This theory post contains speculation for Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 3, and spoilers for episode 2, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”
If there’s one Game of Thrones character who’s shown a real knack for making his way in the world and playing the War of the Five Kings to his advantage, it’s Bronn. This once humble mercenary has managed to work his way up the ranks, befriending the Lannister brothers, earning the title “Ser Bronn of the Blackwater” and even becoming the only person in living memory to wound a dragon.
The Season 8 premiere suggested Bronn might play more of an antagonistic role in the final season. Bronn has been dispatched to Winterfell by Queen Cersei, ordered to kill both Tyrion and Jaime. But maybe the question shouldn’t be “Will Bronn betray his friends?” but rather, “Is Bronn the key to saving Westeros?” Here’s why we think Bronn may turn out to be one of the most important characters in Season 8.
Where in Westeros is the Night King?
This Bronn theory hinges on the mysterious whereabouts of the Night King. We haven’t actually seen this icy villain show up in Season 8 yet. The natural assumption is that he’s leading the White Walkers and their wight army to Winterfell. But in the closing moments of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” we only see a group of White Walkers on horseback, not the Night King himself. We don’t even know for sure it was the Night King who left the spiral sigil at Last Hearth. He probably has assistants who handle the tedious grunt work.
And that’s where Bronn comes in. As far as we know, he’s currently making the long trek from King’s Landing to Winterfell, contemplating whether to carry out Cersei’s order, join Jaime in defecting, or just run off somewhere and get stinking drunk. At some point, he’s bound to cross paths with the Night King. Bronn’s a pretty crafty guy, so we doubt he’ll have trouble putting two and two together when he sees a zombie dragon flying overhead.
Bronn may turn out to be the Paul Revere figure of Game of Thrones. He can warn the survivors at Winterfell of the devastation approaching King’s Landing. He’s not the hero Westeros deserves, but maybe he’s the one it needs right now.
For more on Game of Thrones, check out our other major theory about episode 3 and the potential danger in Winterfell’s crypts, and why Bran’s plan for the Night King is so significant.
Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
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