A Game of Thrones, Chapter 8, Bran
Summary
We skip forward in time, Ned announced his decision, preparations are underway, Bran is to leave Winterfell. Before he leaves he wants to say goodbye to the people in the castle, but finds out that he’s too sad to do it, so instead he goes climbing. He reaches one of his favorite spots, the top of the ruined tower. To his surprise, he hears people inside. The Queen and her brother are talking about the King and his newly appointed Hand. Bran wants to see who’s talking and is seen. He almost falls, but Jaime Lannister catches him only push him out of the window. Bran falls down to the courtyard.
Quotes
“You’re not my son,” Ned told Bran when they fetched him down, “you’re a squirrel. So be it. If you must climb, then climb, but try not to let your mother see you.”
The man looked over at the woman. “The things I do for love,” he said with loathing. He gave Bran a shove.
Commentary
In this chapter we get to know Bran a bit better. He’s still very young and has child’s way of thinking. And he loves to climb. His trip through the roof, a peaceful goodbye is a prelude to the first truly shocking event of the book.
The scene with Cersei and Jaime was particularly shocking to me, because it actually describes incest. I was completely caught off guard, one question was sounding in my head: They are doing WHAT? Honestly, at this stage I didn’t know if I wanted to continue reading the book. I was afraid that this kind of content would be a main theme overshadowing everything else. I decided to give the book a chance and I’m happy that I did. The strong sexual content and shocking incest were the means to build character, not the leading theme in the series.
Right as I got over the fact that brother and sister have sex I was shocked again when Jaime pushed out Bran out of the window to fall to his death. I don’t think that there ever was a better introduction of a bad character. I’m willing to bet that everyone who read this chapter for the first time thought: “I hope you die a painful death!”
Tags: Bran
