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Chapter 16: Eddard
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Game of Thrones, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Politics and Power
Climate Change and Collective Action
Gender and Power
Honor and Integrity
Identity
Summary
Analysis
Bran dreams of falling. A crow flies beside him. Bran says that he’s dreaming and that he’ll wake up when he reaches the ground. The crow tells him that he’ll die when he reaches the ground. Bran has a vision then in which he can see corners of the world. He sees King’s Landing and the Dothraki Empire. He sees Jon Snow asleep on top of the Wall, and he peers farther and farther to the end of the world. He looks “deep into the heart of winter” and sees something terrifying. He screams. The crow says that now Bran knows why he must live. He must live because “winter is coming” (which are the words of House Stark). Bran spreads his arms and flies. The crow beside him has three eyes. Bran wakes up in Winterfell with his direwolf beside him. He decides to call the wolf Summer.
In his sleep, Bran seems to see things that he has not seen in his waking life, including King’s Landing and the Dothraki empire. This suggests that he may have visions that reveal truths about the world. Notably, when Bran looks into the ”heart of winter,” he sees something terrifying. The novel implies that he sees the Others and the threat they pose to humanity, which various characters try to deny. The novel then links the imminent threat of the Others with the words of House Stark, “Winter is coming,” to suggest that when the climate changes from the long summer to winter, that change will bring with it possible catastrophe in the form of the Others. The crow then hints that Bran must live to try and stop that catastrophe.
Themes
