Why was The Night King so intent on killing Bran on Game Of Thrones? Based on George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy novel series A Song Of Ice And Fire, Game Of Thrones quickly became one of the biggest TV shows in the world following its first season. Its success wasn't always guaranteed as the series' original pilot was famously so bad it had to be almost completely reshot. The pilot has never been released publicly, but it reportedly suffered from dreary pacing and was overloaded with exposition.
Game Of Thrones made for addictive viewing with its great characters and sprawling narrative, not to mention its jaw-dropping violence and shocking sequences like The Red Wedding. George R.R. Martin is an author who famously works at his own pace, so Game Of Thrones the TV series eventually outpaced the books, causing the showrunners to create original material. Based on the reaction to later seasons — especially the final series — this wasn't for the better. Regardless of the mixed response that greeted its last seasons, the series is still considered a television landmark.
The final season of Game Of Thrones was in a serious rush to wrap up all the major characters and storylines. This includes The Night King's quest to personally slay Bran Stark, who became the Three-Eyed Raven following the events of season 6. For context, it was revealed the White Walkers and the Night King were created by the Children of the Forest, who inhabited Westeros before the destructive arrival of the First Men. The Children created the Night King by inserting Dragonglass into the heart of a luckless First Man, but while he was intended as a weapon to fight back against the First Men, the Children later had to team up with the First Men during the Long Night to drive back the White Walkers.
The Night King Wanted The Three-Eyed Raven Gone
The Night King's hatred of Three-Eyed Raven leads him to personally slay Bran's predecessor, played in Game of Thrones season 6 by the late, great Max von Sydow. Exactly why The Night King insists on killing Bran is later summed up by the Three-Eyed Raven himself in season 8, episode 2, "A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms," by stating “He wants to erase this world, and I am its memory.” Since the Three-Eyed Raven is basically a living record of mankind within the world of Game Of Thrones, by killing Bran, The Night King is symbolically wiping out the living and all memory of them — followed by literally wiping them out.
Bran and the war council use this to their advantage, using him to draw the Night King into a trap that just barely succeeds. Arya killing the Night King on Game Of Thrones marked a turning point during the final season, with the Army of the Dead finally being defeated.
How The Night King's Bran Vendetta Fixed A Game of Thrones Problem
The Night King is arguably one of Game of Thrones' most one-dimensional characters, but the Bran vendetta may have fixed this. Game of Thrones is known and revered for its well-rounded characters and their ever-changing loyalties, so it seemed a little off-target that the show would have created a stereotypical villain who's after something as common as world domination. However, that's what audiences got in the Night King, who spoke nary a word but made his intentions clear. All of that changed when Bran entered the picture as the Three-Eyed Raven. This introduction gave the Night King a true motive outside the typical megalomania of Big Bads. By wiping out the Three-Eyed Raven, he would be wiping out all memories of the previous world and fully ushering in his new era. It fleshed out the character even more, and in turn, raised the stakes for the final seasons of Game of Thrones.