Game of Thrones Pilot Might Have Hinted at Bran Stark's Fate

Warning: Game of Thrones spoilers ahead!

The new king of Westeros has been appointed, and Game of Thrones fans couldn’t be more shocked. Bran the Broken is now the ruler of the Six Kingdoms and the Protector of the Realm.

After multiple seasons of trying to find his way in the world despite being paralyzed, Bran’s destiny became clear in the series finale. And he might have known the whole time: Jaime Lannister was supposed to throw him out that window, he was supposed to become paralyzed, and he was, of course, supposed to become the Three-Eyed Raven. As Bran himself even said, everything he did got him to where he ended up. But what if this destiny was foreshadowed before any of those events ever happened to him—in the very first episode of the show?

In the first episode of Game of Thrones, “Winter is Coming,” Ned Stark takes Bran, Robb Stark, and Jon Snow to witness the execution of Will, a traitor abandoning the Night’s Watch. Ned starts to recite the oath of execution:

“In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon ... First of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm, I, Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, sentence you to die.”

But when he says “King of the Andals and the First Men,” the camera pans to Bran with Jon standing behind him.

Up to this point, many thought that this scene foreshadowed Jon becoming king, but now fans on the internet are arguing whether it could have hinted at Bran’s fate instead. In any case, the scene does seem significant after all of the events that went down in the final season between Bran and Jon.

Jon (real name Aegon Targaryen) had legitimate claim to win the Iron Throne, but it was apparently Bran’s destiny all along.