HBO's "Game of Thrones" is going to play around with its timeline during its upcoming sixth season in order to give viewers a glimpse of important things from past and future that they have yet to see. Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), who was not seen in season five, will spearhead this time-hopping narrative following his off-screen Jedi-esque training with the Three-Eyed Raven.
Bran was last season in season four where he concluded his journey to the mythical Three-Eyed Raven who promised to train him as a greenseer, someone who possesses certain psychic abilities. Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss wanted this process to take place off-screen so as to not disrupt the flow of season five, a move Hempstead-Wright fully agrees with.
"And they're exactly right," the 16-year-old actor told Entertainment Weekly. "I would have just been sitting in a cave going, 'Oh, I can nearly do it now.'"
During the elapsed time, "Game of Thrones" has recast the Three-Eyed Raven with the beloved Max von Sydow ("The Exorcist," "Minority Report," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens").
"There are certain lines that you think are almost fillers, like, 'He's over there,' but when Ma von Sydow says them, he can make it sound like it's the most important news oyu've ever heard," Hempstead-Wright says. Obviously not a coincidence, HBO used von Sydow's voice over for their first teaser of season six.
So, what will the Three-Eyed Raven have Bran doing?
Hempstead-Wright wouldn't get into specifics, but he did react enthusiastically to season six's scripts. He also gave fans a brief description of the what they can expect from him next year.
"Previously Bran's seen tiny glimpses of future or past but never has he been very much in control of the situation," he said. "Now, we're given looks into very important events in the past, present and future of this world and Bran is beginning to piece them together like a detective, almost as if he's watching the show. Equally, he's now discovering how crucial he could be in the Great War. It's quite Inception-y."
Wow, that sounds cool.
Will Bran show viewers the true parentage of Jon Snow? Will he somehow warg into one of Daenerys' dragons? What will his role be in the Great War?
Find out when "Game of Thrones" returns to HBO in April.
