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Game of Thrones season 8's meme lord is Bran Stark

Finally, Bran's story is paying off. Spoilers within.

Daniel Van Boom headshot
Daniel Van Boom
2 min read
bran
Bran Stark.
HBO

Bran isn't exactly a Game of Thrones favorite. His plot in the fantasy epic has surrounded the esoteric Three-Eyed Raven, who can best be described as an all-knowing tree man. Bran, in season 6, becomes the Three-Eyed Raven and has been an odd little chap ever since.

But season 8 could be his redemption story. Not because of anything in the plot, but because the post-premiere memes circulating Twitter and Reddit mostly starred Bran. He wasn't alone, obviously. Arya's activities were also meme-worthy, and an unexpected request from Cersei was guaranteed to go viral.

Warning: Game of Thrones season 8 spoilers below.

Bran's schtick is that he can see most of history in his mind if directed to it, which is why, in season 7, he knew what Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish had said to Ned Stark after betraying him aaaaaall the way back in season one. In the first episode of season 8 (recap here), Bran spends a lot of the show sitting in Winterfell's square and staring at people from a distance. He tells Samwell Tarley that he's waiting for an old friend.

The awkwardness was not lost on the internet.

One of Reddit's dedicated Game of Thrones subreddits, r/FreeFolk, were also all about it. This one, from user GaryOaksAlcoholism, was my favorite.

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The FreeFolk subreddit was very much into mocking Bran Stark.

 Reddit user GaryOaksAlcoholism

The episode opened with Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow and their army of Unsullied, Dothraki and dragons marching to Winterfell. Jon reunites with Bran after years apart -- the last time Jon saw Bran, the young Stark was in a coma after Jaime Lannister pushed him off a window ledge -- and introduces Sansa Stark to Daenerys.

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5:50

Bran interrupts, saying there's no time for such formalities when a White Walker dragon is on the way to Winterfell. Oh, and that old friend Bran was waiting for. It's Jaime Lannister, who has been riding to Winterfell since the end of season 7.

Both moments have been memified.

Who wins the Iron Throne is anyone's guess and, at this point in the show, not even the point anymore. So far, though, it looks like Bran will be Game of Thrones' 2019 meme lord. But he's got competition. Arya enjoyed reunions with both big brother Jon, friend/enemy The Hound and fellow Fleebottom scumbag Gendry, both of which caused some strong reactions. It was a feelstrip for sure.

Another episode highlight, at least when it comes to meme creation, was when Euron Greyjoy and his Iron Fleet brought the Golden Company mercenary army to Cersei in Kings Landing. Cersei was expecting the army to include elephants. Elephants couldn't travel across the world on boats, though. Cersei got no elephants. 

A trailer for next week's episode teased a trial for Jaime Lannister, who killed Daenerys' father and paralyzed Bran, as well as the first of what will surely be many White Walker battles. With luck, Bran will retain his status of GOT season 8 meme king. With no luck, he might die. Hey, it's a dangerous game.

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Originally published April 14.

Update, April 15: Adds day two memes.