Why did the Night King want to kill Bran in Game of Thrones — the connection to the Three-Eyed Raven, explored

Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, is arguably the most influential 21st-century TV drama.

It premiered in 2011 and became an overnight international sensation. The show engaged audiences with its complex politics and vast fantasy world full of dragons, old magic, and brutal scheming. It ran for eight years, broke ratings records, and sparked infinite debates, especially about its characters, themes, and notorious finale.

Game of Thrones takes place on two fictional continents: Westeros and Essos. In essence, it's a power struggle between royal families competing to rule the Iron Throne. But beneath the backstabbing and plot, there is an even greater threat: the return of the White Walkers. They're an ancient ice race of beings, led by the Night King.

Throughout Game of Thrones, the power struggles among humans become replaced by an even larger conflict, the war between the living and the dead.

Bran Stark and the Night King become central figures in that war. Bran, the sole Stark remaining in the North, becomes the Three-Eyed Raven. The Night King, silent and cold, commands the White Walkers south. Their connection is rooted in the ancient magic of Westeros.

The Night King pursues Bran, and Bran's new character creates greater questions about memory, history, and what good and evil are in this world.

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Background and driving forces of The Night King in Game of Thrones

The Night King is presented as the primary antagonist of Game of Thrones. He represents death, destruction, and the utter demise of mankind. His origin is shown in season 6 of the show.

Thousands of years ago, during the events of Game of Thrones, the Children of the Forest, the native people of Westeros, created him. They pierced a piece of dragonglass into the heart of a First Man. They set out to create a weapon to protect themselves from the First Men, but something went awry. The Night King turned against all living things. He created an army of the dead and set out to blanket the world in perpetual winter.

He doesn't speak. He is famous for his cold blue eyes and his frightening presence. His abilities are to bring the dead to life and manipulate the weather. He is not like other bad guys who pursue power, vengeance, or domination. His motivations seem more profound—he is to wipe out all life, all memory. He's death in its absolute sense.

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Bran Stark's road to the three-eyed raven in Game of Thrones

Bran Stark begins as the youngest son of Catelyn and Eddard Stark. He loses his ability to walk after he is thrown off a tower by Jaime Lannister. However, later on, he begins experiencing odd dreams. He discovers that he can "warg" into people and animals. He develops the capacity to view past, present, and future events through visions over time. Led by these visions and supported by others, Bran crosses beyond the Wall. He trains with the Three-Eyed Raven, an old seer who sees through time.

By season 6 of Game of Thrones, Bran has become the new Three-Eyed Raven. This is more than simply knowledge. He becomes the living memory of the world. He can recall big moments in Westeros' history, like how the Night King was created. That gives him power, but also makes him a target. The Night King desires to destroy all memory, and now Bran contains it all.

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The relationship between Bran and the Night King in Game of Thrones

Bran and the Night King are bound together by ancient magic. Both share the same roots: the Children of the Forest and the weirwood trees. The Night King was created as a weapon that turned against him. Bran took on the wisdom of the Three-Eyed Raven. That connection is established well in Game of Thrones.

When Bran peers into the past through his abilities, the Night King is able to feel him and even touch him. During that action, the magical shield covering the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven shatters.

Bran witnesses the Night King being formed in a vision. The Children of the Forest convert a First Man into the Night King, and Bran is present to see it. He claims he "remembers everything about him." This is not passive memory. This is an active one. It keeps history alive. It defends identity. And it opposes what the Night King desires—to erase everything.

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The Night King's vendetta against the three-eyed raven

The Night King is not interested in merely winning a battle. He personally hates the Three-Eyed Raven. In Season 6 of Game of Thrones, he murders Bran's predecessor himself. That scene illustrates it's not about strategy, it's about meaning. The Three-Eyed Raven contains the memory of the world. The Night King wants that memory erased.

Bran states it out loud in season 8, episode 2:

“He wants to erase this world, and I am its memory.”

As the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran becomes the Night King's primary target. It's not because of Bran's abilities, it's because of what he represents. Bran is history. The Night King desires to destroy all of that. Killing Bran is more than a strategic victory. It would shatter the living's link to who they are.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones returns to the same theme over and over: memory is important. The Three-Eyed Raven informs Bran that the past is not tales. It's what keeps people bound together. It's what saves them. The Night King desires to erase all of that. That is why he goes after Bran. If he kills Bran, he kills memory. And without memory, there is nothing to fight for.

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Why did the Night King want to kill Bran in Game of Thrones?

The Night King and Bran stand for two opposing forces. The Night King is death and forgetting. Bran is memory and life. As the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran holds the story of the world—its history, its identity, its truth. The Night King wants all of that gone. His goal is total erasure. Killing Bran means wiping out not just a person, but everything people remember and everything that connects them to their past.

That's why, during the last season, Bran was employed as bait. The trick is successful because the Night King can't disregard him. Killing Bran equals total triumph. Without memories, nothing remains worth fighting for.

The Three-Eyed Raven is not only a man who sees the past. He guards it. He preserves the memory of the world. That is what gives people the ability to comprehend, to develop, and to endure. The Night King's antipathy towards the Three-Eyed Raven is not just a vendetta; it's a denial of all things human. Should he kill Bran, he severs the connection between past and present.

Bran watches the Night King's creation: the Children of the Forest made him to prevent the First Men, but it did not work. That moment reveals a lot. It demonstrates how perilous magic can become when applied towards power or war. Bran is the only one capable of seeing it. That makes him special. He doesn't simply retain memories—he employs them to make sense of the threat. Memory in this story isn't static. It constructs the present. And that is precisely what the Night King wishes to eradicate.