In case you didn’t already know: winter is here, and it’s just going to keep getting colder.
HBO released a new trailer for Game of Thrones’ seventh season yesterday and, while there’s quite a bit to take away from it, one of the best scenes features Bran Stark.
[Warning: The following may contain spoilers for Game of Thrones.]
When we were first introduced to Bran, he was one of the more rambunctious Stark children. He loved to climb towers and, as fans will remember, was often being scolded by his mother, Catelyn Stark, for hurling himself up large towers. When the Lannisters come to visit, accompanying Robert Baratheon to visit Ned Stark, Bran catches a moment of incest between Cersei and Jamie Lannister. The following scene, which had Jamie toss Bran from the top of the tower, paralyzing one of the youngest Starks and setting up the Lannisters as Game of Thrones’ number one enemy, came to define much of the series.
For seven seasons, Bran has either sat in bed, on the back of his family’s loyal helper, Hodor, or on a makeshift sled. In the new trailer, however, Bran finally gets a wheelchair, giving him a little more independence than he’s had in previous seasons. This is important for a number of reasons — the most obvious being that it seems to symbolize Bran has returned to Winterfell and his siblings. Fans took a second to stop theorizing about what it could all mean and appreciate just how perfect seeing Bran get his independence was.
By Polygon