Game of Thrones season 6: Is Bran about to accidentally destroy The Wall?

** Spoilers for everything prior to season six episode six ahead **

Bran and the Night's King (YouTube)

Season six of Game of Thrones has arguably been one of the best yet, with numerous theories being resolved (and many more questions being raised).

After being absent for an entire season, Bran Stark’s return has been the root cause for many of these, whether it be his encounter with Benjen or seeing visions, via the Three-Eyed Raven.

In episode five, viewers were shown the origins of Hodor’s name, his tragic death possibly the hardest hitting moment of this season. As fans were quick to note, it was Bran’s fault.

If the young Warg hadn’t decided to sneak onto weirwood.net halfway through the night without the Three-Eyed Raven, he wouldn’t have led the White Walkers to their cave - the reason the Night’s King was able to find them was because he somehow marked Bran when he was having the vision.

Now, this mark is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it not only acted as a GPS for the Night’s King to find the cave; it also allowed the Night’s King to cross into the cave. Previously, White Walkers were unable to walk into the sanctuary; as seen at the end of season four and noted by Leaf, who explains their reanimation magic does not work within the cave's compounds.

In the novels, this is described as being “Warded” and is mentioned when Coldhands (an undead character confirmed to be Benjen Stark, at least in the show) attempts to enter the cave pre-White Walker invasion.

Why is this of note? Well, The Wall uses the same magic to stop the White Walkers from going South, thus why Coldhands is unable to go South in the books. However, if Bran travels through The Wall with the mark on his arm, will the Night’s King be able to follow? If so, could The Wall come crumbling down if/when he goes South?

This would make sense for a number of reasons; we already understand how the magic works, as demonstrated at the cave. It would also be a valid reason why The Night's King didn't chase Bran himself, as he wants the young Stark to travel through the Wall.

If you’ve been following our recent exploration of all things Game of Thrones, you may have read our piece on time-travelling, Bran, and Hodor. In it, we explain how this newly introduced time-travelling paradox may lead to Bran being a character called Bran the Builder - known for building The Wall. Should Bran destroy The Wall, it would be a lovely piece of irony for him to be both the maker and the destroyer of The Wall.

Questions have recently arisen from Bran’s various visions, a deconstruction of which you can read here.