'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Theory Turns [SPOILER] Into the New Night King

As the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran Stark might be the most powerful person in all of Westeros, but he hasn’t really been an active participant in Game of Thrones Season 8. But with just three episodes remaining, Bran may finally have to step up with a plan to defeat the show’s final villain, even if it means making one of the biggest sacrifices in Game of Thrones history.

Warning: Spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3 below.

After spending most of the Battle of Winterfell cosplaying warging as a crow, we don’t have super high hopes for Bran in the remaining three episodes. But maybe, just maybe, he has a plan to defeat Cersei Lannister despite the North’s seriously depleted army.

With the Night King dead and Winterfell drowning in dead bodies, could the Three-Eyed Raven use his powers to create a new Night King to raise an army of the dead against Cersei? And if so, who would that Night King be?

Bran already used his Three-Eyed Raven powers to go back in time and see how the original Night King was created. Now, redditor u/joel523 theorizes that he could offer Jon Snow the chance to become a new Night King to protect the North against Cersei Lannister.

This theory, which also speculates that Cersei’s mad maester, Qyburn, will come up with a way to kill Dany’s two remaining dragons, argues that the good guys will need to do something bold and unexpected. That’s where Jon comes in.

“Jon is the new Night King. He raises the tens of thousands of dead corpses and defeats Cersei,” writes u/joel523. “He then retreats to North of the Wall and the wall is rebuilt to keep him out in the future just in case.”

This theory certainly gives Bran more of an active role in the narrative (though many fans still believe he is somehow the Night King). Given that he can see into the past, it’s a surprise Bran hasn’t been as forthcoming with useful information. Then again, it seems fairly certain he gave Arya Stark that Valyrian steel dagger on purpose in Season 7 knowing she’d need to to kill the Night King in Season 8.

It’s also been made very clear that Jon isn’t all that interested in ruling, so it would make sense that he’d give up the throne to Daenerys to protect the North and defeat Cersei. Becoming the Night King could also be the reason Melisandre brought him back to life in Season 6.

While there are some plausible aspects to the theory that could play out, it’s a bit of stretch. Considering the North just battled the White Walkers, why would Bran want to turn Jon into another potential threat against Westeros? After all, there’s no telling how the power of being the Night King could corrupt him, no matter how good of a person he is.

And while it would be interesting to watch Daenerys attempt to maintain power without her dragons, it’s not likely that Qyburn would be able to kill both of them, no matter how clever he is. Not even the Night King managed to kill all three.

The theory also heavily relies on the Three-Eyed Raven having a plan. If Season 8 has proven anything at all, however, it’s that his abilities haven’t been very useful in the grand scheme of things. Three episodes isn’t a lot of time left, but Bran could still surprise us. Although, if Jon was to become the Night King, he and Daenerys should probably discuss the issue of his lineage first.

Game of Thrones Season 8 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern on HBO.