characters as we haven known them to be. You're spot on. This was a really good analysis. You brought in aspects many others have not including the attempt by the showrunners to square the circle and tie past with present. Your reflections on medieval European History are great. I am not convinced that the neat happy ending is what undid Episode 6 as much as it was the failure to confront intelligently some of the big questions/tensions the show had been leading up to: namely, the true meaning and consequence of the Night King. The other thing is why does Dany have to be crazy in order to burn the million or so civilians in Kings Landing? In one of the clips you presented Tywin himself shows no pity for civilians caught up in the collateral damage of war. He says that it should teach them the perils of supporting the wrong side. My point is that the exercise of raw power usually means ruthlessness. You don't have to be crazy to be ruthless. In the aftermath of burning of Kings Landing, Dany and her army glory in their power the way tyrants do, the way the powerful do. Cersei showed no mercy for the innocent victims killed by wildfire. Look how she shamelessly has Missandei killed during a parley. What is baffling is how the showrunners cannot decide if Dany is crazy or simply lusting for power. In one scene she looks insane and in the next she is confidently outlining her plans to rule the world. In one scene she looks at Jon as a Loser and in her final scene she looks at him with beatific love. Which is it? What did the showrunners decide? This is the kind of nonsens that made Season 8 and in particular Episode 6 unbearable I don't really understand why Bran Stark is named king, but I accept it. It would have helped if previous seasons had developed the character more. I hope the children leading the way beside Jon forge a path toward a better future. That's a nice thought. Thank you for elevating the discussion.

"Who has a better story?" *Literally everyone else*

If they made Bran seem more calculated than literally just sitting there the entire time then I would be okay with him getting the throne, as it ended it feels like he didn't deserve it. If they showed how he put things in place in order for him to become king, so it felt like he was moving pieces on a chess board then the ending would have been a whole lot better. Maybe a final reveal at the end how he did it all.. or something! anything!

Imagine a prisoner giving a speech so convincing that he not only gets his freedom with the speech, but he also gain: the king's hand position, the land and titles of the Tyrell house (to pay a debt) and elect a new king , who has no support within the new kingdom and will surely be unable to leave heirs (giving a big succession problem in the future). We will have to imagine, because that shit speech is not able to convince anyone.

What's great about Bran being a king who doesn't want to rule is that he's allowing other smarter, more reasonable, more capable people to rule. Much like with Robert, Bran is just a placeholder keeping the spot from another tyrant while the real power lies with the Hand of the King and The Small Council. This time however, the Council is full of people who will actually do right by the city and the kingdoms and the King himself will actually do his job. A new peace and prosperity can settle in. If a new threat arises in the kingdoms, Bran can warn his Council and help them prepare to defeat it.

Nobody talked about how the Dothraki and Unsullied were portrayed at the end, I'm glad you did. It's sad seeing the Dothraki last image to be their savage side, when is one of the most interesting society and culture in the GOT universe. And having them walking like nothing in Westeros (when Jon is escorted to the port) it erases their culture completely.

4:34 Sansa was "a little unfairly passed over here?" What did she do at all this season that would merit her being the ruler of Westeros?

Season 8? What? As far as I'm concerned, it never happened

Your videos are sooo great! You have so many smart insights!!

I absolutely love your videos. I think you make the best analysis and interpretations of movies and tv shows

What D&D said to GRRM that convinced him they were able to adapt ASOIAF, was that Jon was the Frodo of the story and not the Aragorn

"We've been cutting each other's throats for years!"

If you read history you notice that a king without a clear heir leaves a disaster. As everyone who wants the throne fights and scheams for it.

"Change is going to come to Westeros." I doubt it, but we may never know. There's always one envious, bitter, power hungry person, who wants the throne. Possibly a new force from Essos.

When my boyfriend and I were watching this show we felt like we saw the last season being how it actually was. Like Bran becoming king and Dany going mad and being killed. I just finished the show about a week ago and I don't understand how people are mad at the ending. Yes it was very fast and I guess thats why people didn't like Dany dying but we felt the show really did lead up to the ending being how it was. I like these videos on the ending because it validates that im not crazy for liking the way the show ends.

Breaking bad is an example of a show that wrapped everything up but was terrific.

I still don't get few things. 1. How Grey Worm would know that Jon killed Dany? There was no one there, no witnesses. Dragon took her body so they are not even sure if she is dead or just gone away for a bit. Maybe dragon just killed her? 2. How did they actually arrest Jon when half of the army at Kings Landing were northmen who see Jon as their king? They just let them take Jon like that? 3. When Tyrion was giving argument who should be new king, why he ignored the fact that Jon is actually in line to rule? How he can decide who is going to rule when rightful king is right there , in front of his eyes. If they accepted Jon as king, he would have to be set free, right? 4. How Bran gets to rule when he is from the North but North doesn't belong to 7 Kingdoms anymore and how he gets to rule because he already claimed he is not Bran anymore and he doesn't want to rule?

You are giving this show way more credit than it deserves

Tyrion: Who has a better story, than Bran the Broken. Fans: Literally every other character on the show

It's so nice to see something that is not negative about season 8

Since their wasn't a Throne for the King/Queen, they had to have a ruler that came with his own chair.

Tyrion: Your grace... Bran: I know. Tyrion: (fml) every single day

Somewhere, sometime this video will save a student's history grade! Very informative, great video!

"Everyone present has grown and learned so much" referring to Tyrion speaking to the lords, who is the who you're referring to, the writers couldn't even bother to tell you who they were! How did Yara grow, and Gendry who was only brought back last season, Robin grew up but how did he grow? The writers rushed to end this story, you guys don't need to rush to critique it.

Loving these videos!

Arya asks about what’s West of Westeros simce book one. Took the show long enough😄

I disagree with the whole "more episodes" argument. What was needed was a clearer focus and emphasis from the start as to Dani's madness and who winds up running things. I'm glad you hinted at this.

Woah I didn't know the White Walkers symbolized climate change and the dragons symbolized nuclear weapons... that makes so much sense!

What about Robert tho? Nobody remembers that Robert didn't want to rule at all but ran the country into debt really quickly

Great videos!

Do you ladies watch anime? If you do a video essay on death note , full metal alchemist brotherhood, attack on titan will be cool..but keep on the good work

Did you ever do a character study of the Hound? That would be amazing. I found the Hound to be one of the most fascinating characters in GoT. I started out deeply hating him, but by the end he was one of my fav characters.

The iron chair is destroyed. Bran: I brought my own.

THIS CHANNEL IS DOPE AND THIS NARRATOR IS AMAZING. SO PERFECT FOR UNWIDING AFTER A BAD WORK DAY.

I liked the ending, but it really feels like D&D got that last tip from Martin and then didn’t know how on earth to end up there. You have correctly analyzed why this season was so jarring, but it was also because other parts of the story were just left with no conclusion.

"Who has a better story then bran the broken"? Like, everyone who died in season 1. And the rest of the cast

The Raven king said it himself "I must not leave the North" and as the successor of being the Raven king he must not leave the North unless the night king pulled a fast one on us in letting Bran thinks they won so he would leave the North and he would forget the story of all, so in the end the Wyt walkers won.

The TAKE - I am so impressed with your insight and historical reference. WOW! I hope others realize how much work you have done to make your videos. Bravo, keep on!!

While I don't disagree that the ending did - in some ways - seem too neat compared to all the previous subversions and plot twists, I think we also need to ask ourselves; where does it end? As sad as we might feel, we know from experience that all stories must come to an end at some point. When you really break it down, that what Game of Thrones is; a story that had a beginning, a middle, and an end. We can imagine and speculate all we want about what could happen in the years afterwards, but ultimately it's not something we will ever know for certain. Maybe this is just my cynical side coming out, but we need to accept that fiction in any form does not have an infinite storyline. We all knew that the series had to end at some point, and whether it finished on an ambiguous high note or in a neat plot resolution, the perennial speculation about "what happens next" would be present in both cases. It had to end somewhere, and whatever form that took, it's beyond our power to do much more than accept it.

I feel like Drogon is going to perform some dragon valyrian magic on Dany or something. Pls. I need it.

If he could see everything, if feels almost sinister that he didn't warn anyone against Dani's madness, it's like he waited until all of his opposition was gone before he seized the throne.

The only reason the Bran was "chosen" for king was that he already had a coupled chair and so they did not have to make a throne hastily to seat the new King ... which would be truly a problem !!!