There are a lot of Game of Thrones theories out there. There are the ones everyone knows about that ended up being true (R+L=J), and then there are elaborately crafted theories that use thousands of years of Westeros history combined with obsessively cited quotes from all of the books, backstories, and episodes woven into a truly impressive and believable narrative that outlines the show's finale.
Reddit user MrSilenceT has crafted one of those latter theories. It might as well be the Game of Thrones theory to end all Game of Thrones theories. It takes up a massive three Reddit posts and tens of thousands of words with dozens of sections and addresses a number of the show's biggest points. If you have the time, and are a big enough nerd, read the entire thing, but let me attempt to give you the Cliffs Notes version of the most interesting theory, which essentially paints the White Walkers as victims of a greater war who are trying to end their eternal agony.
As we've learned from George R.R. Martin's writing, a good character is never fully good and a bad character is never fully bad. Martin will make you root for Tyrion and Jaime while letting your heroes—Robb Stark, Ned Stark—make fatal and blockheaded mistakes.
So why, the theory asks, would Martin make his end game such a clear battle of good vs. evil? That's not his style. As the user points out, the author was shaped by the events of the Vietnam War, which taught him that things aren't always as black and white as they appear.
Here's what we know about the White Walkers: They were created to protect the Children of the Forest from the First Men, who were at war thousands of years ago. The Children of the Forest lost control of their creation and after the War for the Dawn built the Wall to keep the White Walkers from destroying all humanity.
But we've never learned anything from the White Walkers' perspective. They were once men created with the purpose to kill evil men by the Children of the Forest. Bran has seen the Children create the Night King in a violent ritual where dragonglass is plunged into his chest.
Another well established theory is that Bran Stark is actually the Night King, having merged with the first White Walker after traveling into the past to attempt to stop the Children of the Forest's transformation. Obviously, this wouldn't have been the first time Bran fucked everything up while screwing with the past. (RIP Hodor.)
So if Bran is inside a tool that's only purpose is to kill, he might have one goal that doesn't involve destroying humanity, but stopping all the events that set this in motion:
How do you protect life when you know the only thing you can do is bring death and when you know that no one has the power to stop you from inflicting it? Destroying the source of magic that keeps him bound to the curse: the main Heart tree at the Isles of Faces that is at the center of all Weirwood trees in Westeros and killing himself by killing Bran ... This is why the army of the dead completely turns around and goes back North when the Night King marks Bran. Because killing Bran is the priority ... Had they known, all Westerosi people had to do was let the Night King and the White Walkers pass through ... As a result, who would be the villain in this scenario? Is it the Night King and the Whitewalkers that killed tens of thousands so they could stop themselves from endlessly killing life? Or is it Jon/Bran & Co. that sent tens of thousands to their death instead of stepping aside like Sam did in his first encounter with a White Walker? One thing is for certain, knowledge would have been their true savior. Even with the most unlikely kind of people or thing, there may be common ground. In this case, both the Night King & Jon Snow were fighting for the same cause without realizing it: to protect the living.
Like I said, it's elaborate—possibly too elaborate to be packaged into a mainstream TV show. But it's interesting nonetheless, and it's the type of ending that George R.R. Martin would certainly approve of. Of course, as Season Seven proved, never ignore fan theories, because they might end up being right.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
