‘Game of Thrones’: Wait, Is Bran Stark REALLY the King of Westeros?

The Game of Thrones series finale left us with a new ruler of Westeros. He may not be the king we wanted, but he’s apparently the king George R.R. Martin, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and fictional characters Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) all wanted.

**GAME OF THRONES FINALE SPOILERS AHEAD**

I’m talking about Bran “Three-Eyed Raven” Stark. He’s not the Prince Who Was Promised, but he is a noble-born teenager who can warg into birds and talk to trees. That, apparently, makes him a better ruler than, say, Jon Snow (Kit Harington), a noble-hearted war hero who killed a genocidal maniac knowing he’d die for it. It also makes him better than, say, Jon Snow, the actual rightful heir by blood to the now melted Iron Throne.

Look, I have my own feelings about Bran being named king, but I also have some controversial thoughts on the matter. Namely: IS BRAN EVEN REALLY THE KING?

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What I mean by this is that from what we briefly saw, Bran has no interest in ruling, nor does he desire to interfere with how Tyrion Lannister is now running the new Small Council (which includes Bronn of the Blackwater, Ser Davos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, and Ser Brienne of Tarth). Rather than even get involved, he makes some mention of looking for Drogon — which I take to mean, warging — and he leaves Tyrion to it.

Now the Hand of the King has always essentially ruled Westeros in a “pay no mind to the man behind the curtain” sort of way. But this current set up feels egregiously like a puppet monarchy. Tyrion sets Bran up to take the crown, and Bran reveals he knew the plan all along. He also immediately pardons Tyrion for his crimes and names him his Hand. Tyrion and Bran essentially set each other up to take the ultimate power in Westeros.

So Bran Stark is king by name, but he’s not going to be king in deed. He won’t sit on an Iron Throne, produce heirs, or attend Small Council meetings. He’s just going to keep being Bran, and as such he will be a buffer for political discord in the Six Kingdoms, but he’s not going to do much. Tyrion will.

Tyrion is actually the “king,” not Bran. Tyrion is one ruling, compromising, strategizing, and leading. Bran Stark is just the strange manifestation of power people bow to. If anything, Bran Stark seems to have a similar set of influence of the realm as, say, Queen Elizabeth II does. Bran Stark is his Prime Minister.

Wheel, consider yourself broken.

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